Family Leave Documentary Launches October 19th

Canada has the best paid maternity leave and general family leave provisions in the world, due to the combined efforts of unionists, feminists and political progressives. Preserving their voices and honouring their achievements were big motivations in the Workers History Museum’s Family Leave Project.

We are pleased to announce that after three hard-working years the documentary, A Struggle to Remember: Fighting for our Families is finally ready to launch!

Join Us for the Launch and Panel Discussion:

Date: Friday October 19, 2012

Doors Open at: 7:00 p.m.

Location: SAW Gallery (67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa, ON)

Tickets: FREE!

The film runs for 20 minutes and will be screened in both English and French. The screening will be followed with a panel discussion featuring film director Aaron Floresco and producer Arthur Carkner; former CUPW president Jean Claude Parrot, and Carleton University law professor Rosemary Warskett.

This event is open to the public. There will be complimentary refreshments and a Cash Bar during this event.

Watch the official trailer NOW! 

Reviews from the Edmonton Pre-Screening:

The film had an early screening in Edmonton on June 13, 2012 at the Alberta Labour History Conference. It was shown in a historic theatre with several other labour-themed documentaries to an enthusiastic audience of 160 participants.

Dr. James Weir (History Department, University of Alberta) who attended the film night, reported that there were many positive comments for the film following the screening, and no negative ones. A number of attendees came up after to discuss future distribution with him and with Aaron Floresco (the video’s director) of PastPerfect Productions in Winnipeg.

Oneil Carlier, an audience member, said he enjoyed the video a lot and was particularly interested in the mix of current and historic union leaders and activists portrayed seamlessly in the same struggle.

Buy the DVD:

The film is available in both English and French.

Price: $20.00

To pre-order a copy of the DVD email info@workershistorymuseum.ca

Follow the progress of the documentary and screening dates on Twitter using hashtag #FamilyLeaveFilm

For more information on Aaron Floresco and Past Perfect Productions visit: http://pastperfectpro.com/ 

Tell us your memories of Britannia Park

Photo from the City of Ottawa Archives

 

Established in 1900 by the Ottawa Electric Railway as a "Trolley Park,” Britannia Park has been a fixture in the social and cultural life of Ottawa for over a hundred years. We are now collecting its history and need your help. 

Did you attend dances, concerts, church or company picnics at the park?  Did you learn to swim at the beach?  Which big bands did you see in the old " Annex"?   What events did you attend at "Lakeside Gardens"?  What stories do you have to share about riding those old trolley cars to the park?

We are looking to collect your stories, photos and artifacts of the park's past.  If you would like to share these memories with us we would love to hear from you.

Workers History Museum

Post Box 4461, Station E Ottawa, ON K1S 5B4 

info@workershistorymuseum.ca

Photo from the City of Ottawa Archives

 Racontez-nous vos souvenirs du parc Britannia

Créé en 1900 par la compagnie de chemin de fer électrique d’Ottawa comme «parc à trolley», le parc Britannia fait partie depuis plus d’une centaine d’années maintenant de la vie sociale et culturelle de la ville d’Ottawa. Nous préparons ces jours-ci son historique, et à cette fin nous avons besoin de votre aide.

Avez-vous assisté dans le parc à des bals, concerts, pique-niques de votre église ou  entreprise? Avez-vous appris à nager à la plage du parc? Quel orchestre avez-vous vu dans la vieille «Annexe»? À quels spectacles ou événements avez-vous assistés dans les «Jardins Lakeside»? Quelles histoires pouvez-vous partager avec nous sur vos voyages à bord des vieux trolleys pour vous rendre au parc?

Nous faisons appel à votre aide pour recueillir des histoires, photos ou objets sur le passé de ce parc. Si vous avez quelque chose à contribuer, alors faites-nous signe!

Musée de l'histoire ouvrière

Case postale 4461, Succ. E, Ottawa (ON) K1S 5B4 

info@workershistorymuseum.ca

WHM volunteers in the news...Lebreton Dig

On August 21, three of our volunteers attended the unveiling at City Hall of the finds discovered during an archeological dig which took place at Lebreton Flats over the summer as part of the environmental assessment of the City of Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit System.

The most interesting item was an 18^th century cavalry sword that was found under what would have been a back porch. WHM volunteer and heritage advisor Ken Clavette did an interview for CBC Television (watch it now) and Metro News (read it now) regarding the dig.

