Discover Library and Archives Canada
85 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsThe Discover Library and Archives Canada podcast is where Canadian history, literature and culture await you. Each month, we will showcase treasures from our vaults, guide you through our many services and introduce you to the people who acquire, safeguard and make known Canada’s documentary heritage.
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Episodes
Treasures Revealed: Episode 15
December 14, 2023 13:00 - 11 minutesIn this episode of Treasures Revealed we follow the journey of a rare document which is considered to be the first publication in English entirely about Canada, with the help of Senior Special Collections Librarian Meaghan Scanlon. Once carelessly discarded, this broadside is later discovered in an unrelated publication, miraculously preserved.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 14
November 06, 2023 18:34 - 14 minutesDid you know that 22% or roughly one in five Canadians under the age of 34 either hadn’t heard about the Holocaust, or were unsure if they had heard about the Holocaust? In this episode, Michael Kent delves into the significance of Raczyński’s Note, a Second World War publication regarded as the first official communication with the Western Hemisphere about the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 13
October 11, 2023 14:10 - 18 minutesIn this episode we speak with Steve Moore about the most successful silent film in Canadian history, Back to God’s Country – a lusty tale of jealousy, murder and betrayal starring trailblazer Nell Shipman, Canada’s first female director. Tune in to discover why the restoration of this film received international accolades and how it projected a light on the action heroine who co-wrote and starred in this groundbreaking film.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 12
August 16, 2023 15:43 - 23 minutesIn this episode we speak with Krista Cooke about the curious absence of pregnant women in photos from the birth of photography in the 19th century up to the Second World War. Tune in to learn why the photo of Anna Jorosz Krista chose as her treasure is so remarkable!*re-edited version of previous release*
Dawson City: A Ruby in the Rough
July 12, 2023 13:49 - 35 minutesIn celebration of National Parks Day we have partnered with our friends at Parks Canada and have featured an episode from their wonderful new history and archaeology podcast ReCollections, in our feed. Through the remarkable lives of Madam Ruby Scott and her employees, we'll hear about Dawson's Gold Rush heyday and the boom/bust cycle of both the mining and sex work industries. At the heart of the story is Ruby's Place, an elegant false-front building conserved as part of the Klondike Natio...
Treasures Revealed: Episode 11
May 10, 2023 13:43 - 15 minutesRobert Hood was only 24 in 1821, when he participated in the 1st of the infamous Franklin Expeditions. Hood was to take navigational, geographical and meteorological observations, and to make drawings of the land and of various objects of natural history. Unfortunately, Hood would not live to see his paintings published in Franklin’s account. In this episode LAC Archivist Shane McCord tells us about the tragic story of Robert Hood and the treasures he left behind, which are now part of the ...
Treasures Revealed: Episode 9
January 18, 2023 16:16 - 20 minutesIn the 9th episode of Treasures Revealed, LAC Curator Forrest Pass unravels the mystery of a Masonic tracing board dating back to the early 1800s.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 8
November 30, 2022 14:53 - 12 minutesIn this episode of Treasures Revealed, Indigenous Research Archivist Elizabeth Montour relies on knowledge and instinct to decipher the story of a Kanienhkenha:ka woman she observes in a 19th century watercolour. As Elizabeth examines the painting, she imagines what life might have been like for her ancestors living in her home of Kahnawake, in a time of great transition.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 7
November 14, 2022 20:19 - 13 minutesIn the 7th episode of Treasures Revealed we speak with Senior Archivist Christine Barrass about an extraordinary scroll, or Sefer Torah, that is part of the Shearith Israel synagogue collection held at LAC. This scroll is a document hand-written in Hebrew by a scribe and measures approximately 35 metres in length when fully unrolled. The Sefer Torah is considered to be the most valued object in Judaism, and is a highlight of the Jewish collections at LAC.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 6
October 19, 2022 13:19 - 16 minutesIn this episode of Treasures Revealed, we speak with Marcelle Cinq-Mars, senior military archivist in the Government Archives Division at LAC. Marcelle tells us about the amazing discovery she made while rehousing documents LAC received from the Department of National Defence.
Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist
May 18, 2022 14:31 - 50 minutesPassionate about nature and art, Bill Mason spent his whole life combining his two passions and creating beautiful, nature-inspired artworks. On today’s episode, we will discuss Bill Mason’s life and legacy with the help of three members of the Mason family: his wife, Joyce, and his two children, Becky and Paul. LAC archivist Jill Delaney will also join us to highlight Bill Mason’s amazing body of work and discuss the vast collection of items that the family donated to Library and Archives ...
Kahentinetha Horn: Nothing but the Truth - Part 2
April 27, 2022 14:35 - 41 minutesIn early 2020, we invited Indigenous activist Kahentinetha Horn and her daughter Waneek Horn-Miller to come to LAC for a visit. As we hosted them, we were thrilled to witness and record their reactions to the material in the LAC collection related to Kahentinetha’s fascinating life. They were seeing many of these items for the very first time.
Kahentinetha Horn: Nothing but the Truth - Part 1
April 20, 2022 21:20 - 48 minutesIn early 2020, we invited Indigenous activist Kahentinetha Horn and her daughter Waneek Horn-Miller to come to LAC for a visit. As we hosted them, we were thrilled to witness and record their reactions to the material in the LAC collection related to Kahentinetha’s fascinating life. They were seeing many of these items for the very first time.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 5
October 27, 2021 16:40 - 23 minutesLAC photo archivist Jill Delaney joins us for this fifth episode of Treasures Revealed. She will tell us about LAC’s recent acquisition of the Gabor Szilasi fonds, which covers his life and career as a photographer from 1954 to 2016.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 4
October 06, 2021 20:17 - 10 minutesIn the fourth episode of Treasures Revealed, we talk to Meaghan Scanlon, Senior Special Collections Librarian, about the Halifax Gazette, the first newspaper published in the territory that would become Canada. It is the only copy known to exist of the first issue.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 3
September 22, 2021 14:03 - 14 minutesFor our next Treasures Revealed episode, we speak with LAC Government Records Archivist, and past Discover Library and Archives Canada host, Geneviève Morin. She will tell us about the marriage of art and science in early 20th century Canadian botany.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 2
September 01, 2021 18:17 - 17 minutesIn this episode of Treasures Revealed, LAC Head Photo Conservator Tania Passafiume will tell us about her discovery in the collection of a very rare type of early photograph called a pannotype. She will explain what it is, how it was made and what makes it so special and rare.
Treasures Revealed: Episode 1
August 11, 2021 19:54 - 14 minutesIn this new podcast series, Treasures Revealed, we’ll speak to a Library and Archives Canada employee and highlight an item that they consider a real “treasure” in the collection. For this first episode, we hear about a letter that Dominion Archivist Arthur Doughty wrote seeking reimbursement for an odd expense in 1908.
LAC is a gold mine!
July 21, 2021 21:32 - 54 minutesNear the Alaskan border with Canada, nestled along the Klondike River in Yukon, sits the Klondike region. On August 16, 1896, local miners discovered gold there. When news reached the United States and southern Canada the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors, forever changing the landscape of the Northwest and of North America. Eventually, one by one, miners sold out to large companies such as the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation, which amassed a huge collection of valu...
Mount Logan: Moments in Time
January 12, 2021 14:03 - 1 hourHigh in the mountains of southwest Yukon, as far west as one can go in Canada, lies Kluane National Park and Reserve. The park is home to the country’s highest peak, the 5,959-metre Mount Logan. From its earliest documented ascent, in 1925, Mount Logan has been a continuously productive site for the advancement of scientific knowledge. Our guests on today’s episode, Dr. Zac Robinson and Dr. Alison Criscitiello, talk to us about the goal of their expedition which is to drill ice core samp...
Avro Arrow: Uncovering the Myth – Part 1
November 03, 2020 18:00 - 41 minutesWith the creation of the A.V. Roe Canada company following the Second World War, Canada became a leader in the aerospace industry. The company developed the C-102 jetliner and the CF-100 Canuck, the first Canadian-designed military fighter aircraft. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (the RCAF) commissioned A.V. Roe to design a new plane: a supersonic jet that could engage and destroy enemy interceptors before they reached their targets in North America. Th...
