The Curious Case of the Nelis Dutch Village

First, it is enjoyable, and you should go. Second, it is a little bit of a public history anomaly, which might make it more interesting.

Established mid-20th century, the founding of the Nelis Dutch Village is described as a completely rational extension of the tulip farm that the Nelis family owned and run in the first half of the century. As you ramble through the tulip gardens, you are greeted with distinctly dutch looking buildings, attractions and artefacts. It is a celebration of Dutch culture.

But the interesting part is it is a celebration of just Dutch culture, not Dutch American culture (besides the Nelis family history). The mandate of the park seems to be to bring a part of Dutch culture to the United States. But then again, apart from some artefacts like an amazing player organ, they things they are presenting are not Dutch, but in fact just in a Dutch style. Like there are buildings and costumes from different provinces in the Netherlands, but none of them were made in the Netherlands, just in a style that is identifiably Dutch. And it is a bit of a rag tag representation as well, basically what nineteenth century antiquarians collecting people's national character would consider truly 'Dutch.'

For comparison, the closest thing I can compare it to is the Skansen park in Stockholm. In fact, this is, according to Skansen, the model for all of these history parks which present a nineteenth century nationalist view of nationality. And Skansen owns up to this part of its history. But the buildings brought from all over Sweden are just that, actually buildings that are now being preserved by Skansen. The Nelis Dutch village is not preserving artefacts as a result of a nationalist impulse to preserve culture. It has skipped the preservation part and gone right for the nationalist impulse.

Like Skansen, the Nelis Dutch Village also has some turn of the century rides and a park, which I think most health and safety officials would balk at. For instance, they have a sort of small zipline which is unmanned, so it is simply up to parents to keep their kids safe, and I did see one kid tumble off the 4 ft. high platform while I was there.

Perhaps the most interesting thing there is the museum, which houses a collection of dolls with different Dutch costumes, and gives some very patchy information about Dutch culture without much explanation. For instance their exhibit about Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet is controversial when it doesn't need to be, because Zwarte Piet is and should be a controversial thing to American audiences, but an interesting (maybe slightly controversial) part of Dutch culture, that is not being adequately explained here. It is just presented, without comment and without much information, so that all it looks like is that slavery is condoned in Dutch culture, which is totally inaccurate. The museum does not have much, but shows the nationalist impulse that drives the park by showing only old customs and images of the Dutch royal family.

The bottom line is that I am not sure what to make of it. I liked it, I did, but my public history self was also cringing the entire time that I was there, thinking things like 'what is your mandate' and 'where are the safety precautions' and often just 'what?'.

A museum which is not representing anyone or any history in particular, and a theme park without a lot of rides or safety standards, it does educate about folk customs, folk dress, different kinds of architecture and food. The staff put a lot of work into the demonstrations, and they are worth seeing, as is the whole park. But all of it presents an idealistic vision of a general Netherlands, that may have in part still existed when Harry Nelis settled in Holland Michigan, or at least existed as a vision in part formed by turn of the century intellectuals caught up in nationalism before the advent of WWI. What it does represent is a tendency for displaced peoples to romanticize their roots, and hold on to and honour customs, languages and practices that become defunct in the original homeland, and it is perhaps the best example of that that I have ever seen.

Week 1: Helsinki, world design capital of 2012

My first weekend in Sweden there was a scheduled trip to Helsinki. What this means is that at about 10 days into my trip to Sweden I had actually seen much more of Finland than I had of Sweden.

Helsinki has a lot to offer for the historically minded. However, it is the design capital of the world this year. In many ways I struggled to see evidence of this while I was here. Not that I didn't see interesting architecture and the simple and elegant designs that I always see in Sweden, but because my tourism focuses more on history than design I struggled to appreciate that aspect of the city. There was an exhibit at the Kiasma, or modern art museum,which tried to expand what we think about when we think of design, but not having a real base in design basics I think I wasn't the exhibits target audience. It was entitled Camouflage and it explored how design can be hidden in other things. I thought the exhibit about the traditional Russian tourist kiosk incorporating elements of design was the most interesting portion, but I am interested in historical tourism which is why this piece spoke to me more than any other.

But for the historically minded, here is an example of a possible weekend trip to Helsinki. To get to there Stockholm you can take one of the ferries through the archipelago. That is worth doing on it's own. We took the Viking Line cruise ship. It is a fully fledged cruise, complete with Scandinavian style smorgasbord. The boat is often very cheap because they want you to come on-board and drink or go to the smorgasbord.The archipelago is extremely beautiful. It is absolutely unique and special in it's own way, but it did remind me a lot of the Georgian Bay 1000 Islands, just as much of the wilderness in Sweden (what I have seen so far) does rather remind me of Canadian wilderness. I think it is something about similar latitudes.

We arrived in Helsinki after a fitful night sleeping on the boat below sea level. A few of us wasted no time. We checked into the hotel and headed right for Unesco world heritage site Sveaborg/Suomenlinna. You have to take the ferry from the Open Market, but the ferries are frequent. We spent from 12:30 - 4:00 at Sveaborg and then returned to the mainland. We ate food in the Open Market (a good bet because Finland is expensive), wandered along the Esplanade and turned in for an early night.

After breakfast the next morning (another smorgasbord provided by the Grand Marina Skandic hotel) I walked along the harbour to the Mannerheim Museum. A little hard to find, but if you walk along the harbour past the Olympia terminal and keep your eyes out for signs you will find a path up the hill. When you get to the top of the path turn right to get to Mannerheim. They provide a guide and it was for me one of the highlights of the trip. So very interesting, and I learned so much more about Finnish history. They open at 10:00. I took a tour almost right at 10:30 and was finished in about an hour. From there I walked back up the Esplanade. At the end of the Esplanade, right behind the Swedish theatre there is a bus stop that leads to Folison.

At about 1:00 we took bus 22 to Folison/Seuresaari, the open-air museum in Helsinki. It is the last stop on the bus route. We wandered a little and took the guided tour in English at 3:00. After that we took the bus back at 5:00 to the main square and had dinner one street back from the main street so as to avoid high prices.

