Who Digitized Your Sources? Exploitative Prison Labour and the Hidden Costs of Online Archives Kristen C. Howard In today’s increasingly online world, historians, researchers, and students want and expect online access to historical documents offered by galleries, libraries, archives, and mu…

Kristen C. Howard explores the ethics and practices of exploitation and labour in the digitization of heritage materials and sources.

Piecing Together Fragments: Historians and True Crime Shannon Stettner As a child, on Friday nights just before 9:00 pm, I’d tuck myself under a living room end table. If I was quiet and hidden, I could usually get away with watching at least part of …

Shannon Stettner explores responsible storytelling versus exploitation through history and true crime.

As part of the Indian Act 150 Series, Andrew Nurse explores Indigenous identity and self-indigenization through the legal case of Coupal v. Leroux.

Indian Act 150: An Introduction By Katie Carson, Sarah Kittilsen, and Sean Carleton Canada 150—the sesquicentennial celebration of the country’s confederation—was marked with pomp and circumstance, as the Federal Government encou…

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Indian Act. Over on @activehist.bsky.social, we’re running a year-long series examining its controversial history. Here’s the series introduction I contributed to: activehistory.ca/blog/2026/01...

Daniel R. Meister explores the life and work of John Carr Munro, federal minister for multiculturalism under Pierre Trudeau.

Poilievre’s comments on folklore aren’t quaint—they’re dangerous Poilievre’s allegory to Robin Hood was not, after all, a quaint diversion from matters of real political substance. His speech sets a dangerous precedent for shifting public discourse toward the my…

Chris Greencorn looks at the keynote Pierre Poilievre delivered for the Margaret Thatcher Lecture and the context behind Poilievre's reference to Robin Hood.

Rounding Up: Reflections on 10 years of Unwritten Histories By Andrea Eidinger Roundup, noun: A systematic rounding up of people or things, esp. The arrest of people suspected of a particular crime or crimes The rounding up of cattle etc. usu for the purpos…

Wrapping up the Unwritten Histories Series, Andrea Eidinger reflects on the time she spent on the project.

Make sure to check out the entire series!

Green graphic of text that says 'Unwritten Histories The Legacy of Unwritten Histories "Unwritten Histories was a lot of work. Exhausted nights after writing dissertation sections, long days of research, frantically prepping CH Reads pieces for upload while also trying to prep my own conference papers. But in the end, UH helped me find my voice." STEPHANIE PETTIGREW ActiveHistory.ca'

Stephanie Pettigrew reflects on her time and work with Unwritten Histories. Make sure to check out the entire series!

Read it here: activehistory.ca/blog/2026/04...

Green Graphic with text: "Unwritten Histories" "Cultivating a Conscientious Citation Practice" "When we continue to cite these same sources over and over again, we reinforce these texts and authors as part of our 'canon,' and therefore reproduce and institutionalize inequality within the the academy." "ANDREA EIDINGER ActiveHistory.ca"

In this revisited Unwritten Histories post, Andrea Eidinger explores every historian's favourite practice, citations!

Read it here: activehistory.ca/blog/2026/04...

'Unwritten Histories Imagining a green square background with white text that says: "Imagining a Better Future: An Introduction to Teaching and Learning about Settler Colonialism in Canada ANDREA EIDINGER AND SARAH YORK YORK-BERTRAM ActiveHistory.ca"

In today's revisited Unwritten Histories post, Andrea Eidinger and Sarah York-Bertram discuss teaching about settler colonialism in Canada.

Read it here: activehistory.ca/blog/2026/04...

The Halloween Special – Witchcraft in Canada This week marks the 10th anniversary of Unwritten Histories, a project created by Andrea Eidinger that has shaped how many of us think about the past—how it’s written, shared, and understood. …

Halloween in April?! The second revisited post in our Unwritten Histories Series is by Stephanie Pettigrew and examines the history of witches and witchcraft in French Canada.

Make sure to check out the entire series!

An Ode: A History of Lilacs in Canada This week marks the 10th anniversary of Unwritten Histories, a project created by Andrea Eidinger that has shaped how many of us think about the past—how it’s written, shared, and understood. …

This week marks the 10th anniversary of Unwritten Histories, a project created by Andrea Eidinger. To commemorate this, we will be revisiting posts from Unwritten Histories throughout this week! First up explores the history of lilacs in Canada.

Remembering Through the Body: Why We Turned to Research-Creation By Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown 231 Mutual St., Toronto, former site of Club Toronto and the Pussy Palace bathhouse events. Illustration by Ayo Tsalithaba. LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collab…

Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown explore historical research-creation through the somatic elicitation and embodied memories of the Pussy Palace.

“Entre Amis in an Era of Polarization” By Stephanie Bangarth and Sara Beth Keough In March 2026, a Canadian historian and an American Geographer met in Cambridge, ON to begin a collaborative project, literally “between friends,” inspire…

Stephanie Bangarth, a Canadian historian, and Sara Beth Keough, an American geographer, reflect on the relationship between Canada and the United States.

Tenant Resistance to the Myth of “Supply and Demand” By Fred Burrill This post is part of the Tenants’ Collective Responses to Housing Crises across Canada series. Anti-gentrification demonstration in Saint-Henri, Montreal, QC, 2011. Photo by Fred Bu…

In today’s post Fred Burrill @fburrill.bsky.social explores the “housing crisis” and the role of capitalism within it.

This post is part of a forthcoming series exploring tenant activism and responses, stay tuned!

Indian Act 150: Call for Submissions NiCHE has partnered with Active History to provide some environmental focused histories of the Indian Act and its widespread implications to their Indian Act 150 series.

