Please see this guest post from Oxford Branch of Ontario Ancestors:
“Please join the Oxford Branch of Ontario Ancestors for a Zoom meeting on Monday, May 8th at 7 pm for the presentation: The Hawke Papers and Anthony Hawke, Chief Emigrant Agent 1833-1864
Speaker Wendy Cameron will begin an introduction to the Hawke Papers with their 21st century return to Ontario, a wonderful tale of archival good fortune. A highlight is six large volumes of letters chronicling government aid to immigrants in every year from 1835 into 1869. Other treasures include ten volumes of registers (lists) kept at Toronto. They record immigrants as they arrived in the city and left for a next destination in Canada West/Ontario, and they date between 1857 and 1892.
Please visit our website at https:\\oxford.ogs.on.ca to pre-register. Everyone is welcome.”
Barn Raising, Threshing and Quilting Bees: The Stories Farm Diaries Tell, will be presented by Catharine Wilson, with stories from her recent book, “Being Neighbours,” about barn raisings and quilting bees in Ontario, 1830-1960. Employing farm diaries, she takes the audience into families’ daily lives, the intricacies of the labour exchange, their workways, feasts, and hospitality to uncover the subtle social politics of mutual dependency, the expectations neighbours had of each other, their relationships, and ways of managing conflict and crisis. Dr. Wilson is a History Professor, University of Guelph, and Director of the Rural Diary Archive website.
This meeting will be a virtual Zoom meeting on Monday, April 10, 2023 at 7pm.
All are welcome to attend. Pre-registration is required.
This guest post is provided by the Middlesex Centre Archives.
There annual Heritage Fair will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 10am – 4pm. The event will take place at the Delaware Community Centre, 2652 Gideon Dr., Delaware ON N0l 1E0
If you wish to participate in the fair complete the Registration Form.
Join us for Emancipation Day at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site – an annual celebration of hope and freedom commemorating the end of slavery in the British Empire. This year is extra special as we unveil a new name that better reflects the true history of the site – don’t miss out!
Everyone is welcome for this free, fun and educational day featuring music, poetry and presentations. Seating is available or you can bring your own lawn chair.
Can’t join in person? We’ll be sharing a livestream on the Ontario Heritage Trust’s social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Speakers and Performers:
Debut of new name –Join us for the unveiling of the new site name at Noon
Tracy Cain – Gospel musician Tracy Cain is a fifth-generation Black Canadian with roots in North Buxton, St. Catharines and the Queen’s Bush settlement. Her warm, smooth vocal stylings are influenced by gospel, jazz and R&B.
Amaria Phillips –Amaria Phillips is the co-founder and President of Concordia University’s Black Student Union. She’ll present two original works of poetry.
Terrence Vick –Great-great-grandson of Josiah Henson, Reverend Terrence Vick will bring remarks on behalf of the Henson family.
Kwame Delfish –An artist and designer commissioned by the Royal Canadian Mint to design the Underground Railroad commemorative coin for Black History Month 2022, Delfish will speak about his creative process and his work in commemorating Black history and the Underground Railroad.
Susan Cooke Soderberg –A public historian and freelance writer from Maryland, Soderberg is the author of an upcoming biography entitled The Real Josiah Henson: One Man’s Journey from Enslavement to Celebrity.
Heritage Singers Canada –A crowd favourite, Heritage Singers Canada return to Emancipation Day to conduct a musical journey from slavery to freedom.
An Enduring Dawn: Dresden’s Black presence in the 19th century –A photographic exhibit highlighting the role people of African descent have played in the early development of the town of Dresden.
Culture Craft –An art activity for kids.
Lunch available for purchase, with food and desserts from Dresden Sidestreets Youth Centre.
About the Ontario Heritage Trust
The Ontario Heritage Trust (the Trust) is an agency of the Government of Ontario. The Trust conserves, interprets and shares Ontario’s heritage. We conserve provincially significant cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage, interpret Ontario’s history, celebrate its diversity and educate Ontarians of its importance in our society. The Trust envisions an Ontario where we conserve, value and share the places and landscapes, histories, traditions and stories that embody our heritage, now and for future generations.
Please join the Oxford County Libraries as the once again celebrate Oxford County’s Local History!
Mark Saturday, April 23, 2022 as the day to enjoy seminars, presentations and stories from Oxford County.
Experience collections, exhibits & featured stories from archives, museums & heritage groups from around Oxford County, as we celebrate our local history. Watch Oxford County Library Facebook Live & YouTube Channel throughout the day as focused presentations bring to light the story of Oxford.
Hello Everyone, This guest post is provided by Oxford County Libraries.
Your invitation to participate in Oxford Local History Day 2022!
