FAREWELL TO A LEGEND: MARION PHELPS, 1908-2013 $10 Quebec

VOL 7, NO. 2 SPRING 2013 HeritageNews

Cow Shows and City Potatoes Farming Heritage: 4-H Clubs and the Visionary J. N. Lamy Heritage Successes East and West The Gaspesian British Heritage Village and the Fairbairn House Busking the Metro, Being Unilingual Emerging Writers Reflect on the Urban Scene QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Quebec CONTENTS HeritageNews EDITOR Editor’s Desk 3 RODERICK MACLEOD The Castle’s many tenants Rod MacLeod PRODUCTION DAN PINESE; MATTHEW FARFAN Letters 4 The view from the Alcan floors Anne Joseph PUBLISHER Potash from the north Beverly Prud’homme THE QUEBEC ANGLOPHONE Naming North Shore communities Gary Briand HERITAGE NETWORK 400-257 QUEEN STREET Timelines 7 SHERBROOKE, QUEBEC J1M 1K7 Keeping heritage alive and well on the Gaspé coast Jessica Campbell The Fairbairn House: making Gatineau Valley history accessible Jessica Campbell PHONE The Westmount Glen Arch: celebrating a vital bridge 120 years on Barbara Covington 1-877-964-0409 A bank of art: the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke Jessica Campbell (819) 564-9595 FAX 4-H 14 (819) 564-6872 Quebec’s young farmers celebrate 100 years Alyssa Fourneaux CORRESPONDENCE [email protected] Why I Don’t Know French Yet 19 WEBSITES Elizabeth Dent WWW.QAHN.ORG WWW.QUEBECHERITAGEWEB.COM Farmville 22 “Charging to the Potato” in Maisonneuve Jessica Grosman PRESIDENT KEVIN O’DONNELL A Day Underground 24 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & Nisha Coleman WEBMAGAZINES EDITOR MATTHEW FARFAN Marion Phelps 27 (February 9, 1908 – January 22, 2013) Frank Nixon OFFICE MANAGER KATHY TEASDALE The Great Wealth of the Ottawa Valley 28 Quebec Heritage News is produced four Joseph Graham times yearly by the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN) with the support Edwardian Escapades 29 of the Department of Canadian Heritage and Quebec’s Ministère de la Culture et Recreating the Richmond Nicholsons Dorothy Nixon des Communications. QAHN is a non-profit and non-partisan umbrella organization whose mission is to help advance knowl- edge of the history and culture of the English-speaking communities of Quebec. Annual Subscription Rates: Individual: $30.00; Organization: $40.00 Cover photo: Winners at 1979 Calf Rally in Ormstown. Calf Rally is a Quebec 4-H Canada Post Publication Mail Agreement Number 405610004. annual event. Photo: courtesy of Quebec 4H. ISSN 17707-2670 PRINTED IN CANADA

2 SPRING 2013

EDITOR’S DESK The Castle’s many tenants by Rod MacLeod

ike many great institutions, it lost its royal privileges and was obliged Once it was back in their posses- all started with Scots. Well, to sell the property – to yet another Scot, sion, the British formally bought the people of Scottish descent any- William Grant, the enterprising fur trad- house from Grant. Successive British way. They came from Midloth- er who became, through marriage, the governors normally used the house ian,L south of Edinburgh, in the fifteenth Baron of Longueuil. Grant may not whenever they needed to be in Montreal or early sixteenth century, fighting have spent much time in the house, and – including a very distant relation of the against England with French allies – and was probably happy to find a good ten- original owners: George Ramsay, the somehow ended up with significant ant in the form of the British govern- Earl of Dalhousie. One exception to this landholdings and titles trend was John Col- in France. One promi- borne, who had rented nent Ramsay – or a house nearby when Ramezay, as they were he came to Montreal in now styled – came to November 1837 to New France as an lead the armed forces army officer and rose against the rebels, and through the ranks until renewed his lease on his appointment as that house three governor of Montreal months later even in 1704. Claude though Governor Gos- promptly built himself ford’s resignation had a grand townhouse on by then made him act- Notre Dame Street ing governor; Col- with extensive gardens borne knew that the behind and a view new governor, Lord from the upper win- Durham, was due dows of Mount Royal shortly and would to the north and the St. need the Château de Lawrence River to the Ramezay. Colborne south. Here he lived in also presided over the lavish style, well be- abolition of the elected yond his means, until his death in 1724. ment, which was looking for a pied-à- assembly; governors now ruled by de- His children grew up in the house, and terre in Montreal. Although not as grand cree, assisted by a hand-picked set of his widow continued to live there for an- as the Château Vaudreuil on St. Paul monarchy-friendly men who formed the other two decades. Street – occupied by the Collège de Special Council. This body, formed in Contrary to popular wisdom, the Montréal – Claude de Ramezay’s old April 1838, would sit in the Ramezay Château de Ramezay was never the home would do. house (save for the few months when home of the governors of New France Two years after making this pur- Durham filled the colony’s highest of- other than a brief period when Claude chase, in late 1775, British command fice and moved the council to Quebec) substituted for Governor General Vau- pulled out of Montreal, retreating from until it was dissolved in February 1841. dreuil during the latter’s absence in the the invading American troops. Upon his The last of Lower Canada’s governors, old country. In 1745, Claude’s surviving arrival, Richard Montgomery, leader of Charles Thomson, decided to spurn children opted to sell the house – to the the invasion, moved into the house and Quebec altogether and live year-round in Compagnie des Indes, which was found- established his headquarters there. After Montreal, in the Ramezay house. ed by another Scot, John Law, Louis Montgomery left to attack Quebec (and In 1841, the parliament of the new XIV’s chief banker. After two decades die, on New Year’s Eve), other Ameri- Province of Canada moved, along with of operating out of rented rooms about can generals were based in the house – Thomson (now Baron Sydenham), to town, the Compagnie finally had a home including Benedict Arnold, who wel- Kingston. When Montreal became the of its own in the old Ramezay place. comed such visitors as Benjamin capital in 1844, the governors took up The Compagnie substantially rebuilt the Franklin (who slept elsewhere) and residence in the elegant villa called house, giving it the appearance it retains Fleury Mesplet (who reputedly kept his Monklands at the western edge of what today. printing equipment in the Ramezay would later be known as West Mount. After the conquest, the Compagnie basement). The Château de Ramezay was fitted up

3 Plaque by the Château de Ramezay’s main door. Photo: Rod MacLeod. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS as government offices, and a large four- ployees presumably did not mind the cisive moment in the history of architec- storey brick annexe was built on the east noise from the presses or the smell from tural conservation: it petitioned the mu- side by local contractor nicipal government to Hector Munro. The purchase the Ramezay new facilities were house as a place to ready for occupation on house the Society’s col- May 1, 1849. Unfortu- lection of historic ob- nately, a week earlier a jects. The city did so, Tory mob had burned and immediately leased down the parliament the house to the ANSM building in Youville for a nominal annual Square, and the govern- rent of $1. The museum ment decided to leave opened on May 1, this political hotbed and 1895. In time, the move its headquarters brick annex and other to Toronto. (This additions were demol- would not be the last ished and the old house time a Montreal-based equipped with modern corporation would gas and light facilities, make that exact deci- and up-to-date toilets. sion.) Today, one can ad- The expanded mire the expanded col- Château de Ramezay lections of this delight- was now a building in ful museum and in search of a purpose. Fortunately, the city the operating room. good weather even sit in the garden out- court was looking for a venue, its old By 1893, the Quebec government, side, which recaptures the sights and quarters having burned down some years the owner of the Ramezay house since smells of what Claude de Ramezay and earlier and its replacement being barely Confederation, had lost interest in it as a his family would have enjoyed three started. By the time the new court house property and decided to sell. Horrified centuries ago. Probably no building in (known today as the “old court house,” at the prospect of a buyer tearing down Canada has gone through anything like not to be confused with the “new-old this two-centuries-old structure, the An- as much in order to get back to, more or court house” across the street designed tiquarian and Numismatic Society of less, where it started. in the 1920s by Ernest Cormier) was fin- Montreal organized what was to be a de- ished, the legislation creating normal schools had just been passed. Montre- al’s École normale Jacques-Cartier (the Letters Catholic counterpart to the McGill Nor- did keep a file of some interesting pa- mal School on Belmont Street) took up The View from the Alcan floors pers and photographs, and, of course, re- residence in the Ramezay house’s member some highlights of these times. Munro wing in 1857, while the Council When I read Rod MacLeod’s piece I thought you might be interested in of Public Instruction for Canada East, about Place Ville Marie (“Fixing a some of my memories of the hole itself, established by the same legislation as Hole,” QHN , Fall 2012), I smiled at the filling thereof, and eventually the the normal schools, came to occupy the finding common ground and just knew I rise of a building that surprised us all. older part of the house. At Confedera- had to get around to writing this letter. Arriving in Montreal in 1959, I tion, the Council fell under provincial In early 1962, I became a very small looked at this huge hole with amaze- jurisdiction in Quebec City, but the Nor- participant within a large group of peo- ment. What followed was even more mal School continued until 1879, when ple given the task of organizing the startling. As a child of the blitz in Eng- it moved to the Logan farm. The new move of close to 1,500 Alcan employees land, rubble-strewn sites became famil- Montreal branch of Laval University’s from four other Montreal buildings into iar, as did the slow rebuilding projects Faculty of Medicine, which had occu- eight complete floors and a huge chunk that followed in post-war years. What pied the original part of the Ramezay of basement space in the brand new bothered me in Montreal was the real- house two years earlier, now took over Place Ville Marie over Labour Day ization that all this rubble was generated the entire building, and did so until mov- week-end in 1962. The final months be- by conscious decisions of local people to ing to St. Denis Street in 1895, where it fore the actual move were, to put it mild- demolish many of their fine old build- would eventually become part of the ly, hectic. The hours were long, but the ings. And this was before I met my fu- University of Montreal. During these work itself was mostly tremendous fun, ture husband, and learned more about years, bits of the house were also occu- endlessly surprising, although at times the disappearance of Dorchester House pied by La Presse, La Minerve, and vari- exhausting – but I was young with lots and other fine homes. ous municipal departments whose em- of energy. I wish I had kept a diary, but I As I watched PVM slowly rising in

4 Château de Ramezay, 1896. Photo: Bibliothèque et archives nationales du Québec: Albums Massicotte, 3-164-b. SPRING 2013