In the evening I wandered a bit around the city. I went to the Helsinki Cathedral, which is open until midnight on most days in the summer. I walked to the outside of the Uspenski cathedral, which was not open. Those are the two cathedrals that decorate the city skyline when you come into the harbour. From there I wandered around the point by the Viking Line terminal. Probably best not to wander at night too much, but as the sun hardly goes down it doesn't seem like a problem.

The next morning I caught the guided bus tour in Swedish and English at 10:30 from the Olympia terminal. I found the bus smelly and the large guided tour rather impersonal, but if I hadn't done that tour I wouldn't have had such a good sense of the city and I also wouldn't have seen two of Helsinki's real treasures, the Rock Church or Temppeliaukia Church and the Sibelius monument in Sibelius park. Those are the two stops the bus makes. After that, at around 12:00 I did go into Uppenski Orthodox Cathedral. I then took the bus to the Finnish National Museum, located on Mannerheim Rd. beside the Finnish parliament. I spent about an hour and a half in the museum, but could easily have spent a bit more time. I then went to the Kiasma Modern Art museum and spent maybe 1/2 hour. There I couldn't have spent more time. I do like art, but historical context can be as important for me as actual content. Essentially, I prefer a museum.

In the Finnish national Museum is where I found these Viking Age artefacts on display. Viking Age artefacts found in Finland largely demonstrate trade routes between Sweden and the East. A tendency to trade with the east can also be demonstrated in the high Viking Age finds in Sweden.

At 4:00 pm the group caught the boat back to Stockholm.

If you are in Helsinki for a few days there are a lot of good things to be said about getting the Helsinki Card. I did get one for three days for 56 euros and found it was entirely worth it. At the same time, as you can tell I worked really hard to make sure that it was worth it and tried to take in as much as possible. With the exception of food, everything was covered under the card, including admission to all these sites and public transportation. If you like to take in a city in a more passive (perhaps saner) way then the Helsinki card is not really for you.

I for one am stoked! Tourism and History in Bruce-Grey-Simcoe

Have we snow? I offer three words. 'Wax up dudes.'



So says historical figure John Graves Simcoe in Bruce-Grey-Simcoe's new advertisement campaign, highlighting this area of Ontario's yearly winter wonderland. In the ad on the radio John Graves Simcoe is purportedly raving about the ski conditions in the county that was named after him. If you look at the advertisement campaign on the web, Sir James Bruce, 2nd Earl Charles Grey and Lt. Governor Simcoe all have something to say. An historic photo of them has had ski gear added to it, and the photo speaks. Simcoe's contribution is mentioned above. Bruce says 'Another robust winter is upon us. I for one am stoked!,' and Grey says 'I quite fancy skiing. Especially the Apres."


Many tourist sites are also historic sites. If you think of a location and you are trying to think of what there is to see there, often you think of the old structures and the museums, the sites where specific events happened. No? Just me? Well anyway, for the sites where it is less about seeing and more about doing, like skiing and theme parks and mini putt, history perhaps plays less of a role. However those kind of tourist sites often break out around historic locations, because those places have been interesting to generations of people, like Niagara Falls, or Wasaga Beach. Skiing is a little different though. The hills are not centres where people have been coming and going for centuries, like harbours, or river intersections. But it is the best place for skiing.

I thought the campaign was so interesting. First of all, people are actually going to engage with historical photos of some of Ontario's first founders. These are not people that are well-known. I am familiar with John Graves Simcoe myself, but I even have not done a lot of research about Charles Grey or James Bruce. People are still not going to know who they are, but they are at least going to realize that the county's are named after specific people. This is the most interesting kind of historical education, because it will open the door for certain people to ask more questions, and it brings that tourist approved historical significance to a tourist attraction devoid of that kind of connection or cultural significance.

How effective it will be as an advertisement campaign is harder to judge. I will certainly remember it. And it's quite clever.

History in the City for the young and the young at heart

So, you've done Centre Island and they've been to Canada's Wonderland. You went to the zoo and they spent the day at the beach. Now what? And why was any sort of museum programming the last thing you thought of? Don't worry, it's not just for the nerdy children amongst us. Often they have so much fun they don't realize they're learning something. Or they don't learn anything, which is fine too, because you might, and they would learn the same nothing at Canada's Wonderland and they'll still have fun.

Studies often show that most of us did not retain the history we do know from what we were taught in school. Many of us remember snippets of movies, books or, mostly, the museums we visited as children. And don't worry if you don't remember what the population of Toronto was when it was founded in 1834, if you remembered that it's only really been around for less than two hundred years, or even if you got the sense that the city was kinda old you did take something away from the experience, whether you meant to or not.

I loved going to museums when I was little (surprise, surprise). Living history museums shaped a large part of the trajectory of my life. I felt like I was stepping into a story. That interested my sister less, but she always liked things like art and making things, and there was always something interesting for everyone to do.

So if you live in the city and are wondering what to do with these last dog days of summer, here are some of the programs aimed at children being put on until the end of August at Toronto Heritage Institutions (which I think includes things like Halls of Fame, Art Galleries and Science Centres, but that is a debate for another day):


Colborne Lodge

Colborne Lodge has Pay What you Can Sundays. Go and see what you can of the house of High Park founders John and Jemima Howard. And while you're at it, spend the day in the park.
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday noon-5 p.m.
Admission: Adults: $5.71
Seniors (65 +): $2.62
Youth (13-18 yrs.): $2.62
Children (4-12 yrs.): $2.38

Fort York

Fort York has special programming going on all summer. See the cannons fire at 12:30, see the fife and drums in the afternoons, and enjoy the hourly drill demonstrations. This one of the larger living history museums in the city, and certainly represents the oldest time period for Toronto (Fort York was founded when this area was made Upper Canada's capital, around 1796).
Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults: $7.62
Seniors (65 +): $3.81
Youth (13-18 yrs.): $3.81
Children: (4-12 yrs.): $2.86

Gibson House

The Gibson House has a special tour on Sundays, noon to 5 pm, of their 1850s kitchen. This includes a taste of what's cooking and, of course, the hands-on children's activities available in the Discovery Gallery.
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, noon - 5 p.m.
Admission Adults: $5.48
Seniors (65 +): $3.10
Youth (13-18 yrs.): $3.10
Children (2-12 yrs.): $2.62

