Speaker series: A Documentary and Commentary by Sean Scally, filmmaker Sean Scally’s documentary film, Playing with Fire, recounts the story of the horrific explosion of the British Chemical Company’s munitions plant in Trenton in October 1918. This little-known story is replete with terror, heroism and intrigue but with less devastating consequences than the better-known Halifax … Read more
Speaker series: Robert Clarke, Terry Hawkins, Karen Carter-Edwards, Richard Scott The discussion will examine the history of Jackson Park from its industrial origins to an entertainment and recreational park, and on the challenges facing the park today. This promises insights into one of the City’s vital assets at a time when the pressures of development … Read more
Speaker series: Jennifer Guerin The automobile’s impact on society and the economy has been pervasive. Think of the petroleum industry, urban and suburban development, highway infrastructure, rural connectivity, leisure, recreation, travel, tourism. Domestic architecture and landscape have not escaped the automobile’s transformative power. Jennifer Guerin, Heritage Researcher for the City of Peterborough, examines the hitherto … Read more
The Peterborough Historical Society, in partnership with the Quaker Park Tennis Club, is publishing a short history of the Quaker Park Tennis Club by Professor Chris Dummitt. The booklet will be available for purchase later in May at a price of $6.00 per copy. PHS members will enjoy a discount of 30%. Copies may be … Read more
Speaker series: Christopher Dummitt Sport attracts great popular interest and is the subject of serious historical investigation. The centenary this year of the Quaker Park Tennis Club is an apt occasion to explore the place of tennis in Peterborough’s past. To mark the occasion Christopher Dummitt will speak on the origins of tennis in Peterborough … Read more
Speaker series: Michael Chappell Michael Chappell is a Civil Engineering Technologist and Occupational Health and Safety expert who in 2021 helped mobilize citizens to save the historic Old Stone Mill House in Lakefield. A demolition permit already having been issued by the Township of Selwyn and an outside buyer having made an offer on condition … Read more
Speaker series: Wendy Darby Wendy Darby is a teacher and archivist at Lakefield College School. A strong believer in the active use of archival collections, Wendy incorporates archival resources to bring the history curriculum to life. Originating in the early days of Samuel Strickland, Lakefield College has played an important role in the development of … Read more
Speaker series: Ken Brown. On 21 December 1860 the prominent Peterborough widow, Elizabeth Hall, wrote to John A. Macdonald beginning, “My loved John,” and closing, “Goodbye my own darling, Love your loving Lizzie.” Historians have long known of this letter, but until now, not much of the backstory. Ken Brown sheds new light on the … Read more
Jim Higgins was an English orphan who migrated to Canada for farm work in Saskatchewan in 1928. The Depression of the 1930s triggered his activism in the causes of social equality and democracy. In the polarized climate of the time he joined 1700 other Canadian volunteers to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. In … Read more
Speaker Series: Co-directors James Conolly and Kate Dougherty present the result of an excavation and survey project in 2017 and 2018 at the historic Nassau Mills industrial complex, situated on the Trent University campus. As well as a general overview of the project’s findings and the interplay between written documentation and archaeological evidence, they focus … Read more