Come have a spot of tea with us at the John Walter Museum this afternoon!

foto van John Walter Museum.
John Walter Museum
22 juni om 14:25

Don't forget, this Sunday from 1-4 PM at the John Walter Museum is our free special event - the Walterdale Tea Party!

Get dressed up and come on down to celebra...te Annie Walter's birthday in style! We will be featuring homemade treats, a special "Walterdale Blend" of tea (while supplies last), live music, historic games, and history and antiques experts to talk about interesting women in Edmonton and to tell you about your special tea cups and saucers!

You are also invited to make your own tea blend, make your own calling card with members of the Edmonton Calligraphy Society, and learn about edible and usable plants that grow right here in the river valley!

We look forward to seeing you there!

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It's National Aboriginal Day! There are great things happening around town to celebrate, but first check out this brand new Heritage Minute on Chanie Wenjack and the legacy of residential schools in Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_tcCpKtoU0

Are you back? Okay, tonight at 6:30 you can head down to the Art Gallery of Alberta for the last day of the Amiskwaciy History Series' Pop-Up Festival. Tonight they're showing "Hands of History" and having a discussion about the ...role of artists in reconciliation:
https://www.facebook.com/Amiskwaciy/

And then check out the Oti Nekan National Aboriginal Day performances all day today at the Borden Park Bandshell.

Lots of great ways to honour and learn about First Peoples' history today.

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Heritage Minutes: Chanie Wenjack
The story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools. The 8...
youtube.com

Hey folks, I gathered some cool stories from last weekend's Chinatown Conference that I'm excited to share with you, but like many I've needed some time to process and grieve about the Orlando shooting first. The Pride Centre is organizing a great event for Tuesday night in solidarity with the Orlando community:

https://www.facebook.com/events/241773046201584/

14JUN
Pride BBQ for Orlando
Di 12:00 in UTC-06MC College (North of Macewan)
304 personen zijn geïnteresseerd · 131 personen gaan
Edmonton's Historian Laureate heeft 4 nieuwe foto's toegevoegd aan het album Visiting Canadian War Museum.
9 juni om 9:56

I'm in Ottawa this week for a radio conference, so I carved out some time to visit the Canadian War Museum. Some of my thoughts while wandering through...

'Wow was it ever fascinating to read about Louisbourg. There's a tourist site there now where you can learn about the fort, but we rarely hear about entire cities getting scraped off the map. It really gives me pause thinking about how permanent any of our cities are.'
'Isn't this Tlingit armour fascinating? It's a leather shirt covered in Chinese coins, from around the time Canada was pushing into BC. There are so many stories to tell about interactions between Chinese and First Nations peoples.'
'Some of the most dramatic and moving exhibits in the museum centre around paintings on loan from the National Gallery, right here in Ottawa. It warmed my heart to see collaboration between these institutions for such an interesting purpose.'
'I was fascinated by this poster showing off Robert Borden's slate of cabinet ministers in the heated 1917 election (when conscription was the major election issue). The all-male lineup really makes me laugh thinking about everybody arguing in the past year that female cabinet ministers are just getting appointed for their gender, not their merit or qualifications.'

It wasn't that long ago that Alison Redford became the first Alberta premier to attend Pride. It's pretty heartwarming to see the three first out "MLGays" on stage at Pride this year. Woohoo!

foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

Nice!

foto van Edmonton City as Museum Project.
Edmonton City as Museum Project
3 juni om 15:04

One of the panelists on The Beautiful Game: Edmonton's Soccer Story is Tim Adams. Tim is the founder and organizer of Free Footie. He’s been volunteering his ti...me for the past 10 years to get kids in need playing soccer for free. In that time he’s helped over 8000 kids get active and pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into some of the cities most distressed neighbourhoods. Tim’s day job is working for CBC on the radio morning show. Tim has two young kids ages 4 and 2. His wife, Dana, a lawyer with Field Law, is also actively involved in organizing Free Footie.

