Nellie McClung is perhaps the most famous early 20th century feminist, and is largely credited with securing Manitoba women with the right to vote in 1916. Numerous books, articles, and memorials have recounted her life and legacy. However, I recently attended a play here in Winnipeg (Fighting Days, by Wendy Lill) where a lesser-known women’s rights advocate took her rightful place in the spotlight.

Francis Beynon was born in Streetsville, Ontario and grew up on a farm in Manitoba after moving there as a young girl. In 1912, she became the first, full-time female editor of the Grain Growers' Guide, a popular journal published for Western farmers. The Guide served as a way to connect farmers with each other and the outside world, with readers frequently sharing information and opinions through their letters to the editor.

It was in the pages of her column “The Country Homemakers,” where Beynon concentrated her fight to advance women’s rights. Amid answering questions about stain removal and child care, Beynon discussed a number of women’s rights and issues – among them education, enfranchisement, equality, and independence. “The Country Homemakers” became a space where women expressed ideas, thoughts, and opinions, and different notions of women’s rights were shared and popularized.

When the Great War broke out in 1914, Beynon began to distinguish herself as a radical feminist. Most suffragists — many of whom had loved ones in the war — were ardent supporters of the war. They were pro-British, nationalistic, and their desire to win the war began to overshadow the women’s cause. They supported conscription as a means to win the war quickly, and were leery of “foreign-born women” (ie non-British) who did not share their patriotic zeal.

Beynon, on the other hand, was a pacifist and continued to advocate for women’s suffrage on the basis of equality. She fought for enfranchisement for all women, not just for Canadian or British women, like some of her counterparts. Her radical views were unpopular among many and, in 1917 she resigned from The Guide and moved to New York. There, she joined her sister and brother-in-law who were also forced to leave Winnipeg because of their pacifism.

Despite being front and centre of the suffrage movement, Francis Beynon drifted into obscurity and has been largely omitted from the historical record. As the director of Fighting Days wrote in the program notes, she has become “a mere historical footnote.”

Learn more:

The above excerpt from Beynon's column was taken from Peel's Prairie Provinces - a fantastic resource for finding material on Western Canada. You can find more of Beynon's work in their digitized collection of the Grain Growers' Guide at Peel.Library.ualberta.ca/Newspapers/GGG

You can read more women's letters in the book A Great Movement Underway: Women and The Grain Growers’ Guide, 1908-1928, edited and introduced by Barbara E. Kelcey and Angela E. Davis, 253 pages, 1997. A copy of the book has been made available online by the Manitoba Historical Society.

With budgets tighter than ever, and faced with an increasingly busy and demanding audience, museums have been forced to get creative with their programming. Museums are getting pretty clever, but I think this event takes the cake.

If you live in Ottawa, you have to check out the Diefenbunker’s Valentine’s Event “Love Under Cover.” For an evening of “covert affairs,” you and your sweetheart can take a tour of the museum, listen to an oral history of people who fell in love in the bunker, enjoy a gourmet meal, and watch a Cold War-era film.

Dessert features include "Fallout Framboise" and "Liquid Courage" truffles.

Single? No problem! As they point out in their blog, you can sit at the mixer table, where maybe you will “find love in a hopeless place!”

A concrete fallout shelter and Cold War hysteria might not be traditional romantic elements, but you have to admit, the Diefenbunker sounds like one of the sweetest places to be this Valentine’s Day.

Not in Ottawa but still a history lover? Check out our Calendar of Events to see what’s happening in your community.

Last night, I attended the book launch of Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story, a graphic novel by David Robertson and illustrated by Scott Henderson.

Sugar Falls tells the true story of Betty Ross, an Elder from Cross Lake First Nation who is a residential school survivor. Betty’s story is remarkable and at the same time far too common of Aboriginal children forced into the residential school system. At the age of 4 or 5, Betty was thrown out by her own mother (herself a victim of residential schools) in the middle of winter. Betty managed to find shelter under an overturned canoe, until a man came along and found her. She found peace with her new adoptive family, until she was once again uprooted and put into a residential school.

In Sugar Falls, Betty shares her story with Daniel, a teenage boy completing a homework assignment, and April, Betty’s granddaughter. We learn of the horrors she witnessed, the abuses she endured, and the spiritual teachings from her adoptive father that helped her survive.