Avro Arrow: Uncovering the Myth – Part 2
November 03, 2020 18:00 - 1 hourWith the creation of the A.V. Roe Canada company following the Second World War, Canada became a leader in the aerospace industry. The company developed the C-102 jetliner and the CF-100 Canuck, the first Canadian-designed military fighter aircraft. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (the RCAF) commissioned A.V. Roe to design a new plane: a supersonic jet that could engage and destroy enemy interceptors before they reached their targets in North America. Th...
Call to Duty: Canadian Nursing Sisters
September 15, 2020 18:03 - 56 minutesDuring the First World War, more than 3,000 women volunteered with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This force was created by Canada for service overseas, with nurses working as fully enlisted officers in the specifically created all-female rank of Nursing Sister. Their dedication to their work, their country, and most importantly to their patients, earned them public respect and serves to measure their contribution to the Canadian war effort.
Upcoming Episodes, 2020
August 04, 2020 20:12 - 4 minutes2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. Due to the current circumstances, we haven’t been able to release much new content, but we wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned for the upcoming months.
I leave you Éva Gauthier
May 13, 2020 15:31 - 51 minutesÉva Gauthier’s musical career took her from Ottawa, Canada, to the four corners of the world. Often considered ahead of her time because of her unique style and approach, Gauthier never let the critics stop her from expressing her true artistic self. Influenced by her journeys abroad, she did not stick to traditions and her inimitable flair, expressive singing style, talent and boldness allowed her to shape modern music in North America.
Tommy Burns: The Hanover Heavyweight
January 28, 2020 18:05 - 49 minutesOur guest today, Dan McCaffery, believes Tommy Burns is considered one of the best pound for pound boxers who ever lived. Measuring a mere 5’7”, Burns was the shortest man ever to hold the world heavyweight title, and the only Canadian born to do so as well. The first champion to travel the globe defending his title, he was also the first to defend it against an African American. Burns had many contests with black boxers before his fight with the legendary Jack Johnson, and is credited with...
Tom Longboat is Cogwagee is Everything
December 23, 2019 17:26 - 1 hourIn the early 20th century, no spectator sport captivated the world like long distance running. And no runner captured the hearts of Canadians like a Six Nations Indigenous man by the name of Cogwagee in the Onondaga language, or Tom Longboat in English. From his victory at the 1907 Boston Marathon, where he shattered the previous world record by five minutes, to his death-defying service in the First World War, he lived an extraordinary life.
Canada's Continuing Memory
November 18, 2019 17:19 - 53 minutesAs the custodian of our distant past and recent history, Library and Archives Canada is a key resource for all Canadians who wish to gain a better understanding of who they are, individually and collectively. Library and Archives Canada acquires, processes, preserves and provides access to our documentary heritage and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions. On today's episode, we will explore how LAC acquires this documentary heritage through donati...
Upcoming Episodes, 2019-2020
November 06, 2019 15:18 - 5 minutes2019 has been an exciting year for us as we continue to work for you, showcasing the amazing items in our collection and the fascinating stories behind them. We wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned in the upcoming months.
Bill Miner: Last of the Old Time Bandits
August 27, 2019 17:53 - 1 hourOn May 8th of 1906, three armed and masked men held up the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Transcontinental Express, at a place called Duck’s Station, 17 miles east of Kamloops in British Columbia. It was a botched robbery to say the least. The bandits ordered the engine and mail car uncoupled, and moved the train a mile down the track. Realizing that the safe containing 35,000 dollars in gold had been mistakenly left behind in the second express car, which was still attached to the main passeng...
Prime Ministers and the Arts
June 26, 2019 15:31 - 47 minutesLibrary and Archives Canada is the main repository for documents relating to Canada’s Prime Ministers. LAC not only has all the political documents relating to each Prime Minister, but also intriguing, less official and often unexpected items. The exhibition entitled Prime Ministers and the Arts: Creators, Collectors and Muses curated by LAC employees Madeline Trudeau and five time podcast guest Meaghan Scanlon, weaves artwork, artifacts, documents, objects, portraits and photographs toget...
UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake Incident - Part 2
May 28, 2019 18:31 - 59 minutesFalcon Lake, Manitoba. Located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park, 150 kilometers east of Winnipeg. It’s May 20th, 1967, and mechanic, and amateur geologist Stephan Michalak wakes up early to begin his hobby of prospecting for quartz and silver. After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and see’s tw...
UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake Incident - Part 1
May 14, 2019 18:39 - 1 hourFalcon Lake, Manitoba. Located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park, 150 kilometers east of Winnipeg. It’s May 20th, 1967, and mechanic, and amateur geologist Stephan Michalak wakes up early to begin his hobby of prospecting for quartz and silver. After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and see’s tw...
The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton
March 06, 2019 13:21 - 53 minutesWhat drove a successful artist from a comfortable life in Canada to one of hardship in the battlefields of France and Belgium after the First World War? From 1919 to 1922, Mary Riter Hamilton undertook a "special mission” for The War Amps to document the scarred landscape where Canadian soldiers had fought and died. Her canvases capture the devastation of war but also signs of hope and renewal. At great cost to her health, this artist created one of the few authentic collections of painting...
Francis Mackey and the Halifax Explosion
January 14, 2019 17:33 - 1 hourOn the morning of December 6th, 1917, Pilot Francis Mackey was guiding the French ship Mont Blanc into the Bedford Basin when, at the narrowest point of the harbour, the Norwegian ship Imo collided with it. The Mont Blanc, laden down with high explosives, caught fire and, about 20 minutes later, exploded. The blast, which was the greatest man-made explosion until the invention of the first atomic bombs, levelled the Richmond district of Halifax, parts of Dartmouth, and wiped out the Mi’kma...
Songs of the Season
December 10, 2018 16:27 - 38 minutesLibrary and Archives Canada has the largest collection of Canadian music in existence. There are over 250,000 sound and video recordings alone, not to mention huge collections of sheet music, printed scores, concert programs and books. Therefore, it goes without saying that LAC also has the largest collection of Christmas and holiday music as well. On today’s episode, we speak with Joseph Trivers who elaborates on Christmas and holiday music in LAC’s collection.
Upcoming Episodes, 2018-2019
November 19, 2018 16:03 - 5 minutesWe're currently working on a number of exciting episodes for you! Here's a sneak peek at what we have lined up: Christmas and holiday songs, Francis Mackey and the Halifax Explosion, the life and work of Mary Riter Hamilton, and Canada’s most infamous UFO case.
Canada's Canoe Archive
August 14, 2018 16:27 - 44 minutesFor many Canadians, paddling in a canoe serves as a refuge from our hectic day-to-day lives, and as a means of reconnecting with nature, family and friends. But thousands of years before European settlers arrived in what we now call Canada, the lakes and rivers served as vital trade routes for the Indigenous peoples here, with the canoe at the heart of that experience. In this episode, we pay a visit to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of ...
Get Your Summer Read On, Part 2
June 18, 2018 18:37 - 32 minutesThe TD Summer Reading Club is Canada’s biggest bilingual summer reading program. Developed by the Toronto Public Library, in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, this free program highlights Canadian authors, illustrators and stories. The goal of the program is to foster literacy by encouraging kids aged 12 and under to read during the summer months. In the second of this two-part episode, we talk with the TD Summer Reading Club French author for 2018, Camille Bouchard. Camille ...
Get Your Summer Read On, Part 1
June 04, 2018 18:56 - 42 minutesThe TD Summer Reading Club is Canada’s biggest bilingual summer reading program for kids. Developed by the Toronto Public Library, in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, this free program highlights Canadian authors, illustrators and stories. The goal of the program is to foster literacy by encouraging kids aged 12 and under to read during the summer months. In part one of this two-part episode, we sit down to chat with Kevin Sylvester. Kevin is an award-winning writer and illust...
Mr. Lowy's Room of Wonder
May 02, 2018 16:31 - 48 minutesDown an obscure hallway at our downtown Ottawa location, there is a mysterious room overflowing with majestic tomes and ancient wisdom. The Lowy Room is a self-contained museum housing over 3,000 rare, often unique Hebraica and Judaica items dating back to the 15th century. In this episode, we pay a visit to the current curator of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection, Michael Kent, who gives us a guided tour of some of the incredible items in the collection and shares the stories surrounding their ...