Mackenzie House

Mackenzie House, home of Toronto's first mayor has kids crafts on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4:30.
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, noon - 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults: $5.71
Seniors (65 +): $3.81
Youth (13-18 yrs.): 3.81
Children (5-12 yrs.): $3.33
Children (4 and under): Free

Scarborough Museum

The Scarborough Museum has special activities for adults and kids every Saturday and Sunday for their Summer Victorian Extravaganzas. Shows, music, merriment; experience early life in Scarborough.
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, noon - 5 p.m.
Admission: Donation


Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario, perhaps not one of the first places we think of when we think of history, but has been there since 1893 and is one of the rare historic buildings that is still in use today. Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. until the end of the summer there is a scavenger hunt on the grounds, aimed at children between the ages of 6-12. Pre-register or drop in.
Hours: 9:00-5:00
Admission: Free

Royal Ontario Museum

At the Royal Ontario Museum the ongoing exhibit Water includes many hands-on activities and panels aimed at kids. This is in addition to their usual galleries, where the natural history (dinosaurs, bugs, birds and the like) is usually a big hit.
Hours: Saturday - Thursday 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Admission:Adult: $24 + exhibit $31 ($24 + $7)
Senior (65+ years): $21 + exhibit $28 ($21 + $7)
Student (15 to 17 years): $21 + exhibit $28 ($21 + $7)
Child (4 to 14 years): $16 + exhibit $19.50 ($16 + $3.50)
Infant (3 years & under) Free

Bata Shoe Museum

At the Bata Shoe Museum host Weekend Family Fun every weekend, save for when they have other big events. There they can try on shoes, paint a clog or go on a treasure hunt in the galleries. This too is in addition to their usual hands-on exhibits.
Hours:Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday: 10:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday : 12:00pm – 5:00pm
Admission:Adults: $14
Senior citizens (65+): $12
Students (with ID): $8
Children (5-17 years inclusive): $5
children under 5 are free

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art

At the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art every Sunday is family day. The first Sunday of a month is a movie and a themed scavenger hunt. The second Sunday is themed paper crafts in the lobby. The third Sunday is the guided kids tour and on the fourth Sunday of the month there is typically a performance by storytellers, musicians and other entertainers, though this month the last Sunday will be more crafts in the lobby.
Hours: Monday to Thursday: 10 am – 6 pm
Friday:10 am - 8 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm
Admission:Adults: $12
Seniors: $8
Students: $6
Children: FREE (under 5)


Black Creek Pioneer Village

At Black Creek Pioneer Village, another living history museum, everyday at 2:00 they have a demonstration of something, perhaps butter churning, harness making or something else. They also have daily animal programs, as well as a hands-on history centre. Collect an historic passport and get it stamped at five of the different historic buildings once you complete a task or explore a Country Kids Trail. All these activities are available all summer.
Hours: Week days: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Weekends: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Admission: Adult (Age 16-59): $15.00
Child (Age 5-15): $11.00
Infant (Age 4 and under): Free - does not apply for group bookings
Senior (60+): $14.00
Student (16+): $14.00

Ontario Science Centre

At the Ontario Science Centre join them for KidSpark, an activity happening each weekday at 11:00 in July and August. It could be a number of things, including a science demonstration or an art project.
Hours:10 am - 6 pm
Admission:Adult (18-64): $20
Child (4-12): $13
Youth (13-17), Student (with ID), Senior (65+): $16
Infant (3 & under): Free!

Canadian Air and Space Museum

The Canadian Air and Space Museum has a Future Pilots program running on August 20-21. This is a hands on full day activity for teens.
Hours:Wednesday, 10:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday - Saturday, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Sunday, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Holiday Mondays, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Admission: Adults 18+: $ 11.00
Seniors 60+: $ 9.00
Students with school ID: $ 9.00
Military with ID:$ 9.00
Children 5 & under: FREE
Family: 2 adults & 2 Students: $ 27.00


And don't forget the other museums etc. around the city:

Art Gallery of Ontario
The Hockey Hall of Fame
Historic Zion Schoolhouse
Montgomery's Inn
Spadina House: Historic House and Gardens
Todmorden Hills Heritage Site
York Museum
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

For more information of upcoming events check out Toronto Museum Events, or the ROM, AGO, Hockey Hall of Fame, Black Creek Pioneer Village etc. websites.

Musings on Public History Management

The majority of Public History Institutions are open and running in the summer. In fact in Canada very few of them have any winter program at all. This means that the majority of the work force is summer students. For most public history managers the trick is to try and create a programming where you can have consistency from year to year even when you are training mostly new people for each summer. This means laying out in detail what is expected of every position, including when you would take lunch, what equipment you will need to complete your task, what information you will need to know and what your curatorial duties could be. In many ways this is the very professional way to run a public history institution, and that professionalism comes through in the programming and interpretation.

And yet, since those that have been hired are often extremely talented, capable people (often they have gone through school to study this subject, and have taken the time to make themselves bilingual) there is a reaction against any micro-management, or criticisms of downtime when they produce such quality work when they are called upon. This is particularly true of places where the same staff are hired every year, or where, in the odd case, the majority of the historical interpretation takes place throughout the education year as opposed to during the summer.

True of all offices, long term people do not like to be micro-managed. But the struggle for Public History management is how to maintain that balance between letting the employees do what they do, and to be flexible to maintain better customer service, and to put in place that well structured programming necessary for places with huge staffing change over from year to year.

There is no answer, it depends on the location and the individuals, which is the trick for public history managers. Often those institutions that offer more all year programming or have the same employees year after year want less structure in their historical interpretation positions because they know how to read a group and offer each individual group the best possible history experience. Likewise, institutions with larger change over benefit more from the structure. But this is not an absolute, because it depends on the individuals. Sometimes long term people want more structure in their jobs because it increases the professionalism of the experience they offer and perhaps as a group they will be taken more seriously the more consistent the program is. But for the profession, particularly for those people who interact with the public on a daily basis, flexibility is key to offering a great experience and to effectively communicating history to the public.

Crossroads

It is not a plight reserved only for Public Historians, though I was attempted to make that statement in the title. Most of us ambitious come to this point, at the intersection of rejection, anticipation and triumph, where so much is happening so very quickly that you are missing all the action while you are busy waiting for your life to start.

