History of that campaign to rename Dundas Street

When the renaming of anything in Canada named after Henry Dundas was mooted a few years ago, I was sympathetic mostly on the grounds that Dundas, a British politician and Scots grandee, never really had anything to do with Canada. The reason for cancelling him -- that in 1792 he was kinda, sorta opposed to the abolition of slavery -- seemed maybe a bit of a stretch, even at the time  But I thought that names with local significance could well replace his. 

Now a little twitter flurry has brought to my attention a very cogent, detailed, sensible, and copiously sourced argument [link corrected -- didn't mean to link to myself!] from a couple of years ago that Dundas was indeed a lifetime supporter of abolition, at some political risk to himself, and a better parliamentary strategist for abolition than some of his more radical allies. So if Toronto goes ahead with renaming Dundas Street, I'll be okay with it but aware it's another case of bad history driving out good. Or should I say, good results may come from bad history? 

Robin Fisher on statues and memories

At The Ormsby Review, a nuanced reflection on statues and memorials and the taking-down thereof, by British Columbia historian Robin Fisher.

When I came to British Columbia, after learning and writing about Maori/pakeha history in New Zealand, I was stunned at the absence of Indigenous people from the historical writing on this province. There were exceptions like Wilson Duff’s Indian History of British Columbia, but the silence of historians was deafening. With the supervision of Wilson Duff and the help of others, I tried to make a contribution to changing the received view of British Columbia history and the role of First Nations people. My second supervisor, Margaret Ormsby, was not always happy with my conclusions, particularly about colonial figures like Joseph Trutch who led an assault on First Nations lands and cultures. Other colleagues thought better of my efforts when, to my amazement, my first book as an historian was awarded the John A. Macdonald prize in Canadian history.

History of statues, history of commemoration: Charlottetown

Charlottetown city council has agreed to recontextualize a statue of John A Macdonald, in consultation with Indigenous partners:

The change is one of several recommendations by Indigenous groups on Prince Edward Island that were adopted by city council Monday night by a vote of 8-1..... 

Indigenous groups wrote to council in January recommending several changes to the statue, including that the city install a new plaque describing more of Macdonald’s story, including his role in the creation of the residential school system.

This approach -- "nothing about us without us," as the indigenous meme goes -- seems the right one. Better to broaden interpretations than to dig in around old ones -- or simply make them all disappear.

 

Historical Ethics

In 2017 the Law Society of British Columbia removed all the honours and distinctions it had previously given to Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, appointed in 1858 as the first and for a long time only judge in the new colony of British Columbia. Statues were taken down, etc. The Society was acting on a report that condemned Begbie for disregarding indigenous law, putting to death warriors of the Chilcotin war of 1864, and having "negative" and racist views.  

A group of B.C. lawyers, many of them long active in indigenous legal matters and legal history, put it to the Society that, while it was appropriate that Begbie no longer be considered the symbol of justice in British Columbia, the report was inaccurate and misleading and unworthy of the Society. They presented evidence that Begbie, among other things, threw out the anti-potlatch law as unenforceable, denounced British Columbia's racially-based anti-Chinese legislation, encouraged First Nations in the exercise of "customary jurisdiction" over their own societies, and was singled out by the great B.C. First Nations leader George Manuel as one colonist who had actually advanced the cause of First Nations.  He did not even put anyone to death. (As lawyers should know, Begbie conducted the trial and gave the sentence, but the Chilcoten warriors were indicted by the Crown, convicted of a capital crime by a jury, and denied clemency and executed by the government.)  

The group got no response from the Law Society. I hear, however, that last week they took their case to the (virtual) annual general meeting of the Law Society, put forward their case as a motion -- and got it passed.  It may have been an odd coalition of highly woke indigenous-law specialists and hidebound old traditionalists, but still....  Again, the point was not to re-sanctify Justice Begbie but to argue in favour of nuanced history, even in difficult cases.  Actual consequences? Doubtful.

