High in the mountains of southwest Yukon, as far west as one can go in Canada, lies Kluane National Park and Reserve. The park is home to the country’s highest peak, the 5,959-metre Mount Logan. From its earliest documented ascent, in 1925, Mount Logan has been a continuously productive site for the advancement of scientific knowledge. Our guests on today’s episode, Dr. Zac Robinson and Dr. Alison Criscitiello, talk to us about the goal of their expedition which is to drill ice core samples from the summit plateau, and to re-take landscape photos from previous climbing expeditions, many of which are held here at LAC. Our colleague Jill Delaney also discusses repeat photography and gives us more details as to how LAC’s photography collection can be used by the public. 

Discover Library and Archives Canada: Your History, Your Documentary Heritage

Mount Logan: Moments in Time

With the creation of the A.V. Roe Canada company following the Second World War, Canada became a leader in the aerospace industry. The company developed the C-102 jetliner and the CF-100 Canuck, the first Canadian-designed military fighter aircraft. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (the RCAF) commissioned A.V. Roe to design a new plane: a supersonic jet that could engage and destroy enemy interceptors before they reached their targets in North America. That supersonic jet was the Avro Arrow. It was intended to serve as the RCAF’s primary interceptor, and was one of the most advanced aircraft of its era with the potential to establish Canada as a world leader in scientific research and development. Unfortunately, the project was ultimately cancelled. In part two of this two-part episode, Palmiro Campagna talks about the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project and some rumors surrounding the aircraft. 

Avro Arrow: Uncovering the Myth – Part 2

During the First World War, more than 3,000 women volunteered with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This force was created by Canada for service overseas, with nurses working as fully enlisted officers in the specifically created all-female rank of Nursing Sister. Their dedication to their work, their country, and most importantly to their patients, earned them public respect and serves to measure their contribution to the Canadian war effort.

Call to Duty: Canadian Nursing Sisters

2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. Due to the current circumstances, we haven’t been able to release much new content, but we wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned for the upcoming months.

Upcoming Episodes, 2020

Éva Gauthier’s musical career took her from Ottawa, Canada, to the four corners of the world. Often considered ahead of her time because of her unique style and approach, Gauthier never let the critics stop her from expressing her true artistic self. Influenced by her journeys abroad, she did not stick to traditions and her inimitable flair, expressive singing style, talent and boldness allowed her to shape modern music in North America.

I leave you Éva Gauthier

Our guest today, Dan McCaffery, believes Tommy Burns is considered one of the best pound for pound boxers who ever lived. Measuring a mere 5’7”, Burns was the shortest man ever to hold the world heavyweight title, and the only Canadian born to do so as well. The first champion to travel the globe defending his title, he was also the first to defend it against an African American. Burns had many contests with black boxers before his fight with the legendary Jack Johnson, and is credited with being the first white heavyweight to give a black man a chance to win the title.

Tommy Burns: The Hanover Heavyweight

In the early 20th century, no spectator sport captivated the world like long distance running. And no runner captured the hearts of Canadians like a Six Nations Indigenous man by the name of Cogwagee in the Onondaga language, or Tom Longboat in English. From his victory at the 1907 Boston Marathon, where he shattered the previous world record by five minutes, to his death-defying service in the First World War, he lived an extraordinary life.

Tom Longboat is Cogwagee is Everything

As the custodian of our distant past and recent history, Library and Archives Canada is a key resource for all Canadians who wish to gain a better understanding of who they are, individually and collectively. Library and Archives Canada acquires, processes, preserves and provides access to our documentary heritage and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions. On today's episode, we will explore how LAC acquires this documentary heritage through donations, purchases and through the transfer of government records, by focusing on some Second World War items recently acquired by LAC. 

Canada's Continuing Memory

2019 has been an exciting year for us as we continue to work for you, showcasing the amazing items in our collection and the fascinating stories behind them. We wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned in the upcoming months.