Free Footie’s goal is simply to ensure any children that wants to play can and the organizers and volunteers do everything in their power to remove the barriers to participation. Commonly, people think the big barriers are registration fees and equipment, but for kids with little support the biggest challenge is actually transportation. What good is a registration fee and equipment if you can’t get to the sport to play?

That’s why Free Footie partners with 38 high needs school and start games right after the last bell of the day. This means that games are often within walking distance of other schools or bus can be provided straight from the school making it easier to round up the kids and get them to a match.

The program continues to grow because of demand, but also because Tim and the other volunteers of the program keep advocating to get the kids better access to sport.

More info about Free Footie is at freefootie.ca

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Oops! If you saw that survey link, please disregard it (I've now taken it down).

foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

Okay, I'm late to this party, but we need to talk about Hamilton! I've spent the last week listening to the cast recording non-stop. On one level, it's a hip-hop musical about the first US Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. On another level, it's a conversation about what it means to strive for something more, whether it's better to be relentless and loud or patient and passive. It brilliantly uses a cast of black, Latino, and Asian performers to reinterpret the legacy o...f an immigrant intellectual like Hamilton and the other founding fathers. And the music is sooo good.

Also it's free to borrow on your smartphone through the library if you download the Hoopla app!

It feels so vital, so relevant. And such a masterful way of letting more people feel like they own their own history. The performer who plays Thomas Jefferson - a black actor and rapper named Daveed Diggs - says in this video (around 7:20) that working on Hamilton is the only time he's felt particularly American.

And the guy who plays Hamilton's rival Aaron Burr (who eventually killed Hamilton in a duel) says, "He's made these dead white guys make sense to a bunch of black and brown people."

Who else feels like we need a musical this outstanding about our own stories? Have any of you had a chance to see it on Broadway? What do you think about the creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's choices? Let's discuss!

http://www.cbsnews.com/…/the-making-of-the-hamilton-cast-al…

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The making of the "Hamilton" cast album
How did a show about some "dead white guys" become a sensation? For anyone who can't get a ticket, here's a small sample of the songs, cast, and lyrics
cbsnews.com

Woohoo! Michael Phair is a gem. He's carved out so many spaces for Edmontonians who'd been left behind. It's fitting the park that carries his name used to be an under-loved spot too.

http://edmontonjournal.com/…/downtown-pocket-park-named-aft…

Downtown pocket park named after former city councillor Michael Phair
Edmonton recognized the work of its first openly-gay politician and a hard-working community advocate Thursday by naming a new park on 104 Street Michael Phair Park. “I’m very honoured,…
edmontonjournal.com

What could be more punk than learning about the history of punk 'zines, and making one together? Plus chowing down on some vegan snacks. Check it out tonight at the U of A.

https://www.facebook.com/events/522845224590857/

25MEI
The History of Punk! Volume III, Side A, Track III
Wo 18:30 in UTC-06Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
21 personen zijn geïnteresseerd · 9 personen gaan

It's too bad this apology came the same day as "elbowgate", because the Komagata Maru apology really did deserve the spotlight in our national conversation this week.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/…/komagata-maru-why-the-apology-matte…

Komagata Maru: Why the apology matters, more than a century later
Canadian Sikhs have been waiting more than a century for the federal government to formally apologize for detaining a boatload of Indian immigrants off the coast of Vancouver, but at long last, the apology will officially be included in the House of Commons records.
ctvnews.ca

What is the future of Chinatown in Edmonton? Will there be any Chinatowns left in the future?

Join in the Edmonton Chinatown Conference 2016 on June 11-12 at the University of Alberta to discuss!

http://www.cbaedmonton.com/#!chinatown-conference/wih5s

edmonton-cba | Chinatown Conference
Chinatown Conference
cbaedmonton.com

The Amiskwaciy History Series is back at the Stanley Milner Library downtown on May 19 for “Traditional Woman Teachings” by Dr. Diana Steinhauer!

foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

The City of Edmonton wants your help designing the future of its parks and open spaces.

