WAR OF 1812 SYMPOSIUM

For those who might wish to attend...


WAR OF 1812 SYMPOSIUM RETURNS TO OGDENSBURG, NEW YORK

OGDENSBURG, New York, February 8, 2010 - The Fort La Présentation Association hosts its second annual War of 1812 Seminar in Ogdensburg, NY Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Friday evening’s social and Saturday’s seminars will be held in the Freight House Restaurant, which will provide all its facilities for the event. The seminars will have a decidedly Canadian point of view; four of the five presenters are Canadian historians.
“Together, this and last year’s seminar offer a balanced perspective on the war from both sides of the border,” said Douglas Cubbison, the Event Coordinator. “We want to provide a learning experience through which the participants can develop increasingly sophisticated understandings of the War of 1812.”
The presenters are Rene Chartrand, Robert Henderson, Don Graves, Diane Graves and Nickolas Westbrook. Saturday's schedule includes topics ranging from the recruiting methods of the British army to the role of women in the war. Afternoon walking tours of the living history camp and the nearby Remington Museum are included.
Registration is $100.00 per person for non-members, and there is an additional charge of $10 for those who plan to attend the social. Members of the Fort La Présentation Association will pay $80.00 per person and $10 for the Friday evening social.
The registration fee for Saturday includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and a sit-down dinner. After dinner music in a traditional vein will be provided by Lynn Noel.
There is a registration form and a PayPal connection on the Fort Association’s Web page, www.fortlapresentation.net.
Blocks of 20 rooms have been set aside until the end of April at the Quality Inn Gran-
View (http://www.1000islands.com/granview) and the Stone Fence Lodging (http://www.stonefenceresort.com).
Re-enactors may camp on the Fort Association’s property adjacent to the archaeological remains of Fort Presentation, the War of 1812 incarnation of the original 1749 Fort La Présentation.
All the rooms of the Freight House Restaurant have been contracted. The layout of the seminar room will more comfortable and accommodate more participants. Registration and exhibits will have larger and more convenient locations. There will be more space to socialize.


For more information contact:

Barbara O’Keefe or
Michael Whittaker
President Communications
Fort La Présentation Association
315-393-3315
613-773-1543


BACKGROUND: WAR OF 1812 SYMPOSIUM

PRESENTERS

René Chartrand
René Chartrand was born in Montreal and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. For nearly three decades, he was senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites; he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant. René has written numerous articles and books including more than 30 Osprey titles. René Chartrand lives in Gatineau, Quebec, with his wife and two sons.

Dianne Graves
A native of Kent, England, Dianne Graves is the author of three books; A Crown of Life: The world of John McCrae, Redcoats and River Pirates; and In the Midst of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812 . In addition to her work as a writer, Dianne also undertakes historical research and has acted as a consultant to several film and television projects. She is married to Canadian military historian Donald E. Graves.

Donald Graves
The author or editor of six books on the War of 1812, Donald E. Graves is a well-known Canadian historian. He is best known for his trilogy “Forgotten Soldiers: The War of 1812 in the North” trilogy which includes seminal studies of the battles of Crysler's Farm and Chateauguay in 1813 (Field of Glory), and Chippawa and Lundy's Lane in 1814 (Where Right and Glory) with a third volume to appear this year. Donald has written, co-written or edited 11 other books on British or Canadian military or naval history. His latest work, Dragon Rampant; The Royal Welch Fusiliers at War, 1793-1815, will be published by Frontline Books in 2010. Donald Graves is on the staff of the Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence, Ottawa.

Robert Henderson
Robert Henderson is a former military curator for Parks Canada and archival technician at the then National Archives of Canada. Robert has spent 25 years working in the military heritage field. Since 1995 he has provided heritage products and services to museums, collectors, and the film industry through MilitaryHeritage.com . His interest in the preserving and promoting the significance of the War of 1812 brought him to create the website Warof1812.ca and to publish a number of articles on the War of 1812.

Lynn Noel
Lynn Noel is a true North American with family roots in Bluenose Nova Scotia, Moravian Minnesota, and Yankee and Irish Boston. After sojourns in the Great Lakes, Atlantic Canada, Vermont, and the Ottawa Valley, Lynn returned to her home port of Boston in 1998. She has a voice of striking clarity and power, as wide and deep as her repertoire. She is equally at home with a traditional ballad or a sea chantey, delivered in English or French.

Nicholas Westbrook
After 20 years as Director of Fort Ticonderoga, Nicholas Westbrook retired in 2010. He is past president of the Museum Association of New York. In 2006, he received the Katharine M. Coffey Award of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums for distinguished accomplishment in his life-long museum career. Nicholas is Vice Chair of the New York State French & Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration Commission. He is an elected Member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and the American Antiquarian Society. Nicholas Westbrook is a Fellow of the New York Academy of History.