1961, it seemed to be a good time to ap- a loss to know how best to handle this. Potash from the north ply for a job at Alcan and get involved in As it happened, one very young and de- the development of this building that lightfully casual lassie in the department I was very interested in Susan was totally unlike anything I had ever innocently took care of it by smiling at McGuire’s article on the making and imagined. After a few months, I landed the young man and saying “let’s see you marketing of potash in the Eastern the job described as secretary to the Of- walk on water.” It was wonderful. Townships and Ottawa Valley (“The fice Services Manager. Secretary? That Dilemma converted to laughter with no Potash Process,” QHN, Winter 2013”). was a joke. I finished up mixing with lit- hard feelings. In Rawdon, potash was also a source of erally hundreds of people and doing I stayed with Office Services until revenue for the early settlers. The potash whatever needed to be 1965, by which time had to be transported a good fifty or six- done. The challenges things had settled ty miles to Montreal by road. There was were intriguing. En- down. In the early no ferry or scow for transport. joying life as I im- years, there were real Much of the land in Rawdon was mersed myself in this trees on the plaza for not ideal for farming, as the soil was thoroughly modern Christmas. We en- sandy in many areas, and hilly and rocky Montreal, I still joyed that, but many in others. Usually it was enough to pro- mourned the loss of all of us were not so im- vide a roof over the family’s head, food those heritage build- pressed with the for their bellies and clothes for their ings. The Golden strung-up lights that backs. Potash and forest products, rather Square Mile was being replaced them. Before than agriculture, provided the extra rev- hammered, and very No. 5 Place Ville enue required to survive. few people seemed to Marie was built, there In Rawdon, there were several care. were flower beds scat- potash works used to refine the ashes for There are some tered throughout the the making of potash. One of the early lovely stories of hap- plaza, and one spring families, the Coppings, who came to penings in those hectic day as we gazed down Rawdon about 1821, had their own months of 1962. we noticed a beautiful potash works on the family farm. The Someone peevishly asked why PVM display of daffodils surrounded by white Copping family sent a barrel of potash to was to be named the Royal Bank Build- tulips in the midst of greenery. Quick Montreal once a month, year round! ing, since Alcan would be occupying like a bunny, someone said, “Oh look – Quite an accomplishment, considering eight floors and the Royal only six. The poached egg on spinach!” the inclement weather – rain, snow, un- simplicity of the three-word answer end- On that awful day in November bearable heat and cold – and the black ed all discussion: “they asked first.” And 1963 when news of John Kennedy’s as- flies and mosquitoes, which were a real then there was the occasion when some sassination became known at lunchtime, pestilence in the bush. wag in Engineering was overcome by a word was handed down that Alcan It is clear from George Copping’s fit of facetiousness as he wrote up the would immediately close. I spent the diary that the whole family took part in specs for Alcan’s internal stairway. He next few hours walking up and down Al- this labour. George’s sons were con- specified gold as the material to be used can’s internal stairway helping the re- stantly either chopping and drawing, or for the handrails. And nobody noticed ceptionists get all visitors out of the boiling for potash. for positively ages. building as well as urging employees to The trip to Montreal from Rawdon As the months went by, we worked go home. Because so many people want- was an arduous two-day journey each longer and longer hours, but on the ed to stay and talk, it took us ages to way. If the roads and weather were weekend of the move itself, only men clear the premises. good, they arrived home on the fourth were working. Starting early on the All in all, I grew to enjoy PVM. But day. If not, they might return in the wee morning of Tuesday, September 4, we thinking back to my amazement when I hours of the fifth day. coped with hundreds of questions from first caught site of the huge hole, and The first twelve miles to the next confused employees trying to find their connecting this with Rod’s comment that town, St. Jacques, was over what were way around. Many were quite awestruck a trough with trains running through it described as very poor roads. This lack if assigned a place near a window, be it can make for a pleasant urban environ- of good roads was mostly due to the na- from pleasure or fear. ment, has prompted me to imagine that ture of the landscape: steep hills, rocky One department had a totally bril- if something like this ever happens terrain and clay soil caused much grief liant man doing a totally brilliant job, again, we can all play a variation of to anyone trying to build roads. On sev- even though he was alarmingly absent- Poohsticks. Pooh and Piglet would be eral occasions the load had to be “helped minded with some strange habits. This thrilled. out of the township,” as the road was in was the 1960s, when everyone dressed such bad condition – not from neglect so formally for work, men in suits and Anne Joseph much as that Rawdon led down from a women in dresses. This brilliant man Montreal, QC plateau that was mostly clay and rock. took to wearing toe-post sandals, obvi- “Among other things, I find Rawdon ously with no socks, and his boss was at very hilly and difficult of access,” Father

5 Key ring, Place Ville Marie, 1962. Photo: McCord Museum: M2009.45.11.1-2. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Cholette, a visiting Catholic priest, com- nally called Montreal South. plained. Naming South Shore Erskine-Henry brings that all back From St. Jacques, the roads were communities to currency. His meticulous research somewhat better: over a straight road enables me to comprehend the trans- and flat terrain to l’Assomption, where I write in reference to Kevin Erskine- formation of the South Shore and to they would stable the horse and sleep at Henry’s excellent article on Montreal clarify many of the vignettes my a farmer’s along the way. The second South (“Between St. Lambert and French Canadian family related. day of travel was on to the St. Lawrence Longueuil,” QHN, Fall 2012). Great research and clear writing. River, at the east end of the island of In 1966, I went to teach at South Congratulations! Montreal. In winter, they crossed the riv- Shore Catholic High School in er on the ice; in open weather they hired Longueuil. I arranged to take my Gary Briand a local farmer to take their wagon lunch at the home of a French Canadi- Gaspé, QC across. (It was not until the late nine- an family that insisted that their com- teenth century that a bridge was built to munity was properly called Ville link the north shore with the island.) The Jacques Cartier. last 14 miles were across the island to Interested as I was in the history, I the town. was told that the whole area was orig- On the way home, they would stop at the lime kiln in St. Jacques to pick up the lime needed to make the superior “pearl potash,” which they always pro- duced rather than the less profitable potash. Upon their return, George would make the rounds, paying off any ac- counts owed. Eventually, the sale of potash purchased a farm for four of George’s sons as well as adding to his own holdings. Beverly Prud’homme Rawdon, QC Blanchard AD Order Now!

To order a copy of QAHN’s new InHerit Handbook: Creating Learning Projects for Schools and Communi- ties, send cheque for $10.00 (includ- ing s/h to anywhere in canada) to: QAHN, 400-257 Queen, Sherbrooke, QC, J1M 1K7.

For information: (819) 564-9595 / [email protected].

OLD PHOTOS OF WOMEN’S HOCKEY PLAYERS

Wanted old pictures (1890-1920) of Quebec women’s teams or girls playing hockey To be used in a book on ladies’ hockey history in Quebec.

Lynda Baril (450) 904-4120 [email protected]

6 Dry Canteen, Montreal South. Photo: courtesy of Kevin Erskine-Henry. SPRING 2013

TIMELINES The Gaspesian British Heritage Village Keeping heritage alive and well on the Gaspé coast by Jessica Campbell nbeknownst to many in Que- rather appropriate purposes. roots back 200 years. Those roots in- bec, a veritable treasure trove The Willett House, for example, clude links to the Duthie brothers, early of Gaspesian culture awaits which was originally built for the man- Scottish settlers who, while the Ameri- discovery at the Gaspesian ager of Lord Stanley’s summer estate, cans were fighting their Revolution, laid UBritish Heritage Village in New Rich- and which later served as lodging for the foundations of the town with their mond, on the south coast of the Gaspé visiting fisherman, was renovated in shipyard at Duthie’s Point. Interestingly, Peninsula. What began as a vision 2011 and is now rented out during the the Village’s genealogy project was among the English-speaking residents of summer months. This five-bedroom among the first undertaken by the organ- the area, inspired by the 1984 bicenten- house includes a fully-equipped kitchen, ization. It is still a priority today, and the nial celebrations surrounding the arrival and offers access to the bay and beach. genealogy collection is continuously ex- of the Loyalists, opened to the public in Another building recently put to modern panding with more local seniors interest- 1989. use is “School House No. 9,” a former ed in sharing and preserving their family Today, the Gaspesian British Her- schoolhouse which was used during the histories. itage Village comprises 33 hectares (82 summer of 2012 for a day camp. It is no secret that the minority Eng- acres) of land, and extends 1.6 km (1 New Richmond, a town of approxi- lish-speaking community in the Gaspé is mile) from Perron Boulevard to the Bay mately 5,000 residents, boasts no less shrinking. In 1900, Anglophones made des Chaleurs. It features 20 historic than three separate language groups – up 50% of the population, but the years buildings, most of them preserved turn- English, French and Mi’kmaq – each of of the Great Depression saw a mass exo- of-the-century houses, all but two of which played a part in the founding of dus of those seeking work, and decades which were transported to the site to re- the Gaspé region. Yet, while each of later another exodus followed the 1980 create a Victorian-era village. these three groups has made significant Quebec Referendum. The buildings include the Gendron economic and cultural contributions to Today, the south coast of the Gaspé store, a former general store which the area, the Gaspesian British Heritage includes approximately 8,300 Anglo- serves as a welcome centre, and Duthie Village primarily seeks to honour those phones, or 10% of the total population. Tavern, a pub that was frequented by made by the English-speaking commu- While the town of New Richmond still sailors and shipbuilders in the nineteenth nity. “One of our main missions is to enjoys a relatively large English com- century. Unlike most museums or his- make the public aware of the contribu- munity, its numbers are dropping. Eng- toric homes, the Village encourages in- tion the English-speaking community lish-speakers are facing increasing chal- teractivity: visitors are not only permit- made to the development of the region,” lenges as a minority. Schools face the ted to handle the artefacts, but some of says Village director Kim Harrison. threat of closure, and it is getting more the buildings are used for modern and Harrison proudly traces her family and more difficult for Anglophones to get access to English community pro- grams. The Gaspesian British Heritage Village aims to increase this small but vibrant community’s sense of pride, identity and appreciation of their roots. The Village is working to reach out to more English-speaking tourists, who may have distant connections to New Richmond or the Gaspé region. Current- ly, 95% of summer tourists are Fran- cophones. The Village also seeks to “foster a mutual understanding among the three founding cultures of the Gaspé,” by en- couraging visitors, as well as volunteers from each cultural group, to participate in the various activities, programs and events at the site. While the French were the first Europeans to settle the area, they were not the first people in the re- gion. The Mi’kmaqs settled in the area 7 Photo: courtesy of the Gaspesian British Heritage Village. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS as early as the sixteenth century, and hopeful that the remaining funds will the Village attracts cross-country skiers lived off the land for centuries. The Vil- come from Canada Economic Develop- who use the site’s forest trails. During lage pays tribute to that Aboriginal her- ment and from fundraising activities. the warmer months, Anglophone schools itage and has included trapping and Unfortunately, a number of the buildings are offered private tours of the Village, wildlife management and traditional at the site require maintenance, and in- which is another way that the Corpora- Mi’kmaq medicines in its recent offering frastructure funding is difficult to obtain. tion is reaching out to the English- of traditional skills courses. The Aborig- So generating new funds is a primary speaking community to remind them of inal population is, in fact, the fastest concern. the importance of their heritage. growing group in the region, and the Increasing the number of tourists Village offers a perspective on the rela- will help, and the Village has been suc- Sources: tionship between Aboriginals and set- cessful in this respect. For example, dur- Interview with Kim Harrison, November tlers. ing the summer of 2012, 3,200 visitors 2012. A number of upcoming projects are toured the Village (an increase of 32%), planned for the Village, including digi- and roughly 9,200 came throughout the http://www.villagegaspesien.com/01_en tizing the genealogy collection and reno- year. Beyond peak season (late June to g.htm. vating the Gendron store to serve as a September), the Village attracts thou- year-round centre for activities like sands of visitors through events such as http://www.gaspesianvillage.org/en/plan “Building Bridges through Art,” wherein Halloween, Noël en Gaspésie, and the _your_visit/special_events/old_christma participants will be paired up with peo- New Richmond Bluegrass Festival. Each s.html. ple from different cultural and age year in December, the Village reenacts groups and given the task of creating an old-fashioned Christmas and hosts http://www.tourisme-gaspe- one another’s portrait. various holiday festivities such as carol- sie.com/en/planifier-circuit-phares.html According to Kim Harrison, 40% of ing, sleigh-riding, cooking, and touring http://www.quebec-guidetouris- necessary funding has been confirmed in the houses decked out in their finest tique.travel/history.aspx. principal by Quebec’s Ministry of Cul- nineteenth-century Christmas décor. At ture. The management of the Village is other times during the winter months, The Fairbairn House Heritage Centre Making Gatineau Valley history accessible to all by Jessica Campbell n the 1830s, Scottish immigrant his sixty-ninth year, this simple farmhouse picnic area, and a kitchen garden. It is also and farmer William Fairbairn originally stood on the north side of Wake- directly across from Wakefield’s covered moved to the village of Wakefield field. Within the past two decades, it has bridge, another landmark that the local com- in the Gatineau Valley. Besides set- been moved twice to escape demolition. munity rebuilt in order to preserve its her- Itling his family and cultivating 100 acres “It’s a lucky house!” Michael Cooper, itage, and about a kilometre from Wake- of land, Fairbairn built a gristmill in the President of the Fairbairn House’s board of field’s famous Black Sheep Inn. Given its village. Fairbairn’s mill would save lo- directors, told Quebec Heritage News in a access to the Trans-Canada Trail, the Fair- cal farmers the trouble of transporting recent interview. Having belonged to the bairn House Heritage Centre will also have their grain to distant gristmills. It also Fairbairn family until the early twentieth the status of a trailhead station. Touring the became the nucleus of an industrial century, the house remained in local hands grounds is just one of the many activities complex around which villages and until 1990, when the Ministry of Transport visitors to the Centre can enjoy. farming communities grew up. Known purchased it with the intention of demolish- Situated on the northeastern fringe of today as the Wakefield Mill, the mill has ing it to make room for a new road. It was Wakefield, on the east bank of the Gatineau since been transformed into a country then bought and moved a quarter of a mile River, the Fairbairn House is officially the inn and is so pleasant a spot that it has away, just across Route 105, where it was property of the municipality. In 2005, the attracted celebrities such as U.S. Secre- used as a railroad station, and later a marina, GVHS initiated the formation of a separate tary of State Hilary Clinton. until it was again threatened with demolition group of volunteers to create the Musée Today, there is cause to celebrate the to create space for condos. Fairbairn Museum Steering Committee, a restoration of another edifice handed down At the urging of the Gatineau Valley non-profit organization, in order to take to us by William Fairbairn, a building equal- Historical Society (GVHS), the Municipality charge of transforming the house into a ly important to the heritage of Wakefield be- of La Pêche bought the house and relocated bilingual heritage centre dedicated to trans- cause of its connection to the founder of the it to Wakefield’s Hendrick Park. There could mitting local and regional history. Today, the community: the Fairbairn House Heritage not be a more appropriate location for Fair- committee is known as the Fairbairn House Centre. bairn’s home, surrounded by seven acres of Cooperative. Built in 1861, when Fairbairn was in parkland, including a heritage log cabin, a According to Michael Cooper, the Fair-

