Les Collections et les études sociales du N.-B.

Webinare Association Patrimoine Nouveau-Brunswick 
27 janvier, 2021 

Facilitatrice:  Dr. Cynthia Wallace-Casey, Université d'Ottawa

Ce webinaire aider à combler le fossé entre les éducateurs et les professionnels de musée au profit des jeunes. Les experts du musée apprendront à travailler avec les éducateurs en fonction des programmes actuels pour exciter les jeunes d’aujourd’hui à propos de L’histoire du N.-B. Afin qu’ils comprennent et/ou se connectent à leur passé et à leur communauté. Retrouvez l’enregistrement ici….

Museum Collections and NB Social Studies: Bridging the Two

Association Heritage New Brunswick Webinar
January 20, 2021 

Facilitator:  Dr. Cynthia Wallace-Casey, University of Ottawa

In this webinar I demonstrate ways to bridge the gap between educators and museums  - to benefit young people. Museum experts will learn to work with educators (based on the current curricula) to develop programs that excite youth about NB History, as well as connect to classroom needs.  Access the webinar here

RAN AWAY: The Slavery Trial of Nancy

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD 

Honorary Research Associate

Fredericton Region Museum

It wasn’t until 1834 that slavery became illegal in New Brunswick. Up until that year, people could be bought or sold as property, with they and their children receiving no hope of freedom for as long as they lived. A typical bill of sale would be worded as such: 

This Indenture witnesses that for and in the consideration of the sum of fifteen pounds New Brunswick currency paid me, I do hereby bargain, sell and deliver unto my son John, a negro boy named Sippeo to be his property and his heirs and successors during the life of the said negro, the receipt of which money from the said John HARDING I do hereby acknowledge; and I, the said George HARDING, do also warrant the said property against all claimants whatsoever. In witness whereof I do hereby set my hand and seal at Maugerville, this eighth day of July in the year of our Lord 1797. – Be It remembered that on the tenth day of February 1802, personally appeared before me the above named George Harding and acknowledged the above signature to be his hand and seal and that he delivered the above instrument for the above mentioned purposes. Elijah MILES, J.P. [1]

Abolitionist coin (Credit: Joe Gee,
New Brunswick Black History Society)

Many prominent Loyalists were slave-owners—including the first Mayor of Saint John Col. Gabriel G. Ludlow, as well as Col. Edward Winslow, Major John Coffin, Rev. Jonathan Odell, Cpt. William Bailey, and Cpt. Stair Agnew. Historian Watson Smith has estimated that more than 400 “servant” slaves were brought to the region between 1783 and 1784. 

By the turn of the century, however, the anti-slavery movement had become very active in this province. Two of the leaders in this initiative were Saint John lawyers Samuel Denny Street and Ward Chipman. In 1800 they challenged the legality of slavery in New Brunswick by bringing to trial the case of Nancy, an individual who had been enslaved for more than fourteen years. 

'I want to remember': Student narratives and Canada's History Hall

My recent publication in the Yearbook of the International Society for History Didactics, Volume 40, 2019, pp. 131-199:

In this journal article I explore student-constructed narrative interpretations of Canada’s History Hall. Drawing from an empirical investigation that included student visitors, as well as adult facilitators at the Canadian Museum of History, I reveal the “big ideas” that students (n=26) constructed about Canada’s past, and how these related to their museum experience. 

This inquiry is part of a larger investigation (supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) that explores: 1) how the Canadian History Hall represents such difficult topics in history as First Nation settler colonial experiences and Residential Schools; 2) the national narratives that students construct from such a learning experience; and 3) the potential role for museum spaces in enabling Historical Thinking. Read more...

Museums, Heritage, and Reconciliation in New Brunswick

Association Heritage New Brunswick Webinar
November 27, 2019 - 7 pm 

Facilitator:  Dr. Cynthia Wallace-Casey, University of Ottawa

Museums, Heritage, and Reconciliation in New Brunswick – This webinar will define reconciliation while also demonstrating how museums can develop a Reconciliation Action Plan. The instructor will discuss repatriation of collections, noting examples from the Canadian Museum of History and other sites in this country. Access the webinar here…

Constructing patriotism: How Canada's History Hall has evolved over 50 years

My recent publication in the History Education Research Journal, Volume 15, Number 2, 26 October 2018, pp. 292-307(16):

In this article, I illustrate how the national narrative in Canada's Museum of History has evolved over 50 years. Located in the national capital of Ottawa, the new Canada's History Hall presents a concise overview of a nation, stretching from time immemorial to the present. It was opened on 1 July 2017 as a signature exhibition in celebration of Canada's sesquicentennial. It also represents a fourth manifestation of a national museum narrative for Canada. From humble beginnings in 1967 (when Canada celebrated its centennial), the narrative has changed substantially in response to national policies and societal values. Adopting a critical discourse analysis methodology, and drawing from archival evidence, I analyse how this national narrative has evolved. Canada's History Hall presents Canadian students with a concise national template for remembering Canada's past. Over the past 50 years, this narrative has changed, as curators have employed artefacts and museum environments to construct patriotic pride in their nation. Until 2017, this narrative was blatantly exclusionary of Indigenous voices. More recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has called for reconciliation in education, including public forums for education. The Canadian Museum of History has responded to this call by weaving Indigenous voices into the national narrative of the new Canadian History Hall. In so doing, I argue, the museum has successfully entwined patriotism with reconciliation against past wrongs. Read more...

Language Rights and Place-based History Education

Image credit: Government of Canada, 

Department of Justice

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD 
SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Ottawa 

As the only officially bilingual province in Canada, New Brunswick holds a unique position regarding history education and collaborative curriculum development. In this province, it is as if we stand between two linguistic divides—with one foot firmly planted in English-speaking Canada, and the other confidently placed within a French-speaking world. This is because, unlike other provinces and territories in Canada, New Brunswick maintains two distinct education systems that are separate and equal. This distinction is not just a privilege, but a right: a right that is firmly embedded within our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As indicated in section 16.1 of the 1982 Constitutional Act of Canada: 

(1) The English linguistic community and the French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal rights and privileges, including the right to distinct educational institutions and such distinct cultural institutions as are necessary for the preservation and promotion of those communities.  

2) The role of the legislature and government of New Brunswick to preserve and promote the status, rights and privileges referred to subsection (1) is affirmed. 

In this sense, education and cultural identity operate hand-in-hand. For each linguistic group, school is not simply about “making the grade,” it is about preserving and promoting social responsibility to two linguistic communities. This educational philosophy is supported by the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET), as well as the Council of Education Ministers of Canada (CEMC). More specifically, the Pan-Canadian French as a First Language Project (2002, 2012) of CEMC clearly articulates this belief. It recognizes that language is not just a communication tool, but also a thinking, learning, and identity-building tool (CEMC, 2002, p. 3). 

How such dynamics play out within New Brunswick’s social studies curriculum, is through respect for regionalism and diversity. Regionalism, in that New Brunswick joins with like-minded provinces to share curriculum resources; and diversity, in that the province’s two curriculum narratives reflect distinctions within New Brunswick’s linguistic communities.