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Speaker Series: The Oriental Hotel

Local lawyer Peter Lillico hosts a haunting and rare virtual tour of the remains of what was Peterborough’s most elegant 19th-century hotel – the Oriental on Hunter Street. Who knows what mysteries await in the long-locked, hard to access but still surviving rooms in the upper floors above his law office? Who knows what dramas unfolded … Read more

Speaker Series: Edith Folke: Collecting Traditional Folk Songs in Rural Ontario

This month Allan Kirby, musician, and music scholar, performs and talks about how early folk ballads from the old countries, emphasizing Ireland, were adapted for their new surroundings. These unique songs and tunes generated interest from musicologist Charles Louis Seeger Jr. (Pete Seeger’s father) a professor at UCLA. Subsequently audio recordings were made by noted … Read more

Speaker Series: Rock N’ Roll Comes to Peterborough

One of Peterborough’s original rock and roll performers, Geoff Hewitson will take us on a trip down memory lane as he speaks about the beginning of rock and roll and how it found its way to Peterborough. As a documentary filmmaker, Geoff has won two Star awards for his role as filmmaker and producer on … Read more

Speaker Series: “Rehabilitating Grey Owl”

Filmmaker Peter Blow will show his promotional film and speak about why representatives from the Temagami First Nation are officially repudiating the cultural appropriation label on Canada’s greatest fake – a timely topic of discussion on Indigenous conservation and Grey Owl’s remarkable visit to Peterborough one month before his death. The Peterborough Historical Society monthly … Read more

Speaker Series: The Peterborough and County Military Museum

Display Cases & Volunteers Reduced

Speaker: Don Willcock The Peterborough and County Military Museum is a recent addition to Peterborough’s severalhistory museums. Having opened in October 2022 in the Peterborough Armoury, the PCMM iscurrently a satellite branch of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Museum in theBelleville Armoury but is in the process of becoming a stand-alone entity. Peterborough has … Read more

Speaker Series: Peterborough Waterworks

Speaker series: Dennis Carter-Edwards A city’s waterworks is largely out of sight and normally attracts little attention. However, the history of waterworks is central to understanding the history of urban growth and planning. In the late nineteenth century, Peterborough faced a crisis. Lack of a water works system placed the town at risk of destruction … Read more

Entertaining the Prince of Wales, Cobourg 1860

Speaker series: George Parker At age 18, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, undertook the first Royal Tour to Canada. Among his stops in Canada West were Cobourg, Hiawatha First Nation, Peterborough and Port Hope. The community of Cobourg provided elaborate entertainment for the Prince at the official opening of the architecturally stunning Victoria Hall. George … Read more

Heritage Conservation and Urban Regeneration

Speaker series: Panel and round table discussion Peterborough Historical Society public round table discussion. Challenges facing urbandevelopment are much in the news. The Ontario Heritage Trust recognizes “many ways thatheritage conservation supports urban regeneration,” especially “through the adaptive reuse ofheritage properties for new purposes while retaining their heritage attributes.” PanelistsDeborah Keay, Manager, Municipal Engineering with … Read more

Police Response to First Nation Occupations and Protests: An Ontario Perspective” Dr. Armand La Barge

Nogojiwanong – Peterborough270 Brock Street, Peterborough, Ontario K9H 2P9Tel: 705-740-2600email: : www.phs-hutchisonhouse.ca Notice of Public LectureNOTE: BACK TO VIRTUAL LECTURES! We will continue with a virtual Zoom format forour March lecture. The speaker schedule remains on the third Tuesday of the month; January,February, March and May at 7:30 p.m. A question and answer period will … Read more

The History of Lacrosse in Peterborough

Speaker series: Don Barrie. Peterborough has a long and intimate connection with lacrosse. The Daily Examiner gave a history of the origins of lacrosse in a 1892 article, noting the formation of the Montreal la Crosse [sic] Club in 1860 followed shortly after with the National La Crosse Association of Canada. That same year the … Read more