February 3, 2006 Celebrating Nipissing University’s Heritage Initiatives

Three years ago Nipissing University’s History Department made a very progressive move toward recording and accumulating local and regional history in the area.  They set up 2 key courses for senior history students that made this possible.  One course is on Oral History and the other is Community History: Approaches, Sources and Methods.  The courses are taught in alternate years with the Oral History Course currently being taught for the second time.  It is taught this year by Dr. Katrina Srigley to 15 students.  The students become certified in oral history interviewing.  Significant interviewees are chosen, interviewed, and recorded.  Students questions go through an ethical review process prior to use.  After the students complete the interviews they are transcribed and all the tapes are put in an archive for future reference.  Each student will make a presentation at a public meeting. 

As a part of the Angele Project, an art exhibition at the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery in June/July 2006 that I have been associated with, we are working with 3 of these students.  The Angele Project looks at the life of Angele Egwuna, the first wife of the famous conservationist Archie Belaney who wrote and lectured as Grey Owl.  The students have interviewed one relevant person each and will conduct 2 more interviews each.  The information gained will be used as a part of the project’s presentation.  I am also working with 3 students who are recording logging history. 

Students from the Oral History Course -  Bryan Nanni, Naomi Balla-Boudreau (L) and Lorraine Sutherland (R).  Standing Arli Hoffman, Angele Project Curator, Doug Mackey and Albert Lalonde (Grey Owl’s grandson).

There will be an all day public Conference in early April where each student will make a presentation on their findings.  These students will be well prepared for future use of these skills as teachers, local historians, genealogists, etc. 

Nipissing University Teams up with Genealogical society 

The other Nipissing Course on Community Studies will be taught for the second time next year by Dr. Françoise Nöel.  A recent Nipissing press release announced that some of her students will be working on an exciting new “service learning opportunity” where they will work with the Nipissing District Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society in a project called Early Families.  The students will be trained in the specialized skills necessary for genealogical work.  The project will be coordinated by Barb Moore past president of the local branch.  Skilled branch members will work with and mentor the students. 

The initial thrust of the project will be the early mayors but any family history anyone wishes to present will be appreciated and reviewed for project use.  Copies of finished information will be kept in the Joan Duquette Room – the Branch’s library – in the North Bay Library and in the University Archives.  You can contact Barb Moore at 705-497-7819 or mjck@thot.net Françoise Nöel is at 705-474-3644 ext 4496, frann.@nipissingu.ca 

Institute for Community Studies and Oral History 

In 2004 Nipissing University established an Institute for Community Studies and Oral History (OCSOH) “to study the history of local communities in the Near North region”.  The Institute complements, supports and extends the work of the two courses mentioned above.  The OCSOH has several projects on the go including the North Bay Normal School, The North Bay and District Association of Community Living, the Capitol Centre, Northern Native Languages, etc.  The Institute collects and archives selected material for future use. 

The Institute is composed of all of the members of the History Department at Nipissing plus several community representatives – Ed Dreidger, Curator of the North Bay Museum, Wayne Lebelle and Doug Mackey local historians, and Native representative Marianna Couchie. 

The Institute meets formally twice a year and has several sub-committees that meet as required.  The Archives sub committee has recently been involved in negotiating archive space in the new Nipissing/Canadore Library.  For further information contact the Institute website www.nipissingu.ca/OCSOH or contact the chair Dr. Françoise Nöel at frann@nipissingu.ca 

Congratulations to Nipissing University for these initiatives which will preserve the history of the area for future generations.