8 SPRING 2013 bairn House is not officially a “historic site,” not involve merely filling rooms with old schools in the Gatineau Valley. Students according to Quebec’s Cultural Law, since it furniture, since stagnant displays tend to from eight schools will be encouraged to re- was moved from its original location. This, cause people to lose interest very quickly. search local and regional history. The Fair- of course, does not mean that the house is Rather, the Cooperative aims to enrich visi- bairn Centre’s joint projects with the schools any less worthy of preservation. tors’ knowledge of the past through modern will be year-round and will include the Cen- It is also not a “museum,” per se. means, such as vinyl banner displays, tre’s “suitcase kit program” in the winter “Running a museum,” Cooper said, “in- posters and computers. For the month of months. This project will involve the cre- volves a lot of rules. For example, you have December, five students from the Algonquin ation of an educational suitcase filled with to follow rigid requirements, such as main- College museum program joined the Fair- historical items representative of life in the taining climate and humidity control to look bairn Centre’s team to explore innovative Gatineau Valley, such as lumber or agricul- after and protect your artefacts – all of which ways to showcase their exhibits. tural artefacts. Students will be able to han- is very expensive.” Establishing a heritage The ground floor of the Centre will fea- dle and examine these items, as they will not centre, Cooper explained, was more eco- ture permanent exhibitions focusing on the be sharp or breakable. nomical. daily activities of average citizens in the past Finally, the Centre expects to hold daily That said, the cost of renovating a and their efforts to develop the Gatineau Val- seasonal demonstrations, such as heritage house has inevitable costs, and municipal ley. The second floor will feature displays gardening, wool-felting and herb drying, and regulations required that the Cooperative which will change from season to season. to host birthday parties for children for hire union labourers. Volunteers were only Exhibitions will be borrowed from other which it will organize indoor and outdoor permitted to work on landscaping. Conse- museums. The Missisquoi Museum in Stan- activities. quently, by the time the work was completed bridge East has already offered to lend an “Our mission is simple,” Michael in 2012, the cost of restoring the building’s exhibition, created as part of QAHN’s 2011 Cooper said, summing up the Fairbairn interior and exterior was nearly $400,000. Spoken Heritage Online Multimedia Initia- House and all that it stands for. “To inform Once completed, however, the renova- tive. Once the Fairbairn Centre has acquired visitors, whether they are students, local resi- tions were exceptional. The two-storey more funds, Cooper said, it will begin lend- dents, or from all over the world, about past house now resembles the original sturdy ing exhibits of its own to other institutions. stories of the Gatineau River Valley, so that home that Fairbairn had intended to “stand Fairbairn’s most unique feature is ar- they can know them, understand them and the test of time.” The house was repainted to guably its outreach and community pro- appreciate them. The Fairbairn House Her- match the colours that it would most likely grams. As the president put it, “the basement itage Centre has been created to make the have had in the mid- to late-nineteenth cen- will become an autonomous, year-round social and political history of the area acces- tury. community resource, providing a well- sible and enjoyable in a refreshing way!” The house, which includes 3,200 equipped meeting room and workshop area square feet of public space, features distinc- [which] will be available to the public for Sources: tive diamond and roundel motifs on the exte- rent on a year-round basis.” Adult-work- http://www.fairbairn.ca. rior and interior. The Cooperative prides it- shops will focus on heritage-building re- self on its modern addition of a summer search, such as restoring old photographs, Interview with Michael Cooper, Presi- kitchen at the back which is used as the en- genealogical work, playing nineteenth centu- dent of the Fairbairn House Heritage trance. This gives visitors the sensation of ry games and studying historical artefacts. Centre, November 2012. being welcomed into a nineteenth-century Space at the Centre will also be re- country kitchen, with wooden tables and an served for exhibits produced by elementary antique-looking cooking stove donated by a local business. The summer kitchen also fea- tures an information desk and boutique. The rest of the first floor is used as exhibition space, with displays of photos and heirlooms relating to the Fairbairn family. On September 1, 2012, the over 150 people who attended the Fairbairn Centre’s grand opening were the first to view the ren- ovations and artefacts, and to hear about up- coming plans for the site. Some of the Cen- tre’s first visitors were Fairbairn descen- dents. Throughout the weekends in Septem- ber and the first half of October, over 625 visitors signed the Centre’s guestbook. Their comments attested to their excitement about the newly opened site. The Centre is now developing projects to be ready for its first full season, which will begin in May, 2013. These projects do

9 The Fairbairn House Heritage Centre. Photo: courtesy of the Fairbairn House. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

The Westmount Glen Arch Commemorating a vital bridge 120 years on by Barbara Covington he sun was beginning to set on a cold No- vember day as a group of people gathered on the slope leading down to the Glen Arch at the corner of St. Catherine Street and Lans- Tdowne Avenue in Westmount. They were there to at- tend the unveiling of an historic plaque commemorat- ing the building of the 120-year-old Glen Arch in 1892. The plaque gives a history of the Glen and surrounding area, and is attached to a large boulder acquired from what used to be a limestone quarry near the Beacons- field Golf Club. It is the same quarry that supplied the stone used in the original construction of the Glen Arch. Westmount Mayor Peter Trent unveiled the plaque with Westmount Historical Association Presi- dent Doreen Lindsay, along with Jane Martin and Car- oline Breslaw, committee members who have been working on the Glen plaque project for some time.

What is a glen? In Gaelic, a narrow valley, long and deep, often with a stream running through it.

The Glen in Westmount is just such a narrow val- ley, where numerous streams flowing down the west slope of Westmount’s “little mountain” gathered and escaped through the escarpment to the St. Pierre River ment where they could access the Grand Trunk Rail- below in St. Henri. way station and the city proper (now Old Montreal). The area known as Westmount Park today was, at In 1882, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) ac- the turn of the century, densely wooded and broken up quired a Montreal east-end station, but it was not until by deep ravines which collected the water run-off from 1889 that they were able to acquire the right-of-way the mountain. This water then continued down what is from what is now Montreal West to their new Windsor today known as Lansdowne Avenue, through the cut in Street Station. Topographically, this route was level the escarpment, which the early Scottish settlers of and straightforward until the sudden drop from Côte Côte Saint-Antoine (now Westmount) called the Glen. Saint-Antoine and the valley of the Glen stream. To lay Before the settlers, the cut was used by Native peoples the access track to Windsor Station meant that a bridge to access the St. Pierre River, which was their major had to be built over the 400-foot-wide Glen stream. mode of transportation. The settlers of Côte Saint-An- Trestle bridges were, by far, the cheapest short-term toine would also walk down the footpath beside the solution for bridging such a gap, and were also the rushing stream to reach the area south of the escarp- quickest. The CPR had used trestle bridges in many ru- ral areas, but never before in a semi-urban setting. There were, however, several disadvantages to trestle bridges, although they appeared to be very solid struc- tures. First, they were subjected to huge vibrations from the trains passing over them and could be shaken loose. Second, with the harsh winter weather they were prone to deterioration, especially the untreated wooden beams. They required regular inspections and had a life expectancy of 8-10 years. Despite the disad- vantages, a wooden trestle bridge was built over the Glen stream and the new line to Windsor Station was opened in 1889. However, the trestle bridge was replaced in 1892, after just three years of life. This was the result of the

Top: Jane Martin, Caroline Breslaw, Doreen Lindsay and 10 Bottom: The Glen arch. Photo: Doreen Lindsay. Peter Trent unveil the Glen plaque. Photo: Gabor Szilasi. SPRING 2013

Town of Côte Saint-Antoine would be given permis- sion to build a new masonry bridge and to give it to the CPR, which would own it and maintain it “forever.” In return, the Town of Côte Saint-Antoine would be given the right of way to put in their underground drainage system and build a road over it; they would be respon- sible for maintaining the road and the drainage system. The masonry bridge or arch was completed in one year, using Trenton limestone quarried in Point Claire for its construction. The Town paid for the materials and funded the construction costs. It was Westmount’s first public works project and has lasted for 120 years, despite heavy train traffic over it and large volumes of Côte Saint-Antoine town councillors’ ambitious plans vehicular traffic under it. to upgrade the southwest corner of the municipality with a new water drainage system. They wished to di- rect the water from the Glen stream underground and Sources: then build a road over it. As all the waterways fed into Aline Gubbay and Sally Hoof, Montreal’s Little the Glen stream and it in turn emptied into the St. Mountain: A Portrait of Westmount, 1979. Pierre River in St. Henri, it was obvious that the drainage system would have to go under the trestle Documents relating to the construction of Glen bridge, bridge. Putting the Glen stream underground would al- 1890-1892. Collated and supplied to the Westmount so encourage the Montreal tramcar company to extend Historical Association by David Hammond. 2003. their services from the current terminus at Greene Av- enue into the southwest corner of the municipality. Michael Leduc, The Glen, self-published, 2005. Building a road under the Glen trestle bridge would al- so connect the two towns of St. Henri and Côte Saint- Helene Saly, Old Westmount: the Story of Westmount in Antoine. Pictures and Words – An Historical Album from Indian There was, however, an obstacle to these plans. Times to 1920, 1967. The CPR owned the land under and around the Glen trestle bridge, and the train tracks had a right-of-way. It would require an agreement with CPR to build the Barbara Covington is the former archivist for the proposed drainage conduit and the road over it. Be- Westmount Historical Association. tween 1890 and 1892, a series of negotiations between the CPR and the town council took place, which ended in an extraordinary agreement between them. The

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Robert Harvie, Trestle Bridge 1890. 11 Photo: courtesy of the Westmount Historical Association. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

A bank of art The Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke by Jessica Campbell

herbrooke’s Musée des beaux-arts (the conserving works by Eastern Township artists and vi- MBAS) opens its doors to visitors every Tues- sual art depicting the Eastern Townships. day through Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Lo- Every year, the MBAS houses ten exhibitions fea- cated downtown on historic Dufferin Street in turing selections from both its permanent and rotating Sold Sherbrooke, near the Magog River Falls, and sur- collections. It also borrows works from other Canadian rounded by an array of other cultural institutions, the museums, such as the Canadian Museum of Civiliza- museum is a pillar of Sherbrooke’s heritage. The muse- tion and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. um’s tall stone exterior, classical interior and wide On the museum’s ground floor, visitors will find spaces are sleek and filled with grandeur. Dating back the rotating collection, a display which changes ap- to 1876, the building originally served as the head of- proximately every eight weeks. The rotation is ideal as fice of the Eastern Townships Bank, which was later the museum no longer has space to house new works. absorbed by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Com- Discarding or selling any items, however, is out of the merce. An authentic bank vault, which is in the process question: “We do not buy or sell from our permanent of becoming its own exhibition, and a mosaic on the collection. We do not accept everything, but what we floor (featuring the letters E-T-B), are testament to the do accept stays,” says Boucher. With a permanent col- building’s past. lection of 4,600 works, it is no wonder the museum’s The agreement relating to the donation of the bank three storage spaces are full. Boucher hopes that by building by its former owner (the CIBC) to the muse- 2016 the MBAS will acquire another building in Sher- um mentions that the museum must follow a policy of brooke which it can use for storage space. integrating art and historical architecture. In any case, The museum prides itself on its permanent collection, says Curator Sarah Boucher, “the museum promises to which is exhibited on its second and third floors. The third be a bank in some respect: a bank of art.” floor displays thematic shows every five years. The exhi- Although it occupied a smaller building before bition “Spaces and Landscapes” has occupied this space moving to its current location in 1996, the museum has since 2010, and showcases Canadian, Quebec, and Eastern been “promoting the fine arts, and the appreciation of Townships landscapes. Walking on to the third floor liter- their universal and regional flavor” for the past thirty ally gives one the chills – for the sake of the artwork, staff years. It has paid particular attention to supporting and are required to keep the space at a certain temperature. 12 Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, interior. Photo: courtesy of the MBAS. SPRING 2013

