For previous lectures click here to take you to our Youtube files.
N.B. Only lectures marked as “Available on Youtube” have been recorded. Once at the youtube site type in the lecturer’s name or the title of the lecture. Note that not all lectures have a Youtube video, either because of lecturer’s request, or technical malfunction.
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This Year’s Meetings Sep 2024 to Jun. 2025 Lectures, 7:30 PM Every fourth Thursday Sep. to Nov.,(Dec. Recess) then Jan. to June.
September 26 2024 Indigenous History of Niagara – Jim Hill, Niagara Parks
October 24 2024 Patrick Little on the centenary of the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club.
November 28 2024. Stan Skrzeszewski on his latest Facer Street book.
December. no lecture
January 23 2025 Show and Tell
February 27 2025 Cristina Soto on Black history
“Aaron Young: Barber and Resister”,
entrepreneur, and his leading role in the Black community
March 27 2025 Paul Chapman, former St. Catharines Planning Director, on the “Evolution of the City of St. Catharines”
April 24 2025 Walter Lewis on ship building in St. Catharines
May 22 2025. Gary Gardell on lacrosse in St. Catharines and Niagara.
June 26 2025 Kathy Powell, Museum Director, on civil defense in Niagara.
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From Sep. 2023 to Jun. 2024
November 23 2023 “At Breakfast We Heard Whistles Blowing”: Nationalist Sentiment in St. Catharines, 1899-1902. St. Catharines Museum Curator Kathleen Powell presents an illustrated talk about nationalist sentiment in this city at the time of the Boer War.
December Recess. No Lecture
January 25 2024. Show and Tell Bring your historical artifact and describe it. (8 minutes maximum)
February 22 2024 ” Bound and Determined: Chloe Cooley, Enslavement, and the Flight to Freedom.” by Sarah Kaufman
March 28 2024 “St. Catharines Photographer Edwin Poole”. by Will MacEachern
April 25 2024 “From Underground Railroad to Confederate Refuge: Canada and the Civil War”. by Brian Martin
May 23 2024. “Slavery in Lincoln County.” by Natasha Henry Dixon
June 27 2024 to be announced. by Brian Narhi
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September 22 7:30 PM “The Pun is Mightier than the Sword” The Art of Editorial Cartooning at the Standard 1936 to 1961. By Arden Phair, local historian, and former curator of the St. Catharines Museum.
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October 27 7:30 PM. “Covered Histories”. Victoria Lawn Underground Railroad Gravestones. Rochelle Bush and Dr. Adam Montgomery will present their work on locating graves of freedom seekers, members of the Fugitive Aid Society and others in Victoria Lawn cemetery. Rochelle Bush is a descendant of African American freedom seekers, owner of Tubman Tours Canada. She is resident historian of the Salem Chapel BME Church, and Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHS.
NOVEMBER 24, 2022 7:30pm “The Whisper on the Night Wind: The True History of a Wilderness Legend”, presented by Adam Shoalts, professional explorer and #1 national best-selling author.
DECEMBER….No lecture
JANUARY 26, 2023 7:30pm “The Last Trolley Stop of the NS&T”, presented by Hank Beekhuis,
Available on Youtube, go to “HSSC Video Youtube” button at top of page. Once there type in Beekhuis
FEBRUARY 23, 2023 7:30pm “A Community at War – the Military Service of Black Canadians of the Niagara Region”, presented by Jim Doherty, president of the Niagara Falls Military Museum.
MARCH 23, 2023 7:30pm “Early Schools, Children’s Books and Literature”, presented by Brian Narhi, local historian and Vice-President of the Historical Society of St. Catharines.
APRIL 27, 2023 7:30pm “Local Sport History”, presented by Liz Vlossak, Brock University history professor with an interest in local sport and co-director of the Sport Oral History
May 25 2023 “A Gentleman Politician from Niagara: The Life and Times of Robert Welch” by Brock Professor Emeritus David Siegel. Available on Youtube, go to “HSSC Video Youtube” button at top of page. Once there type in Welch
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ONLINE LECTURE PROGRAM – 2021
Upcoming HSSC lectures are delivered online using our Zoom virtual meeting room.
From the comfort of your living room or wherever you are in the world, join us at 7:30 pm on the 4th Thursday of every month from January to June and September to November.
We have an outstanding lineup of presentations of local historical interest. To enter these meetings click the corresponding link or scan the QR code on your smartphone or device.
SEPTEMBER 23 “Journey through Niagara: the early years”, a pictorial journey through the Niagara Peninsula in the early years. Presented by HSSC board member, Roger Bradshaw, based on the book co-authored with John Burtniak. The majority of pictures are from Society member John Burtniak’s extensive post card collection, supplemented by photos from the Kings Highway web site and others. The journey starts on Highway No. 8, travelling from Stoney Creek and ending at Niagara Falls. This route was lined with cabins, cottages, inns, autotels, auto parks, tourist camps and restaurants.
OCTOBER 28 “Over 50 Years of Artist-Run Culture in Niagara”, presented by Stephen Remus, Minister of Energy, Minds, and Resources at the Niagara Artists Centre. Stephen has been volunteering at NAC for over twenty years and has guided the organization through a period of significant growth including ownership of the organization’s facilities on St. Paul Street and the establishment of 14 work and studio spaces for artists.
NOVEMBER 25 “Off to Paradise Grove: a Railway History of Niagara-on-the-Lake 1854- 1959”, presented by author Peter Mulcaster of Niagara-on-the-Lake, based on his book. The third steam railway to be built in Ontario, then known as Upper Canada, came to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1854. As with many railways of that era, it went through a period of various owners and financial instability. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the steam railway, then run by the Canada Southern Railway and subsequently by the Michigan Central Railroad, became established on a firmer footing and some economic development ensued.
December Break….no lecture
January, 27, 2022: “Mill Races in St. Catharines” Brian Narhi, whose presentation will concern his research into the Mill Races in St. Catharines.
February. 24, 2022: “An Economist Looks at Heritage”
Dr. Ian Ellingham, local architect, Chair of the Niagara Society of Architects.
March 24, 2022: “Was your Grandmother a British Home Child?” David Hemmings, who has documented the lives of 1200 British Home Children in Niagara.
April 28, 2022, “Peeling back 13,000 years of Indigenous existence in Niagara”, by Michele-Elise Burnett.
May 26, 2022 (which is also our AGM). “A re-imagined history of Port Dalhousie” by David Serafino
June 23, 2022 presenter: “Hidden in plain sight: Niagara’s 1800’s Swing Beam Barns tell surprising stories.” by Hugh Fraser.
Video Recording of Previous Lectures
“‘Mills Should Be Built Thereon’: The Hydraulic Raceways and St. Catharines Economy in mid-19th Century”. By Brian Narhi
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Here is the most recent lecture. Peter Mulcaster’s. “Off to Paradise Grove: a Railway History of Niagara-on-the-Lake 1854- 1959”
For previous lectures click here to take you to our Youtube files.https://www.youtube.com/results?search
The Historical Society of St. Catharines 