Upcoming Episodes, 2019-2020

On May 8th of 1906, three armed and masked men held up the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Transcontinental Express, at a place called Duck’s Station, 17 miles east of Kamloops in British Columbia. It was a botched robbery to say the least. The bandits ordered the engine and mail car uncoupled, and moved the train a mile down the track. Realizing that the safe containing 35,000 dollars in gold had been mistakenly left behind in the second express car, which was still attached to the main passenger cars, they started going through the mail sacks. Overlooking a bag containing over 40,000 dollars in cash, they ended up with only 15 dollars and 50 cents, and a bottle of liver pills. The holdup set off one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. One of the men being hunted, was the notorious Bill Miner, the last of the old-time bandits… On today’s episode, we discuss the life and times of the legendary criminal with author and historian John Boessenecker. John’s 1992 book, The Grey Fox: The True Story of Bill Miner, Last of the Old Time Bandits, co-written with Mark Dugan, stands as the definitive biography of Canada’s best-known outlaw. 

Bill Miner: Last of the Old Time Bandits

Library and Archives Canada is the main repository for documents relating to Canada’s Prime Ministers. LAC not only has all the political documents relating to each Prime Minister, but also intriguing, less official and often unexpected items. The exhibition entitled Prime Ministers and the Arts: Creators, Collectors and Muses curated by LAC employees Madeline Trudeau and five time podcast guest Meaghan Scanlon, weaves artwork, artifacts, documents, objects, portraits and photographs together to reveal a less formal, but equally fascinating side to our former Prime Ministers. The exhibition is on right now at 395 Wellington in Ottawa. It runs until December 3rd, 2019. 

Prime Ministers and the Arts

Falcon Lake, Manitoba. Located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park, 150 kilometers east of Winnipeg. It’s May 20th, 1967, and mechanic, and amateur geologist Stephan Michalak wakes up early to begin his hobby of prospecting for quartz and silver. After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and see’s two glowing objects descending towards him. In the second part of this two-part episode, we discuss the evidence and investigation into the Falcon Lake Incident. Stefan Michalak’s son Stan and researchers Chris Rutkowski and Palmiro Campagna once again join us to discuss Canada’s most infamous UFO case. 

UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake Incident - Part 2

Falcon Lake, Manitoba. Located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park, 150 kilometers east of Winnipeg. It’s May 20th, 1967, and mechanic, and amateur geologist Stephan Michalak wakes up early to begin his hobby of prospecting for quartz and silver. After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and see’s two glowing objects descending towards him. In part one of this two part episode, we unravel Canada’s most infamous UFO case with the help of Stephan Michalak’s son, Stan, and Canadian UFO expert and author, Chris Rutkowski. Also, Palmiro Campagna, an accomplished author and a ‘regular’ in the research rooms at LAC, will take us through some of the extensive records surrounding the case. 

UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake Incident - Part 1

What drove a successful artist from a comfortable life in Canada to one of hardship in the battlefields of France and Belgium after the First World War? From 1919 to 1922, Mary Riter Hamilton undertook a "special mission” for The War Amps to document the scarred landscape where Canadian soldiers had fought and died. Her canvases capture the devastation of war but also signs of hope and renewal. At great cost to her health, this artist created one of the few authentic collections of paintings of war-torn Europe. She considered her work to be a gift to Canada. In 1926 she donated the majority of the collection of paintings to the Public Archives of Canada, now Library and Archives Canada. We sit down with retired assistant professor of history at the University of Manitoba, Kathryn Young, and Dr. Sarah McKinnon, former vice-president at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and former curator at the University of Manitoba. 

The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton

The Discover Library and Archives Canada: Your History, Your Documentary Heritage podcast is where Canadian history, literature and culture await you. Each month, we will showcase treasures from our vaults, guide you through our many services and introduce you to the people who acquire, safeguard and make known Canada’s documentary heritage.

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