Sugar Falls continues on the themes addressed in Robertson’s previous graphic novels, The Life of Helen Betty Osborne and the 7 Generations series. All deal with different aspects of colonization and shows how both Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals continue to struggle with its legacy.

For Robertson, these books are not the end goal — they are the vehicle through which he educates others about these important histories. He continues this work through various speaking engagements and reaches a diverse audience — from young to old, Aboriginal to non-Aboriginal to new Canadians — all of whom still have a lot to learn about Canada's colonial past.

To learn more about David Robertson, visit Darobertson.ca. His books can be purchased through HighWater Press, a trade imprint of educational publisher Portage & Main Press.

Last night, I watched the second episode of CBC’s new miniseries 8th Fire. If you’re not already watching, I highly recommend you check it out — past episodes can be found online here.

8th Fire is an edgy, provocative look at Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations in Canada. Its subtitle: “Aboriginal Peoples, Canada & the Way Forward” establishes the show’s purpose — to better understand each other and work together to improve relations in the future.

What sets 8th Fire apart is the positive and proactive approach it takes to addressing the issues. Host Wab Kinew was up front with the audience from the start. He said it’s not about making non-Aboriginal people feel guilty; it’s about both sides learning about each other and taking ownership of the future together.

What I like about 8th Fire is that it does a great job of weaving history and present time together. Too often, Aboriginal history is contained to the pre-Confederation era, with little consideration of what happened after, or how history influences the present. 8th Fire portrays Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations as a continuous path, which is informed by the past, but whose course can easily be changed by working together in the present.

Overall, 8th Fire suggests that relations are improving and that there is great hope for future generations. Our students are receiving better education about Aboriginal history and the tools they need to be better citizens to each other. Project of Heart, which was created by award-winning teacher Sylvia Smith and featured on last night’s episode, is a great example of this.

However, I don’t think it’s enough to educate only our children. Adults, many of whom have had little exposure to Aboriginal history, also need to be educated. Our parents, employers, and leaders also need to become better informed and understanding of Aboriginal issues, so they can set good examples for our children and break the cycle we’ve formed.

8th Fire featured a few programs aimed at doing just this. Last night, we followed John Lagimodiere, owner of ACS Aboriginal Consulting Services. He was delivering a program to a mix of non-Aboriginal participants, to educate them on Aboriginal history and issues. We watched as he dealt with stereotypes and misconceptions (“I do pay taxes,” Wab Kinew assured us) and started to change the attitudes of even the gruffest and most reluctant of the participants.

There are still a lot of problems we need to fix, but I think community and educational programs like John Lagimodiere’s will be crucial to rebuilding relationships with Aboriginal people.

The four-part 8th Fire airs on CBC on Thursdays at 9pm. You can also go online to find more stories, videos, interactive features and lots of conversation (teachers: there is a lot of great material for the classroom)!

From one of Canada’s gravest disasters, came an enduring friendship between two cities and a touching Christmastime tradition that continues to this day.

The Halifax Explosion occurred during the First World War, in the morning of December 6, 1917. In the Halifax Harbour, the Mont-Blanc collided with another ship, the Imo. Although the collision was not severe, a fire broke out on the Mont-Blanc, which was carrying munitions to be brought overseas.

Halifax was a booming wartime city, and labourers, sailors, merchants, and onlookers soon gathered around the harbor to watch the incident. Sadly, gravity of the situation was unknown to many, and the Mont-Blanc soon exploded, killing 1600 people immediately and injuring 9000 more. The explosion also created a shockwave, damaging buildings, homes, and the city’s infrastructure.

News of the disaster was quick to spread, and communities were eager to provide aid and relief to the city. The city of Boston was one of the first responders, sending medical personnel and supplies within a day. Schools and churches in Boston raised money for the disaster and played a key role in aiding the reconstruction of the city.

Every year since 1971, Nova Scotia sends a Christmas tree to Boston, to thank them for their help during the Halifax Explosion of 1917. The tradition is an important historical reminder and commemoration of the disaster, as well as a celebration of a lasting friendship between Halifax and Boston. In both cities, communities come together (whether cutting down the Christmas tree in Halifax, or lighting it in Boston), to remember their shared past.

