Our Community Projects
2016-17 students researching at The RCR Museum as part of History 9801: Group Project
An essential part of training our Public History students is working with and learning from cultural and historical organizations.
Each year, our students work with local institutions in group projects, curating exhibits, researching heritage designations, conducting oral histories, doing public speaking, and designing smart phone apps and websites, among other projects. In the past, we have collaborated with institutions such as Museum London, Eldon House, Banting House National Historic Site, Fanshawe Pioneer Village, the J.P. Metras Museum, the London Advisory Committee on Heritage, the London Public Library, the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum, Western Archives, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Parks Canada, and the Museum of Ontario Archaeology.
If you are a community institution and wish to discuss any of these opportunities, please contact Prof. Michelle Hamilton at mhamilt3@uwo.ca, or Prof. Mike Dove at mdove2@uwo.ca.
2024-24: Selling Fun: London's O-Pee-Chee Company
We are researching the history of making chewing gum, candy and picture trading cards by O-Pee-Chee (1911-96). Students are conducting archival research and oral history interviews to produce a documentary film trailer. Class members: Sadie-Lyn Bieman, Kamila Costello, Mac Goodyear, Neisa Long, Chris McKay, Eric Norris, Taylor Northwood, and Georgian Parkes.
2021-24: Vision SoHo
Partnered with the Vision SoHo Alliance, an affordable housing consortium which is renovating two historic buildings and building five more on the old Victoria Hospital grounds, we are researching the history of the SoHo neighbourhood and the role of the hospital, to curate interpretative signage to be erected on site in 2024. These signs will link to digital resources. Read our first-year report, Echoes of Soho here or our second-year report Story of SoHo. Watch our second-year public research presentation here.
2023-24 class members: Kevin den Dunnen, Nick Hamilton, Tara Jacklin, Kealey Kennedy, Kirsten Koop, Lauren Millet, Paige Milner, Shannon Putnam, Danielle Walls, Madison Williams, and Lily Zitko.
2022-23 class members: Mack Bodnar, Jessica Hugh, Niġel Klemenčič-Puglisevich, Hannah Mantel, Zahra McDoom, and Sarah Pointer.
2021-22 class members: Emma Bronsema, Emily Clink, Danielle Sinopoli, Avi Shaver, Keely Shaw and Madeline Shaw.
Heritage Conservation
We researched properties in the North Talbot area of London for the City of London and the London Advisory Committee on Heritage.
2021-22: Covid Canada
Students conducted oral interviews with Canadians about their experiences during Covid. These are available on the Journal of the Plague Year digital archive.
2020-21: Journal of the Plague Year
Students collected digital objects that relate to Canadian experiences of CoVID 19 for this rapid-response archive created by our partner Arizona State University, and curated the exhibit From Far and Wide: Covid Canada.
Class members: Kat Bezaire; Jacob Breadman; Victoria Burnett; Ivy Cooley; Elisabeth Edwards; Catherine Gaskin; Kestra Greer; Patrick Kinghan; Robin Marshall; Julia Richards; Margaret Schultz.
Diabetes Ink
Students conducted oral interviews around diabetes-related tattoos for Banting House National Historic Site.
Heritage Conservation
We researched properties in the SoHo area of London for the City of London and the London Advisory Committee on Heritage.
2019-20: 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of Insulin
With Banting House National Historic Site, students researched and curated a pop-up exhibit to document the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes.
Class members: Mike Bartlett; Madison Bifano; Jessica Chernich; Margaret Dingwell; Daniel Farrow; Hope Gresser; Tom Lang; Kaitlyn MacDonald; Brendan McShane; Jenna Philbrick; Jared Schutt; Lorraine Tinsley.
Heritage Conservation
For the eleventh year, we partnered with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage and the City of London Heritage Planner to research historic properties.
2018-19: Hear, Here London
Students conducted oral histories about the SoHo district of London to curate this audio documentary tour and build a complimentary website. www.hearherelondon.org
Class members: Katie Anderson; Katrina Bjornstad; Sean Campbell; Elizabeth Carbonneau; Rachel Delle Palme; Skylee-Storm Hogan; Louis Orford; Hetty Roi; Leanna Tran; Heather Wilson.
Winner of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Public Education and Engagement Award and the Canadian Society of Digital Humanities Outstanding Contribution Award.
Heritage Conservation
We continued our built heritage research for the City of London and the London Advisory Committee on Heritage.
2017-18: Life and Death at Woodland Cemetery
Students researched and wrote a commemorative history of London's historic Woodland Cemetery.