Arranged into three sections – traditional, modern and which, in our fragmented post-modern age, “reflects the contemporary – the art covers an array of media, such as world in which we now live!” This section also includes painting, pencil drawings, etchings and photography. local artists who have been influenced by the trend to go These works are valued not merely by lovers of art, but are up and out of conservatism and into the mind-frame that appreciated by histo- says, “anything is art!” rians and other schol- It is a trend founded on ars, as well. the experiments of The “traditional” mid-twentieth century style includes mid- to art. It is constantly “in late nineteenth centu- progress,” or evolving ry and early twentieth to “reflect the interests century works, and of society,” and stands portrays nature “in a as “a means of inter- grandiose and ideal- preting current values.” ized manner.” One The museum’s painting in this group, second floor houses ad- by Eastern Township ditional pieces from the artist Aaron Allen Ed- permanent collection, son, depicts what the works that are rotated painting’s donor more often. In a recent speculated to be a show, works were se- view of Orford lected for their signifi- Mountain (1867). cance in terms of the Another work, by British artist William H. Bartlett, depicts history of the museum. Named “Three*Times*Ten,” this a scene on the St. Francis River (1840). show was divided into sections corresponding to the muse- In the “modern” section of the exhibit, “pictorial con- um’s three decades -- 1982-1992, 1993-2002 and 2003- ventions have been subtly put aside to make room for a 2012 -- and portrayed how the efforts of Sherbrooke resi- freer touch.” Here, the works generally depict the artists’ dents and “lovers of art and the Eastern Townships,” suc- impressions of their scenes rather than reality. This stage in ceeded in coordinating art exhibitions for locals and art history bloomed at the turn of the century, and while tourists. Also included in this show were portraits of com- the shift away in this country from strict academic aesthet- munity members who had spearheaded the museum proj- ic style was not identical to what it was in Europe, it saw ect. Some of the artworks featured were among the institu- artists in Quebec blend the traditional aestheticism with in- tion’s earliest pieces. The first decade of the exhibition fea- novative style. The social context at the time provided tured the modest introduction of a few paintings in Quebec artists with different inspirations. The works on Wellington Street store showcases. The Museum Founda- display here convey their perspectives of the industrial and tion finally established an art space on Wellington in 1982. scientific development at the time. In one work by Quebec In 1988, the museum moved to a building formerly occu- artist Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970), a tractor is juxta- pied by the law faculty at the Université de Sherbrooke. posed with a vibrantly coloured tree and pasture. By 1990, it was officially recognized by Quebec’s Min- A small nook at the back of the museum, situated istry of Culture. The second decade in the exhibition high- mid-way between “modern” and “contemporary,” is de- lighted the museum’s move to the bank building in 1996. voted entirely to the works of Frederick Simpson Coburn And the third decade featured recent projects at the muse- (1871-1960), one of the Townships’ most renowned artists. um, such as fundraisers and recent shows. Born in Upper Melbourne, Quebec, Coburn received his Now the museum is entering its fourth decade. As “a artistic training at the Academy of Berlin and the École des major agent for conservation and exhibition of visual arts beaux-arts in Paris, before returning home to escape the in the Eastern Townships,” it is helping to bring culture outbreak of the First World War. The museum proudly and innovation to Sherbrooke and its surrounding areas. presents a large selection of works from “this highly es- teemed exemplar of Canadian artistic heritage,” whose in- Sources: spiration stems from the landscapes of the Eastern Town- Interview with Sarah Boucher and Lisa Boyer of the ships. Donated by the Coburn family in 1996 and 2001, Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke. the museum’s Coburn collection includes sketches, draw- ings and paintings, many of which depict the winter rural http://www.mbas.qc.ca/qui-sommes-nous.php?lang=en. landscapes of the artist’s birthplace. The third component of the exhibition, “contempo- http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles /aaron- rary” art, often attracts the most attention. The works in allan-edson. this section were clearly intended to go beyond conven- tionalism, and reveal current artistic styles and an attempt http://www.easterntownships.org/pressRelease /1105/fred- to stretch the boundaries by introducing new media, erick-simpson-coburn.

Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, exterior. 13 Photo: courtesy of the MBAS. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

4-H Quebec’s young farmers celebrate 100 years by Alyssa Fourneaux ountry music fills the air of but also to define itself in the twenty- starter kit of poultry eggs, seeds and po- the empty building at first century. tatoes to care for. A representative from McGill’s Macdonald College, Angela Neal joined 4-H when she the department would visit the group pe- in St. Anne-de-Bellevue. The was nine years old, at the encourage- riodically and offer guidance. The goal Cmusic is coming from inside the normal- ment of her relative Carolyn Cameron, was to get the young people to “learn to ly popular student bar, the Ceilidh. who was one of the five founding mem- do by doing,” which is the motto 4-H Tonight, chairs sit on tables and the bar bers of the Quebec Young Farmers or- adopted in the 1950s. The project was is empty, with the exception of a group ganization, which later became Quebec successful and other clubs, initially of students working out a new square 4-H. Cameron’s own children had out- called the Boys and Girls Clubs, were dancing routine for an upcoming compe- grown 4-H, but she saw the opportuni- created across the country, with farmers tition with tips from coach Angela donating resources and advice in or- Neal. The students are members of der to teach youth about the impor- MAC/JAC, a 4-H club for CEGEP tance of agriculture. and university students. The group Neal says that, although there meets every week to socialize and were young farmer clubs scattered square dance. across the province, the 4-H move- 4-H is a grassroots organization ment didn’t reach Quebec until much aimed at rural youth. There are 4-H later, although there were young clubs across the world, teaching farmer clubs around the province young people about agriculture, and that originated in the 1920s and 30s. building their leadership and life An exchange with Albertan young skills. The organization in Canada farmers really ignited the movement. has expanded beyond agricultural Colleen Younie acted as the first activities to include urban youth president of Quebec 4-H in 1970, and to offer more opportunities. The then known as Quebec Young Farm- popular project in Quebec 4-H is ers. Although she didn’t travel to Al- dairy cattle, as almost 40 per cent of berta, she remembers when the dairy cows in Canada are in Que- young Albertans visited Quebec. bec, according to the 2011 Census They compared and contrasted agri- of Agriculture. culture in the two provinces. But In 2013, 4-H celebrates its cen- Younie remembers clearly that the tennial in Canada. One hundred Quebec teenage girls were aston- years after the organization’s found- ished that the Albertans were al- ing, the lifestyle of Canadians has lowed to wear jeans to school, as changed drastically. The concentration ties the organization would have for they still had to wear skirts. The Quebe- of the population no longer lives on the Neal, who had low self-esteem. The girl cers who travelled to Alberta discovered family farm, but in big cities, detached resisted joining, but Cameron insisted, a strong 4-H organization that connected from agriculture. The majority of Cana- and she eventually gave in. Neal be- and supported young farmer clubs. The dians don’t have the opportunity to see a came very involved: she showed cattle, group vowed to create their own provin- cow every day; they only see pieces of square danced and later sat as the Que- cial office. cow, wrapped in cellophane at the local bec 4-H president. She is spending the Neal says the Quebec Provincial grocery store. next year and a half working as the Que- Association held its first meeting in The 2011 Federal Agricultural Cen- bec 4-H 100th anniversary Project Coor- 1969. According to A History of Quebec sus revealed 88 per cent of Quebec dinator, researching and recording the Young Farmers, membership was initial- farms are still family-owned. That num- history of 4-H in Quebec. ly 50 cents. Its mandate, as it is today, ber is constantly decreasing while the The organization began in the Unit- was to serve Anglophone rural youth, average age of farmers is increasing. ed States in the early 1900s, and remains provide resources for projects and con- Quebec only makes up 14 per cent of popular there today. 4-H crossed the nect clubs provincially, nationally, and Canadian farms. The shift presents a border into Canada in 1913, when the later on, internationally. struggle for Quebec 4-H, as it attempts federal Department of Agriculture gave Younie remembers that at first the to balance its commitment to rural youth a group of youth in Roland, Manitoba, a Quebec Young Farmers primary goal Members of MAC / JAC 4-H square dance. 14 Photo: courtesy of Quebec 4-H. SPRING 2013 was to develop leadership skills and of- Younie passed down the 4-H tra- fer opportunities to older members, such dition to her own six children, who as exchanges. Quebec 4-H later became were all members of 4-H in Prince a way to connect clubs across the Edward Island. Neal hopes to one province. day have that opportunity for her fu- Younie grew up on a farm in the ture children. It’s what motivates her Eastern Townships. She says her 40-year continued involvement in the organi- career in 4-H as a member, a leader, and zation. a parent provided her with many oppor- “I really want my kids to have tunities and skills, but more importantly, that opportunity when they’re grow- a pride in agriculture. She says 4-H also ing up, and I don’t want it to just fiz- helped guide her into her career: she cur- zle out,” says Neal. “For me this is a rently works in the Prince Edward Island way I can contribute to make sure it’s Department of Agriculture, where every a sustainable organization.” day she uses skills she learned in 4-H. Neal notes that the majority of “Mostly it is my people skills and lead- youth join 4-H because a relative en- ership abilities that I attribute to 4-H, as couraged them to, as Cameron had well as a love for and understanding of with her. Neal suggests that promot- farming and rural life,” she says. ing the organization in schools may A unique aspect of Quebec 4-H is be the recipe for Quebec 4-H’s long- that the board of directors is made up term survival. entirely of 4-H members. Neal says this “There’s a lot more projects than is a source of pride for many members, actually showing livestock,” says as it gives them an outlet to develop Neal. She says these projects could their own voice. be great opportunities for urban “It’s important for young people to youth. She points to their public speak- 4-H exchange. Julie said 4-H was pro- be in an organization where people actu- ing program, which could lend skills to moted in all the schools as a way of ally listen to them,” says Neal. “Where both urban and rural youth and the pro- learning about agriculture and farming they can make their own decisions. gram would be a great way to promote techniques. In some cases the students Where they can learn parliamentary pro- 4-H in schools. grew the produce that is served in their cedure without someone forcefully “We don’t really have the funding cafeteria. shoving it down their throats. They can to actively go out and promote 4-H all Younie believes that even 100 years learn it, they can practice it and it’s so the time, at the provincial level,” Neal later 4-H is still relevant to today’s useful to them later on in life.” continues. “We could go into schools youth. She says that, although rural The opportunity for 4-H to connect and say: ‘Here is all this information that youth now have access to the same op- youth from non-agricultural back- you should have.’ And then constantly portunities as urban youth, 4-H still pro- grounds dates back to when Younie was bombard them. ‘If you want to have a vides skills that are unavailable in rural a young member of the Lennoxville 4-H public speaking project, have a 4-H in areas, such as building leadership skills, clubs. She says her cousin from Montre- your school.’” learning how to care for animals, prac- al would stay at their farm every sum- Neal says it’s a model that works ticing public speaking, and running mer. Her cousin would join her at fairs well in Jamaica. Her sister, Julie Neal, meetings. She notes that involving urban and would even show a calf in 4-H. recently travelled to that country on a youth may be a challenge, but believes that because there is an increased inter- est in where our food comes from and how to produce it, 4-H will remain a rel- evant opportunity to expose youth to agriculture.

Alyssa Fourneaux is the Public Rela- tions assistant at the Quebec 4H Associ- ation in St. Anne-de-Bellevue.

