Past Imperfect

VOLUME 4 1995

Editors: Theodore Binnema and Steven Karp

"We Cannot Shoo These Men to Another Place": The On to Ottawa Trek in Toronto and Ottawa

Steven R. Hewitt

This year is the sixtieth anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek. The original Trek started in Vancouver as over a thousand unemployed men attempted to reach Ottawa by rail to express their discontent with the policies of the Bennett government. Their journey ended in Regina when a police-provoked riot led to their dispersal. Major works on the subject have not recognized that parallel treks occurred in Manitoba and Ontario from June to August 1935. "We Cannot Shoo These Men to Another Place" explores trek events in Toronto and Ottawa and discovers that while the trek itself was a failure, it did reveal the anti-Communist paranoia of both the political right and left and the Canadian state.

Unity Deferred: The "Roman Question" in Italian History, 1861-82

William C. Mills

Following the Risorgimento (the unification of the kingdom of Italy) in 1861, the major dilemma facing the new nation was that the city of Rome continued to be ruled by the pope as an independent state. The Vatican's rule ended in 1870 when the Italian army captured the city and it became the new capital of Italy. This paper will examine the domestic and international problems that were the consequences of this dispute. It will also review the circumstances that led Italy to join Germany and Austria in the Triple Alliance in 1882.

Concubinage in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Literature: A Historical Study of Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan

Yifeng Zhao

This study explores the subtle patterns, variety, and changes in Chinese concubinage during the seventeenth century by focusing on cases described in Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan, a seventeenth-century Chinese novel, and other literary and historical sources. It argues that the various social practices of concubinage in late Ming China diverged from government regulations. Chinese concubinage underwent remarkable changes by the seventeenth century in comparison with earlier periods. Even as concubinage was widely accepted, certain Confucian intellectuals of this period criticized the institution.

"Whom Science' Hand has Drawn So Near": The Canadian Journal-Scientific Periodical, 1851-61

Mark A. Levene

As the first periodical in Canada West devoted to matters of science and technology, the Canadian Journal represents an important development in the growth of an intellectual and academic culture in the Colonies. The Journal was established to serve as the record of the proceedings of the Canadian Institute, founded by Royal Charter in 1851 and devoted to encouraging and advancing "the Arts and Manufactures" and to facilitating the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge connected with engineering, architecture, and surveying. The Journal initially complied with these preliminary guidelines but it gradually evolved in new directions as the focus of both the Institute and its periodical shifted to meet the changing needs of a scientific community in a structurally shifting society. The changes in the journal over its first years illustrate the way an emergent scientific community interacted with, and indeed contributed to, an economy that was making its first, tentative steps toward capitalism and all that capitalism brought with it.

Perestroika and Persons with a Physical Disability

Sean Atkins

Perestroika brought important changes to the place in Soviet society of persons with a physical disability. The administrative and bureaucratic changes of the Soviet government, including those affecting social security benefits, and the increased involvement of persons with a disability in governmental and nongovernmental organizations were vital to the changes. The establishment of the All-Russia Society for the Disabled in 1988 reflected the growth of private and public charity. The media began encouraging public response, leading to the growth of local and community relief organizations. The media also provided a forum in which persons with a physical disability could be heard. The period between 1988 and 1991, however, revealed how enormous the task of social rehabilitation would be. Although the Soviet government acknowledged the rights and needs of persons with a physical disability it did not and could not provide enough money to deal effectively with these needs.

The "VEIL" Surrounding Alexander Henry, the Elder's Mixed-Blood Sons

Anatol L. Scott

Fur traders have played an inordinately important role in western Canadian history; their records and their published journals are the bedrock of our historiography. Paradoxically, we know little about the private lives of many of these traders. By assembling a readily available and conflicting body of knowledge on Alexander Henry, the Elder, and by linking it to other scattered bits of information, this paper presents a profile of Henry and his family that differs considerably from the traditionally accepted view.

Africville: The Test of Urban Renewal and Race in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Richard Bobier

Donald Clairmont's Africville Relocation Report portrays the Africville relocation as a grave injustice inflicted upon a voiceless minority by an insensitive city administration. Initially, however, the relocation enjoyed the support of Black leaders, community residents, and city administrators. This paper argues that two major factors caused the transformation of the Africville relocation from a symbol of civic and humanitarian progress to a symbol of human and perhaps racial injustice. First, the relocation process took fifteen years to complete. During that time the initial confidence exuded by Haligonians because of the postwar boom had begun to dissipate, and with it, their devotion to urban renewal schemes. Second, criticism of the project reflected changing expectations and developing sociological methodologies concerning the alleviation of poverty.