INTERPRETING A PAST Presenting Gender History at Living History sites in Ontario By Pamela Kirsten Peacock A thesis submitted to the Department of History in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen‟s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada September 2011 © Pamela Kirsten Peacock, September 2011 Abstract Drawing upon close observation of site practices, interviews, and visitor surveys, this project analyses the programming offered at historic sites, highlighting the aspects of history that are omitted or treated superficially. The case studies conducted at Fort Henry, Upper Canada Village, and Fort William demonstrate that women‟s and gender histories continue to be minimized, stereotyped, and segregated. Each site selectively communicates information about the past. The commemoration and preservation of the past and the tourism industry have been intricately connected in Ontario throughout the twentieth century. Historic sites have been directed by the dual goals of educating the public about a national past and of attracting visitors and revenues. As Ian McKay and Robin Bates have articulated, the resulting tourism/history is a narrative less interested in verity than in saleability. Though the management of historic sites have not jettisoned the concept of accuracy, broadening the picture of the past presented to be „more accurate‟ by addressing such issues as courtship, birth control, or marital separation is often not as high a priority as increasing visitor numbers. The costs, financial and otherwise, of making changes to the traditional fare at historic sites are considered undesirable. Sites are unprepared to invest in changes to collections or programming unless it can be shown that the investment will pay dividends. The perpetuation of traditional political and economic narratives continues also because of the perception that this appeals to and pleases visitors. Sites aim to give visitors what they want and to entertain them in order to secure repeat patronage. Women‟s history and gender history are considered, somewhat contradictorily, too controversial and too mundane to garner the interest of visitors. Despite being trusted by a majority of Canadians as trustworthy i sources of history, historic sites are letting down their constituents by omitting significant aspects and concerns of daily life in their narratives. ii Acknowledgements There are many people who facilitated this project, and my sanity, along the way. I am pleased to have this opportunity to recognize their contributions. I am indebted to my co-supervisors, Dr. Karen Dubinsky and Dr. Caroline- Isabelle Caron for their guidance, motivation, insights, and editorial comments. Thank you for improving my scholarship with your critical eyes, thought provoking questions, and general genius. I would also like to thank Dr. Jane Errington for her support and critical commentary along the long road of this PhD. Your potluck dinners always provided the perfect amount of inspiration and relaxation to reenergize me during this process. I would also like to extend my thanks to my committee members, Dr. Cecilia Morgan, Dr. Brian Osborne, Dr. Ian Mckay, and Dr. Jane Errington. Their critical reading of my work helped me to clarify concepts and arguments. Any lingering mistakes are, of course, my responsibility alone. This project could not have been completed without the gracious cooperation of the historic sites under study. My deepest thanks are extended to the seniors of the Fort Henry Guard of 2008, Crystal Legros of Fort William, and Bruce Henbest of Upper Canada Village for facilitating my visits and helping to arrange interviews. I am also extremely grateful to all members of management and staff at each site who bore with my incessant eavesdropping on their interpretation and my persistent questions. Without the gift of your knowledge and experience this dissertation could not have been completed. I would also like to thank the archivists at the National Library and Archives of Canada and the Archives of Ontario who helped facilitate my research. Special recognition should be made to the members of the Information and Privacy unit at the iii Archives of Ontario who tirelessly looked over metres of onion-skin documents to ensure I could access all the files I needed. I am extremely grateful to have been recognized with the Joseph Leslie Engler Dissertation Fellowship in Canadian History, The Arthur and Evelyn Lower Graduate Fellowship in Canadian History, the R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, and the Dean‟s Travel Grant for Doctoral Field Research through Queen‟s University. Without this generous funding the extent of my research and time at each historic site would have been extremely limited. Thank you to all of the graduate students of the history department 2006-2011 for inspiring me with your own research, for challenging me to think differently about my project, and for providing „good-times‟ when sitting at a desk for another