Well, one of the fun things about being at a #museum / working in #PublicHistory is that I get really neat public inquiries sometimes.

Today, I had one about how #CdnImm officials tested literacy in the 1920s. In the 1919 amendments (and in the Chinese Immigration Act), the language basically talks about immigrants of age having to read a short paragraph - but reading it in other languages was fine, it didn't have to be English or French.

Okay, so far so good.

#histodons #immigration

Looking up literacy items related to historical #CdnImm examination and selection practices and just stumbled across this gem:

"Three-year-old Jennifer Adair looks askance at the photographer interrupting her reading, Montreal."

That face! I feel like one of my teacup humans is a time traveler - or at least their attitude taps some kind of eternal cosmic stream...

http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=4369751&lang=eng

#archives #libraries #parenting

You know, in 1938, Canadian immigration representatives in Europe used a previous application to the US (even if abandoned) as a rationale to bar Jewish applications for admission.

#refugees #asylum #CdnImm #CdnHist

(source in image)

"[S]olidarity, rather than state sovereignty, is an alternative way of framing migration in more equitable terms. The concept of solidarity rejects the idea that any political entity can act independently; instead, it acknowledges the interdependencies between a wide variety of political actors..."

Bauder, From Sovereignty to Solidarity, p20.

#Immigration #CdnImm

Today is the centenary of Canada's Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 - known colloquially as the Exclusion Act. It was in effect until 1947, and under it, a bare handful of Chinese immigrants were able to enter the country. Even after its repeal, Chinese immigration remained restricted for a further twenty years under broader anti-Asian restrictions. For this reason, Dominion or Canada Day was known as Humiliation Day among Chinese Canadians.

More: https://pier21.ca/before-and-after-1923-chinese-exclusion-context

#CdnHist #CdnImm #Racism

Love this image from during the Komagata Maru incident. The dynamics here are instructive, I think.

City of Vancouver Archives,
CVA 141-1 - Komagata Maru incident in Vancouver Harbour

https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/komagata-maru-incident-in-vancouver-harbour

#CdnImm #CdnHist #racism

One of my favourite NFB propaganda pieces on Canadian Immigration history...

"Farmers for Canada: Dutch Family Makes a New Start" - Eye Witness No. 53

https://www.nfb.ca/film/eye_witness_no53/

#CdnImm #CdnHist

Well, #museum and #archive nerds, what's a collections favouriite?

Mine: https://5104.sydneyplus.com/final/portal.aspx?lang=en-US&g_AABF=di2013.1558&d=d

This is a family that came from the Netherlands to Canada in 1957, and the visual representation of the voyage to Canada is just amazing.

#CdnImm #CdnHist

"Homesteading has been described as a gamble in which the entrant bets ten dollars with the Government against 160 acres of land, that he can stay on it six months each year for three years, without starving to death. If he succeeds, the patent or deed for the land is granted by the Government, provided certain small improvements are made, namely a small house and stable built, and 15 acres cultivated; if he does not succeed, he loses his ten dollars. And many did lose..."

-W.C. Pollard
#CdnImm

Today I am baking cinnamon buns at work while reading up on Portuguese immigration to Canada.

We're doing a little internal workshop on food & immigration, and part of it was the invitation to bring a food with a personal connection...

#PublicHistory #CdnImm #CdnHist

Every once in a while I am reminded that my #museum job gave me the opportunity to give a stuffed flea in a ringmaster suit a glamorous photo shoot (oh, and also reflect on the value of the memoirs from immigration officers in the study of immigration history).

https://pier21.ca/blog/steve-schwinghamer/young-man-you-take-yourself-far-too-seriously-the-memoirs-of-immigration

#CdnImm #CdnHist #Histodons

Internship position for recent MAs or MA students, hosted by the Cdn Museum of Immigration:

12 June - 1 September 2023
$20.65/hr
On-site or remote

#PublicHistory #OralHistory #Museums #CdnImm

Full details:

https://pier21.ca/research-intern-12-weeks

Claiming asylum is a universal human right.

Channels to claim asylum should be regular & appropriately controlled, so that asylum seekers may arrive and seek refuge in safety and security.

Attempting to bar asylum claims is counter to the expressed intention and language of international and domestic law.

Every person who is on Canadian soil, is protected by the Charter.

Do we want to dispose of Charter protections in favour of political convenience?

#CdnImm

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/safe-third-country-migrants-roxham-trudeau-biden-1.6792676

It's time for #CdnImm to consider a targeted class of admission for SOGIE refugees / asylum claimants from the United States.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/north-dakota-transgender-bathroom-law-1.6823423

So this year is the centenary of Canada's Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, aka the Chinese Exclusion Act.

If you're looking for a little more information on that, I did a little contexualization piece here:

English:
https://pier21.ca/before-and-after-1923-chinese-exclusion-context

French:
https://quai21.ca/avant-et-apres-1923-lexclusion-des-chinois-en-contexte

#CdnHist #CdnImm #Racism

I went back to this old blog from 2021 for a quick reference today, and I thought I'd share it for all my history-and-bike nerds. It's part of a wonderful larger series of entries on biking written by historians co-hosted by ActiveHistory and NiCHE, led by Claire Campbell.

https://niche-canada.org/2021/10/06/indexed-shifting-past-and-present-from-the-bike-saddle/

#CdnHist #CdnImm #BikeTooter

Panel on the #PublicHistory dialogue created by placing two exhibits on wartime civil liberties violations at the Canadian Museum of Immigration, 14 April @ 1400 Atlantic online.

#Halifax people: book a ticket online (free) and go to the exhibits at the museum for free, too!

Panelists: Dan Conlin, Melanie Morin-Pelletier, Jordan Stanger-Ross, Sherri Kajiwara. I'll moderate & offer a response.

https://pier21.ca/internment-canada

#CdnHist #cdnimm

Students of #immigration and #politics , may I please recommend this study regarding the significance of language in public coverage of immigration issues?

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20211537

Thanks to my brother @schwinghamer who brought it to my attention.

#CdnImm #CdnPoli

Your daily reminder that there is a population of people who have fled Canada and are identified as either refugees or protected persons abroad by the UNHCR. It's a small group, but... we're a source country, too.

Check out the data:

https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=57esCA

#Refugees #CdnImm #CdnHist

Ilse went to the UK as part of the Kindertransport, was a veteran of service in the military during the Second World War, her brother (German Jewish) was sent from the UK to be interned in Canada as an enemy alien, and Ilse herself came to Canada via New York in 1947.

#CdnImm #CdnHist