For this Public Historian/Medievalist, confident in her own abilities yet no stranger to rejection, I find myself poised on the edge of such a moment.


I graduated from the Public History program at Western in October. Technically the program finished in August, but I was able to prolong my internship at L'Anse aux Meadows into October. Now, like many trained professionals I want a job in the field I am trained for, though my main criteria for employment is that it is challenging and that I enjoy it.

When we met for graduation in October not one of us from the graduating class yet had a job. Not surprising. Nor is it surprising that some of us have found work in the field, some of us have found other kinds of work, some of us are still looking and some are now doing more school.

This week I am expecting to hear back from three jobs. One I interviewed for in November. They said the decision would take them a few weeks. Ha! Fair enough, as long as you judge weeks in 'government time.' One I interviewed for last week seems really interesting and would also be in my field. One is Blockbuster, where I have worked before. And I do love movies, so I would be happy there, but it rather pales in comparison.

I have also applied to PhD programs. Like employment, the waiting is what kills you as they leave you in a state of limbo. I have had one rejection letter so far, which is not all that disheartening, because that is wont to happen. But it rather adds to the sense of sitting around and waiting for your life to start.

A sensation that is mitigated by the many triumphs I have had this year. My article 'Putting the Vikings on the Canadian Map' was published in the special project Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier due to the tireless efforts of Dr. Kathryn Brush of the Visual Arts Department at the University of Western Ontario. One of my life goals of seeing my name in print for something I wrote is accomplished. I am also going to be delivering a version of the paper in a lecture for the Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages panel at the 2011 International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo Michigan. Look for me, 8:30 am Sunday morning. It is an international forum for my work, so that I can start trying to build a reputation.


As I say, my life is at a crossroads, and many things that may happen this week are going to start pointing me down different paths. It is a place most people are going to end up on their road. I just hope to be strong enough to be able to wait for the rejections that will point me to my eventual triumphs.

So speaks the Universe ...

... and as it turns out the universe loves me. As I was doing my usual trawl through the Medievalists.net blog I came across an article about the newly formed Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages. Oh my gosh if this wasn't for me. And heck if I am not going to use this as leverage to get me into a PhD program this year. It seems to suggest that I have taken all the right things, BAH Medieval Studies, MA Norse and Viking Studies, MA Public History, at all the right times, and also that though Public History is a field that has been around for more than twenty years, it is now coming en vogue in many different areas, academic and otherwise. Not only en vogue but this society is also using terms that we used in public history, beyond just the words 'medievalisms', so as to suggest that what I have been studying this year is in the same discourse as what is currently being produced. I can't say that I felt out of place as a medievalist doing a Public History degree, but I was aware that I had an odd background for someone who was contemplating a Public History career. I now have an overwhelming sense of validation. Not only might I have students who want to take classes with me, I might have department heads who see the value in the path that I have taken. Alright, this is a lot to put on the shoulders of one society and one website, but I am very excited nonetheless.

New Blog on Active History

Heads up on my recent article for Active History.

Robin Hood Movie Review

As medievalists this year we have been treated to several films that build on a medieval theme, like How to Train your Dragon. Of course when we heard that Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe were teaming up to do a Robin Hood movie we all waited with baited breath. Even the more cynical amongst us admitted we would probably watch it, even if we were determined not to like it.

Having seen it, I will freely admit that I loved it. Most who know me are not surprised by that statement. Even as a Public Historian, I loved it because if there is one thing you can say about the film is that it was committed to conveying a sense of history. The characters were likable, the plot I found to be engaging, and I came away entirely satisfied.

This does not mean that the film was without its problems. In fact most critics have panned it. If we look at it from the point of view of a medievalist there are several things that it does quite well, and there are several things that I am not sure added to the plot.

*spoiler alert*

In terms of inaccuracies, I am sure others picked up on more than I did. The hardest thing I found to digest was the pyre funeral for Walter of Locksley. With Churchmen standing by. Part of the belief in the Middle Ages was that your body would be resurrected along with your soul, so it was not within church practices to burn bodies. This is not to say that it would have been uniform everywhere, or that this couldn't have happened, but it seemed to me to be unlikely, and not to add to the plot which elsewhere was being so careful with details.

The other part that I found myself somewhat incredulous about was Marian joining the charge. Not that I think it would be inaccurate for some women to be involved in the assault on the beach, but I hadn't really understood this to be part of the character they created for Marian, and so it felt a bit forced. I was entirely with them when she picked up a sword to defend her village, but I think a lot of people were taken out of the film by this addition. Again, not because it was necessarily inaccurate but seemed a bit of a stretch based on the rest of the film.

One of my favourite parts of the history that was in the film was the portrayal of King Richard and King John. Here they were truer to the history than to the conventions of the Robin Hood story, and I really liked that. Richard was brutal and John was pretty nasty, though his real fault was not having the same carriage or demeanour as his brother. As well, he was not pure evil, which I liked.

Perhaps the biggest fault of the movie was that the message was not elegantly placed within the plot, but instead the audience was hit over the head with it. Robin is part of the movement that would lead to the signing of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is certainly a big deal, and I could be corrected, but the Magna Carta at the time was mostly for the nobles who objected to John coming back and trying to take back some of the local power that Richard had lost because of his absenteeism. It was certainly about taxes, but part of that was John was a better administrator on the home front than his brother, and was dealing with the tremendous debt left by Richard. The movement was not really about the rights of the people, at least not all the people, though later politicians would understand it that way. What they were saying in the film seemed to be phrased, not so that it would be historically inaccurate, but so that audiences would recognize the ideals they were espousing as democracy, even though that's not really really what it was. In some ways Robin's espousal of these ideals seems forced, and it means that we lack some of the bravado and cockiness which was an appeal for earlier incarnations of Robin Hood.

But what it does do is place the whole story in a wider historical context, and it really does explain in many ways the momentum of the Magna Carta movement, though they never actually say the words 'Magna Carta.'

This Robin Hood, like Robin Hoods before it, tried to be relevant to today by exploiting elements of the history to show ongoing trends of injustice and resistance. As I say, I loved the film, but in its devotion to its message it lacked a bit of the fun that is to be found in other incarnations. And while Russell Crowe is excellent, his Robin Hood lacks the personality of others, and so he is by no means my favourite Robin.