minute was hard to contemplate. Shout outs to Marisha Caswell, Kelly Bennett, Danyal Martin, Caralee Daigle, Carolyn Harris, Claire Cookson-Hills, Maria Moncur, Steph Jowett, and Samantha Sandassie, for listening to me gripe about marking, for Girls-Night-Out dinners, and for making me laugh. My appreciation to Steph, Caralee, Kyle Franz, Matt Trudgen, and Rankin Sherling for making sure history students got involved in intramurals. GHSAers – thanks for putting up with me and for keeping all of us disparate years/fields in contact! To my fellow Teaching Fellows for History 124 and 122 thanks for helping me become a better (I hope!) teacher. Finally, my gratitude to Eleanor Belshaw-Hauff, Madelaine Morrison, and Andrea Lee for hosting me during my travels to Toronto and Ottawa – thanks ladies! Over the past five years far too many people have heard me describe, and complain, about my research. My gratitude to the Sunset Girls for always listening. I am so lucky to have friends like you! Much love always to Julia (Duinker) White, Lauren iv (Reid) Anderson, Kelly (O‟Neill) Patrick, Christie (Malecki) Martin, and Lisa (McLelland) Emke, and to your families. I am also thankful to call Meagan (Irvine) Troop and Mary (Harwood) MacDonald long-time friends – thanks for your support throughout the years. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the ladies at pick-up basketball and to all who embraced their inner grad student/geriatric on the Old Biddies intramural team. You provided a MUCH needed escape from academics, helped me improve my fitness and my game, saved my sanity with dinners at the QP and the Grad Club, and have become, I‟m sure, lifelong friends. Hugs to Titia, Jennifer, Ryley, Jordan, Christine, Amy, Mandy, Vi, Elaine, Erin, Andrea, Arlinda, Erica, Larissa, Gen, Emma, Amanda, Emily, Lauren, Hilary, Chloe, Ruby, Laura, Rebecca, Vicki, Heather, Ange, Jess, and Johanna. Old Biddies on three… No acknowledgement would be complete without recognizing the enormous debt of gratitude I owe my family. Thank you to my mom and dad, Diane and Gary, for instilling me with the values of hard-work and perseverance, for teaching me to value knowledge and debate, and for providing me a most comfortable home during this long process. Thank you for reading my chapters even though you‟d already heard me talk about them for months. Thank you Mom and Dad, and also to my siblings, Heather and Alex, and to my grandparents, two of whom did not get to watch me undertake this process, for unconditional support. I hope this work makes you proud of me. v Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………vi List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………………….vii Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………..ix Chapter One: Introduction. “Shrines to the Good Old Days”: Searching for a Past at Historic Sites…….....................1 Chapter Two. Cashing in on History: Tourism and historic site development in Canada and Ontario…54 Chapter Three. “As long as it brings in visitors”: The Fort Henry Guard, Domestic Interpreters and the Representation of the Past at Fort Henry………………………………………………..114 Chapter Four. “Little Stories of Domestic Life”: Making history at Upper Canada Village…………..180 Chapter Five. “Here to entertain people”: Reenacting the Fur Trade at Fort William………………...243 Chapter Six. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………311 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….320 Appendices: A – Note on Sources…………………………………………………………………….345 B – Selection from the Standing Orders of the Royal Canadian Rifles, 1861, “Arrangement of Married Men‟s Rooms”………………………………………………361 C - Fort Henry National Historic Site Commemorative Integrity Statement…………...362 vi List of Illustrations 2.1 Plan of Fort Henry, c. 1830s. 113 2.2 Portion of a sketch of Fort William by Lt. Irvine, 1811 113 3.1 Map of Fort Henry National Historic Site [FH]. 174 3.2 The Colour Party and Drill Squad march on to the Parade Square during a Sunset Ceremony, summer 2003, FH. 175 3.3 Women at Fort Henry. 176 3.4 Married Quarters, FH, c.2000. 177 3.5 Photograph of an interpretive panel at Fort Henry depicting interpreters at work in the Married Quarters. 177 3.6 Modern day representation of military NCOs (rear) and Officers (seated) - Guard Senior‟s Photo 2003, FH. 178 3.7 Captain‟s Quarters, Officers‟ Wing, FH. 178 3.8 Barrack Room – Museum, FH. 179 4.1 Map of Upper Canada Village. 234 4.2 The brides and grooms from the four wedding ceremonies at Upper Canada Village, summer 2009. 235 4.3 An interpreter in the Physician‟s home displays the forceps (left) and the vectus (right), instruments used during childbirth, UCV. 236 4.4 The printer‟s wife and daughter work at binding books (left), while the Cabinet Maker oversees his two young apprentices (right), UCV. 236 4.5 The Tenant farmer and his wife sit down to afternoon tea, UCV. 237 4.6 The Tenant farmer‟s wife cooks biscuits (left), while Mrs. Loucks shows off what she is baking in the oven, UCV.