we are super pleased to announced that this blog won an Association of Manitoba Archivists Manitoba Day Award for exhibits: https://mbarchives.ca/mbdayaward. The students have chosen to donate the usual award money to the Mama Bear Clan: https://www.npdwc.org/get-involved.html.
Mapping these histories
We added some of the locations of the events, institutions and places discussed in this blog to this map. A lot of what we have discussed occured within a one kilometer radius. Thanks again to Alex Snukal.
Different Manitoba Experiences, by A.H.
Allen Choy and David Kaan were born one year apart in 1931 and 1932 respectively. Choy grew up in Canton Province, China and Kaan grew up in Hong Kong. Both men immigrated to Manitoba from Hong Kong in the early 1950s. Through recorded oral history interviews from 1988, each man recounted his life story and …
Ken Wong, by K.M.
Ken Wong, page 86, Winnipeg Free Press. April 14, 1977. In the early Twentieth-Century, Chinese immigration to Canada remained low. Not many families could afford the head tax imposed by the Canadian government, resulting in primarily male immigration. In 1920 Winnipeg, there were 1,000 males, and 42 females living in China Town (Page 86, …
Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters: The Necessary Rewriting of Winnipeg’s 1919 General Strike, by E.R.
The stage is set for the biggest strike in the history of Canada. The time is 11 o’clock Thursday morning. The place is Winnipeg. The ‘principals’ in the caste are some 27, 000 union workers, their employers and every other man, woman and child in the community… Endorsement of the general strike, voted by a …
The Sleeping Car Porters: Perception and Race in Winnipeg’s Newspapers, by H.F.
Introduction and Research Methods When researching for this blog post I learned some interesting things about how to find the information I was looking for in primary research online. I realized that I had more luck finding relevant articles on sleeping car porters by using racial terms we wouldn’t see today, such as “coloured/colored” and …
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Views on Sleeping Car Porters, by L.N.
It is a simple fact that not everyone will approve of your profession. But what if it was seen as the only suitable profession for you? That was the case for sleeping car porters. Despite the fact that these men were viewed with respect in their communities, it was a job that was undesirable for …
Neglected Struggle: The Postwar Efforts of the Sleeping Car Porters in Canada, by E.E.
As I walk the familiar streets of Winnipeg, it is easy to forget that stories of the city’s past dance beneath my feet, holding the power to enlighten and inspire. Winnipeg’s history is a fairly foreign one to me, my high school education leading me to believe that the chronicle of important events in the …
The Improving Conditions of Sleeping Car Porters, by B.H.
Being a sleeping car porter was a job that was very necessary during the time period in which the railroad was the major form of transport. What was a sleeping car porter though? The job of being a sleeping car porter was often occupied by Black men. The job for these men was to help …
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The Origins of the Sleeping Car Porters, by M.G.
Who were the sleeping-car porters who formed the ranks of The Brotherhood? Where did they come from? Why did so many black Canadians find themselves working in the profession? The answers to these questions are complicated and multi-faceted. The porters’ backgrounds were diverse, as were their reasons for seeking employment on the rails. What tied …
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History 3442 Group Blog 