In some ways, the final scenes of the films, with the camp and the greenwood, you come away with the sense that you would really liked to have seen more of that, that classic Robin Hood aesthetic. Though, in the end that is what we have seen before. It is just that I never tire of it.



Final note: Because I am a fan of Great Big Sea I enjoyed Alan Doyle as Alan-a-Dale. It didn't take me out of the movie too much, and as not that many are big fans like myself, I think it was an excellent choice.

Complexity in Simplicity

I like to work to deadline. I like to be figuring it out right up until the last second. For some this only causes panic and anxiety. Some procrastinate to the point where it becomes so overwhelming they can't even contemplate doing it any more.

I hope that I don't make myself into one of their number.

But as I reach the end of the year, and most projects are finished, save for some loose ends, I have somehow made things that are perhaps simple a little complicated. Not to the point of un-doable, but to the point that if most people had left it to this point they would be panicking.

For instance, as there has been no deadline for Interactive Exhibit Design I am still working on the electronic portion and the write-up. I have outlined on my website all the aspects of the project I intend to write about, but it is alarmingly blank at the moment.

And since I am still working on this I will have to make sure that I make at least one more trip to London this summer to return all of the electronics (and book) that I am still working with.

I will finish, or get as far as I can before I get stuck, since I think this may be one of the more useful things in my portfolio whichever direction my future career takes, and because I would really love to see this work.

For my internship I am working with the Simcoe County Museum this year. This may be not all I am doing, but I will keep people posted about this (maybe something with the R.O.M - not internship-y really, or with L'Anse aux Meadows) but I have been waiting to solidify this internship for several months. I have come to the conclusion that the Simcoe County Museum has never had an intern before, at least not under the current administration, and so they just did not have the ability to confirm this. It is feeling a little more solid now, though I do get the impression that I am forging new territory.

In addition, adding a little more complexity, I went over today to make appointments to talk to people at the museum and it looks like they would like to do some oral histories. That is really exciting, but a lot of work. When I told my dad that oral histories were going to involve a lot of paperwork that made him laugh.

So, a few things I am working on at the last possible minute. Some of this is by design, like completing my IED write-up while I work on the project, and some is by accident as there was no way to speed up my work at the Simcoe County Museum. While it seems to all be very complex, I am happy to report that things seem to be sorting themselves out in a rather simple sort of way.

P.S. Thanks to Devon for pointing out that IED also means Improvised Explosive Device, I had completely forgotten that acronym ... I mean, yay news!

Public History Everywhere

Last night I was indulging in a little bit of SNL.

Do you know how once you learn a name, or a trend, you start seeing it everywhere. I have determined that I got to that point with my Public History classes, and I couldn't help but notice the relevance that SNL episode had to my classes.

The first, most obvious thing was during Weekend Update Seth Meyers talked about the Cockroach Hall of Fame and Museum in Plano Texas: "A man in Texas has opened the cockroach hall of fame museum that features collections of the dead bugs in tutus and sunglasses, though just because you call it a museum inside your head doesn't mean you're not just a crazy son of a bitch with a gluegun."

I couldn't help but go back in my head to our discussions in class about what constitutes a museum. I actually came to the conclusion that yes, I would consider this a museum in my mind. Here is some of the information about that museum:



The second reference was to something that I came across in interactive exhibit design, about interactive physical computing. We looked at the 40 top arduino projects on the web, and the top one was this interactive laser harp. The musical guest, Kesha, actually used this harp in her first number. I probably felt cooler than I should have at that. Check out the video. The harp is used at the 3 minute mark.



Here is the video of the original laser harp:



It's official. I will now look for Public History in everything.

Further equally true, yet mutually exclusive truths

This week in Public History we looked at the issue of Repatriation in Canada and the United States. I am very much pro repatriation. The whole concept of a museum, and the preservation of historical material culture as it supposedly was in the time period, is, of course, a construct, and not the only way to celebrate heritage and culture.

Last week our speaker was James Cullingham, a documentary filmmaker who specializes in issues of social justice. The subjects he has covered in his films include Native rights in Manitoba as compared to the rights allotted to Blacks during Apartheid in South Africa, as well as how Jews and Palestinians interpret the conflict in their education systems. In class he said something along the lines of he believes that cultures should absolutely represent the culture of others, and to set up boundaries in art is ludicrous. And I wholeheartedly agree with this.

But of course, that is part of the problem that led to the need for repatriation, one culture imposing their epistemology upon that of another, and deciding how culture is to be represented.

However, James Cullingham, and the speaker that we had this week after our discussion about Repatriation, Neal Ferris, are both people who use tools that are arguably from the White Middle Class epistemology, namely documentary film and archaeology, in a culturally sensitive way. Neal Ferris holds the Lawson Chair of Archaeology, and is cross appointed to the Museum of Ontario Archaeology and the University of Western Ontario.

In an earlier post I was talking about how Public History is full of irresolvable equally true, and mutually exclusive truths. This is another one of those.

I fully support the rights of nations and cultures to define themselves, and that certainly means control over how their culture gets disseminated. This is particularly true for those cultures who have not always had that right, though really it should be true for all cultures. But the trouble is, if a culture has ultimate control over their own cultural legacies then that means that each country or nation will only be allowed to investigate cultural artefacts specific to their own history. Which in part means that there will be nothing left in the British Museum, and also will mean that somewhat arbitrary definitions based on modern culture will have to be made on the past. To whom would the history of the Norse landings in Canada belong? Canadians, though the Vikings probably did not respect the Canadian border when they were sailing about? Natives, whose ancestors may have had contact with those people, and are the only peoples who now live in those traditional locations? Scandinavians exclusively? Anyone whose country may have had contact with the Medieval Norse culture? My inclination is that it is now so old that perhaps it doesn't matter, but that is not a valid argument when discussing the heritage of several cultures, and so it becomes dangerous to apply that haphazardly to the ones that are not as linked to current politics.

An extreme, one that practically is unlikely to come to fruition, but should be considered nonetheless, is the danger of cultural segregation. Another extreme would be where people are expected to have cultural sensitivity without having any exterior cultural understanding, as a true knowledge of a culture is limited to the confines of that culture.