Here are some photos from the event.

Photos by: Ken Clavette. Copyright 2012.

The Struggle for Family Leave continues its Ontario tour

The Workers History Museum’s exhibit, The Struggle for Family Leave, debuted at our Annual General Meeting on February 27, 2012 and officially launched its tour in late March at Carleton University’s Centre for Public History. Since then it has been on the move touring various venues across Ontario and Canada.

At all of these events, there have been very positive comments about this project which shows how unions and labour activists worked to gain rights for families and working parents. Many younger viewers were not aware of how long it took to get maternity leave and other benefits. A number of people did not know that the first ones to get maternity leave were at the University of British Columbia. It has been very informative even to those who were part of the struggle.

Where it’s been:

In March, the exhibit was displayed for 1500 employees working at the National Defence Headquarters in Gatineau. It then went to the President’s Conference for the Union of Taxation Employees and was viewed by their 150 delegates.

The exhibit next went to the Quebec Federation of Labour’s Women’s Conference held in Montreal where over 400 women were in attendance. In mid-April the Canadian Union of Postal Workers on Bank Street displayed the exhibit in their lobby.

At the end of April and beginning of May, the exhibit was on display at the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s triennial convention for four days after being at the Canadian Association of University Teachers conference for the weekend.

In addition, for the May Day events held on May 1^st, the exhibit went to two different venues, then back to the PSAC convention. To finish off this very busy week, the exhibit was at the Canadian Dimensions dinner on Saturday May 5^th. Later that month the exhibit went to the Canadian Labour Congress Women’s Conference and then on to an event in Cornwall for the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees.

In early June, the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada hosted the exhibit at their National Executive Board meeting in Ottawa. In mid-June the exhibit travelled to Edmonton for the Alberta Labour History Institute conference.

In August the exhibit was displayed at the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation conference in Toronto. The OSSTF loved the exhibit so much that they’ve asked for it back in March and May 2013! The teachers were also wonderful in reviewing the early drafts of the educational and take home materials created by our summer student which will now accompany the exhibit as it tours.

Where it’s going:

In September, the exhibit is off to Port Elgin, Ontario to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Residential Education Program for a week.

In October at the SAW Gallery in Ottawa, the exhibit will accompany the official launch of its coinciding documentary “Fighting for our Families” which will feature a panel discussion and wine and cheese. This event is open to the public and is free to attend.

From November 17^th to December 21^st, the exhibit will enjoy a six week stay at the Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre in Hamilton.

Where it could be in the future:

The exhibit is in both English and French and comprised of five free-standing panels. It has been on loan for special events lasting a couple of hours to a week, and is also touring for extended visits at museums.

If you would like to host the Struggle for Family Leave exhibit, please contact us at: info@workershistorymuseum.ca

Remembering the workers who helped build the Rideau Canal

As part of the celebration we thought it would be nice to take a look back at some of the early achievements and history of the Rideau Canal and those important people who helped construct it. As the oldest continuously operated canal in North America the Rideau has had a long list of workers who helped in its success.

It took a lot of hard work and organization to get the canal open in 1832. The idea to construct a navigable waterway between Lake Ontario and the Ottawa River was conceived after the War of 1812. The idea behind its’ construction was that it would be a safe supply route from Montréal to Kingston. Lieutenant Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers was granted the task of supervising the construction in 1826;  the task ahead of him was never simple as he was building the canal amongst thick wilderness terrain. The first steps in the creation of the canal were surveying the unknown areas in order to get an idea for what supplies were required. Next there was an arrangement of contracts for workers to come to the area, these contracts were administered by the Commissary General in Montréal and after they were issued the canal began to be constructed by thousands of labourers and tradesmen (blacksmiths, carpenters, stone masons, etc.), hired by independent contractors who were under the supervision of the Royal Engineers. This meant that the actual construction was completed by independent contractors but all the engineering design work was done by the Royal Engineers (mostly Colonel By). Colonel By divided the Rideau into 23 work sections with the intent that a contractor should be able to complete the work requirement for a single section within a 2 year time span.