ONE WEEK to get your proposals in to @drheathergreen.bsky.social on the environmental dimensions of the Indian Act at 150 for our collaboration with @activehist.bsky.social!

niche-canada.org/2026/03/11/i...

#envhist #cdnhist #indigenoushistory

Graphic of text on a green background that says "The liberal democratic system is too weak, too subordinated to capitalist values and principles, to respond. Few, if any, are willing to acknowledge the root causes of these problems - unfettered capitalism - and, instead, actively promote radical solutions." "ROBERTA LEXIER" With a white active history logo in the bottom right.

Roberta Lexier explores the links between fascism and capitalism for the next post in the Time of Monsters series!

Check it out here: activehistory.ca/blog/2026/03...

Fascism and the Crises of Capitalism: A Tale of Two Crises By Roberta Lexier For early twentieth-century Marxists, fascism was, explains Alberto Toscana in his 2023 book, Late Fascism, “intimately linked to the prerequisites of capitalist domination.&…

In trying to figure out the link between fascism and capitalism, I wrote this piece for @activehist.bsky.social Lemme know what you think!

activehistory.ca/blog/2026/03...

Care Under Raid: Policing, Privacy, and Queer Resistance Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown Leanne Powers, digital illustration by Ayo Tsalithaba for The Pussy Palace Oral History Project, LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory. 2025. “Suddenly, I he…

Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown use oral testimonies to explore the September 2000 police raid of the Pussy Palace. Make sure to check out the entire Pussy Palace Oral History series!

Indian Act 150: Call for Submissions NiCHE has partnered with Active History to provide some environmental focused histories of the Indian Act and its widespread implications to their Indian Act 150 series.

We are teaming up with @activehist.bsky.social to highlight the environmental dimensions of the the Indian Act at 150.

You have until March 30th to get your proposals in to @drheathergreen.bsky.social!

niche-canada.org/2026/03/11/i...

#envhist #cdnhist #indigenoushistory

The Extraordinary Meaning of Everyday Life: Joy Parr’s Pioneering Vision in the History of Technology By Jessica van Horssen Historians aren’t really made to be on film. Or at least not beyond a 15-second “talking head” clip in a documentary, and even then, we can be woefully thrown off-course. As …

Jessica van Horssen introduces the film, "The Extraordinary Meaning of Everyday Life: Joy Parr’s Pioneering Vision in the History of Technology."

Listening to Youth: Historicising & Challenging Parental Rights Discourse Derek Cameron, Karissa Patton, and Kristine Alexander A repeating pattern of multicolored prohibition symbols crossing out the words “Parental Rights.”  Created by Karissa Patton. In early Feb…

@derekhilcameron.bsky.social, @karissapatton.bsky.social, and @kalexand.bsky.social explore the history of young people, healthcare, and sex education, amidst decisions to increase parental rights in Alberta.

"...we have grown more aware of early Shelburne’s many connections to systems of slavery in the Atlantic world & dependence on unfree Black labour locally. We feel strongly that this space is the ideal location to both celebrate our heritage and negotiate challenging discussions about our history."

Rural Museums Matter: The Ross-Thomson House & Store By Erin Isaac and Cady Berardi The thoughts and sentiments shared in this essay are our own and do not represent the Nova Scotia Museum or Shelburne Historical Society. As part of the significant c…

Erin Isaac and Cady Berardi reflect on the history of the Ross-Thomson museum after a decision made by the Nova Scotia Museum to close it.

"Daniels’ record book can, however, offer up insights that probe our understanding of how young people experienced Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs in Nova Scotia—insights that can only emerge if we take his young voice seriously..."

Judging a Book by its Cover: Making Sense of Sources and Silences in the History of Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs in Rural Nova Scotia By Sarah Kittilsen In the summer of 2025, I was rifling through a box of uncatalogued materials at the Farm Equipment Museum in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, when I happened upon an old record book. Tat…

Sarah Kittilsen explores record-keeping and how youth appear in the archives through Boys' and Girls' Clubs in rural Nova Scotia.

Weaponizing Sound and Space: Spatial and Sonic Patriarchy as Forms of Anti-abortion Violence Shannon Stettner[1] The space outside abortion clinics is complicated. Much of it is public and there are important discussions about the uses of public space, the right to protest, and the “owners…

Shannon Stettner explores how space and sound can be used to enact anti-abortion violence.

Godin chez les grecs “I vote for Mr. Godin. I don’t care for what party he belongs.” – George Zoubris1 Bernard Vallée, « Portraits de Gérald Godin, Ministre de l’immigration, » 19 November 1980, BAnQ numérique. 1976 is…

In today's post, Lucas Tsovras looks at Gérald Godin's 1981 electoral campaign and its connection to Greek-Canadians.

Building a Radical Space: Inclusion, Fracture, and the Limits of Utopia By Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown T’Hayla Ferguson, digital illustration by Ayo Tsalithaba for The Pussy Palace Oral History Project, LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory. 2025. “I think …

Alisha Stranges and Elspeth H. Brown continue the Pussy Palace series with a post that uses oral testimonies to explore the building history and accountability of the space.

Make sure to check out the entire Pussy Palace series!

The Indian Act as Wendigo By Jenni Makahnouk This post is part of the Indian Act 150 series The Indian Act is commonly treated as a governance structure: an object to be interpreted, amended, or dismantled through policy re…

Jenni Makahnouk explores the structure of the Indian Act by framing it as Wendigo.

This post is part of the Indian Act 150 series, make sure to check out the entire series!