Top: 4-H’er Joshua Lockwood is the 2009 winner of 12-15 sheep show- 15 Bottom: Members of the Howick 4-H club. All are manship. Photo: courtesy of Quebec 4H. children of 4-H alumni. Photo: Michel Presseau. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

16 SPRING 2013

17 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

18 SPRING 2013

WHY I DON’T KNOW FRENCH YET by Elizabeth Dent

“If you want to learn French, you on a small island in Desolation Sound, artist by producing bilingual theatre. I need to get a French boyfriend.” got a job at a hotel, got fired, over- will have my finger on the pulse of the The first person to say this to me stayed my welcome, and got kicked Montreal arts community. There’s no was a Montreal taxi driver. I was mak- out. I then moved to Vancouver, where point in staying in B.C. with Gordon ing small talk with him, hoping I it was so hard to find any real employ- Campbell as Premier in this economy. would come across as a local. I learned ment that I moved to the Alberta Rock- It wasn’t like I didn’t know any- the hard way that tourists can end up ies to be a waitress in Lake Louise. thing about the Quebec experience, ei- on “long rides” with taxi drivers who Upon my return, I lived in friends’ ther. I had studied French in high somehow get lost taking you to your spare rooms, moved back in with my school, and had even been to Quebec destination. English gives you away. mother, protested the Iraq war, and City as a child. Growing up, my I moved to La Belle Province from crashed my car. Getting fired in Mon- British-born, Saskatchewan-raised Beautiful British Columbia in 2004. I treal, at this point, was par for the mother made tourtière from scratch was fired here in Montreal, from my course. every Christmas Eve to pay homage to job as a fine-dining server on a “pri- The train I was working on did French Canada. I had even acted in

vate luxury train.” I was caught steal- trips between Vancouver and Montreal scenes from Michel Tremblay’s Forev- ing a bottle of the free-pour, dining during the summer. I had also spent the er Yours, Marie-Lou. It wasn’t the room wine. Fortunately, I was used to spring working the Copper Canyon same as speaking French, but it was getting fired, so I handled it pretty tour in Mexico, and that fateful Octo- something. well. ber night we had just finished the Fall Incidentally, a few weeks after At 28, I was shaping up to be quite in New England and Quebec tour. We getting fired in Montreal, I went on a a disappointment. You know the per- were about to do a trip down to Savan- first date with a Québécois man – I son that people see at their high school nah, Georgia, where we would weave forget his name now. He took me to reunion and whisper to one another: through the Southern U.S., and return Mont Tremblant for the weekend, my “But she had so much potential...?” up the Pacific Coast. Until they found first Quebec winter and our first date. I never went to my high school re- the bottle of wine in my linen bag. He didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak union. I had a theatre degree from the They kicked me off immediately. French. On the drive up, we sat there University of Victoria but it was be- I decided to stay in Montreal so I in his car, hacking away at conversa- coming apparent I wasn’t going to use wouldn’t have to come home a bigger tion, to an alternating soundtrack of it. In Vancouver – my home base for failure than I already was. I did PR on Céline Dion and Shania Twain. On the last couple of years – there was no my story when I told it to my friends Saturday afternoon he accidentally apartment to go back to, no job, and no and family in Vancouver. I’ve decided drove through the front window of a boyfriend. to stay in Montreal and learn French. I resto-bar. The date never got better. By In 2000, I moved in with my aunt am going to become a truly Canadian Sunday we were both just talking to “Le succès parle français.” Photo: Ministère de 19 l’immigration et des communautés culturelles. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS each other in our native tongues, nei- detailed the everyday life of an “aver- we didn’t want the stigma of being ther making an attempt to understand age” Quebecer. We learned the weath- compared to Red. or translate for the other. The only er, salutations, how to buy groceries. As I passed level after level, I French I learned from that date was The basics. The kind of stuff you gained a false sense of myself becom- “Tabernac-colis!” should know if you are planning to ing bilingual. Each day I was convers- My savings were almost gone by stay. The kind of stuff I should have ing in French, thinking in French, and December. I needed to get a job, which known by then. drinking beer in French. I went North was intimidating. Conventional wis- In the afternoon, those of us on in- with our school in the spring to my dom says that unilingual Anglophones come assistance were mandated to first cabane à sucre to learn about the in Montreal are relegated to work in practice conversational French. Our maple syrup industry firsthand. Our telemarketing. So without questioning teacher for this class was Paul, a class did walking tours in Old Montre- it, I started applying and easily got a Philipino who knew seven languages. al to learn about the city’s colonial his- job. I made English-speaking friends, His topics included: gay adoption, and tory. When Paul went on sabbatical many of whom were from the suburbs why it’s bad for children; China, and from teaching (he was also a translator of English Canada. Some came to how everything made there is crap; in the courts), our next teacher had us Montreal to start rock-bands; others why men and women are not equal, sing Leclerc’s “Mes Souliers” repeat- came for the cheap tuition. All of us and shouldn’t be treated as such; and edly every day. We watched many were convinced that we could live the how the ideal age for marriage is 50 French and Québécois movies, but bohemian ideal. As if the je ne sais for men and 25 for women because none were as educational as the Que- quoi we were lacking from our lives women prefer older men. The refugees bec 400-Year Anniversary DVD. Car- could be found with a simple change and immigrants participated in the con- los and I were in stitches over Céline of area code. versations with more grace than I did. I Dion’s ostentatious performance, only For three years I lived in my nar- was rendered speechless with too to be reprimanded by a furious teacher. row, Anglo world, cut off from the art many opinions and too little vocabu- I was an arrogant Anglo, after all. and culture I was supposedly pursuing, lary. After eight months of intensive and from jobs that paid well enough to After a couple of months, I had Francization, my EI ran out. I eagerly afford French lessons. I lacked as managed to befriend all the Anglo- applied for work at a job fair, thinking much direction in French Canada as I phones in conversation class. Dennis of myself as “practically bilingual.” I did in English Canada. I was a unilin- was in the same bateau as I was; he proudly walked in with my CV and my gual, unicultural failure. And then I was an Anglo-Quebecer. Rosalie was a savvy repartee. They immediately lost my telemarketing job. McGill grad from Vermont. Carlos, laughed at me, switching to English. Fortunately, this allowed me to from Argentina, was not an Anglo- Outside of French class, I couldn’t dis- claim EI by January of 2008, and be- phone; however, he was fluent in Eng- tinguish the Québécois accent, even cause I was getting chomage, I became lish. We sat together in the cafeteria of when I was at the grocery and being eligible to take Francization classes. the converted St. Henri high school at asked if I needed a bag. Despite eight Francization classes are offered lunch time. We were bound by the months of daily practice, I was right free-of-charge by the Quebec govern- promise of stimulating conversation, back where I started. The dream of ment to immigrants who have a weak which went beyond discussing the bilingual theatre was, at this point, command of French. They are intended weather. Sometimes Red would join dead. to establish French as the primary lan- us. Red had orange hair and was actu- I was beginning to see English as guage of business and expose the stu- ally named Robin, but changed her a bad friend, the kind who tries to sab- dent to the cultural experience of liv- name to Red in the middle of level otage your diet. There was no choice; I ing in Quebec. The majority of the stu- two. had to go back to work. I got a full dents of Francization are immigrants. Red preferred to communicate in time job, in English. I made some They put me in the beginner class, English in class despite our teachers’ more English-speaking friends, and despite my years of French in school. best efforts, and the school’s mandated worked in an English part of the city. I The class was full of adults from “French only” policy. She was twenty- tried to take French courses after work, places like Mexico, Bangladesh, Co- three years old and from Cape Breton, but at age 33, I was starting to have lumbia, Iran, Syria, China, Sri Lanka, taking French now “to please her other things I wanted to do in my spare Bulgaria, and Russia. Many of my boyfriend.” She perfectly reflected the time. I was thinking about going back classmates were learning their third, stereotype of an “arrogant” Anglo, the to school. I wanted to get in shape. I fourth, or fifth language. What do you type that gives the rest of us a bad rap. had also begun to write. I was living in call someone who knows multiple lan- Over months of watching her brow fur- English, meeting more Anglophones, guages? A Polyglot. What do you call row in anger over the prospect of hav- developing my English communica- someone who only knows one lan- ing to communicate, en francais, we tions skills. guage? An Anglophone. grew accustomed to her disruptions, I also needed a place to live. I an- During the morning class, our seeing her through the eyes of immi- swered several Craigslist ads and teacher went over the curriculum, grant classmates and French teachers. found one for a place near the Jean which was comprised of modules that While we were united as Anglophones, Talon market, advertised as le petit

20 SPRING 2013 palais. It was a communal house look- my phone messages; Sven spoke no ing for their sixth roommate, so I went English at all. Within two months I re- PROVINCE-WIDE for a visit. I was greeted by Pascale, a alized that it wasn’t going to work out. EXPOSURE bubbly Québécoise with dyed red hair, As uncomfortable as it had been to go AT A GREAT PRICE!! glasses, and a warm smile. I liked her on a date with someone who I couldn’t SPECIAL ADVERTISING RATES immediately. She was a feminist doing communicate with, it was impossible 2013-2014 her degree at UQAM. She told me for me to live with people I couldn’t about Leslie, another roommate, who, communicate with. My need to com- Purchase two or more ads of I was told, was working in Verdun as a municate trumped my plan to learn the same size, and receive “street worker.” Before I met her, I French. 40% off each ad! thought I might end up living with an I moved to Verdun November 1, Purchase a full year and receive an escort. It turned out that she worked 2009, with a new, fully bilingual additional 10% off! with at-risk kids. roommate and his beautiful dog, The other roomies were a couple – Sandy. It marked a turning point for FULL-PAGE Miriam and Matthew – and a French my tenure here. I finally accepted my 10 inches (25.5 cm) high guy named Sven. They were every- Anglophone self. I stopped desperately 7.5 inches (19 cm) wide thing I could dream of in colocs; they trying to answer questions in French dumpster-dived, were politically ac- during simple interactions and started $400.00 (Special: $240.00) tive, musical and artistic, and were all, converting to English, or Franglais , Back page or inside page, full save one, Francophone. While I was when required. Now, when someone colour $500.00 (Special: $300.00) waiting for the French boyfriend, I approaches me with “Bonjour,” I just would be immersed in French at home! say “Hi” back. I feel like a real Mon- HALF-PAGE I moved in on August 1. trealer, someone who doesn’t get taken 5 inches (12.5 cm) high Pascale threw frequent dinner par- on “long rides” in a taxi. Life has got- 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) wide ties, at least three times a week. They ten easier. usually had a heavily Québécois guest- Before moving here, I never $235.00 (Special: $141.00) list of activists and artists. I didn’t un- thought of myself as an Anglophone, derstand most of the conversations but or a WASP, or even a B.C. girl. Now I THIRD-PAGE mingled anyway; this was the elusive identify as all three. In Vancouver, I (COLUMN ONLY) scene I had wanted to penetrate since had always felt like an outsider, but in 10 inches (25.5 cm) high moving to Quebec. I had an activist Montreal I really am one. Maybe I 2.25 inches (5.75 cm) wide history in B.C. that I had lost touch wouldn’t have stayed if I ever felt at $200.00 (Special: $120.00) with over the years since moving here. home, or if I ever managed to learn I attended several demonstrations, only how to communicate in French. Per- QUARTER-PAGE to realize that I didn’t know enough haps I, too, have a distinct culture. French to feel comfortable. In the The experience of language, I’ve 5 inches (12.5 cm) high hotbed of political dissent, I didn’t learned, goes beyond words and sen- 3.25 inches (8.5 cm) wide want to find out I had just spent an tences. Being a B.C. Anglophone in $125.00 (Special: $75.00) hour fighting for the wrong cause. Montreal is my frame of reference for Now, exposed to this other world – what I write. This is why I’m tabling BUSINESS CARD East of Saint-Laurent – bilingual art the bilingual theatre idea for good. Just 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) high and activism was starting to seem pos- as the Québécois experience is defined 3.5 inches (9 cm) wide sible again. (in part) by being the minority in I was going to school at McGill at Canada; my experience as a non-Que- $75.00 (Special: $45.00) the time, studying public relations, on becer in an Anglophone minority here, FREQUENCY, DEADLINES AND top of my full-time job. Pascale and has defined me. It’s like a microcosmic SPECIFICATIONS Matthew were still full time students, joke. I moved to Montreal as a B.C. re- 4 issues annually while Leslie and Sven worked part- ject only to find my cultural and artis- Deadlines: Spring (early March 2013); time hours. Miriam was unemployed. tic identity as one. This is probably Summer (early June 2013); Fall (early Septem- I was realizing that we had lifestyle why, when I finally did get a boyfriend ber 2013); Winter (early December 2013) differences, age differences. Our meet- a couple of years ago, he ended up be- Resolution required: Minimum 300 DPI ings and general daily discourse was ing an Anglophone. in black and white always en français and I was starting By email at: [email protected] to get frustrated. The dinner parties be- This is a story from QAHN’s came more frequent, and the kitchen “StoryNet” project, which matched was often full of dishes, cooks, and emerging writers with established food and decisions were being made mentors to produce innovative works when I could only half-understand of non-fiction with a heritage theme. what was going on. I wasn’t getting

