Paved paradise and put up a fake fishing village...

I never gave much thought to public history's relationship with the environment. However, after reading a few articles regarding the interaction between these two fields, I realized just how much of an impact public historians can have on landscapes.

It is virtually impossible to find a track of land in Canada that has not been touched by humans. The landscape has been altered by the cutting down of trees, building of houses, construction of fences, and even the planting of foreign plant species. Major historical events, like battles, take place on land, altering it as well. While both public historians and environmentalists want to preserve and restore the land and the objects on it, they sometimes have difference priorities as to what exactly should be preserved and how.

Environmentalists are concerned with preserving the landscape and wildlife that might surround places of historical significance, while public historians seem more involved with physical objects and structures such as attractive houses and famous buildings. Preoccupations such as these could endanger the landscape, especially when high tourism traffic creates an increase in infrastructure. Suddenly concerns for the environment are quickly forgotten.

While reading about public history and the environment the example of Magnetic Hill (pictured above) in New Brunswick, popped into my head. The Hill's claim to fame is that there is a hill (obviously) where it's easier walk/drive/bike up it than it is to go down (it does opposite of what a hill is suppose to). Even the water in the ditch runs uphill. Magnetic Hill has confused citizens living in the surrounding countryside since the 19th century. It used to be located on a rural road but is now the centre of a tourist mecca.

When my parents first visited Magnetic Hill in the olden days (sometime in the 1970's) there was nothing but a sign indicating which dirt road had the hill. Later when we returned in the 1990's on our family tour of the East Coast, I remember there was maybe a parking lot and increased signage. However, the last few* times I have visited Magnetic Hill in the 2000's I have witnessed a drastic change. There are shops, restaurants, giant stuffed lobsters and moose, and a fudge factory (well, to tell you the truth, I have nothing against the fudge factory, every historical site should have a fudge factory). The parking lot has increased in size and concrete. The rural New Brunswick scenery that used to be there is no more and has been replaced with border line theme park.

Magnetic Hill became the environmentalists worst nightmare. The natural rural environment has been replaced by a theme park that is supposed to be a replica of a fishing village, with a nearby water park and zoo.

Working together public historians and environmentalists could have found a way to still promote Magnetic Hill to tourists, but also maintain the rural landscape. Perhaps taking this opportunity to educate people on rural New Brunswick and the type of agriculture local farmers cultivated.

*Why have I been to Magnetic Hill so much? Because of all the restaurants and shops, it's a nice rest stop on the way to Halifax. And who can resist a fudge factory?

Historical research at a whole new level...

In Vannevar Bush's 1945 work, As We May Think, he anticipates what technologies the future will have access to, including a walnut sized camera, the potential to look at a picture as soon as it has been taken, fax machines, and talking typewriters. As citizens of the 21st century, we have seen these technologies come to fruition, and new things continue to be invented every day. What is next, time travel?


Time travel for a historian would be extremely useful, as primary sources like newspapers, journal and diary entries, photographs, and other records can only tell or show us so much. Select Connie Willis books explore this very idea. Set in the not too distant future, the 2050s, students from Oxford University travel back in time to witness a Medieval Christmas in Doomsday Book and prepare for the reconstruction of a cathedral but end up match-making in the Victoria era instead in To Say Nothing of the Dog.

Willis has done a good job incorporating the genres of history and sci-fi. Time travel rules are carefully established, the net (which is like a time machine) will not open in the past if an incongruity will be caused. For example, the net ensures that you will not be able to go back to kill Hitler. It will drop you in a location, physically or temporally, far enough away making it impossible. Also, physical objects cannot be brought back to the future, so forget about trying to pocket gold coins you stole off of a pirate in hopes that when you return to the present you can sell them for big bucks on eBay.

Each decade is also given a safety rating from 1-10, 10 being the most dangerous. Chances are, if a period has a high rating for your race, gender, and age, there is a slim chance you'll be given permission to take the trip. For example, an African American would not be sent back to the United States during the 1800s. Dangerous eras in history, like wars and plagues, are avoided if possible...

