stcmuseum podcasts

In this podcast study guide (to go along with your reading of the book) we take a look at the idea of Merritton, one of the 4 former cities that amalgamated into St. Catharines, and it's development as a 'company town' alongside the historic Welland Canals. Of course, the history of Merritton, and the history of any place, is far more complex than could possibly be analysed in a brief study-guide...

The holidays are an exciting time of year but for many people in our community who find themselves in a place of need, it can be a cold, uncomfortable, and lonely time.  To help launch and promote the Museum's annual Mitten Tree campaign, in which we collect winter clothing for adults, families, and children supported through Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold, and Out of the Cold by Sta...

We round out the autumn Books & Brews book club with a wonderful selection titled 'Volkswagen Blues' on our last Books & Brews podcast episode of 2017. The 1980s novel by Jacques Poulin (translated to English by Sheila Fischman) tackles colonialism, Quebecois national identity, and Canadian and American Indigenous-Settler history.  Our podcast episode features a nice little discussion of the theme...

Happy Halloween! It's the spookiest time of year! In the haunted spirit of Halloween, we've dedicate this episode of Museum Chat Live!  to some of the creepiest and eeriest stories in St. Catharines' history.  You might want to listen with the lights on... *Spoiler Alert* The St. Catharines Standard reported on each of the disturbing events we feature on the podcast. The St. Catharines Museum hold...

Our historian team is back with another episode of Museum Chat Live! dedicated to our Books & Brews book club. This month, we're reading The Diviners. Since Margaret Laurence's Can-Lit stalwart novel is so incredibly rich of historical themes, we had to pick just one to talk about on our podcast. The choice wasn't difficult, though, and we spent this episode talking about the historiography of Lou...

How do we deal with monuments that commemorate problematic histories and problematic historical figures? It’s a debate that has gotten quite heated in recent weeks, and as museum professionals, the Museum Chat Live! podcast team thought we’d weight in. In this podcast episode, we ask a lot of questions about monuments, public memory, and how Canadians can reconcile difficult colonial histories. We...

Welcome back to Museum Chat Live! and our first episode of our second series. We're kicking off Museum Chat Live! with an episode dedicated to our Books & Brews Book Club with a discussion of our first book, set for September 19, of Green Grass, Running Water. We hope you enjoy this episode. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with fellow history-lovers, friends, and family. Fo...

A staggering 137 men lost their lives as a result of accidents that occurred during the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. This number is shockingly high. To our knowledge, it is the largest loss of life in the history of Canadian government infrastructure projects.  We're focusing this podcast episode on the memory of these workers by featuring the stories of three of the workers: Antonio Co...

Happy Victoria Day, everyone! We love this May-long weekend for so many reasons – it signals the beginning of warm weather in Canada, and it is steeped with history that still impacts our lives today. Share your favourite Victoria Day activities with us on our social media pages or in the comments of our podcast here on WordPress or in the episode comments on iTunes or Soundcloud. Enjoy the Episod...

We just can’t believe that it’s April and that we’re on to our third book of Books & Brews! On this episode of Museum Chat Live! we talk to Brock University Associate Professor of History, Dr. Murray Wicket, about race relations, ghettos and immigration in North America and Adrian shares some letters and stories from the Museum’s collection as we prepare for our book club discussion about our thir...

April 9, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. For many, Vimy is a widely-loved symbol of Canadian identity. On April 9, 1917, all four divisions of the Canadian Army came together to fight for the first time in the First World War to successfully smash through German defences and the world's expectations. As a result of the Battle (and many, many other con...

On this special episode of the Museum Chat Live! podcast we'll be focusing once again on our very cool book club: Books & Brews. As a part of the book club series, we are delivering three podcast episodes that accompany our discussion. This podcast focuses on the March selection for Books & Brews: In the Skin of the Lion by Micheal Ondaatje. Please note that the 2017 Winter Books & Brews session i...

E003 - International Women's Day Today, on March 8th, we honour International Women’s Day. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of women. It is also a moment to reflect on how much work there’s still left to do in order to reach full gender parity and equality in our society. For 2017, International Women’s Day is calling for us...

Museum Chat Live! is back with another neat-o episode dedicated to our special Books & Brews series, and our February book selection: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Kathy, Adrian, and Sara chat about some of the historic and famous myths about the Underground Railroad, and the important role that St. Catharines played in the history and lives of refugee slaves. Important Notice: Our...

Introducing *dum da da dum!* Museum Chat Live! On this, our very first episode of Museum Chat Live! Adrian, Sara, and Kathy chat about their favourite history podcasts, we learn about the final series of the Museum's award-winning pop-up museum experience aMUSE and we hear from Museum Archivist Alicia about her upcoming blog series! Check out the footnotes to this episode on the Museum's blog: stc...