Meetings – 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings will be held at the St. Catharines Museum at Lock 3, 1932 Welland Canal Parkway, St. Catharines, Ontario. Free admission. Doors open at 7:00. Guests are welcome.
Lecture Program – January to June 2015
Programs Subject to Change
Thursday, January 22, 2015 – Presentation by David Hemmings – Captured in the War of 1812: The Fate of the Prisoners of War. David will talk about the American handling of British/Canadian prisoners of war during the War of 1812. The prisoners were held in a series of camps scattered throughout the north-eastern United States. The treatment of the POWs differed greatly depending on whether the prisoner was an officer or an enlisted man. And something known as a “parole” was an important element in the whole prisoner of war process.
Thursday, February 26, 2015 – Presentation by David Webb – The Farmerettes during World War I. Former Parks Canada employee, and World War I expert, David Webb will talk about the institution of the Farmerettes during World War One – a way of utilizing women to take up the slack in agricultural work at a time when tens of thousands of peacetime agricultural workers were called away into the military. The Farmerettes proved to be so successful that they were utilized again during World War II.
Thursday, March 26, 2015 – Presentation by Brian Narhi, Co-chairman of the St. Catharines Heritage Committee and local history researcher, whose presentation will be “Tales from a Tombstone.” The mystery is: Whose tombstone?
Thursday, April 23, 2015 – Presentation by Paul Pattison – The St. Catharines Flying Club, the Niagara District Airport, and the Elementary Flying Training School during World War II. Paul Pattison will present the life and times biography of Fred Pattison 1897 – 1983, which chronicles his growing up on a farm in Merritton, 1st World War, U.S. Marines, his affiliations in the automotive industry, establishing the first Niagara District airport, and his involvement in the training of pilots during World War II.
Thursday, May 28, 2015 – Presentation by Carla Mackie and Alan Veale – Morningstar Mill’s Water Supply: the history of Beaver Dams Creek (the cultural landscape of the area). The meeting will take place at the St. Catharines Historical Museum.
Thursday, June 25, 2015 – Tour of Rodman Hall starting at 6:30 pm for house tour and 7:30 pm for an illustrated talk. Presentation by Elizabeth Finnie -“The Other Merritts” the distinguished descendants of William Hamilton Merritt (in a meeting to be held at Rodman Hall).
The Historical Society of St. Catharines 