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for future generations.
On the morning of December 2nd, 2024, eight members of the Historical Society of Ottawa attended the final presentation of the HIS4135 Canadian Digital History Course at the University of Ottawa, The class had taken on the project of digitizing several of the scrapbooks created by our founders, the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa, (WCHSO), during the first half of the 20th Century. The students would then conduct some analysis of the contents of the scrapbooks. Their professor, Sarah Templier, explained that this project had been intended for a…
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Our final Museum Club outing for 2024 took place on the morning of Wednesday, November 20, and was a private tour of the National Research Council of Canada’s facility at 100 Sussex Drive. Thirteen of our members were greeted by Steven LeClair, Chief Archivist of the NRC. We were surprised to learn that apart from Library and Archives Canada, the NRC is the only federal agency that is permitted to operate an archive. All others must send their documents and artifacts to the LAC, but due to the need for…
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Special Events
Given that our 1st English language presentation of our 2024 / 2025 series fell on September 11, it was most appropriate that our guest that night, Peter McBride, spoke about the contrast between fire fighting in Bytown and early Ottawa, as compared to fire fighting in Ottawa today. Peter is the President of the Bytown Fire Brigade, with whom we were proud to partner for this evening’s presentation. Chief McBride is a 32 year veteran of the Ottawa Fire Department, a registered safety professional, and a passionate advocate of Fire…
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Speakers Presentations
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The Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library welcomed us back on Saturday, September 28, a beautiful fall afternoon, for our first in-person English language Speaker Session of the 2024 / 2025 series. We were pleased to partner with the Workers History Museum for this presentation and honoured to have their President, David Dean, on hand to introduce our guest speaker. Brian McDougall describes himself as a “socialist historian”, one who asks different questions and so draws different conclusions than main-stream historians. David Dean described Brian as a former civil…
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Under threatening skies, the Museum Club visited Dickinson Square in Manotick on Sunday, August 18, 2024, for a guided tour of Watson’s Mill and Dickinson House. Eighteen of the twenty registered participants took the chance and were rewarded with a wonderful experience. After we gathered and were welcomed by our host Avery Geboers, we split into two groups, one starting in Watson’s Mill and the other in Dickinson House. Inside Watson's MillWatson’s Mill was built by Moss Kent Dickinson and Joseph Merrill Currier, one of four mills to be constructed…
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The third Museum Club outing took place on Thursday, July 18, 2024, when a dozen registered participants, and two “foundlings” received a guided tour of the Merrickville Blockhouse Museum from our host, Jane Graham, who is the President of the Merrickville & District Historical Society (MDHS). Jane explained that the Blockhouse was built in 1832 to defend the Rideau Canal but never served in its original role. Instead, it became the home of the first lockmaster, Sgt. Johnston, his wife and children. Over the years the Blockhouse has had many…
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Most of us think of “Dow’s Swamp” as having disappeared during the construction of the Rideau Canal, two centuries ago, leaving us with what we know today as “Dow’s Lake”. But did you know that a remaining southern portion of Dow’s Swamp continued to thrive until Ottawa’s ever-expanding urban footprint brought about the final destruction of this vital and vibrant vestige of wetland in the 1950s? Long-time naturalist Joyce Reddoch reminds us of our tragic loss of that precious remnant of primaeval ecosystem, as is illustrated in the attached collection…
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A record crowd of 130 came to hear Paul Couvrette’s Historical Society of Ottawa presentation on the Karsh brothers which was held at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library on the afternoon of April 27, 2024. Paul, a celebrated Ottawa photographer, was both a professional colleague and family friend of the two Karsh brothers. Paul also has the distinction of having photographed all the Prime Ministers from Trudeau to Trudeau, and of being called upon to give photography lessons to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, so she could…
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Speakers Presentations
HSO is pleased to showcase the writings of Barry Padolsky, architect, urban designer, heritage advocate, and Winnipeg native. From Barry himself, an introduction to this venture: Friends and colleagues, I am pleased to share “A Winnipeg Boy’s Imaginings” (2021) , “Shoreline Poems”(2022) and “Alphabet Soup” (2024) , a collection of my sketches, graphics, architectural explorations, poems, essays short stories, urban research and other miscellanea. This little project launched when I was wondering what to do during the COVID-19 pandemic. These volumes have also been published in hardcover, in a limited…
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