Just imagine how the study and practice would change with this technology. One would actually be able to go back in time to see if his or her theories were correct. So-called "facts" and other research could be double checked. Government, church, and other records could be verified. Histories could be written about those individuals who have been left out of history books because they did not have a strong written tradition or were ignored because they were deemed as unimportant at the time.

If I had the opportunity to travel back in time, I think I would go back to the 1920's, take in a vaudeville show and perhaps patronize a speakeasy. I would be reluctant to back in time too far, as I have developed a certain fondness for indoor plumbing and as a woman, some periods in history wouldn't be that much fun, depending on my social class.

Connie Willis has written other books, which I haven't read yet, but I highly recommend adding Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog to your summer reading list.

Photo: Doc and Marty McFly from Back to the Future (www.guardian.co.uk)

Lights, camera, action!

In case you could not tell from some of my previous posts, I am a huge movie fan. I like watching movies from all decades, genres, and countries. Most of my favourite films have touch of history, whether it takes place during the Civil War, the St. Louis World's Fair, or involves famous historical figures in unlikely situations. However, there are three movies/miniseries that sit at the top of my list.

Casablanca



A classic film with a unique take on World War II. Romance, danger, and intrigue, what more could you ask for?


Band of Brothers



Although not technically a movie, I first watched this in it's entirety during the first few weeks of September. Not being a WWII buff, I learned a lot about America's involvement in the war, and the experience of a soldier. What takes this miniseries to the next level is that most of the characters are based on real-life people. Interviews with the men were filmed and shown throughout the series.

The History Boys



I like this movie for several reasons. Cute boys with English accents aside, it makes me look at history in a different way (what makes something a "turning point"?) and question how it's taught in schools (think outside the box!). The class also has some heated historical debates, which I wish could happen in some of my tutorial sessions. This movie also features, in my opinion, the best definition of history.

Looking for somewhere to vacation?

Here is a good reason to visit the Smithsonian!

Cows, Canonballs, and Bonnets, Oh my!

This is the second installment in the series of posts that I like to call "What made Jenna want to study history?" Today, we will be looking at my favourite pioneer villages.

Kings Landing Historical Settlement

This pioneer village wants to take you back to New Brunswick in the 1800s. The first, and so far only, time I went here was with my family in the mid 1990s on our tour of Eastern Canada. What attracted me to this village was it's vastness and how populated the village was. There was enough volunteers in the structures and wandering around to give it that distinct historical flavour. The volunteers also came from a wide age range. In one house there was actually a baby in historical costume sleeping in a basket from the 19th century. I also remember the printer's apprentice was quite attractive...

Unfortunately, any illusion I had as a preteen that pioneer villages were authentic were dashed when one house my mother and I visited were making Kraft Dinner for lunch. My mom was visibly perturbed. Nevertheless, I highly recommend a trip to King's Landing if you're ever in New Brunswick, you can only go up Magnetic Hill so much, and what else is there to do in Canada's only official bi-lingual province?

Fortress Louisbourg

This site was another stop on the Leifso family tour of the East Coast. My favourite element of the Fortress had to be the volunteers wandering around dressed as 18th century soldiers. There were also plenty of buildings to explore in this fortified town. Some houses were extravagantly decorated, while others represented how poorer French citizens lived. Canons were fired at certain times during the day and in the dining hall you have to wear a napkin around your neck. I would definitely recommend planning to spend a day here if you find yourself Cape Breton and unwilling to conquer the Cabot Trail.

Fort Mackinac

This site takes us north of border to Michigan. To be completely honest, I cannot remember why my family came here in the 1990's, but I do remember having a good time. Why? Because people shot rifles and you could dress up a soldier. Being able to dress-up scores big points with me. This site has probably changed a lot since I was a kid, and it would be interesting to go back one day to see if it would still make this list.


This list is obviously biased towards the pioneer villages that I have visited and how I remember them. There is probably some terrific heritage sites on Canada's west coast and around the world, but I just have not had the opportunity to visit them yet.

