To our visitors with Irish ancestry, here's to wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
“Genealogy News”
Update on “Strategic Development Initiative Projects” Last month, I reported on the recipients
for funding of heritage organizations in Nova Scotia and forgot to
mention that the Western Counties Regional Library (Nova Scotia) is the
leading genealogical project for museums and societies in Digby,
Yarmouth and Shelburne counties.
The library recieved $20,000.00, which will help to train staff in genealogy and customer service.
It will also be used to promote services to genealogies.
“Heritage News”
Canada Supports Five National Institutions
The Honourable Beverley Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status
of Women and Honourable John Baird, Former President of the Treasury
Board announced in December the founding of over $100-million over five
years for five museums, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
"The national museums are the keepers of our most
treasured and significant heritage... Today we are ensuring that the
arts and our cultural heritage will play an essential role in the lives
of Canadians for years to come," said Minister Oda.
Victor Rabinovitch, president and chief executive
officer of the Canadian Museum of civilization said that "The repairs
we will make at the Museum of Civilization will have very positive
impacts for the millions of visitors who come to our site every year
from across Canada and around the world."
The funding will address capital and infrastructure expenditures.
Commonwealth Day Commonwealth Day is March 12th.
In 1973, the idea was suggested to Prime Minister
Pierre Elliot Trudeau that a day be set aside to observe Commonwealth
Day.
At the meeting of senior officials of the Heads of
Government at Camberra in May 1976, the Canadian proposal that the
second Monday in March be set as Commonwealth Day was adopted.
It is not a statutory holiday, but it is a day of
observance by close to one billion people of “their common bonds and
the contribution of the Commonwealth of Nations to the creation of a
harmonious global environment.”
Oral Histories Are Being Iindexed Oral histories are being taken and now are being indexed at the Canadian War Museum.
The Friends of the Canadian War Museum (FCWM)
conducts 50 to 100 oral histories per year, and they have just hired a
person to catalogue 142 interviews which have been conducted between
2004 and 2006.
The tapes are held in the Canadian Military History
Research Centre at the museum, which holds both primary and secondary
research material.
The website is <www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/libraryarchives/information_e.html>.
The research centre is open to the public Monday to
Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (May to mid-October), and 8:00 to 4:30
p.m. from mid-October to April 30th.
They are located at 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa ON K1R 1C2. Tel: 819.776.8652. Email <vimy.biblio@warmuseum.ca>.
“History News”
History Books Online
The Canadian Historical Association publishes booklets on history, and
the Library and Archives Canada has put them online.
The first booklet, “The Undefended Border: The
Myth and the Reality” by C.P. Stacy appeared in 1953. Since then, 63
more booklets have been published.
There are also 30 Ethnic Groups booklets available, and more are being published at present.
If you go on the website, <http://www.collectionscanada.ca/cha-shc/index-e.html>, click the search box, and put in the name you want to research.
If you wish to purchase a book, you may contact at
the Canadian Historical Association, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa ON
K1A 0N4. Tel: 613.233.7885. Fax: 613.567.3110. Email: <cha-shc@lac-bac.gc.ca>.
Beechwood Could Be Our National Cemetery
An Ottawa-Vanier MP, Mauril Belanger, has put a
private bill in the House of Commons to establish the Beechwood
Cemetery in Ottawa as the National Cemetery of Canada.
Beechwood Cemetery was established in 1873 and has
already been designated as a National Historic Site. The passage of the
bill will give official designation to Beechwood.
It is the burial spot for the National Military Cemetery and the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery.
Right now, it is undergoing a $5-million
construction project to build the Beechwood National Memorial Centre,
which will serve all faiths. It is expected to open in October of this
year.
Beechwood is governed by the Beechwood Cemetery Foundation, which is a federal non-profit corporation.
Website Pick of the Month!
Mary's Genealogy Treasures <http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll>
Although this website, “Mary's Genealogy Treasures”,
has not been updated since 2000, the webpages she has listed on both
sides of the page are up-to-date, and give a good overlay of Canadian
genealogy at the moment.
As her tag says, “Capturing the Essences of a
Forgotten Past”, she has 20,618 links and some of them are - Alberta
Pioneers, Alberta History, Canadian Military, Canadian Census, Canadian
BMD, Canadian Cemeteries, Canadian Databases, Canadian Military, and
Canadian GenWeb.
Her email is <mtollestrup@hotmail.com>.
