Blog Archives

Visualizing Montreal and McGill with Historypin

C.O.T.C Training on McGill Campus

By Sarah Severson, Assistant Librarian and Coordinator, Digital Library Services Walking around Montreal it’s easy to get lost in the past looking at all the old buildings. What if you could search for a place on a map and click to see …

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Currie and the eclipse holiday request

Map showing path across Quebec of the central shadow of the total eclipse of the sun. August 31, 1932. PR024753, McGill University Archives.

By Marissa Stimpson, Archival Assistant, McGill University Archives & MISt Candidate 2017 A total solar eclipse is a celestial event not to be missed.  On August 31, 1932 Montreal and the St. Lawrence Valley fell directly under the shadow of a total solar …

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Table Setting Riddles 101

The Doncaster Collection. Photo: Lauren Goldman

By Kat Despain, Research Assistant to Nathalie Cooke, Professor and Associate Dean, Archives & Rare Collections, McGill University Library Do you like puzzles? Do you like food history? Do you want to win $25 at the McGill bookstore? Take up our riddling …

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Share your piece of Expo ’67 history

Slide Meredith Dixon Expo 67 Slide Collection

Are you a McGill community member? Were you at Expo 67? This fall, McGill Library and the McGill School of Architecture will exhibit our collection of Expo ’67 memorabilia and ephemera in the lobby of the McLennan Library Building. We …

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Putting Canada on the map

A plan of the harbour of Chebucto and town of Halifax, 1750

by Margaret Blandford & Greg Houston O Canada, happy birthday to you! Here’s an early birthday gift from us to you. Take a look at these rare maps from our collection and discover Canada in new ways. Click on the …

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Mapping 375 years of progress: rare Montreal maps from 1556-1946

La Terra de Hochelaga nella Nova Francia (1556)

By Margaret Blandford and Greg Houston In celebration of the 375th anniversary of Montreal, McGill Library’s Collection Services is showcasing digitized Montreal rare maps held by the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections from May 15-22, 2017. The maps were …

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ROAAr Newsletter: Montreal Matters

Rescuing 200 years of historical weather observations The McGill University Archives is harnessing the power of citizen science with an innovative new crowdsourcing platform called DRAW. The goal? To transcribe and rescue two centuries worth of Montreal’s meteorological history. Read …

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Montreal and the History of Vaccination Debates at the Osler Library

(originally posted on April 28, 2017 on De re medica: News from the Osler Library of the History of Medicine blog) By: Anna Dysert La version française suit Montreal 375 gives us the opportunity to reflect on the parcours of our …

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Remembering / Se souvenir : Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Headline History of the Great War, a scrapbook compiled by R.C. Featherstonhaugh, is included in Part I of the exhibition

(originally posted on April 28, 2017 on the Rare Books and Special Collections blog) By Richard Virr, Rare Books and Special Collections La version française suit The Great War (1914-1918) left a permanent mark on Canada, both as a nation …

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Rescuing 200 years of historical weather observations

A horse-drawn sleigh, circa 1920.

By Lori Podolsky, Acting University Archivist, McGill University Archives La version française suit McGill’s meteorological history dates back over 150 years to the 1863 founding of the McGill Observatory by Dr. Charles Smallwood, one of the few official Canadian observers recognized by …

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