Canada’s History has announced the recipients of the Governor General’s History Awards for Excellence in Teaching and I’m so excited for all the teachers and students involved. Congratulations to the recipients: Raymond Bédard, Sarah Beech and Chad Howie, Shantelle Browning-Morgan, Flora Fung, Sylvia Smith and Andrew Stickings.

This fall, I had the privilege of visiting some of our recipients in the classroom and it didn't take long to see why these teachers were selected for the award. In all of the classrooms I visited, the teachers were passionate, students were enthusiastic and a mutual respect between the two was obvious.

One of this year’s recipients, Sylvia Smith, has developed a project to teach students about the history and legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (IRSs). Students learn about the conditions of residential schools, conduct research on one particular school, decorate small wooden tiles to commemorate the lives lost as a result of the system, learn from elders or IRS survivors about Aboriginal traditions and culture, and learn about the legacy of residential schools by participating in a social justice activity.

Project of Heart is method of education, as well as commemoration. It guides students to learn with their mind, body, heart, and spirit, which unites Western and Indigenous approaches to learning. The legacy of the residential school system is poorly understood by many Canadians, which contributes to many problems that Aboriginals face today. It's encouraging to see that Project of Heart, which is being used in schools across Canada, is trying to change that.

On the day that I visited Sylvia’s class, Chris Herodier, a residential school survivor, came to speak to the class. Right away, I could see that the students were active participants in their learning. The chairs were arranged in a circle, each student had a task – introducing the guests; preparing or presenting a gift – and each came prepared with questions for the speaker. Having Chris share his experience was a very powerful way of learning and the students were visibly affected by his stories.

In speaking with Sylvia after class, she told me about some of the social justice activities her students have been involved with through Project of Heart. Students have attended hearings and tribunals, participated in rallies, and written letters to newspapers and politicians for a variety of Aboriginal issues. What’s key about these actions, is that many continue after class or even after the students have graduated.

Project of Heart is an amazing project for many reasons, but two in particular stand out for me. The first is that it incorporates an Aboriginal perspective and approach to learning. With an understanding of Aboriginal traditions and culture, students see the contrast between Western and Indigenous learning and better understand the tragic impact that residential schools had on these children’s lives.

Second, the students are applying their knowledge of the past to issues that are continuing in the present. When talking about history, we are so quick to use the cliché “you need to understand the past in order to understand the present,” but how many of us are actually applying this knowledge in a tangible way? These students are empowered by their understanding of the past and have become active citizens in our society. To me, this is the best use of history, and it's very encouraging to think of the strong, caring students that are in our schools today.

Thank you to all of the teachers who are making a difference in our classrooms. Be sure to visit CanadasHistory.ca/Awards/Teaching to learn about Sylvia Smith and all of the other recipients who are teaching with heart.

One of my jobs here at Canada’s History is to keep our Calendar of Events up to date. I really like this task, as I get to dig around the web for fun and innovative history-related activities and learn more about the people and organizations who host such events. There really are a lot of cool events happening all across the country, and I find myself wishing that teletransportation existed so that I could attend more of them.

This week, I was adding a colloquium that’s being hosted by the University of Calgary’s History Graduate Students' Union, and I wanted to give them a shout-out for what looks like a great event. It can be tough to put on conferences and lectures, but I think these students have done a great job already, and here’s why:

• Timely topic: 2011 is the 70th anniversary of Japanese attacks on the British and Americans, and so this colloquium will focus on these events. One talk will look at Canadian soldiers and the Battle of Hong Kong, which occurred 70 years ago this December (for more on the Battle of Hong Kong, be sure to check out the Dec-Jan issue of Canada’s History magazine).
• Collaboration: The Student’s Union is partnering with the Calgary Military Museums' Society. This not only increases their reach and audience, but ensures a richer discussion and the inclusion of different perspectives and experiences.
• Affordability and the lure of food:  Admission to the evening colloquium is $40 for the public and includes a steak dinner! People are more likely to pay for an event when they get something tangible (like a steak) in return.
• Encouraging new audiences: They are offering discounted rates to students and veterans. Again, this is a great way to get more people involved and to ensure that multiple perspectives are represented.

Kudos to the University of Calgary’s History Graduate Students' Union for their great work in planning this event. For anyone interested in attending, the event takes place on December 8, from 6:30-9:00, but you must RSVP by December 1, 2011.