21 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

FARMVILLE “Charging to the Potato” in Maisonneuve by Jessica Grosman

hen I moved to Hochela- When the town of Hochelaga was Lamy; even his full name is a mystery. ga-Maisonneuve, a neigh- annexed to Montreal in 1883, the area to Like most ordinary men, he left few bourhood in Montreal’s the east was developed as a model in- traces in the archives. But when he was east end, my family tried dustrial city called Maisonneuve. Since the garden superintendent he kept metic- toW scare me back to Montreal West. They then, progress could be measured by ulous records. Most of his notes are in listed a string of negative stereotypes: counting billowing smokestacks. Yet un- one yellow covered ledger, now in the high unemployment, grimy taverns, bik- der the area’s industrial exterior, it has City of Montreal archives, entitled Cul- er gangs, and prostitution – problems always teemed with farm life. At the be- tures intensives de Parc Maisonneuve. that had only multiplied as the factories ginning of the twentieth century, Viau He called it “intensive agriculture” be- closed. Promenades Ontario, the main farm still stood on the banks of the St. cause he knew it was a huge venture. shopping street, is a jumble of pawn- Lawrence River. Poorer residents Every week, Lamy recorded the jobs shops, casse-croûtes, hair salons and worked leftover plots of land and kept a completed and the hours his team of five empty storefronts. Over the past five few animals so they’d have products to worked. He calculated how much tend- years, boarded-up buildings have been sell at the market. Farmers baled hay in ing the garden cost; the tally carries for- transformed into terroir ward for over twenty food shops, showcasing pages. Each detail was Quebec products. Neigh- recorded in a steady, neat bours have worked together cursive. There is one ex- and turned four garbage- ception: the recurring nota- strewn alleys green; they tion “chargés aux patates” covered apartment buildings is slightly askew. It crawls with plants and lined fences up the margins. The three with zucchinis and green words accompany smaller beans. expenses Lamy couldn’t af- I grew up on a farm but ford to pay. The note be- hate the smell, dirt and end- came more common as the less hard work; I prefer the season progressed. city’s bright lights, enter- tainment, and convenience. *** I do keep one link to the country. Every week I wait The city of Maison- in a parking lot, just off St. neuve was crisscrossed by Catherine Street East, with three train lines, had a busy seventy families, and collect port in the south and the my box of organic vegetables, picked parks and piled manure in back alleys. Angus Shops rail yard in the north, and a fresh that morning in the Eastern Town- In 1917, during a recession, urban sugar refinery, clothing manufacturers ships. Elsewhere, Sarah takes urban agriculture came out of the shadows. and other factories in between. It was a agriculture a step further: she has a The Montreal Cultivation Committee working-class town of 36,000 residents chicken coop. She moves the bottomless lobbied the city of Maisonneuve for for- who sweated in factories and small cage everyday so Rainbow Sparkle mal urban agricultural programs. shops, lived in rented apartments and (Sarah’s daughters named the hen) can Maisonneuve transformed a public park had little input on city development. peck and scratch at a different patch of into a gigantic vegetable garden in order While a smaller group of factory owners the lawn. Keeping chickens in Montreal to feed the poor. But planting crops re- lived in the area and led local politics. is illegal so Sarah risks a fine in return quired investment and the city had not Charles-Theodore Viau, of Biscuiterie for five or six eggs a week. But it’s not approved a budget. In order to do his Viau, and Oscar Dufresne, city council- about warm fresh eggs or money saved job, the garden’s superintendent, J. N. lor and owner of a shoe factory, were not at the grocery store. Sarah wants to Lamy, gambled; he bet the harvest could only interested in profits, they also teach the kids where food comes from. cover the costs of starting the garden as aimed to build a grand, world-class city. Rainbow Sparkle is an accessible, pet- well as feed the city’s poor. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement sized way to reconnect to the food chain. We don’t know much about J. N. in the United States, the middle class

22 Alfred Laliberté’s “La Fermière” monument near the Maisonneuve market. Photo: Montrealais. SPRING 2013 pushed for a series of beautification neuve approved a resolution that author- rowed more land, taking over part of projects and new parks to match their vi- ized farming in the park. In May, Lamy Mont-de-La-Salle, a school that was sion. started his job as superintendent. He up- owned by the Church. Replacement From 1910 to 1917, Maisonneuve rooted the flowers, ploughed the lawns, seeds were charged-to-the-potatoes too. was given a makeover. The city planted and churned the earth. Then his team The rest of the summer was spent thousands of trees, hired unemployed worked slowly across the brown, rutted weeding, watering, and waiting. Finally, workers to landscape boulevards, and landscape. They spent over a month beans appeared, then the leafy tops of built Art Nouveau style buildings, such sowing seeds. carrots and beets, heads of cabbages, as the market on the northern end of onions, corn, and turnips sprouted… Morgan Avenue. In front of the market, *** followed by the potato plants. Ordinary families and vendors relaxed around the people and ordinary vegetables had fountain and listened to the rhythm of A new venture meant everything changed the park; it buzzed green with water drops. “La Fermière,” sculpted by had to be bought or borrowed, but Lamy all its crops. Alfred Laliberté, depicts everyday had few resources. On May 29, Lamy Success brought new worries and scenes from the market: a woman carry- bought $241.75 worth of seeds on credit. more expenses. During the day, workers ing a wicker basket, a boy bringing a He then bartered part of the harvest to struggled with insects that munched on lamb, and turtles spraying rainbows of rent a harrow, and to buy burlap sacks the plants, while at night trespassers water. and hardware to build fences. The note stole the first vegetables. Lamy hired a “chargés aux patates” preceded each guardsman, at nine dollars a week – *** purchase. The humble potato became charged-to-the-potatoes. currency, like salt during the Holy Ro- In September, Lamy and his men In 1917, Mr. P. Leduc leaned on their shovels and stood on the steps of his dug into the ground. Whiffs home and thought about his of sweat and loam must have large hungry family and his made Lamy suck in his ailing parents. He wondered breath, hopeful. Their shov- how he could continue to els tilted the earth up and re- feed everyone. The price of vealed mounds of Prince Ed- potatoes had tripled in the ward Potatoes like gold past two years – and the nuggets. The team pulled po- Leduc family ate a lot of po- tatoes out of the ground until tatoes, because they were the end of October, filling filling and used to be cheap. 1,050 eighty-pound sacks. As food prices increased, The heavy sacks may have residents thought about eased Lamy’s mind; the wait growing their own food and was over, the gamble won. began to look at the city in He managed to feed several new ways. Leduc surveyed hundred families and cover the land around his home on his costs. Pie-IX Boulevard; he didn’t Lamy checked off all but see empty lots waiting for one of the charged-to-the-po- urban development, but “unproductive man Empire. tatoes marginalia. It was an end of sea- fields.” If only Maisonneuve’s politi- If it had been a meager harvest, it is son bonus that he had asked the city to cians let men like him work the city’s unclear how Lamy would have covered approve. As superintendent, Lamy land. the expenses or what he would have said earned eighteen dollars a week – the Leduc wrote letters to the mayor to hungry families who were promised same as the labourers, but he had more and the newspaper that outlined a simple potatoes. City council did not know experience and responsibilities. The man way to feed the city: grow potatoes in what Lamy was doing. The superinten- who invented the charge-to-the-potato Maisonneuve Park. The park was sup- dent’s reports contained concrete num- system tested it one last time. He asked posed to be Maisonneuve’s green jewel, bers and no mention of the charge-to- for ten sacks of potatoes. Joseph Écre- the prized centre of the garden city, and the-potato system. By June, the potato ment, Maisonneuve Secretary-Treasurer, gardens were meant to be pleasant seeds had cost $771.65 and another refused and the next day ended Lamy’s scenery, not small-scale agriculture. Yet $955.80 was spent in wages, yet not one contract. Lamy helped feed the city, but the Parks Commission could not refuse green stem poked above the ground. the harvest must have been bittersweet. the people’s request. Previous plans for Then two weeks of heavy rain the park had floundered because the am- flooded the fields. Potato seeds floated *** bitious project cost more than Maison- into the sewers and a fifth of the crop neuve could afford. rotted in the ground. Lamy refused to let The vegetable gardens in Maison- In March 1917, the city of Maison- the garden fail. He ploughed and har- neuve Park were never replanted. The

Morgan Boulevard looking at the market, Maisonneuve, 1916. 23 Photo: McCord Museum, VIEW-16185. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS rush to make the city beautiful had put Maisonneuve in so much debt the A DAY UNDERGROUND province annexed the city to Montreal in 1918. Maisonneuve Park eventually by Nisha Coleman turned into what the city councilors and the middle class had envisaged; it just t Berri-UQAM, riders on their At Guy-Concordia, amidst a collective took longer than expected. A private golf way to work spill out of the upward thrust to the office towers, the course was built on the site but the space metro and take off at a brisk sound of an Erhu sifts down onto the plat- was eventually reconverted into a public pace. At eight in the morning, form. The timbre is strikingly human and park. Athe shuffle of boots, shoes and high heels the pentatonic melody rises and falls with Today, at the neighbouring Biodome, blends into a busy drone. Old Spice and weepy glissandos and wide vibrato. A Chi- a fancy zoo, animals are caged in five apple orchards mingle as deodorants fight nese man sways to the music; his face is elaborate diorama-style ecosystems. The to contend with the tropical climate. serene as he searches the passing crowd for tower of the Olympic Stadium bulges in- Bodies become vessels as they slide up connection. The anonymity of vast num- to every single view of Hochelaga- escalators and slip through the turnstiles, bers allows hundreds to pass with barely a Maisonneuve. their gestures so familiar they’ve become glance. Like every day, he’ll put in long Despite the changes, there’s still automatic. hours, even longer if people respond to his space for ambitious horticulture and At the Berri exit, a man is playing playing. He was a factory worker when he humble vegetable gardens. The Botanical Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” on came to Canada 12 years ago. Then he lost Gardens occupy the southwestern corner the recorder. The piece is sweeping and his job. Now he works to touch people in of the former park and to the north are lively, the eighth notes driving the piece rush hour metro traffic, a place where most 172 plots in a community garden. On one forward. Footsteps lighten. A man carrying have their hearts tucked safely away. Off of my regular visits to the Botanical Gar- a briefcase whistles the tune under his limits. His right hand guides his bow dens, I admired the magnolia trees, but breath as he heads to catch his train. An across the two vertical strings as he search- also remembered Lamy’s feat, muttering older woman stops and hums along as she es for the next open heart. under my breath: good potatoes grew fishes her wallet from her purse. The notes At Peel station, a 30-something reach- here. lingering in the corridor provide a sound- es behind the lyre for the sign-in sheet, Recently, Sarah’s family moved. track for the daily underground hustle. It’s which today is a torn coffee cup. He pen- The new backyard wasn’t set-up for a a gift that even those who ignore him can’t cils himself in for 5:30 p.m. Next he’ll do coop so they returned the hen to the farm. refuse. the same at Place des Arts for 7:30 if The farmer says Rainbow Sparkle is the The flutist, a 40-something in khaki there’s a spot left. It’d be nice to catch the only hen that doesn’t run away when he pants and a loose fitting button-up shirt, theatre crowd. For 9:30 he’ll try for Berri- enters the coop. The hen changed the sits cross-legged with a mountain bike UQAM or Papineau. Once his evening is family’s backyard, but they also changed propped behind him. His strawberry blond reserved, he’ll head home to bed. His fin- the hen. hair is pulled back in a ponytail and his ger-picking blues will take over later Along the sidewalks of my street, clear blue eyes peer out at his near-indiffer- tonight when he returns armed with his residents have adopted, tidied, and tend- ent audience. He’s from the States, has guitar and dressed in a smart red cowboy ed to the tiny rectangles of ground that played in the Boston and New York sub- shirt. border the trees. Their actions mirror past ways. This mindless rush doesn’t faze him. Tourists arriving at the Gare centrale residents who gardened vacant lots. And He has a solid sense of self to withstand the make their way to the Bonaventure metro. in this way, urban agriculture persists. unconcerned crowds and enough physical They have suitcases and tired, confused There’s a long history of experimenting, resistance to play for hours in a sunless gazes. They may not be aware of the man of trying to make agriculture work in a space with stale air. He also has genuine strumming in the hallway leading to the city. love for his music. Without it, he’d become Exhibition Hall. His guitar is bulbous next a robot churning out empty tunes. He’d to his thin arms that sweep across the never last. strings as he croons one folk song after an- Above him is a blue sign with a lyre other. The way his spine curves around his This is a story from QAHN’s “StoryNet” symbol, one of 52 playing spots in the instrument suggests he’s been doing this project, which matched emerging writers Montreal metro system. The sign-in sheet for a while. A long while. The passers-by with established mentors to produce in- is a scrap of paper that pokes out from be- are scarce but the acoustics infuse his voice novative works of non-fiction with a her- hind. Unlike most of the other musicians, with flattering warmth. itage theme. he hasn’t bothered to write his name here. By lunchtime, recycling bins overflow Or anywhere. He plays when he feels like with the daily paper. Readily accepted this it. He’ll stay here for a while, until he gets morning, they now spill onto the floor, too tired or another musician arrives. Then folded and forlorn. A young man stands at maybe he’ll bike to another spot. Maybe the St. Catherine entrance, a guitar strapped he’ll find it vacant. Maybe he’ll play for a on his shoulder and a pig mask over his bit. He takes comfort in the maybes, con- head. The strings buzz as he slaps and pulls veniently unconstrained. them. He skips from one song to the next,