Oxford County Library will again be taking the spirit of Oxford Local History Day online with our 2nd annual event celebrating the history of Oxford County.
On Saturday, April 23 we are hoping to again showcase a full day of virtual local history presentations that will bring to light the story of Oxford. Experience collections, exhibits & featured stories from archives, museums & heritage groups from around Oxford County.
Are you interested in telling the story of Oxford? Consider creating a short video or a narrated slide presentation to provide education around your collections and promote your organization that could be featured on Oxford County Library social media sometime during Oxford Local History Day.
Explore our outstanding submissions from 2021 on the Oxford County Library YouTube Channel:
If you would like to participate in this initiative, please indicate your willingness to do so by Monday, March 28. Video presentation submission deadline is Thursday, April 14.
Oxford County. We’ve made history!
Contact: VICKI BRENNER Digital & Local History Technician | Oxford County Library 519-485-2505 ext. 3280 | vbrenner@ocl.net
This guest post is from one of our members, George Calder.
George has this to say about Tim Falconer’s newest publication:
The author is Tim Falconer who is familiar with the Yukon but lives in Toronto. The book is a great record of the growth of the game of hockey in Canada. But it also focuses on the assistance given to it by Joseph Whiteside Boyle and the hockey team from the Yukon managed by him that challenged for the Stanley Cup in 1905. A great read.
Join a ragtag group of misfits from Dawson City as they scrap to become the 1905 Stanley Cup champions and cement hockey as Canada’s national pastime An underdog hockey team traveled for three and a half weeks from Dawson City to Ottawa to play for the Stanley Cup in 1905. The Klondikers’ eagerness to make the journey, and the public’s enthusiastic response, revealed just how deeply, and how quickly, Canadians had fallen in love with hockey. After Governor General Stanley donated a championship trophy in 1893, new rinks appeared in big cities and small towns, leading to more players, teams, and leagues. And more fans. When Montreal challenged Winnipeg for the Cup in December 1896, supporters in both cities followed the play-by-play via telegraph updates. As the country escaped the Victorian era and entered a promising new century, a different nation was emerging. Canadians fell for hockey amid industrialization, urbanization, and shifting social and cultural attitudes. Class and race-based British ideals of amateurism attempted to fend off a more egalitarian professionalism. Ottawa star Weldy Young moved to the Yukon in 1899, and within a year was talking about a Cup challenge. With the help of Klondike businessman Joe Boyle, it finally happened six years later. Ottawa pounded the exhausted visitors, with”One-Eyed” Frank McGee scoring an astonishing 14 goals in one game. But there was no doubt hockey was now the national pastime.
If you wish to purchase this book you can do so through the GoodReads website or through amazon.ca.
The Oxford Historical Society and the Woodstock Museum, NHS are pleased to once again offer this publication for your reading pleasure.
This wonderful book tells the story of Woodstock Ontario, from 1799 until more modern times.
The Village that Straddled a Swamp will be available for purchase at our booth at the upcoming Arts Market in the old Dairy Capital building. It is $25.00 (taxes included), cash only.
This publication can also be purchased by contacting the Society at info@oxhs.ca or at the Woodstock Museum, NHS gift shop.
In honour of the re-release of Doug Symons’ popular book “The Village that Straddled a Swamp”, the Woodstock Museum would like your help in reminiscing about a favourite piece of writing or photo from the book, and also if you have memories of Doug personally you’d like to share.
Please look through the book, choose an article, a photo, a quote or two about a certain local history site or story you find meaningful or interesting to you and share that story with the Museum. We would like to do a short bit of filming to pay tribute to Doug’s writings in a specific local history way. Some memories may be included in an upcoming exhibit related to “The Village that Straddle a Swamp”.
If you want to participate but are unsure of what to highlight we have some prepared prompts for anyone not familiar with the book. A voice recording may also be an option. If possible, we would like to set up a time for you to come into the museum during the first week or two of November.
Please join the Oxford Historical Society at our next Zoom meeting as Elaine Becker discusses the research and stories that went into So They Came: Young Men Farmers.
The presentation will take place on Wednesday, October 27 at 6:30pm via Zoom. The Zoom information is listed at the bottom of this post.
Excerpt from the book: “Destination Woodstock – The stories of young men who left home and family to make a new way of life in Canada is both thrilling and encouraging. They were not outstanding in any other way than that they had a hope for the future. They came from families facing untold challenges of unemployment, illness and death, as well as the lack of hope for the future”
Learn about the role that the Salvation Army played in bringing the immigrants to Canada, what was involved in researching Burnside Lodge, tracing family members, creating the list of immigrants and many other aspects of the book.
The Zoom link will open approximately 10 minutes before the start time of a meeting
For all Zoom meetings use this ID#: 81906248857, no password is required.
If you have pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca.