If you’re in the Calgary area, you should definitely check out this event (and if you do, be sure to come back and tell us how it was)!

Yesterday, I received the great privilege of attending We Day in Winnipeg. We Day is a special one-day event to educate youth about social justice issues and to celebrate the important work that is already being done. We Day was started by Free the Children in 2007 and this year was held in 5 Canadian cities.

We Day is just one event that’s part of a larger initiative called We Schools in Action, which encourages sustained education and action for social issues in our schools. Tickets to We Day were free, but attendees had to take some kind of social action — whether it was raising money or awareness — to earn their entrance to the event.  

I got to the MTS Centre just as the doors were opening, so I was able to watch as 1000s of youth piled into the arena. Almost everyone was decked out for the event — wearing matching t-shirts and face-paint, carrying signs, and glowing with excitement. Deborah and I decided that the best t-shirts were just a few rows in front of us. They were neon green and said simply on the back “Aujourd’we.”

Anticipation was mounting, and after learning the We Dance, getting a few tips TV etiquette (the event was also streamed live over the web), and a 10 second countdown, the live event was underway.

It was a star-studded day with celebrities, musicians, politicians, and humanitarians all coming together to share the same message: our world has many problems and it’s our responsibility, and opportunity, to take action — change begins with one person.

Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, is case and point. At just 12 years old, Craig read about a child slave named Iqbul who was killed after speaking out against the injustices he suffered. Craig, along with a few of his classmates, took action by writing to politicians, raising money, and increasing awareness against child labour. They called their organization Free the Children, which has since built hundreds of schools in over 45 developing countries.

Craig has since inspired many others to get involved with Free the Children, including Mia Farrow, Al Gore, Rick Hansen, and members of the group Hedley, all of whom shared their experiences with the 16,000 youth who were in attendance yesterday.

Social action can be an overwhelming concept, but We Day did a really great job of showing us how change can start and grow. Another guest speaker was Winnipeg’s own Hannah Taylor, who started the Ladybug Foundation at age 8 after witnessing a homeless man eating from the garbage. Today, the Ladybug Foundation has raised over 2 million dollars to provide food and shelter for Canada’s homeless. Her message hit us hard and was soon launched into cyberspace via social media: “don’t be afraid of homelessness – be afraid of a society that doesn’t care.”

Former Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke in the morning and also gave We Day a local flavour. While attendees may have been shocked to learn from Mia Farrow that many children in developing countries don’t have adequate access to education, Paul Martin reminded us that we have a similar problem in our own country.

Paul Martin, who founded the Martin Education Initiative in 2008 to improve Aboriginal education in Canada, shared some staggering statistics with us. Aboriginal students who live on reserves face a 60% drop-out rate, while the drop-out rate for those who live off reserves is still 40%. He also taught the audience that these schools lack many resources we take for granted – like teachers, gyms, and science labs. He encouraged the youth to bring the Free the Children movement home to address these issues our own citizens face.

I didn’t think Paul Martin was going to be able to rally the kids as much as the speakers who preceded him, like Mia Farrow and Al Gore. I didn’t think he had the same star-power and his message was somewhat less glamorous. Instead of encouraging kids to travel to Africa or India, he told us to start in our own backyards and to bring the Free the Children movement to our own communities.

I, for one, was so proud of the response Paul Martin received. He had the kids engaged and they erupted into cheers and applause several times during his speech.

Throughout the day, the speakers kept talking about the power of strength in numbers. We were told about the many movements that began with just one person. Imagine, we were asked, how great an impact the 16,000 youth in attendance that day could have on the world?

True. But I couldn’t help but first think of what an impact those 16,000 youth would have on our own community.

There have been a number of stories in the news recently that have left me feeling unsettled about the role of Remembrance Day in our country. There was the infamous poppy thief and the cenotaph that was recently vandalized in Toronto. There was the story about the pub crawl in Saint John, which invited students to “to remember the brave men and women that fought for our country” by visiting 11 bars in 11 hours. And right now, crews in New Brunswick are dismantling Mount Allison’s Memorial Library, which was built as a tribute to the students who served and died in the First World War.