This issue is also related to what was said in earlier classes about the accuracy of living history. Who gets to play a settler, if the ethnicity of the modern employee does not match the ethnicity of the original historical persona. This is very much related to who gets to decide how the culture is represented. And it is interesting, because while I fall on the side of repatriation I think, with some cultural sensitivity attached to the interpretation, that living history should make an effort to be accurate in their portrayals, but that ultimately the employees should be more representative of the modern culture that they are serving, rather than the historical culture they are representing.

And I guess that is what guides my views on repatriation, that I think history should serve our current communities rather than the other way around. Still, that does not mean that it should be manipulated any way one wants. And representation of a culture through art is not the same as the preservation of heritage through material culture, though they are very closely linked. And so, it is another issue that is unresolvable, but is made better by an awareness of the inherent problems. Who ultimately gets to represent a culture, and are the representations from outside of that culture invalid, or do they also bring something to the discussion?

(Wholly overuse of the word culture Batman).

How to Train your Historically Minded Movie Goer

Don't you hate going to the movies with those people who pick at the movie until it is dead? There are the people who read the book and then saw the movie, and then complain about how much the movie is unlike the book, even if it was a really good movie. Then, of course, there is taking an historian to any movie. It is there mission to find the flaws in the history, and even if the story is really good and really moving dismiss the whole thing as a-historical.

I am one of these people. Well, not really. Actually sometimes I am alarmed as an historian how many historical inaccuracies I miss. But I think it sort of depends how you approach your criticisms. If you are out to be disappointed, you might be. If you are willing to dismiss the whole because of some details, then the movie probably wasn't going to appeal to you anyway. But sometimes its fun. It's like the people who sit down to their favourite films to find all the continuity errors. It's fun to know things. For many historians, it can be fun to find the historical flaws. My colleague Catherine Caughell has recently put up several blog posts about historical fiction novels. I take much the same approach to historically minded films; they were always some of my favourites, and by getting me interested, they prompted me to learn more. I grew up on Westerns, period pieces, and war movies, and always watched any version of Robin Hood I could get my hands on.

So, as a student of the Medieval Norse and Public History I turn now to the recent Dreamworks picture How to Train your Dragon, not because I expected it to be historical, nor because I would have wanted it to be, but because it is interesting to think about the reasons the filmmakers chose to utilize certain aspects of the history. Don't worry, I know it has dragons in it, I know it is fantasy for children. Still ...

Also, slight spoiler alert for people who read on.

It is easy to see why all the Vikings in the village wear horned hats. That is the clearest identifier of Viking. I mean, even Hagar the Horrible wears a horned hat. In the film Hiccup's father gives him a horned helmet, which essentially means he has achieved 'Vikingness.' The trouble is, despite its clear identification with Vikings, there is no evidence that 'Vikings' ever wore anything like it. That being said, we would no doubt be disappointed if the Vikings did not have horned helmets. The filmmakers chose that symbol because it conveys a lot of information about who we imagine these people are, tapping into a popular conception we already have, without the film having to explain it.

The use of runes was a nice touch. And because the characters were speaking English you could actually sort of see the characters making the correct English sounds. Look at 'Night Fury' especially when it is written down. The thing about runes though is that they are characters that have a lot of straight lines for the specific reason that that makes them easier to carve. There is not much evidence of writing in books the way we understand it. There are a few codexes written in runes, though the concept of writing in this way really comes after the introduction of Christianity, not during the time of Thor or Odin, which it is suggested is the time of this movie. The sagas are written down using Latin letters, and not until Christianity has been established in Scandinavia for a century or two. But you can see why the filmmakers chose to do it this way. The idea of a secret and personal knowledge that Hiccup discovers for himself would be conveyed through a book. We understand the nature of a manual, or textbook, and that is easy to relate to, especially for children who are supposed to learn things this way. It is understandable that the students who are trying to learn about dragons would learn in this way. The use of runes makes the book other, and kind of exciting, communicating again that idea of 'Vikingness.'

The whole movie is peppered with some Scandinavian-isms. When Hiccup brings his dragon some fish he mentions that amongst them there is some Icelandic cod. Why not, as they way that they speak is modern, so their frame of reference for fish names may as well be modern. Stoick, Hiccups father, routinely uses THor and Odin as an expletive, just like one would say oh God. This certainly adds to the character, though the film shies away from any statement about religion, as you would expect of a children's film. The village itself is composed of a combination of individual houses, and great halls, representing many Scandinavian villages and none at the same time. But a house is understandable to a modern audience, a place to come home after school. And a great hall can be rather magnificent looking, and might as well be used as a gathering place, so even if it is not a place that after spending the day they fold up the tables and chairs at night and sleep, it is an important part of this larger concept of village.

But of course, there are dragons ... and an arena, and a great number of other monsters. So don't worry, I don't take myself overly seriously. But what we do have here is a selective use of poplar conceptions of an historical period that have been used strategically to create a foreign yet familiar aesthetic in which this fantastic story can take place. I feel that the filmmakers have done this well. It also really helps that it is a really good story with very interesting characters and a very visually pleasing movie.

All in all, I really liked it. And of course, any excuse I can get to 'geek out' and annoy people with my knowledge in a movie theatre, all the better.

And of course, the movie is based on a book.

I'm not very good at math ... that's why I like history

My colleague Jordan Goldstein wrote a blog post earlier this year about how Canadians often define themselves in terms of how they are different from their American colleagues. How groups view themselves is a common theme in Public History, because if historians want to know what kind of image of history we can present to the public, and what kind of images the public will except, we should understand first how a culture sees itself. There are the positive identifiers, the thing that a group is and does, but there are also the negative identifiers, what the group is not or doesn't do that others might. In the case of Canadians, that seems to be Americans more so than any other group that we have decided we are not (mostly because the case is not always that obvious).

My colleague Braden Murray made the observation much earlier in the year that many of the conversations had by Grad students in the History department eventually turn into a discussion of Canadian identity. Partly that is because most of us are Canadian historians, and even more so because we all come from different areas of both Canada and the United States. This was especially true at the beginning when we were first meeting each other, and when we were first trying to explain how we were a cohesive group to our American colleague (sorry Sara). But maybe that is one of the positive identifiers of the group known as History grad students, a desire to define our shared cultural heritage.