But, on the vexed questions of memory, commemoration and statuary, where few seem ready to stand up for any challenged historical reputation, I think these west coast scholars and lawyers have done exemplary service.

In Ontario, I think, Egerton Ryerson is one entitled to a similar defence. Not the perfect symbol of what we want Canada, or education, to be in the twenty-first century, perhaps, but hardly the monster he has lately been made out to be.

T'other hand, a Toronto Star story today on how Library and Archive Canada's website and Parks Canada plaque handle John A., Wilfrid Laurier, and others.

Update, October 18:  Jared Milne comments:

This is an example of a bigger problem in historical debate today, where it seems like a figure like Begbie can only be seen as entirely good or entirely bad. It doesn't matter what else the figure's legacy might include-one thing is enough to permanently mark them as irredeemable. That's why discussions like those in Canada's History about John A. Macdonald are so valuable-they show the need for nuanced history, as you point out.

Thanks. Just to be clear, nuanced history is precisely what the lawyers and legal historians in B.C. were advocating,  Sometimes these debates can be an opportunity instead of a problem. 

    

Plaquing slaveholders

 

 

CBC News Toronto reports on handsome, unofficial plaques that have begun appearing in Toronto streets and landmarks named after 18th and 19th century Upper Canadian slaveholders. It mentions two: at Jarvis Collegiate the plaque notes the slaveholdings of the Jarvis family, and a plaque near Baby Point does the same for the Baby family.

The plaques -- here's a twist -- are provided with footnotes. Windsor, Ontario historian Irene Moore Davis of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, who is quoted on them, knew nothing of the plaques' origins, but she's intrigued:

"Unless it was something like a Confederate general statue, which nobody needs to see in a public place ... I'm [of] the mind that we educate people better by adding to what's already there."

From her interactions, she found people share a similar mindset.

"What I'm seeing across social media, and just in conversations with people, is that they want to see more of that," Davis said.

She suggested investing in more durable and permanent plaques to outline the historical context in different parts of the city.

There have been previous projects to supplement official historical plaques around Toronto and elsewhere: the Murmur project, whose plaques provided a phone number for a local historical message, and the Missing Plaques project, which put up posters on minority and labour history. I noted them in a Beaver/Canada's History column in 2007 -- along with digital-based projects around the country -- but both Murmur and Missing Plaques seem to have been discontinued: their websites produce error messages.

The Irene Moore Davis quote:  "What we accept, what we honour, who we choose to honour, says a lot about what we value as a society."

Is Lionel-Groulx going down?

Lionel Groulx must be the only historian in Canada to have a subway station named after him. I've never heard any suggestions that Toronto might one day have a Creighton station, or an Innis, or a Berton....

Now there is a petition circulating in Montreal to change the name of the Lionel-Groulx metro station to honour Oscar Peterson -- and through him the cultural diversity of the Petite-Bourgogne neighbourhood.  It is noted that Groulx, who also has a college and a major historical prize named from him, indulged in anti-semitic clichés, but the cultural diversity argument seems to be top of mind.

Update:  I see this was also a live issue a dozen years ago -- and we covered it then too.  There's a website that explores Montreal history by Metro station name, if you are interested.  

Globe&Mail on statues and reconciliation in Kingston

I recently noted here an impressive public event in Kingston, in which Charlotte Gray, Lee Maracle, and I were invited to discuss what to do about John A. and his statues, before a lively and engaged audience of some 500 at Kingston's Grand Theatre.

Turns out we got the Globe's Eric Andrew-Gee thinking about it.  (The Globe has an active paywall, but this opened for me.)  Like him, I was impressed by the range and seriousness of the City of Kingston's project to assess its statuary and its responsibilities.  The presentations Lee, Charlotte and I gave were not a one-shot thing, but part of an ongoing consultation. We all -- audience, speakers, stakeholders, city --benefited from that.