24 SPRING 2013 bouncing with energy as he belts out pop- workers pour into the metro. At Berri- beams at passers-by, pulling them under ular rock songs through his rubber snout. UQAM, an Ecuadorian man greets them her charm. The mood is light with the Oinks between verses garner chuckles. with frenzied strums and a chirping pan prospects of a promising evening, and the People smile and stand taller as they pass. flute. His spirited Andean rhythms are an coins clinking in her case add percussion At Jean-Talon, a mournful air soars ideal soundtrack for the festive Friday af- to her groove. up the stairway. He left the Congo when ternoon vibe. He’s been playing the metro People are getting boozy. Strides are he was seven, over 40 years ago now, but since he moved here four years ago. The sloppy, the laughter louder and occasion- when he lost his job and couldn’t find underground is his world. ally obnoxious. The sweet aura of alcohol work elsewhere, he turned to his roots. In the near-empty Westmount Square hovers on the breath of passers-by. Loose Creole blues. His intonation is clear and hallway a 20-something turns on his amp, change is looser when under the influ- crisp and his guitar is dwarfed by his lung straps on his guitar and adjusts his har- ence. power. As his voice rises up into the high- monica to mouth level. He won’t make The 30-something has returned to er register, the edge of sorrow is balanced much money here, but he slept in this claim his slot. Cowboy shirt on, guitar by the joy in his unwavering smile. morning. His name isn’t on any of the plugged in, he’s bluesing it up at Pap- By the early afternoon, metro riders sign-in sheets. With few listeners, he’s ineau. He has to be strategic. The dense have tapered off and the playing spots are free to improvise and work on new lyrics. crowds heading to the fireworks could all but vacant. George thwart his success if he does- Vanier, however, is occu- n’t pierce through the mo- pied. It’s among the worst notony. He keeps the rhythm places to play as pedestrian hopping and when women traffic is minimal and the glance at him he catches noise from the trains their eye, gives a nod with a drowns out even this heavi- hint of a smile. It’s taken him ly amplified electric guitar. a while to master this, the But there is a breeze here balance between his instru- and this young up-and- ment and his audience. The comer isn’t looking to make music inhabits his whole money. He’s down here to body, from his tapping toes practice. He calls himself to his spidery hands that con- Freezer Beat when b-boy- tort into diminished and mi- ing and Spy Nation when nor sevenths. He’s in the making music. His right zone today. More than usual. and left hands unite on the Some days are like that. fingerboard of his v-shaped Only a handful show up guitar as he taps the same sequence over He only moved here from B.C. a few for the nightly draw to determine who will and over, faster each time. The notes res- months ago. Everything is still new. Any- get the busiest and most lucrative spots at onate into the dark tunnel and fade. Later thing could happen. The metro could be a Berri-UQAM tomorrow. They toss their he’ll go back outside and play on the means of income, a gateway to elsewhere, names into a hat and when theirs is cho- streets, late into the night. His only stipu- or an underground pitfall. He stands be- sen, they select a time slot. Once their lation: stay free, make music. tween two mirrors that line the walls on names are secured they can go home and A lullaby captures the attention of a either side and plays to his endless reflec- get some sleep before tomorrow. When it three-year old in Snowdon. “Twinkle, tion. all starts again. Twinkle, Little Star,” her favourite. And Freshly showered, people are migrat- The corridors are silent and empty the nice grey-haired man with the guitar is ing to the metro on their way to dinner or save for a few clubbers on their way to the smiling at her as her mummy hurries her a movie or a show. The city hums with next establishment. Their laughter rises up along. The musician’s strong jowls and possibilities. A pepper-haired man scans and ricochets off the tiled walls. All that blue eyes give him a Russian air, but he’s the passing crowd as he bows a minor remains of the musicians once their notes of Italian heritage. After 30 years of busk- tune at the Berri-UQAM’s Maisonneuve have vanished into the heavy, humid air ing, his calloused fingers ache, but he exit. His violin is mellow and the tempo is are tiny slips of paper tucked behind blue can’t afford to stop, especially on a slow relaxed, as if urging passengers to take signs. They will be tossed away tomorrow day like today. He focuses on the kids, on their time. Will the evening rush bring morning when the first buskers arrive with their wonder-struck faces as they pass, the more coins due to the density or less be- new lists, sign their names, and open their way their eyes gleam and they stop in cause of the added anonymity? It could go cases. Then there will be no trace at all. their tracks, mesmerized. If he can stay fo- either way tonight. cused on the kids, he can keep it going an- The young woman singing folk tunes This is a story from QAHN’s “StoryNet” other day. at the St. Catherine exit is impossible to project, which matched emerging writers Deodorants begin to lose their battle ignore. She’s tall with tight curls that fall with established mentors to produce inno- by early evening. Body odours meld into over her expressive face. She aims her vative works of non-fiction with a heritage an irksome combination as homebound deep rootsy voice into the microphone and theme.

25 Place des Arts Metro station. Photo: Alex Caban. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

HOMETOWN HERITAGE 2nd ANNUAL HERITAGE ESSAY CONTEST PHOTO CONTEST! 2013 2012-13 “MY HERITAGE OBJECT” Open to students in grades 4, 5 and 6 across Quebec! Open to High School Students across Quebec! Cash prizes! Cash prizes! Great publishing opportunity! Great publishing opportunity!

Deadline: April 30, 2013 Deadline: April 30, 2013

For contest details, contact QAHN at: [email protected] For contest details, contact QAHN at: [email protected]

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26 SPRING 2013

MARION PHELPS (February 9, 1908 – January 22, 2013) by Frank Nixon

arion Louise Phelps, dis- ments that helped to get Missisquoi His- Loyalists Association of Canada. Over tinguished Townships torical Society back on its feet. the years, genealogists benefited from teacher, archivist and his- In 1959, Phelps was appointed Cu- her invaluable assistance in the docu- torian and widely ac- rator of the BCHS. From that time on mentation of Loyalist lineage. knowledgedM as “the” authority on Brome her interest and contribution was out- In 1981, Phelps was awarded the County history, died in January in standing. She contributed articles to the Heritage Canada Award. In 1992, she Knowlton. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, was the recipient of a Commemorative “It is with sadness that we inform wrote articles for newspapers and maga- Medal for the 125th Anniversary of you of the death of Marion Phelps, for- zines, and books such as The Loyalists Canadian Confederation. mer Archivist and longtime volunteer of of the Eastern Townships. She was the In 2001, the Quebec Anglophone the Brome County Historical Heritage Network estab- Society,” said Arlene Royea, lished the Marion Phelps managing director of the Award for outstanding long- BCHS. “Miss Phelps passed term contribution to the pro- away on January 22 at the tection and preservation of age of 104, just a few days Anglophone heritage in Que- short of her 105th birthday.” bec. She was the first recipi- Royea, who knew ent. Phelps since 1977, called her The BCHS named one “remarkable.” Royea also of its buildings “The Marion visited Phelps on a daily ba- L. Phelps” building in her sis at Manoir Lac Brome, a honour. It also started a retirement residence in scholarship at Massey- Knowlton. Vanier High School in hon- Phelps was the daughter our of her 100th birthday of William W. and Maude and which is awarded each (McDougall) Phelps of year to a student in the field South Stukely. She attended of history. the Blake School, the Stuke- People who knew ly Village School and Water- Phelps well were quick to re- loo High School before grad- spond to news of her death, uating from the School for such as Dr. Jim Manson, his- Teachers at Macdonald Col- torian, author and educator. lege. Over the last 12 years Man- She went on to teach at son has given a series of lec- St. Agathe and Waterloo tures at the BCHS and cred- High School before going on to Heroes’ editor, and wrote numerous articles for, its Phelps as being a mentor and nurtur- Memorial High School in Cowansville. the Yesterdays of Brome County series ing his love for Townships history. An outstanding teacher, she was award- published by the BCHS, and assisted “I knew Marion Phelps since I was ed the Order of Scholastic Merit by the countless researchers. eleven years old – she was my teacher in Department of Education in 1960. With time, she became the undis- Grade 6,” said Manson. “There really Always interested in history, Phelps puted authority on Brome County histo- wasn’t anybody – professional historian was a leader in organizing and giving ry and could be found working in the or non-historian – who had a greater classes in local history and genealogy BCHS archives at the Old Courthouse love for or knowledge of Eastern Town- for the Missisquoi Community School well into her nineties. ships’ history than she did. It was some- during the 1950s. From those classes a Phelps was the recipient of several thing that impressed me as long as I renewed interest in the Missisquoi awards. knew her and it was something that was County Historical Society was kindled. In 1969, she was made Honourary very important to her.” Although still teaching, she spent many Member of the Sir John Johnson Cen- Manson added: “She was very con- hours organizing the books and docu- tennial Branch of the United Empire scientious and took her job seriously. 27 Marion Phelps. Photo: courtesy of the Brome County Historical Society. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

