January 2009
Congratulations to Catharine Wilson on the publication of her new book, Tenants in Time: Family Strategies, Land, and Liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799-1871 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009)
2007-8, academic year:
Distinguished rural historian to be Visiting Professor at Guelph.
The Department of History is please to announce
that Dr. Royden Loewen,
Chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg, will
be a
Visiting Professor in the Department during his sabbatical leave
in
2007-8. Dr. Loewen is the author or editor of numerous books, including
the award-winning Family, church, and market : a Mennonite community
in
the Old and the New Worlds, 1850-1930 (1993); Hidden worlds : revisiting
the Mennonite migrants of the 1870s (2001); and most recently Diaspora
in the countryside : two Mennonite communities and mid-twentieth-century
rural disjuncture (2006). For further information on Dr. Loewen,
please see his website at
the University of Winnipeg, Mennonite Studies.
February 2007
Congratulations to Amy Parker, who has very successfully defended
her
MA thesis,
"'Making the Most of What We Have': The Women's Institutes of Huron
County, Ontario during the Inter-War Period"
The thesis examines the many activities of four branches of the WI
through close investigation of their minutes, and situates their
interests and orientation in relation to larger historiography of the
WI and of women in North America in the post-suffrage period.
December, 2006
The supplementary List
of Business Account Books now references over
fifty account books held at the Provincial Archives of Ontario. Click
this link to download the complete list in MS Excel format.
Several
new links have been added to the Business
Account Books and Geographic Information Systems pages.
November, 2006
An occasional series of informal Rural
History Roundtables is commencing this fall at the University of Guelph. Details are/will be announced
on the events portion of this website.
October, 2006
Congratulations to Sharon Weaver,
PhD Candidate, Department of History, for successfully defending her
comprehensive exams in October. She is now collecting oral research
for her dissertation on the back to the land movement.
June, 2006
New Material on Business Account Books
A full-text file
for researchers studying nineteenth-century accounting practices is
available on the Business Account Books page.
As well, the List of Business Account Books has been expanded to include
material
found at the Archives of Ontario.
May, 2006
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and
Rural History
This new
web page in
the "Resources" section introduces applications that can help rural
historians maximize the spatial components of their research.
The essay includes
a case study, and it emphasizes the many online resources available
to the public as well as the data and training available to the Guelph
community.
September, 2005
Rural History at UG Welcomes Michelle Hamilton
Michelle is a new postdoctoral fellow in the department of History.
She recently obtained her PhD from Western and is a Guelph grad (History & Anthropology
BA, 1995). She also has an MA in Public History from Western in 1997
and was a curator at the Glenbow in Calgary for two years before
returning for PhD studies. She works on the nineteenth century collection
of
native artifacts and bones, and pays particular attention to how
native people responded to these collectors. Half of her time will
be devoted
to her own research, and half will be devoted to work on the 1891
Census project.
New External Links Posted Under “Rural History Resources”
Six new links have been added to the Selected External Resources page.
Four are from Cornell and include full-text, free access material
on Home Economics, beekeeping, agricultural publications, and private
photograph collections. One site is the Archives of Ontario’s celebration
of rural heritage, and another is Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s online
presentation of a midwife’s diary in eighteenth century Maine.
July 19, 2005
Three Essays on Rural History Resources
Links to three excellent essays on rural history resources in the University
of Guelph Archives have been set on the Archival
Resources page. Peter
Ellsworth’s essay is called “Rural Politicization: The Farmers’ Sun”;
Rebecca O'Reilly writes about rural correspondence in “Rural Voices:
The Dougall Family Collection”; and Liam Trimm unfolds a business
account book in “Thomas Murphy Daybook 1884-1885, Douglas Ontario.”
Rural History Essay Presented at CHA Meeting
Josh MacFadyen delivered a paper on the history of flax rural industry
in Ontario at the 2005 Canadian Historical Association annual meeting.
The research is based heavily on material featured on the
Business
Account Books page, and the full text of the essay can be found at www.flaxhistory.com.
June, 2005
Congratulations to SSHRC winners
Dr. Stuart McCook and Dr. Frans Schryer were each recently award SSHRC funding
to study aspects of rural history. Dr. McCook is writing a global history
of coffee rust, and Dr. Schryer is studying the impact of globalization
on the Nahuas of the Alto Balsas in Mexico. See the announcement here
February, 2005
Post-Doctoral Fellowship – Departments of History and Economics
History and Computing/Quantitative History
The University of Guelph invites applications for a post-doctoral
fellowship in history and computing and/or quantitative history. An
interest in rural history would be an additional asset. The fellowship
would begin in the summer of 2005. Its terms include pursuit of an
individual research program and participation in the University's 1891
Canadian Census Project. An opportunity to teach will be available.
The value of the award (which may include a research grant component)
is fully competitive with other national post-doctoral award programs.
The appointment is for 12 months and is renewable for a second year.
To apply, please send a cv, graduate-level transcripts,
and an outline of current research; and arrange for 2 letters of reference
to be sent directly to
Douglas McCalla, Canada Research Chair in Rural History
Department of History
360 MacKinnon Building
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
Canada
email
(519) 824-4120, ex 53120 (FAX 519-837-8634)
The deadline for applications is 10 March 2005
See: http://www.uoguelph.ca/history/census
The University of Guelph is committed to an employment
equity program that includes special measures to achieve diversity
among its faculty and staff. We therefore particularly encourage applications
from qualified aboriginal Canadians, persons with disabilities, members
of visible minorities and women.
11 January, 2005
Business Account Books -
a source for rural history
This new guide introduces business accounts and explains how some rural
and social historians have used them. Recently much interest has been
generated over the significance of these sources. The books are often
readily available in archives, and this guide lists a sample of rural
business accounts found in local depositories. The material may be
found under “Rural History Resources” or by clicking on: Business
Account Books
7 January, 2005
Congratulations to Jon Studiman, a graduate student at the University
of Guelph on the successful defense of his MA research essay: "The
Province and the Local Activist: Public History Policy in Ontario
and Loyalist Commemoration in Adolphustown, 1950-1970."
30 December 2004
Rural History at the University of Guelph will
offer more information
in the new year on graduate students at the University who study aspects
of rural history.
12 August 2004
Welcome to Rural History at the University of Guelph
The entire site is new.
The purpose of this website is to draw together a variety of resources that are available to students, faculty and external individuals studying rural history. Please browse around and let us know what you think.
10 August 2004
Rueben R. Sallows Website at Huron County Museum Now Available Online
The Rueben Sallows website from Goderich is now available. The site features a searchable dtabase of photos, entertaining interactive activities and historical background on the photographer and photography.