Class members: MacKenzie Brash; Haley Caldwell; Brooke Campbell; Alex Fitzgerald-Black; Thora Gustafsson; Lauren Lambe; Emily Larsen; Delany Leitch; Lauren Luchenski; Nicole McIlwain; Julia Schwindt; Martha Sellens; Madison Sollars
Photo: C. Recker Photography
"A Driving Force," McIntosh Gallery
For the second year, students continued oral interviews with members of the local female art community.
Heritage Designation
For the ninth year, we partnered with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage to research potential heritage properties in Old North.
2016-17: Topography of Grief, RCR Museum
Students partnered with the RCR Museum to curate a Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit, including research, writing, selecting photographs, choosing artifacts and ephemera for inclusion. An additional project created a walking tour based on the remaining homes of RCR soldiers in London. Together, the museum and Public History had a Canada150 grant to complete this project.
"A Driving Force," McIntosh Gallery
Students conducted oral history interviews for the McIntosh Gallery’s ongoing “A Driving Force” Project, which captured the stories and experiences of the female art community in London and southwestern Ontario. Assisted by the curator and a videographer, students performed all tasks involved in producing an oral history project, from researching participants and their contributions to the art world, and conducting and transcribing the oral history interview, to writing a reflective report on the interview process.Heritage Designation
For the 8th consecutive year, we worked with the City of London heritage planners, the London Advisory Committee on Heritage, and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, London Branch, to research properties along Richmond Street and make heritage designation recommendations.
@LdnOntWWI
This year's students will complete the multi-year project 'real-time' twitter account which revisits the affect of WWI on Londoners using the headlines, articles and ads of the London Free Press. We began this project in 2014 and ended it in 2018 with the armistice.
2015-16: Pier 21
We partnered with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Halifax, to create a virtual gallery for the museum on the theme of American immigration to Canada. Students researched three particular migrations to Canada: the Underground Railroad; the New England Planters; and the Klondike Gold Rush; and are collected oral histories from more recent immigrants from the US including draft dodgers and conscientious objectors from the Vietnam War and those from the LGBTQ community. These stories will be shared with the public in both written and video form to increase awareness of the push-pull factors that brought people from our neighbour to the south to find a new home in Canada. One student completed their internship at Pier 21 in bringing the project to fruition.
Students were: Brett Bilyk, Robert DeRose, Madison Hamilton, Kaiti Hannah, Heather Hepburn, Thomas Littlewood, Montanna Mills, Alison Nagy, Rebecca Smithers, and Alexandra Weller.
Heritage Designation
Students completed heritage designation reports on residences in the SoHo neighbourhood of London for the City’s Heritage Planners, London Advisory Committee on Heritage (LACH), the London Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO), and the SoHo Community Association. The reports, which will follow the City’s template to assess under the Ontario Heritage Act, will help inform the City’s consideration of a potential Heritage Conservation District (HCD) as well as community events. They will also become part of the City’s Inventory of Heritage Buildings and be considered for the ACO’s annual heritage home walking tour. Students presented their findings to a special meeting of the Stewardship Subcommittee at London City Hall.
@LdnOntWWI
This year's students continue the 'real-time' twitter account which revisits the affect of WWI on Londoners using the headlines, articles and ads of the London Free Press.
2014-15: This Hour of Trial and Sorrow: The Great War Letters of the Leonard Family
**Winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation
Students transcribed, edited, and published a selection of letters written by Ibbotson and Woodman Leonard to their family at home in London. These brothers enlisted as officers to fight in the First World War.This book has been nominated for the 2015 Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation.
Available at Amazon.ca.
Class members: Lauren Abrams, Tamar Cachet, Nick Clemens, Taryn Dewar, Scott Dickinson, Nick Kormarnitksy, Alex Meyers, Nikki Michienzi, Vasanthi Pendakur, Rachel Pennington, Frank J. Smith, Nicole St. Cyr, Dominik Svehla, and Emily Villars.
Heritage Designation
For the sixth year, we partnered with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage and the London branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario to research heritage homes. We will also be working with the St. George-Grosvenor Neighbourhood Association, researching the St. James-Grosvenor area of Old North, in preparation for a heritage district designation.
@LdnOntWWI
This year's students continued the 'real-time' twitter account which revisits the affect of WWI on Londoners using the headlines, articles and ads of the London Free Press.
2013-14: Dr. Jones' House, Fanshawe Pioneer Village
Students researched medical history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to curate "Dr. Jones' House," using the Dr. William Anson Jones artifact and archival collection held at the Village.
