Working to preserve Ottawa's past
for future generations.
Barbara Ann Scott, Queen of the Ice, was the subject of the Historical Society of Ottawa’s first Zoom presentation of 2026, which was held on the evening of January 14, 2026. We were joined that evening by Ryan Stevens, an award-winning author and noted figure skating historian. Ryan runs the Skate Guard Blog, has written for a number of leading skating magazines and his expertise are sought out by both journalists and museums. Ryan is the author of a number of books, including: Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice…
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On the evening of November 12, 2025, the Historical Society of Ottawa held its first Zoom presentation of the season. In partnership with The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship - Ottawa (CHES), we were pleased that night to welcome Phil Emberley, who told us of his father whosurvived the Nazi Holocaust of the Second World War. Mina Cohn, current Chair of CHES gave us some background on her organization before introducing Phil. CHES is an Ottawa-based volunteer organization which has, for the past 10 years, helped to sharethe memories…
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Many thanks to CTV Ottawa and CFRA iHeart radio for highlighting our bicentennial celebrations planned for 2026. Watch HSO spokesperson Ben Weiss on CTV Ottawa Morning discuss the Historical Society's bicentennial plans. And stay tuned to the end of the clip to see a 100-year old relic from the centennial celebrations in 1926 to compare civic festivities of yesteryear! Link to Ottawa turns 200 this year video. Listen to Ben in conversation with Patricia Boal on CFRA iHeart radio: Marking Bytown's 200th anniversary audio clip. Check out our Bytown 200 story collection: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/resources/bytown-200
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Monday, 29 December 2025 08:10
“Unceded” Land: Understanding the Historic Land Claims of the Anishinaabe Alqonquin People
Ben Weiss
When we acknowledge that, here in the Ottawa Valley, we are on the “unceded” and “unsurrendered” land of the Anishinaabe Algonquin people, what does that really mean? A preliminary understanding of the history behind the land claims of the Anishinaabe Algonquin peopleis offered in a “Report on the Algonquins of Golden Lake Claim” prepared for the Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat in 1993. The following is the text of the report’s “Executive Summary”. Here is a link to the full report, residing on the Government of Canada website: https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/aanc-inac/R32-492-1993-1-eng.pdf. This report…
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Sunday, 16 November 2025 11:06
Time Travelling with the Historical Society of Ottawa – Season #2!
Ben Weiss
Beginning on November 26, 2025, subscribers to Rogers TV will be able to enjoy a brand new season of our series, “Time Travelling with the Historical Society of Ottawa”, a collaboration between Rogers TV and the Historical Society of Ottawa. Each week's new episode will air Wednesday @ 7:30 p.m. and then be rebroadcast Friday at 5:30 p.m. and the following Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. on Rogers TV Channel 22. Here is the schedule of episodes and our featured presenters: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 @ 7:30 p.m. - Call To Arms:…
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Saturday, 25 October 2025 10:21
HSO Releases a new film “Two Wars, Three Watersheds, a Slew of Surveys and a Canal” by Allison Margot Smith
Ben Weiss
Initial surveys of the Rideau corridor had been carried out as early as 1783, in the wake of the American Revolution. It wasn’t until after the War of 1812, however, that increased concern over the possibility of renewed American attacks led to further surveys of the land between the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, with a view to building a canal that would bypass the exposed American border along the St. Lawrence. In this fascinating new film, produced especially for the “HSO 2026 Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Challenge” by film maker…
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Thursday, 25 September 2025 09:06
Special “HSO Bytown200 Award” to be Presented to Students at 2026 Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair
Ben Weiss
At the 2026 Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair – to mark this year's bicentennial – the Historical Society of Ottawa, founder and patron of the ORHF, will present the “HSO Bytown200 Award” to the top student project specifically pertaining to Bytown, the Rideau Canal, or the impacts of Bytown and/or the Rideau Canal on the Indigenous people for whom the Ottawa area has been their traditional home. Each year we also present the “HSO Indigenous Sacred Chaudiere Falls Award” for a student project that reflects and celebrates Indigenous history, culture and traditions in…
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Sunday, 31 August 2025 18:24
Exploring History from Home: A Review of the Bytown Museum Virtual Tour
Callie Foster
Callie Foster, an HSO member and high school student, commends the Bytown Museum’s Virtual Tour as an excellent example of how technology can make history more fully accessible to all, and can contribute to preserving these important stories for generations to come. In the age where technology is able to connect us more than ever before, we now see history made accessible through virtual experiences. The Bytown Museum’s Permanent Gallery online tour offers a captivating way to explore Ottawa’s rich past without leaving your home. This resource is so valuable…
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You might be wondering what UFOs, a cursed box, and science have to do with each other. The answer: all can be found at the National Research Council of Canada on Sussex Drive. In mid-August, Steven Leclair, chief archivist at the NRC, kindly hosted a second group of HSO members on a tour of the NRC’s Sussex Drive facility. Leading us through this remarkable neoclassical structure built to the exacting specifications of Henry Marshall Tory in the 1930s, he pointed out its many architectural and design features. Most importantly, its…
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