THE COWKEEPER’S WISH: A Genealogical Journey
Speaker: Kristen den Hartog
Our speaker will be exploring the fascinating resources she and her sister/co-author used to create The Cowkeeper’s Wish: A Genealogical Journey. Part family memoir, part social history, the book follows the authors’ working-class family from the slums of Victorian London to 1930s Canada. Kristen will give specific examples of where they found ancestors “wandering insane,” charged with crimes, dying in workhouses and asylums, and fighting in the First World War. She’ll also discuss the family archive, and the thrill of weaving intimate family lore with the bigger events of history.
Kristen den Hartog is the author of four novels, including And Me Among Them, shortlisted for the Trillium Award, and The Perpetual Ending, shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. She and her sister, Tracy Kasaboski, have collaborated on two family memoirs: The Occupied Garden, about their father’s family in WW2 Holland, and most recently The Cowkeeper’s Wish. They blog about eclectic offshoots from their genealogical journey at https://thecowkeeperswish.com/. Kristen lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.
NOTE: The Toronto Branch Annual General Meeting will precede this presentation.
THE PROS AND CONS OF PARTICIPATING IN A GLOBAL FAMILY TREE
Speaker Stephen Young will discuss his long involvement in conducting his own family history research and 30+ year career with FamilySearch, and demonstrate the features and facility of using its online global family tree. Preservation and accuracy in research are prime motivations in participating with relatives (known and unknown) to collaboratively provide a complete record of our ancestors.
Stephen C. Young was born and raised in London, Ontario. Much of his earliest and ongoing research focuses on his Young family from England who immigrated to the Toronto area in the 1830s and were amongst the earliest pioneers in Hibbert Twp., Perth County and West Wawanosh Twp., Huron County. He also has Loyalist roots in the Niagara Peninsula. Steve earned a Bachelors degree at Brigham Young University in Family and Local History (1985) and a Masters degree in American History (emphasis in Public History) at Bowling Green State University (1990) in Ohio. An employee of FamilySearch since 1988, he is currently a Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer and project manager for FamilySearch.
Mini-Presentation: “What I Learned By Following the Monk from Buffalo” by speaker Michael Nettleton
THE SPANISH FLU, TORONTO’S – CANADA’S FORGOTTEN PANDEMIC
Speaker: Mike Clare
The story of the Spanish Flu epidemic in Canada and Toronto is a forgotten one. Why? It has been called the most documented epidemic and the least known; The Spanish Flu, a global epidemic that killed 50,000 Canadians in just over eighteen months and well over 50 million people globally. As we mark the 100th Anniversary of the Spanish Flu, the flu is like a peculiar, shunned old uncle, “we don’t talk about him”. This lecture will talk about him (The Spanish Flu) by looking at the impact of the Spanish Flu on Canada and Toronto. The lecture will look at where the Spanish Flu originated, how it spread across Canada, and how both Canada and Toronto responded. One in six Canadian households were impacted by the flu yet we have heard very little about their stories; why?
In the last 10 minutes of the lecture, attendees will be familiarized with The Defining Moments Canada national digital memorial website. The Spanish Flu memorial, sponsored by Heritage Canada, is a unique opportunity to crowd source history and to influence and share the narrative.
Mike Clare M. ED. is a well respected, innovative educator who has taught with the York Region District School Board, was seconded to Historica for five years, and trained teachers at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Mike has presented to teachers from coast to coast across Canada and in the United States. As the author of numerous conventional textbooks, Mike has also created a series of interactive textbooks on both American and Canadian History. The most recent interactive textbook The Spanish Flu Epidemic 1918 – 1919: “Stepping Out With the Spanish Lady” is an aggregator of information about the Flu and asks readers to determine why the Spanish Flu is virtually forgotten.