There are public drop-in sessions where you can have your say:

Tuesday, May 24 — NE Edmonton...
6–8:30 pm
Italian Seniors Centre
9111 110 Ave NW

Wednesday, May 25 — NW Edmonton
6–8:30 pm
Central Lions Seniors Recreation Centre
11113 113 St NW

Thursday, May 26 — SE Edmonton
6–8:30 pm
Mill Woods Seniors & Multicultural Centre
2610 Hewes Way NW
(above the Mill Woods Library)

Monday, May 30 — SW Edmonton
6–8:30 pm
Harry Ainlay High School – Gymnasium
4350 111 St NW

Wednesday, June 1 — Downtown
6–8:30 pm
Stanley Milner Library – Edmonton Room
7 Sir Winston Churchill Square

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foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

Sigh. So, it turns out this discovery was likely not what it seemed. I hope the lesson this aspiring archaeologist takes away is the value of scientific rigour! The process is what matters. And I hope he keeps pursuing his research interests.

"The square in the CSA’s satellite images is probably an abandoned field, and another spot may be a small dry lake or clearing in the jungle, says archaeologist Ivan Šprajc. Gizmodo, in its updated story, has noted the same about the square structure."

http://www.wired.com/…/long-lost-mayan-city-teen-found-isn…/

That Long-Lost Mayan City a Teen Found Isn’t Lost … or a City
The supposed pyramid in satellite is more likely an abandoned field.
wired.com|Door Sarah Zhang

Note to young historians wondering where your curiosity could take you...

http://gizmodo.com/teen-discovers-lost-maya-city-using-anci…

Teen Discovers Lost Maya City Using Ancient Star Maps
Using an unprecedented technique of matching stars to the locations of temples on Earth, a 15-year-old Canadian student says he’s discovered a forgotten Maya city in Central America. Images from space suggest he may actually be onto something.
gizmodo.com|Door George Dvorsky

Woooah the Edmonton Regional Heritage Fair is so much fun. Curious kids exploring cool questions about Canada's past. I learned some stuff today myself: who knew beavers ate so many different things? Or that John A Macdonald and his first wife were cousins? Okay I'm sure many of you knew that. In which case, you were holding out on me.

If you want to see curious kids in action at next year's fair, you can volunteer as a judge! Head to http://www.edmontonheritagefair.org/

‪#‎ERHF2016‬

foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.
foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.
foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

Watching the pictures of the fire in Fort McMurray today, I keep thinking about Calgary in 2013. After the floods there, I interviewed a resident named Tamara Lee who was working to rebuild her riverside neighbourhood. She said one of the toughest parts was that even though most people got out safely, so many basements had been destroyed. And what do we keep in our basements? Photo albums, old memories... our histories.

It's so brutal to see so much destruction from the fire ...up north today, and so encouraging to see Albertans welcoming evacuees with open arms.

Donating to the Red Cross is one way to help:
https://donate.redcross.ca/ea-action/action…

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Donate to the Canadian Red Cross
I made a donation to the Canadian Red cross. Show your support, donate now!
donate.redcross.ca

Spare a thought for Abe Miller, whose son Tevi convinced him to help fill a slate of provincial Liberal candidates in 1955 by assuring Abe he wouldn't win. He did, of course, and added MLA to a resume that included lawyer, Alderman, and defender of civil rights and prisoner rehabilitation.

I was honoured to hear stories like this from Edmonton's Jewish history at yesterday's launch of "From Generation to Generation: Jewish Edmontonians as Heritage Builders." Thanks so much to Gillian Horwitz and all the other members of the Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta (JAHSENA) who've worked so hard to put this invaluable resource together for our community.

Copies available at Audreys!

foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.
foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.
foto van Edmonton's Historian Laureate.

Can't wait to check out the new Afrikan Diaspora History Library at the Prince of Wales Armoury!

Afrika Diaspora History Library
24 aprilEdmonton, Alberta, Canada

Welcome to our the African Diaspora History Library, located at Prince of Wales Armoury, In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.