She threw herself completely into every- thing she got involved with, whether it THE GREAT WEALTH OF was teaching or working as an archivist. It certainly took first place in her life.” THE OTTAWA VALLEY “Miss Phelps became interested in the Brome County Historical Society as a young lady, and devoted much of her by Joseph Graham life to the museum and county,” said Di- hen Thomas Mears leased watching the forest being laid to waste ana Timmins, president of the BCHS. two islands in the Ottawa was incomprehensible to them. “We owe her recognition for her accom- River from the Algonquin Pre-European America was a plishments and knowledge. We say and Nipissing in 1805 in wealthy environment in which the hu- goodbye to her as matriarch of the mu- order to build his sawmill, he was re- man species played the keystone role. seum with a great deal of thanks.” W specting British law as set down in the Large sections of it, such as huge areas “Brome Lake has lost one of its proclamation of 1763. The land be- of the Amazon rain forests, are now un- most esteemed residents with the pass- longed to the Indians by virtue of the derstood to be human-created artefacts. ing of Miss Marion Phelps – a remark- European concept of ownership, but the The Iroquois cultivated the white pine able and inspiring woman,” said Sharon Indians, the stewards of the Ottawa who forests using controlled fire to clean McCully, publisher of The Record. had developed and maintained its natu- down the forest floors and in their early “She showed me the way around ral resources throughout the ages, were days the Dutch settlers at New Amster- Brome County, its folk history, its se- still grappling with this strange new dam (New York today) watched like crets, its real and imagined heroes,” said concept of ownership. In their world- round-eyed children. The Algonquin and Marc Clerk of East Hill, in part. “Mari- view, the land did not belong to the peo- Huron controlled deer runs. The differ- on’s archival skills and writings were ple, but rather, the people belonged to ent nations respected ritualized meeting unsurpassed, her devotion to our history the land, just as the moose, the deer, the ceremonies and made – and respected – constant, her persistence unending – a trees and the rivers did. The Algonquin complex agreements among themselves, great lady.” and Nipissing formed part of a commu- documented in the form of wampum. “I have fond memories of conversa- nity that had farmed, traded and hunted The horticultural achievements of tions with Marion over endless pots of from before the time of the Greek and the Americas changed what the rest of coffee (mid-morning) or pots of tea Roman Empires without any need of the world ate, giving manioc to Africa, (mid-afternoon) – sitting in the picture European-style laws. potatoes to Europe, tomatoes to Italy as window of her little house on Benoit,” We have a tendency to think that well as hot spices, sweet potatoes, corn, said JoAnn Oberg-Müller, former BCHS Ottawa Valley history started with the chocolate – the list adds up to about half volunteer and board member. “She lived arrival of European settlers, and that of the vegetables we eat today. The there until she was 100 years, plus.” there were some people living there in a Huron, who call themselves the Wendat, Oberg-Müller added: “When she primitive sort of way, people of no con- and the Algonquin formed part of a trade was 101, I drove her to Bedford to at- sequence. In the early days of the 1800s, network that extended to Central Ameri- tend the 100th birthday party of a grade Philomen Wright received a visit from a ca. The robust horticultural civilization school friend from South Stukely. All delegation of Algonquin who brought had one great flaw; they did not co-habit the way there and back I got a history him gifts of maple syrup to show their with livestock. lecture on that part of the Townships – respect. Why, they asked Wright, was he The Eurasian peoples were herders nothing wrong with her memory!” cutting down these wonderful trees that who lived with their domestic animals “She worked tirelessly to bring the provided this gift of maple syrup? In or- and, over many generations, they ex- history of the area to all citizens and into der for their question to be understood, changed bacteria and viruses with these the schools and did if for more years they had to call for one of their clan who animals that often resulted in plagues. than we can imagine – and always with spoke English. This man, whose name The survivors were resistant to these a smile and words of encouragement,” was George Brown, was of British de- diseases, but they were carriers, and said Judith Duncanson, Knowlton resi- scent but had married an Indian and was when they came to the Americas, they dent and BCHS member. “There was welcomed as a brother into the Algo- unintentionally brought their germs with never a time when I asked her for assis- nquin, or Anishinabe, as they call them- them. Georges Sioui, an Indian philoso- tance on a project that she was not right selves. Brown repeated the question to pher and historian, describes the arrival there with all the support and research Wright and received the answer that the of Europeans in the Americas as a great that was needed.” wise father, the king of England, had de- accident. This “accident” caused a mas- Duncanson added: “They don’t cided this was what Wright should do. A sive die-off that saw losses of 50 to 90% make them like Miss Phelps anymore.” puzzling answer, no doubt, but the Algo- within a half-generation and sometimes nquin had accepted to lease their land, within a few years. I am unable to imag- which meant to let the tenants use it ex- ine what that really means. Quebec has a This article is reprinted from the Brome clusively for a fixed period of time – ba- population of around 8 million people. County News, with permission. sically it meant that they would not im- How could it possibly recover from a pede the settlers’ use of the land. But sudden disaster that cut its population to

28 SPRING 2013 four million, or to 800,000? The great the water. These newcomers have not the land and not the other way around. trading culture that existed in the Ameri- yet become stewards of nature, but are Thomas Mears knew none of this cas simply collapsed. The survivors, when he built his mill to saw the majes- refugees of a crippled civilization, strug- tic trees of the Algonquin. When George gled to make sense of the apocalyptic Hamilton successfully negotiated a new event, the greatest tragedy in human his- financing package to save his mill in the tory. Simultaneously, a new people had 1820s, he was unaware that the Algo- arrived on their lands with no compre- nquin were facing starvation in their hension of the systems they encoun- devastated forest home. tered, and no interest in learning. They simply brought their herding animals Sources: with them. Frank Mackey, Steamboat Connections: In the Ottawa Valley, the newcom- Montreal to Upper Canada 1816-1843, ers began by asking the Indians for their 2000. clothing, quite literally, and then moved on to the source of the clothing, the furs Cyrus Thomas, History of the Counties of the animals. When those ran out or of Argenteuil and Prescott; 1896. were no longer produced quickly enough, they rented the land and began Arthur R. M. Lower, Great Britain’s to take down the forests. Next, they re- Woodyard, 1973. fused to pay their rent because they vot- ed in an assembly that gave them title to Dictionary of Canadian Biography. the Algonquin lands. When the forests began to run out, they found the miner- driven to consume its wealth as though als in the ground and took them. they themselves had somehow created it. The property laws that say an indi- The First Nations, on the other hand, are Joseph Graham ([email protected]) vidual can own some part of nature are slowly rebuilding the philosophy of their is writing a book on the history of the driving this appetite. The Indians no ancient civilization and are pleading Ottawa Valley. longer have the power to stop them and with us today to realize that they were look on in horror. Next, they will take right when they said that we belong to EDWARDIAN ESCAPADES Recreating the Richmond Nicholsons by Dorothy Nixon

f television is any indication, we’re from the 1910 era that I discovered in an their town – “the Local News,” as they still obsessed with the Edwardian old trunk, letters belonging to the slyly called it. Era 100 years after it ended. A few Nicholsons of Richmond, Quebec. That In 1910, Richmond was at a tipping years ago, in the U.K., the costume would be Norman and Margaret Nichol- point: it was bleeding citizens to the big Idrama Downton Abbey was such a huge son and their grown children, Edith, city and the wild job-rich West. So, the hit that they went on to make a second Herbert, Marion and Flora. letters are doubly significant. and then a third series. To me, Downton These family letters number over In the back of my mind, these past Abbey is merely a more stylish rehash of 300, and they are full of ghosts and gos- five years, I had an idea to convert these the excellent 1972-75 series Upstairs sip, and gossip about ghosts. family letters into a quasi-fiction of Downstairs – which, as it happens, was Like Upstairs Downstairs (and some sort, to re-imagine them for a also recently brought back to life, to less Downton Abbey), these letters cover the young female audience. But it wasn’t critical acclaim. exciting era of the suffragettes, Model-T until last year, when I stumbled on the As it further happens, I recently Fords, the New (or Restless) Woman. 1911 Canadian Census online, that all watched all four seasons of Upstairs Fun stuff. But from a decidedly middle the pieces for this story suddenly fell in- Downstairs on DVD for the first time. I class (and oh-so-Canadian) point of to place. There before my eyes, in rather had missed the show the first time view. faded gray pencil strokes, under Rich- around. My university years, you see. The Nicholsons were prominent mond-Wolfe, Quebec, was ‘the official’ I decided to finally take the show in Eastern Townships citizens (cash-poor statistical story of the Nicholson family because, for a rather long time now, I’ve and house-rich, as it happens) and they – and their entire community. been engrossed in my own personal Ed- knew all the other leading citizens, and Margaret actually mentions being wardian-era Saga. I’ve been researching they filled their letters with news about enumerated, in a June 1911 letter to her background to a stash of family letters said citizens and all the goings-on of husband, who was away in Ontario

29 William Notman, “Cutting trees on the Upper Ottawa River, 1871.” Photo: McCord Museum, I-63209.1. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS working on the Transcontinental Rail- College in 1911 and is accepted at Mac- ing in the posh College Street area of way. donald Teachers College in beautiful Richmond had a live-in servant. By “The Census man was around,” she Ste. Anne de Bellevue – despite failing 1911 almost nobody did. Something se- writes. “I gave him your age as 60. Is French. So, I decided to create a pivotal rious changed over the decade. It wasn’t that right? I always save five for myself. fictional French Canadian character, for only the cash-poor Nicholson women How was that? He did not take Herb’s or context. who had to sew and wash and press their Marion’s. So that is over.” But which French Canadian would own shirtwaists and mince their own Yes, Margaret lied on the Census. young Flora Nicholson, over-protected beef for the cottage pie and beat their She lied about her age, about her hus- youngest daughter of (literally) straight- own carpets twice a year in front of all band’s salary, about her daughter’s laced Presbyterians, meet up with? the nosy neighbours. Clearly, most mid- salary. The Milliner! This was the age of dle-class women in Richmond, in that Much worse though, her daughter big hats, after all. And in 1910, women era, lived an “in-between stairs” kind of Marion, my husband’s grandmother, was of all persuasions, all classes, loved their existence. They aspired to the genteel left off the Census entirely. She is not hats. According to the 1911 census, the life, giving teas for the local ladies, go- listed in her family ing to the opera house, residence on Dufferin but they still scraped Street in Richmond, their knuckles raw in and not at her Montre- the scullery after the al rooming house on fact. Tower Street. I did Why was that? find prodigal son Herb Well, likely because at a rooming house in the working class Qu’Appelle, women were choosing Saskatchewan. He is to work in factories one of six boarders rather than as domes- there. One other is a tics. (So I further bartender and one oth- made Miss Gouin er – yikes! – a woman from Magog where the working as a stenogra- Dominion Textile Fac- pher. Had Margaret tory was located.) Yes, known she would have in 1910, there was a caught the first train Servant Problem in out West and dragged Canada and if you be- him back by his ear! lieve the press reports, With this wonder- Edith, Margaret, Flora and Marion Nicholson in the summer of 1910. Marion it was the very rich ful online resource, I and Edith bought their hats at Ogilvy’s. Edith’s has pink rosettes and Mari- who were truly suffer- was able to travel back on’s blue flowers. Edith’s cost $7.50 and she earned only $175 a year as a ing. one hundred years to teacher without diploma at Westmount Methodist Institute. Marion’s hat cost Flora’s school, Richmond, Quebec, in $6.50 out of her $600 a year salary. She had a McGill Normal School diplo- Macdonald College, June 1911, and snap ma and taught with the Montreal board. Margaret’s hat was purchased from was founded to teach another complementa- Eugenie Hudon in Richmond. She thought it much too big and was embar- the agricultural sci- ry mental picture of rassed to wear it to church. If Edith looks sad, it is because her ‘fiancé’ has ences to young men that interesting com- just been killed in the infamous Rossmore fire in Cornwall, Ontario. and the domestic sci- munity from another, ences to young less anecdotal angle. women. In this way, And one new census fact surprised milliners in Richmond were Miss Vi- young women destined to marry would me: French-Canadian families lived all taline Goyette and Miss Eugenie Hudon. become better homemakers and solve all around them! You wouldn’t know it So, I created a milliner’s apprentice, a the problems of industrialization (dirty from the letters. Call it the Two Soli- Miss Gouin, who is lively and outgoing, houses, dirty habits, dirty thoughts) tudes Syndrome. a little too much for rather repressed while poor women would be trained as Right then and there, I decided to Flora. Millinery was the ‘glam’ job for domestics. include a two solitudes-style theme in women in 1910, but apprentices were A sexist and ill-conceived policy, it my quasi-fiction based on the letters, largely unpaid, and this sad fact also fig- has been argued over the century – and I which I have called Threshold Girl and ures in my story. certainly agree. And just one other good put online at www.tighsolas.ca The online Canadian censuses serve reason to study the Edwardian era 100 /page10.pdf.pdf. up many treasures for the aspiring writer years after the fact, not only in the U.K., Threshold Girl tells the story of Flo- of period pieces. For instance, I can see but here in Canada. ra Nicholson, the youngest Nicholson from the 1901 census that, at the turn of That is, over and above the cos- child, who graduates from St. Francis the last century, almost every family liv- tumes.

30 Edith, Margaret, Flora and Marion Nicholson,:: 1910. Photo: courtesy of Dorothy Nixon. SPRING 2013

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