I am also aware that pioneer villages do not accurately represent history. They tend to focus on the good, ignoring the bad, for example: sewage is not floating down the streets, no one is in the gutters dying of small pox, and there is indoor plumbing. However, most villages are fairly successful at showing how differently people dressed, that people had vegetable gardens, and sometimes you had to share a room with 5 of your brothers and sisters. In many cases, these villages give some people their first chance to get close-up to animals like horses, cows, pigs, and sheep. What pioneer villages did for me was to get me interested in what Canada was like before Confederation. I could follow up these visits by reading more books on the subject and asking questions.

Pioneer Villages do not mirror the past, but they are a great way to spend a day outside, walking in the fresh air.

*Photographs courtesy of King's Landing, Fortress Louisbourg, and Fort Mackinac

Historical Fiction, an alternative to the textbook

It's a question that you hear a lot, "how do you get kids interested in history?" The history that I learned in elementary and high school was your typical Rich White Man History, and I have to admit, it was boring and irrelevant to my life. I have given considerable thought to how I became interested in history and came to the conclusion that it was the things I experienced outside of school that piqued my interest in this subject, like reading books, visiting pioneer villages, and watching movies. This blog will deal with my three favourite historical fiction books from when I was a tween. In later entries I will discuss my favourite historical travel destinations and movies.

1) The King's Daughter by Suzanne Martel
Published by Groundwood Books, 1974.

Martel tells the story of an orphaned French girl, Jeanne Chatel, who becomes a King's Daughter, travels to New France and marries a French settler. I enjoyed (and still do) reading this book because of all the adventures Jeanne has while attempting to settle in what is now Quebec. She first faces a treacherous cross-Atlantic journey, and once in New France she has to suddenly adjust to the responsibilities of raising two step-children with a new husband she barely knows, who is often away. This book is unique because it is told from the female point-of-view when most histories of this time come from the male inhabitants. It proves that women also came to North America looking for adventures.

2) The Dark Tower by Sharon Stewart
Published by Scholastic, 1998.

This is another novel about a girl living in France, and although she tries to escape the country with her family, she is not so lucky. Stewart based this book on the journal written by Marie Therese Charlotte de France, the oldest child of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Reading this book was my first introduction to the French Revolution. I became familiar with some of the causes and key players of the revolution. This novel also does a good job of dispelling some of the myths surrounding the French Revolution, especially in regards to Marie Antoinette. Stewart does a good job showing what it might have been like to be a member of the royal family living in Versailles and during the French Revolution.



3) Spying on Miss Muller
Published by Fawcett Juniper, 1995

In this novel, Bunting explores the lives of four girls living and learning in an Irish boarding school during the Second World War. The students suspect that their German language teacher is a spy for the Nazis and attempt to catch her in the act. The book reflects what many people living in Britain experienced during WWII; air raids, family members enlisting in the army, and suspicion of German people now living in the UK. Even though the war was going on, the girls still had experiences that I could relate to as a tween in elementary school.

Now, you may have noticed that these books all have female protagonists. I was obviously biased towards books about girls when I was younger, which is understandable... it was the age of the Spice Girls and Girl Power, and I wasn't learning about females in my history classes at school. Aside from The Dark Tower, these novels also deal with middle to low class characters whose names will not appear in history books. Because I read these books as a youth I discovered that women and so-called "common" people had a role in history and to me, their stories and experiences were more intriguing than those of the Rich White Men.

The Debate Continues... and it just got a lot sexier

Nymag.com is reporting that Amazon has come out with a new version of the Kindle, a gadget that can store multiple digital copies of books etc. which are are then read on a screen. Apparently the Kindle 2 has lost some weight, however still not water proof leaving bathtub readers out of luck.

I have to admit, the concept of having 1,500 books stored in one "book" is appealing, especially since I like to read several books at one time. But, as the person who lives below me can probably attest, I drop things a lot. I also misplace things and spill beverages a lot. Many of my books are stained with coffee, chocolate, and toothpaste (I like to read while brushing my teeth). For me, purchasing a Kindle 2 just doesn't make sense. Yet I can see this option as becoming popular with groups of people who travel a lot and are accustomed to reading things on screens for long periods of time. Having some extra cash might also be necessary for the $359 (US) price tag.