Unwritten Histories: February Blog of the Month

The winner of the history blog of the month for February is Unwritten Histories. Blog creator and historian Andrea Eidinger writes regular posts both entertaining and insightful on a variety of topics in Canadian history, some quirky, some quintessential. The main audience is adults interested in history, notably social studies teachers. However, the website’s weekly Canadian History Roundup has lots of short summaries and links to topics that students will enjoy.

For example, the latest Roundup links to posts on the Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers, a children’s riding group; Anishinaabeg warriors from the War of 1812; Viola Desmond; and the history of animals on the Prairies. There are many Heritage Fairs students passionate about hockey who would enjoy the “Greatest Hockey Match Ever Staged,” the Leafs versus Boston on December 12^th, 1933. However, as a Habs fan, Andrea Eidinger was “not impressed.”

For teachers, “Historica Canada has put together a learning guide for Canada 150.” The guide offers discussion topics and activities for both junior and senior grades.

Many of Roundup links lead to further links to rich learning resources. Click on the hyperlink to read the Vancouver Sun article on Pauline Johnson and you can find another link to Canada 150, a series of short biographic pieces on famous past and present British Columbians. A link to the discovery blog of the Library and Archives Canada on Inuit women and seals leads to a collection of 189 Flickr photo albums on topics as varied as Anne of Green Gables and the Summit Series.

The Roundup entries also include feel good stories such as the story of ” a Belgian woman (who) appealed to Canadians to try to find her unknown father. Many people are not aware of this, but the Liberation of Holland in 1944 was also called The Summer of Love (Lurve?) for a reason. Her call for help was answered, and her father’s identity has been discovered! I’m a sucker for happy endings,” writes Eidinger.

The website author has a soft spot for what she calls adorable news such as the newspaper report on students learning about New France using the popular game Minecraft or the report card from 1957 belonging to Maureen Kiernan, discovered during home renovations in Edmonton. Eidinger adds, “I can see why she tried to hide it.”

In addition to the weekly Roundup, you can find posts on subjects such “Rosie the Riveter and Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl”‘, “Inconvenient Pasts: The Charlottetown Conference of 1864”, and “The Historical is Personal: Learning and Teaching Traumatic Histories.”

Unwritten Histories is definitely worth bookmarking in your browser.