History News

Canada made marijuana illegal 94 years ago and no one's sure why

Ninety-four years ago Canada became one of the first countries to ban a substance virtually no one was using. A University of Guelph professor who penned a book on the history of illegal drugs in Canada says after nearly a century of marijuana prohibition, no one is really sure why it was made illegal in the first place.

"We don't actually know," Dr. Catherine Carstairs told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Tuesday.

On March 30th, the Rural History Round Table wrapped up another successful season with Dr. Sasha Mullally, associate professor of history at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Mullally's talk: "The Heroics and Poetics of Interwar Medicine" deconstructed the "country doctor" icon by examining stories about rural doctors which have been published overtime. Focusing on doctors practicing in Maine and Nova Scotia, Mullally separated the myth from the reality.

The Rural History Roundtable returns in September. See you then!

The Canadian Culinary History Exhibit opens April 7 in McLaughlin Library on the University of Guelph main campus. All are welcome to attend the opening!

From Guelph Today:

Cooks are an essential bridge between farmers and consumers, and always have been.

Today, our former Post-Doctoral Researcher, Dr. Ian Mosby, is featured in the Globe and Mail: "We Are What We Ate: Canada’s History in Cuisines"

Our Fall 2017 topics for Invitation to History First Year Seminars have been announced!

Dr. Alan Gordon: "Polar Encounters"
Dr. James Fraser: "The Celts"

For more information visit our First Year Courses page (scroll down to HIST*1050, Invitation to History)

Perspectives on Canada 150: Do We All Have Reason to Celebrate?

What if the country threw a party, but not everyone saw a reason to celebrate?

This year will bring numerous official events to mark the sesquicentennial of Confederation in Canada.

University of Guelph professor Kim Anderson says many Canadians have reason to throw themselves a 150th birthday party in 2017— even if only to celebrate the perennial anti-fact of not being American, particularly in the new Trump era.

Today historian of the United States, Dr. Susan Nance is interviewed in the L. A. Times about the announcement last weekend that Feld Entertainment, owner of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth Circus, is shutting the show down after over 150 in the business.

This week our acting Department Chair and historian of Canada, Dr. Alan Gordon, is interviewed in The Ontarion.

History: Canadian Confederation celebrates sesquicentennial in 2017

2017 marks the 150th year of the Confederation of Canada; where in 1867, the British North America Act was given royal assent by Queen Victoria, and created the Dominion of Canada.

Dr. Matthew Hayday is a featured speaker in the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences "Big Thinking" lecture series. Professor Hayday will speak February 21 in the Parliamentary Restaurant, Centre Block at Parliament Hill: “Canadian-ness,” Citizen Engagement, and Canada 150: Using History to Inform Policy

As a hockey fan and author, University of Guelph PhD and history instructor Jason Wilson landed his “dream job” when he helped author a book about one of the most storied franchises in sport.