What also makes us a group, however, is our negative identifiers. Mostly, I find that for Grad students in history, and probably in many other Arts programs as well, the group that we define ourselves against is Math. It is a suitable excuse, when you get a simple math problem wrong, to say that I am a history major. Marking especially is always described in relation to the math department. The argument is that in Math you can get 100% because it is either right or wrong, but in History it is more subjective. You can't get 100%, but the likelihood of getting less than 60% is also greatly minimized. It seems everything that we are is best understood in relationship to Math. In many ways this is a fallacy, particularly for the economic historians, but it is an easy means of self-identification. I my personal experience I wasn't bad at math, but it was the only class that made me physically squirm in my chair. And my path through University has been chosen in a way where I can take the least amount of math possible ... since I am, after all, a history major.

Thrilling, yet disturbing, discoveries in the library.

If you have seen other entries from my blog, you will have seen this image before:



I am using it in my paper that I am writing for the Mapping Medievalism Seminar in the Visual Arts Department. Also, because it represents early American scholarship on the topic of the Norse in America, I thought it should be included in the exhibit that the seminar is putting on in September.

It is a lecture that was given in the late 1830s, almost corresponding with the World Fair in Chicago. It was written and delivered by Asahel Davies. This version is actually the 16th edition, and was published in 1846.

When looking through the libraries catalogue I came upon this title, though I didn't actually see the date. I thought it would be perfect. When I came to realize that it was actually a copy from the first half of the nineteenth century, and that I was going to be allowed to take it out of the library, I was surprised, excited, and a little disturbed.

When I brought it up to circulation the librarian gave me a sideways glance. I don't think anyone has checked this out in at least ten years, and he was clearly not quite certain it should go out. He couldn't really say no. I said to him 'I can't believe I can take this.' He said 'yeah ...' in a trail-y sort of a way, and furrowed his brow.

Don't worry, I took very good care of it. At least I tried to, I very carefully took a picture of the front of the pamphlet, which may have crossed the line librarian-wise, but I think that was okay.

Of course, amongst people who have worked with artifacts, or who are budding librarians, historians or archivists, I have got a very consistent reaction of 'they let you take that out of the library,' to which I usually respond, 'I know, right!' It is now in the hands of Prof. Brush of the Visual Arts department. The thing was, I didn't want to actually return it because I wanted it for our exhibit. I was pretty sure that once it gets back into the hands of librarians it may become locked into the vaults of the archives; accessible, but not available to take home, or handled without the proper supervision. Not at all convenient for my purposes.

In the end, this is the paradox that most librarians, museum experts, and historians find themselves in: we want the artifacts to be properly cared for, and protected ... but not until we have had a go at them.

My First Attempts at Label Writing

For the Seminar 'Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier' I have been looking at several texts which I think should be included in the Exhibit at the end of the Seminar. I have included here the images I took of the four texts I chose, and the four labels that I wrote. As you may have been able to deduce from my short writing for the public piece I am not very good at condensing my ideas. I found the label writing to be particularly hard. Here is the first draft of these four labels, I welcome any feedback.



Asahel Davis

Antiquities of America, The First Inhabitants of Central America, and the Discovery of New England, By the Northmen, Five Hundred Years Before Columbus, with Important Additions, 1846

And is it not a laudable curiosity that leads one to ascertain what white men first trod regions in which the modest wild flower wasted its sweetness on the desert air?

This is the sixteenth edition of this lecture to be printed, showing the work’s immense popularity. The first printings were in 1838-39. At the time that this lecture was circulating the tales of the Norse voyages were only starting to be brought to the attention of the scholarly community in America.

Davis relies on the work of The Royal Society of Antiquarians, who produced the Antiquitates Americanae in Danish in 1837. That was the first time the Vinland sagas, the sagas about Norse landings in Greenland and North America, had been translated and printed for the public. Davis argues, based on the content of the sagas, that the history of the Norsemen in this continent should be made a part of the larger scholarly understanding of the Antiquities of America.

Megan Arnott MA Public History 2010

Collection of the D.B. Weldon Library
The University of Western Ontario



Farley Mowat

Westviking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America, 1965

Farley Mowat is among the great literary nation builders of Canada. His focus is the Canadian North, and the relationship of Canadians to the land, and with each other within the context of the land. His use of the medieval European connection in reconstructing the Canadian North is given weight because of the clout Mowat has as a Canadian author.

The Norse voyages to Canada is a theme that is repeated in many of his works, including The Curse of the Viking Grave (1966), ‘The Iron Men’ in The Snow Walker (1975), and in The Farfarers: Before the Norse (1998). The latter and this work are both scholarly texts that discuss European arrival in Canada in the context of evidence and anthropology.

There is a conflict that occurs when Mowat tries to reconstruct the Norse landings in the context of Canadian history. The existence of an ancient, almost mythical European presence helps to naturalize the existence of Europeans in Canada. However, the Norse were not themselves native to the land, so their arrival can be seen as part of the trend of later European imperialism. This is a conflict that is not resolved.

Megan Arnott MA Public History 2010

Collection of the D.B. Weldon Library
The University of Western Ontario



Marie A. Brown Shipley

The Icelandic Discoverers of America or Honor to Whom Honor is Due, 1887

In the nineteenth century, and before the discovery of the Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows, there were many texts written defending the idea that the Norse were here before Christopher Columbus. Some were very scholarly examinations of the sagas and the science of sailing. Some were also emotional pleas to include the Norsemen in the national myth. This is strictly the latter.

Marie Shipley’s work relies heavily on the scholarship of others to establish the truth of the sagas. Most of the text is allotted to how the Catholic Church and Spain are the root of all evil in modern American life, and how if we accept Christopher Columbus as the discoverer of America we are accepting the overlordship and tyranny of the Catholic Church through Spain.

On the front cover, the quote from Bayard Taylor,
From shores where Thorfinn set thy banner/ Their latest children seek thee now,
accompanied by an image of a banner with an eagle on it, is supposed to both show how Americans are directly the inheritors of the Norse and provoke them to restore the Norse to their place of glory. This will in turn restore glory and freedom to the American people.