Gratien Gélinas: One of Our Own
March 27, 2018 17:59 - 50 minutesGratien Gélinas is considered one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre and film. He was a playwright, director, actor, filmmaker and administrator of cultural organizations. His personifications of the common man paved the way for many of Quebec’s leading scriptwriters, and he gave a voice, at home and abroad, to French Canada’s culture and society. On today’s episode, we travel to Saint-Bruno, near Montréal, to speak with Anne-Marie Sicotte, granddaughter of Gratien Gélinas, who tell...
Mackenzie King: Against his Will
February 19, 2018 18:32 - 1 hourWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada’s longest serving prime minister. He is also increasingly viewed as one of the greatest. However, King’s accomplishments are not restricted to the realm of politics. He was also a prolific correspondent and kept an ongoing, almost daily diary from 1893, until a few days before his death in 1950. In it, King not only wrote down meticulous accounts of his life in politics, but also included fascinating details from his private life. On today’s episode, w...
A Look inside the Preservation Centre
December 18, 2017 13:26 - 57 minutesEver wonder where Library and Archives Canada (LAC) stores, protects and preserves Canada’s diverse and rich documentary heritage? Join us for this episode as we take you on a walking tour of LAC’s Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. On our tour, we will guide you through the Preservation Centre, discussing its award-winning architecture and offering insight into how we store and preserve our national treasures.
Canada 150: Reflect and Reimagine
November 29, 2017 20:42 - 47 minutesAs Canada marks its 150th year as a nation, we look back on our past with immense pride, but also with a critical eye. In this episode we teamed up with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to talk about the future of Canada and look at the ways in which examining our history can help to inform decisions about the future.
Former Enemies Are Now Friends
November 09, 2017 17:43 - 38 minutesIn this episode we speak with LAC employee Tim Hack about the amazing journey he undertook to reconnect with his great-grandfathers, who fought on opposite sides of the First World War. Tim came across the Canadian Expeditionary Force files right after starting work at LAC. This discovery inspired him to retrace his great-grandfathers’ footsteps across northern Europe. Listen to his audio diary from the trip, as well as our pre- and post-trip interviews with him.
50 Years of Expo 67
September 01, 2017 18:52 - 1 hourThe 1967 Universal and International Exhibition, better known as Expo 67, was the highlight of Canada’s centennial celebrations. It was held in Montréal from April to October 1967, and was considered the most successful world’s fair of the 20th century. LAC has maintained the majority of the Expo 67 records for the last 40 years. In this episode, we talk with Margaret Dixon, senior project archivist at LAC, about the legacy of Expo and the work that has gone into archiving these documents.
Healing Journey: Project Naming at 15
July 05, 2017 18:49 - 23 minutesBefore Project Naming began in 2002, the Aboriginal peoples depicted in the majority of federal archival photographs were nameless. Over the past fifteen years, Project Naming has provided a virtual space enabling First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit communities to access Canada's historic photo collections and engage in the identification of people and locations, thereby reconnecting with their history to share memories and stories rekindled by the photographs. From March 1st to 3rd, ...
Beyond Vimy: The Rise of Air Power, Part 2
May 03, 2017 19:05 - 31 minutesApril 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the attack and capture of Vimy Ridge, when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps worked together for the first time. During the First World War, over 25,000 Canadians served with the British Flying Service as pilots, observers and mechanics, and even though the Battle of Vimy Ridge is better known as a ground offensive, many of the preparations for the assault on Vimy took place in the air. In Part 2 of this episode, we once again sit down with B...
Beyond Vimy: The Rise of Air Power, Part 1
April 05, 2017 16:46 - 44 minutesApril 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the attack and capture of Vimy Ridge, when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps worked together for the first time. During the First World War, over 25,000 Canadians served with the British Flying Service as pilots, observers and mechanics, and even though the Battle of Vimy Ridge is better known as a ground offensive, many of the preparations for the assault on Vimy took place in the air. In Part 1 of this episode, we sit down with Bill Rawling...