Class members: Gabrielle Bossy, Stacey Devlin, Ryan Hunt, Stephanie Johns, Oliver Jones, Kaitlyn Kachmarchik, Jessica Knapp, Elizabeth Miron, Amina Musa, Joel Sherlock, Laura Walter, and Carla Watson.
Heritage Designation
For the fifth year, we continued a partnership with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage and the London branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario to research heritage homes in the Old South and the Blackfriars/ Petersville areas in the city.
@LdnOntWWI
This 'real-time' twitter account revisits the affect of the First World War on Londoners through the headlines, articles and ads of the London Free Press.
2012-13: London Works: Labouring in the Forest City
Students researched, curated, and designed an exhibit at Museum London on the of theme of labour and work including oral histories. They also produced an exhibit catalogue, and designed and participated in school age programming, public family programming, social media, and public relations.
Class members: Jesika Arseneau, Raiza Baez Calderon, Vanessa Dal Bello, Jasmine Fong, Erica Gagnon, Charlotte Hall-Coates, Paulina Johnson, Jen Sguigna, Shane Pacey, and Caileen Weitz.
Old North Designation Project
The program continued its association with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario to research properties in Old North London for designation purposes under the Ontario Heritage Act and for the annual Geranium Heritage Home Walking Tour.
2011-12: Route1812
Students researched and curated the historical and media content for a smart phone app to commemorate museums and historic sites related to the War of 1812 in the Southwest Region of Ontario (Chatham-Kent and Essex).
Class members were: Adriana Ayers, April Coxon, Alison Deplonty, Doug McGlynn, Sarah Nagy, Sushima Naraine, Adrian Petry, Laura Piticco, Heather Rivet, Dave Sikkema, Lindsay VanDyk, Hilary Wasserman.
SoHo Designation Project
In partnership with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage, students researched twelve properties in the SoHo area of London for potential designation.
2010-11: J.P. Metras Sports Museum Website
Using Omeka software developed by the Centre for History and New Media at George Mason University, students researched and curated a virtual exhibit that pairs the artifact and photographic collections of the Metras Museum and the University Archives.
Class members were Sarah Bennett, Craig Capacchione, Joanna Dawson, Caitlin Dyer, Terran Fader, Michelle Goodridge, Adair Harper, Jennifer Levin-Bonder, Jenn Nelson, Pamela Pal, Luvneet Rana, Annique Sanche, Kira Westby, and Brent Wiancko.
High Street Hike
Students conducted research on the historical and architectural significance of the High Street area in Old South, London, in partnership with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage and the London Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. Their research was used in the ACO's annual historic homes walk and by the City of London in historical designation programs.
2009-10: A Walk Down Memory Lane: Historic Homes of the Talbot Street Area
In partnership with the London Advisory Committee on Heritage, students researched the cultural and architectural significance of the Ridout/Talbot streets area in London. Their assessments will be used in the process of the heritage conservation designation of this area. Their research was also used to curate an exhibit at the Schweitzer Gallery at the Weldon Archives and for the annual Geranium Heritage Tour by the London Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
Environmental History Curriculum Development
Students researched and designed three innovative curriculum plans on environmental and ecological history based on the Ontario curriculum in partnership with EcoKids and the Network in Canadian History and Environment. EcoKids is a non- profit multi-award winning program which has provided environmental resources for 15 years to over 12,000 teachers across Canada. Its website, and all of the free lessons plans are accessible at www.ecokids.ca.
Class members were: Megan Arnott, Catherine Caughell, Tasha DiLoreto, Jordan Goldstein, Dana Johnson, Braden Murray, Tim O'Grady, Rebecca Rahey, Sara Sirianni, and Shelagh Staunton.
2008-09: Restoring Perspectives: Life and Treatment at the London Asylum
In collaboration with Museum London and the former Archival and Teaching Museum of Regional Mental Health Care London, students researched the history, artifact and archival collection of the London Asylum for the Insane to create a web exhibit entitled, Restoring Perspectives. This paired with Museum London's own exhibit, Cultivating Care. The students also curated an exhibit for the Schweitzer gallery in the UWO Archives. As part of this project, students assisted in the inventorying, packing and moving of the Asylum collection from the former Archival and Teaching Museum to Museum London and interviewed staff members of Regional Mental Health Care.
The web exhibit is available on the UWO Library's virtual exhibit page.
Class members were: Natalie Dyck, Lois Fenton, Heather George, Kalyna Klymkiw, Ruthann LaBlance, Jenna Leifso, Meili Ma, Sophie Malek, Sarah Maloney, Krista McCracken, Meaghan Nelligan, Andrew Robertson, Melissa Robinson, David Rodger and Vicky Tran.