Megan Arnott MA Public History 2010

Collection of the D.B. Weldon Library
The University of Western Ontario



Robert McGhee


Canada Rediscovered, 1991

Robert McGhee plays on the word ‘discovery,’ because the Europeans, of course, did not ‘discover’ Canada. This is why Canada is ‘rediscovered.’

McGhee places the arrival of different waves of migration to North America into a global context of settlement. He also discusses our own perceptions of Canada’s ‘discovery.’ It is significant that this work was published in 1991, one year before the five hundredth anniversary of the ‘discovery’ of Christopher Columbus.

The helmet, though not an artefact found on Canadian soil, was chosen for the cover because it represents the Old Norse culture. The Norse are the first Europeans archaeologists can prove were here, completing McGhee’s circle of the globe by man. The Norsemen challenge the position of Columbus in the public’s imagination as the first European to arrive in North America. Therefore, in the year when the public expects to see Columbus, the Norsemen have been represented on purpose to make audiences re-evaluate their perception of the ‘discovery’ of Canada.

Megan Arnott MA Public History 2010

Collection of the D.B. Weldon Library
The University of Western Ontario

The Vinland Loop

I am stuck in something I like to call the Vinland Loop.

I have noticed in our history program that many people's particular historical interests have emerged. I think I can safely give myself the nickname of Viking Girl. It does seem a little ingenuous to give yourself your own nickname, but I am going to go for it.

Vinland is a fascinating topic. Sagas and literature give you just enough to tantalize you with the prospect of locating it in North America, but stop short of allowing you to ever prove that you have found the location. Not only that, Vikings and the Norse are a very exciting, somewhat romantic topic.

It gives us so many things to talk about, discuss and debate, that so much has been written about it. It continues to pose academic problems, not least of which is when we realize we are clearly so interested in who were the first Europeans to arrive here, and what that means for us as a people.

As I have said before, Vinland and the Viking presence in, well, Canada really, is one of the reasons I decided to specialize in Vikings; they covered so much that I was interested in, including Medieval History and Canadian History.

But I find myself in a Vinland loop. I am interested in Vikings in part because of Vinland (the decision to study certain aspects of history is usually some sort of personal connection) so I write about it or do projects about it. It is easy to see how so much nationalistic and romantic literature is written about it. And then when I try to think about what I know that will be relevant for Canadians, I am drawn back to Vinland. While I study generally, as a subject, Vikings, I keep writing about Vinland and doing projects about Vinland because it is what will be interesting to the public I am hoping to represent. They too are most likely to be drawn in by showing them their personal connection.

It's not a problem really. The very obvious solution would be, don't. I certainly don't find it to be a problem. But it does appear that I am working very hard to pigeon hole myself into one particular subject, though I do have wide interests.

So in summary, look out for more about Vinland from me in the future. I am sure it is forthcoming.

Funny or Die.com does Drunk History

Funny or Die is a website that is affiliated with HBO. They do sketch comedy and collect funny videos. They are similar in nature to other websites like College Humor, but they use rather big name comedy stars. While browsing I came across something called Drunk History, which has, at the moment, 6 short sketches in total. They were created by Derek Waters, and they deal with early American history. The premise is that someone, I presume Derek Waters, gets his friends drunk and then has them discuss an historical event. Then he takes that tape and has actors act out the historical event as narrated by the drunk friend.

Is it inaccurate? I'm sure it is, though I have to admit I am not as familiar with American History. Are people going to think that these are accurate portrayals of these events? Lets face it, probably. But at the same time, these are supposedly famous historical events, at least according to the website. They certainly involve the most famous figures,including Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and other 'founding fathers.' It is implied that many people will know something, correct or incorrect, about this subject already.

Regardless of the perceived accuracy of the sketches, the videos discuss history in a way that is appealing to people who have absolutely no interest in history, and they are not devoid of historical relevance.

I think they are hilarious, though I am sure not everyone agrees. From a Public History perspective I think it is rather an ingenious way to make history appealing to a different audience. From a comedic perspective, I think it is hilarious because you make something mundane ridiculous, and you draw on the shared experience of trying to explain something important when you are drunk. In this way it is funnier to use history, than say, to have your drunk friends rehash their favourite books or movies.

This one is my favourite, though the Benjamin Franklin ones are also hilarious, if also probably the most off-based historically.

Drunk History: Douglass & Lincoln (Starring Will Ferrell & Don Cheadle) from FODPresents

Martin Knelman: Audio-Visual Heritage of the Nation at Risk

Today I was looking through the Toronto Star and I came upon this article by Martin Knelman: Audio-Visual Heritage of the Nation at Risk.

In the article he discusses the loss of archival footage in the fire at the CTV office in Ottawa last week and laments Canada's lack of progress in both acquiring proper storage and archiving our audio-visual material. According to Knelman there are not enough facilities in place to preserve this particular aspect of the Canadian Culture. He proposes that there will not be a proper solution for this, or for the National Portrait collection of Canada which is in the same boat, until proper facilities can be constructed. He even suggests that the problem could be solved if there were a central agency, like the U.S. Library of Congress where broadcasters could deposit their materials. Otherwise important archival footage is being lost all the time due to cutbacks and mishaps like last weeks fires.

There are a lot of ties with what is covered in the Public History Class. We have been discussing why people feel the need to preserve what is relevant to their community, and it is interesting that, compared with Knelman's Australian and French examples, Canada has not felt the same need to preserve the Canadian broadcasting heritage. What does this mean for the status of Canadian broadcasting as part of the national identity? Do we care less about our own broadcasting tradition, or is it just coincidence? With our need for an emphasis on Canadian content, and the competition with American and sometimes British broadcasting, perhaps a case can be made that our lack of preservation is due to a lack of national interest, though coincidence is probably a much more likely answer.

A curated facility for national audio-visual material seems like an excellent idea. I think Knelman makes some excellent points, and that is something that I hope to see in the future, and even more something that I would like to be involved with.

Projects for IED

The Interactive Exhibit Design Class is really off and rolling now. My colleagues are all doing very interesting things. Make sure that you check them out.

Interactive Exhibit Design
Dana Johnson
Tim O'Grady
Braden Murray
Sara Sirianni
Rebecca Rahey
Jordan Goldstein