The areas where much of the labourers worked were unsettled and therefore posed a tough climate for the workers. Most of the physical work was done by hand;  shovels, pickaxes and wheelbarrows were common tools of the excavation jobs. The large stones used to build the locks were difficult to maneuver as only simple hand cranes were available for the job. The more skilled rock work was carried out mostly by British stonemasons and French Canadians who had experience on other lock projects. The unskilled labourers were commonly recent Irish immigrants who had difficulty finding jobs in the period, these immigrants made up about 60 percent of the labourers. The other 40 percent were largely made of French Canadian labourers who had worked in the timber industry. It is estimated that a total of about 2,000 men per year worked to make the Rideau Canal a reality. Many of these men brought their families with them to the canal construction area, meaning that small communities grew as families began to set up life around the Bytown area (current Ottawa).

It is hard for us today to truly appreciate the conditions and hard work of the workers who helped build the canal. Many men were hurt or got sick on the job from the physical demands and diseases that grew in the areas they worked. These workers deserve credit for the hard work they put into building the Rideau Canal, a heritage site that still represents a major engineering triumph and a system that has worked well since it first opened in 1832.

Come learn more about Colonel By and the construction of this astonishing lock system that remains an important piece of Ottawa’s history.

The family-oriented event runs from 11:00am to 4:00pm Monday August 6th on the grounds around the Bytown Museum, close to the Entrance Locks of the Rideau Canal between Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier. We hope to see you there!

Help us preserve the history of Ottawa's small businesses and retail districts

How well do you know the history of Ottawa’s retail districts?

Walk down Bank, Elgin, Rideau or any of Ottawa’s other commercial streets and you’ll pass buildings with varied and colourful workplace histories: that top-end vacuum cleaner retail store that was once a photography shop was built originally to house a bank. This fancy restaurant used to be an auto showroom. That construction company office was a funeral monuments and tombstone outlet, and before that it was a gas station.

The Workers History Museum’s new venture, Life on Main Street, examines a series of interesting commercial buildings in downtown Ottawa to discover their history as businesses and workplaces.  The project looks at the types of businesses and shops which occupied these buildings overtime, the types of jobs performed there, and the special architectural features of the building. The collected material will be archived for future projects and research. 

The WHM will collaborate with Ottawa business owners to produce various products to feature each building, including: written and photographic material on display in storefront windows; a virtual exhibit; and video commentaries from business owners, employees and clients.

The initial building to be featured for the Life on Main Street project is 231 Bank Street, currently home to Wallack's Art Supplies.  Research began on the Wallacks building in earnest in May 2012, with completion slated for winter 2012/13.

To contribute to the Life on Main Street project or suggest unique buildings or businesses in Ottawa, please write us at whm.mho.exhibits@gmail.com with “Main Street” in the subject line.

Follow the progress of this project on Twitter using hastag #MainStreetProject

WHM Website is now LIVE!

On June 16th at 5:15 p.m. the Workers History Museum officially launched its new website.

See it now at: www.workershistorymuseum.ca

Coming Soon: Virtual Launch

Tired of going to www.workershistorymuseum.ca and seeing the same old splash page and message telling you that "Our Website is Coming Soon"? Well the wait is finally at an end.

The Workers History Museum is pleased to announce the Virtual Launch of our website this Saturday June 16 at 5:15 p.m. 

Visit our website at that time and see the product of months of hard work by our volunteers.

Our website will feature:

• information on projects and exhibits
• calendar of events
• membership and donor forms
• volunteer applications
• educational resources
• links to our blog, twitter accounts and other online resources

  
You can also follow us on Twitter @WorkersHistory for daily news and updates.

Please join us to celebrate the forthcoming book, Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety.

Join the Workers History Museum with authors Ian McKay and Jamie Swift for the launch of their new book which dissects Canada's military re-branding into a ''Warrior Nation" and has been hailed by reviewers as a controversial and highly original work on Canada's political and military role on the world stage.

All are welcomed!

Thursday June 14, 2012

5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Under One Roof

251 Bank Street, 2nd floor, Ottawa

(at the corner of Bank an Cooper)

 

Synopsis: 

Once known for peacekeeping, Canada is becoming a militarized nation whose apostles--the "new warriors"-- are fighting to shift public opinion. Unpacking the ominous campaign to change a nation's defintions of itself, Warrior Nationa is an essential read for those concerned by the relentless effot to conscript Canadian history.

Author Ian McKay is an award-winning author and Professor of  History at Queen's University; Jamie Swift is also a Kingston author of numerous books.

This event is co-sponsored by: Between the Lines Books; Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; Citizens for Public Justice; rabble.ca; The Council of Canadians; and the Workers History Museum