February-March 2022

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Features

Moses in Canada

Throughout the 1850s, the legendary Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman planned her operations from a base in Upper Canada. by Nancy Payne

Reel Failure

Canada’s first war movie was supposed to energize the domestic film industry. Instead, it turned into an epic flop. by Kevin Plummer

The Thistle and the Cross

The obituary of a Scottish nun in New France opens a path that leads back to King Henry VIII and Mary, Queen of Scots. by Mairi Cowan

Cold War Computing

Royal Canadian Navy officer James Louis Belyea conceived the world’s first wireless computer network in a top-secret naval project. by Zbigniew Stachniak

On the Cover

In a photographic recreation, a model playing Harriet Tubman leads a group of freedom seekers in their escape from slavery to Canada. The photograph was created in 2020 by a group of San Diego artists as a tribute to Tubman and to honour Black History Month.

Cover photographers: Christyl O’Flaherty, Tchanavia Lastie, and Aaron Searcy.

Crew: Reneaja Norris / MJ Jung as Harriet, Dominique Frazier, Andrew Wilson, Latara Hamilton, Othniel Falaise, Tanzania Brown, Bella Boyd Jamila Brasil, Rosie Jay, Leslee Gorham, Akpovwa Omonefe Clinton.

Wardrobe specialists: Ann Moreman and Emily Stagedragon.

Studio: Provided by Courtney Henderson of Hendo Studios. Outdoor scenes: Solana Beach Trail, Solana Beach, CA.

Departments

Editor’s Note

Flight to freedom.

The Packet

Delightful diversity. Revved up. Model mistake. POW pin.

Currents

Breaking the glass ceiling at the Hudson’s Bay Company. Youthful inspiration leads to transportation innovation. “The Babe” takes B.C. by storm. Vimy Ridge goes digital. From the archive: Frozen forays in the Far North. Creating Canadian citizenship. Remembering René Durocher.

Trading Post

A ram’s head snuff mull belonged to Hudson’s Bay Company governor Sir George Simpson.

Destinations

Historic sites near picturesque Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, include former French and British fortifications. At the museums: Fossils from the dawn of life. City and forest.

Books

Open book: Excerpt from Dammed: The Politics of Loss and Survival in Anishinaabe Territory. Reviews: Challenging language. Force of character. More books: hearsay evidence, pub tour, seaside baptism, resisting developers, infamous jail. Read them all

History Matters

Kayak magazine comics are transformed into an innovative new animated history web series for kids.

Album

A British Army bandmaster brought his family from Nepal to a Saskatchewan homestead.

February-March 2022