It’s hard to say if these stories indicate a broader trend that Canadians are starting to forget the significance of Remembrance Day. In fact, I’m comforted by the response of many ordinary Canadians who are outraged by these abuses and misuses of Remembrance Day.

Whether or not people agree with Canada’s current military policies, this should be a time to remember the individuals who gave up their homes, families and, in many cases, lives for something they believed in. To honour their memory, the best thing we can do is become active participants in Remembrance Day events. Remembrance can take on many forms, so I’ve created a list of the different ways you can spend this November 11th.

Attend a Remembrance Day ceremony

Every community holds a Remembrance Day ceremony and many hold more than one. Ceremonies often take place at a local cenotaph, cemetery, government building, legion, or military base.Veterans Affairs Canada has put together a comprehensive list of Remembrance Day activities, so you can easily find one in your community. You can also consult this interactive map.

Visit a local museum

Community museums or heritage organizations often offer special programming around Remembrance Day. They might have a special exhibit, tour, lecture, speaker, or film screening. Check our calendar events to see what’s going on in your community.

Watch the National Remembrance Day Ceremony on television

Every year, Canada hosts the National Remembrance Day Ceremony from Ottawa. You can watch the ceremony live through all major television broadcasters. You can find more information, including a detailed schedule of events, from the Royal Canadian Legion.

Learn through an online exhibit

Virtual exhibits are a great way to explore a subject in depth and there are a lot of great ones to choose from:

The Canadian War Museum. Canada's national war museum has a number of online exhibits to explore.

Library and Archives Canada. Likewise, Library and Archives Canada has over a dozen virtual exhibits relating to the theme of Military and Peacekeeping.

McCord Museum. The McCord Museum offers a number of “web tours,” which allow you to watch a short presentation on a topic and collection, or browse through the items yourself. For example, check out “Wanted! 500,000 Canadians for WWI,” or “World War II Through Cartoons.”

Find many more virtual exhibits at the Virtual Museum of Canada or Canadian Archival Information Network websites.

Watch a film

It should be easy to find a documentary or film on television, or you can check out the National Film Board’s collection. Established in 1939 to help garner support for WWII, the NFB has a large collection of both archival films and more recent documentaries. You can narrow your search by topic, and find films related to different conflicts and themes in Canada’s military history.

Hear from a veteran

There are a number of oral history projects underway that share and preserve the knowledge of our veterans. To hear our veteran's stories, you can visit The Memory Project or Veterans Affairs Canada. Many of these initiatives are also occurring at a community level, so be sure to check with your local museum or archive, as well.

Take the Remembrance Challenge

In keeping with the times, Veterans Affairs Canada has brought Remembrance Day into the digital world. Visit their website to create a mashup, scrapbook, or decorate your social media page to show your friends that you remember.

As always, feel free to leave us a comment to tell us what you'll be doing, or if you have an activity to add to the list.

It's been a month since my internship ended and I'm happy to report that I've lived to blog another day.

Whatever it is that needs to happen in the heritage field to secure a job — the planets aligned or some good Karma came my way — happened and I've been kept on at Canada’s History.

I'll be continuing on here as the new Community Engagement Coordinator. It's a perfectly and purposefully ambiguous title to reflect the diversity of my role. In a nutshell, I'm here to support and promote all of the great work that goes on in our communities — mostly in our schools and in our local museums and heritage institutions.

From now on, I’ll use my blog to talk about community events, tell you about what’s going on in our museums and heritage sites, share resources and fun websites, and anything else that I come across!

For example, today I want to make sure you all know about Culture Days, which is taking place across Canada this weekend. As written on their website, “Culture Days is a collaborative pan-Canadian volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.” What this means for you, is that there are a ton of fun and FREE activities taking place in your community over the next few days. We all know that history is a cornerstone of our culture, so you can be sure that your local museums and heritage sites will be participating.

I’ve added a few of my favourite history-related activities to our calendar of events, and you can also browse through all of the events taking place on the Culture Days website.

I’m hoping to go to the Manitoba Museum on Saturday night for their Madmen-inspired Mocktail Party. In addition to hearing some 1960’s jazz, there are going to be vintage decorations and costumes from the Costume Museum of Canada, a theatre production, and late-night tours of the museum! Who doesn’t love being at a museum after hours?!

So, make sure you check out Culture Days in your community — and be sure to report back and let us know what you did this weekend!