QAHN's 2021 Heritage Talks Online presents
"Crystal Gazing: Building Exhibition Spaces in Montreal, 1855-1882," with Rod MacLeod
Thursday, February 11, 2021
7:00-8:00 p.m.
In 1874, Samuel Butler famously disparaged Montreal as a cultural backwater because he found a classical statue locked in a closet in the Natural History museum. In fact, the city was in the midst of a multi-front campaign to establish permanent venues for public collections of fine art, natural history, and industrial design, as well as for musical performances. These forces crystallized (pun intended) in the infamous Crystal Palace, site of the 1860 provincial exhibition and focus of much political controversy. Often dismissed as a white elephant and architectural disappointment, the Crystal Palace project enabled such key Victorian personalities as John William Dawson, Brown Chamberlin, James Ferrier, Francis Fulford, Benaiah Gibb, and Henry Bulmer to set Montreal on its course as a cultural capital and to position St. Catherine Street as the city’s cultural heart.
Rod MacLeod is the current editor of the Quebec Heritage News. He has written extensively on the history of Montreal, particularly its cultural and educational institutions. He co-edited Montreal: the History of a North American City (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018) and is completing High Ground: Mount Royal and the Rise of Anglo-Protestant Montreal, 1816-1884.
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QAHN's 2021 Heritage Talks Online presents
"Mr. Allbee Comes to Canada," with Grant Myers
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
7:00-8:00 p.m.
When Eleazer Allbee of Rockingham, Vermont died in Stanstead, Quebec in 1864, he left an enigmatic epitaph that spoke of exile and bitter disappointment in the country of his birth. This talk will explore what we know about Mr. Allbee’s life and his reasons for coming to Canada during one of the most tumultuous periods in American history.
Grant Myers received his academic training in anthropology and archaeology at Carleton University and the University of British Columbia. He now serves as the President of QAHN and is a manager with CEDEC (Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation). His interests include social history, ethnohistory, experimental archaeology, folklore, writing, wilderness canoeing, and mountaineering. Grant lives in Austin, Quebec.
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QAHN's 2021 Heritage Talks Online presents
"Colonization Efforts of the 20th Century: Lawrence Colony Revisited," with Jody Robinson
Sunday, February 21, 2021
1:00-2:00 p.m.
As a result of the economic hardship of the Great Depression, there was a back-to-the-land movement in Canada that advocated for the settlement of impoverished people onto tracts of land with the view that they would be able to become self-sufficient, much like the settlers of the 19th century. Within this context, the Eastern Townships Protestant Colonization Association was established in 1935, in conjunction with the government and the Anglican Church. The Association’s primary area of operation was to place needy families on previously unsettled lots in Newport Township. Initially referred to as Newport Colony, it became Lawrence Colony in 1937. By 1940, 45 families had been settled in the Colony but after a honeymoon period of sorts in the 1940s, the administration of support efforts, land titles, and taxes was fraught with confusion, inefficiency, and disappointment.
Jody Robinson has always been interested in the history of the Eastern Townships. She has a Master’s in History from the Université de Sherbrooke. In 2006, she was hired as the archivist for the Eastern Townships Resource Centre, an organization committed to the preservation of the heritage of the Eastern Townships. For over a decade, Jody has worked with a number of heritage organizations in the Eastern Townships on a variety of projects.
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QAHN's 2021 Heritage Talks Online presents
"The Morrin Centre: Highlighting Historic Spaces to Create a Dynamic Community Space," with
Barry McCullough
Thursday, February 25, 2021
7:00-8:00 p.m.
The building known today as the Morrin Centre was completed in 1812 as the Quebec Common Gaol. After the closure of the prison in 1867, the building was reconfigured to house Morrin College. After the college closed in 1902, the building sat largely vacant and neglected for the better part of a century.
A major restoration project took place from 2004 to 2012, an initiative made possible through a mix of private and public funding, with contributions from all three levels of government. Driven by community members, the spark was there to create a multi-faceted cultural centre for the region’s English-speaking community.
Barry McCullough is the Executive Director of the Morrin Centre. He is originally from the Fredericton, New Brunswick area. He has over a decade’s experience working with linguistic minority communities in Canada, including with Francophone communities in Alberta. Barry has been with the Morrin Centre for over 10 years.
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