June-July 2022

June-July 2022

Features

The Great Hunger

From 1845 to 1852, an Gorta Mór — the Great Hunger — drove one million people out of Ireland. This year marks the 175th anniversary Black ’47, the worst year of the Irish famine, when close to one hundred thousand of those refugees arrived on Canada’s shores. by Don Cummer

The Working Man’s Beer

In an era of prohibition, B.C. politician Thomas Uphill argued that beer is as essential to a worker as milk is to a baby. The province’s longest-serving MLA fought tirelessly for the right to enjoy a brew. by Wayne Norton

Pride and Prejudices

The gossipy and often withering letters of society matron Hannah Jarvis reveal the social dynamics and class conflicts in pre-Confederation Upper Canada. by Elizabeth Masson

Living in Harmony

Toronto pianists Ida and Harry Culley tickled the ivories through the musical moments of the early twentieth century. by Joanne Culley

Departments

Editor’s Note

Thistles or shamrocks?

The Packet

Fond memories of The Railrodder. Alexander Mackenzie’s missing crew. Ranking Canada’s explorers.

Currents

Family war story inspires teenager’s new graphic novel. Gift of Dutch tulips ensures that Ottawa is awash in colour. From the Archives: Arctic squirrel story a hair-raising tale. Remembering Nanook of the North. By the Numbers: The 1947 oil strike at Leduc, Alberta.

Summer Reading Guide

Our special advertising section includes history, fiction, and other books for Canadian readers.

Books

Q&A: Stephen Bown, author of The Company. Reviews: Unifying icon. Before the fire. More books: Culinary resistance, residential school remembrance, suburban constraints. Read them all

History Matters

Celebrating the laureates of the 2021 Governor General’s History Awards.

Album

A 1920s Toronto police constable is tagged by a woman in naval attire.