EXHIBITORS

Company of Military Historians
The Company of Military Historians (Rutland, MA) is an educational, scientific, and literary institution devoted to the study and dissemination of “information on the uniforms, equipment, history, and traditions of members of the Armed Forces of the United States worldwide and other nations serving in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Discriminating General
The Discriminating General provides access to a number of their on-line sites: Military Heritage magazine, War of 1812; Seven Years War; and their Napoleonic Wars Collection. All the sites include free articles, links, re-enactment information, book suggestions, and much more

Lord Durham Rare Books Inc.
From St. Catharine’s, Ontario, Lord Durham Rare Books offers or find items of special collecting interest for private, educational and institutional collectors. The firm is in the business of helping collectors collect books, maps, prints, ephemera, photos and manuscripts.

National Museum of the US Navy (tentative)
In Washington, D.C., the National Museum of the US Navy is devoted to the display of naval artifacts, models, documents and fine art which chronicle the history of the United States Navy from the American Revolution to present-day conflicts. Interactive exhibits commemorate the US Navy's wartime heroes and battles. as well as peacetime contributions in exploration, diplomacy, navigation and humanitarian service.

Prescott, Ontario/Fort Wellington
Prescott is commemorating its bicentennial in 2010. The first settlers began arriving in 1784. Among them was Col. Edward Jessup who laid out the streets of modern day Prescott in 1810. During the War of 1812, Prescott was a garrison town at the top of the last rapids between Montreal and Kingston. The initial effort to defend Prescott was made by the local militia which occupied two buildings on the eastern edge of the town and erected a simple log stockade. They constructed an advance battery on the river front with two 9-pounder cannons. Fort Wellington was built during the War of 1812 to defend St. Lawrence River shipping from possible attack by the United States.

St. Lawrence War of 181 Bicentennial Alliance
The Alliance based in Brockville, Ontario represents the people, heritage & communities within the greater St. Lawrence Valley. It is one of six regional organizations funded by the Province Of Ontario to develop community-based events and legacy projects to commemorate the War of 1812. The Alliance is reaching across the border to celebrate 200 years of shared heritage while fostering international friendship in order to create a legacy for future generations

Black History Month

Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated annually in the United States (US) and Canada in February and the United Kingdom in the month of October. The remembrance was founded in 1926 by United States historian Carter G. Woodson as "Negro History Week" (source Wikipedia).
If you'd like to learn more about the the role that Canada played in the history of slavery in the Americas you can find links to resources at Black History Canada . You may also visit the Archives of Ontario to view several online exhibits including images from The Alvin McCurdy Collection.

West Elgin Dramatic Society presents...

The West Elgin Dramatic Society presents

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild
Dramatic Society Murder Mystery
(by Walter Zerlin Jr. and Gerald Tagg/ produced by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc.)

WEDS Theatre
Dutton Town Hall Upper
199 Currie Road
Dutton, Ontario.

Join this fictitious misfit group of ladies (and one poor henpecked stage manager) as they mount their own unique version of a murder mystery that can only be described as hilariously unique!

Performance Dates

Thursday February 25th, Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th

Thursday March 4th, Friday the 5th and Saturday the 6th.

8pm Curtain

Friday and Saturday admission is $15 per guest but Thursday performances are 1/2 price at $7.50 a ticket

Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance by calling Shenanigans at 519-762-5662

Building Responsive Museums: A Case Study

February 18th at the Port Dover Harbour Museum
A SPECIAL PRESENTATION by HALDIMAND NORFOLK CULTURAL ASSOCIATION
This will be free of charge and all interested parties are welcome.

Building Responsive Museums: A Case Study
Speaker: Joan Kanigan, Brant Museum and Archives
Museums have the potential to have a significant impact on their communities, but defining this impact or even who the community is can be daunting. Using the experiences of the Brant Historical Society, this session will explore the process of becoming a responsive museum and the impact this change can have on the organization and the community. Participants will have an opportunity to work with the Building Responsive Museums: A Discussion Framework developed by The Learning Coalition.

Joan Kanigan
Executive Director, Brant Historical Society
Joan Kanigan has been the Executive Director of the Brant Historical Society since July 2006. Since assuming her position, she has worked on building stronger relationships between the museum and the community initiating partnerships with Laurier Brantford and other area museums. Prior to joining the Society, Joan served as the Executive Director for the Museums Association of Saskatchewan (MAS), a position she held for 5 years. During her tenure with MAS, Joan has be responsible for overseeing many MAP projects and was instrumental in developing a new strategic plan for the Association and a marketing campaign to raise the profile of museums in the province. In 2004, she was seconded to the Government of Saskatchewan – Culture, Youth and Recreation, where she served as Heritage Policy Analyst for one year. During this time she was responsible for redeveloping the Provincial Heritage Property Designation Program and establishing management options for the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation and Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site.

For more info contact

Ian Bell
Curator / Director
Port Dover Harbour Museum
(519) 583-2660
www.portdovermuseum.ca

A Little Something for History and Early Film Buffs

Click here to view an early film of San Francisco's main thoroughfare as seen from the front window of a moving Market Street cable car, before the downtown area was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. This unusual record has been called the first "structural film" because it follows exactly the externally imposed structure of the car ride. This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives . For a view of what confronted survivors after the disaster click here.