Our lectures take place on the 3rd Thursday of the month, starting at 19:30.

1885: Montreal's Annus Horribilis

Speaker: Robert N. Wilkins
When: Thursday, November 21, 2024, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
             288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.

Our speaker, Robert N. Wilkins, will highlight different events of 1885 in Montréal, including the Winter Carnival, the Election of Honoré Beaugrand as Mayor of Montréal, the Spring Floods, the Smallpox Epidemic and the Hanging of Louis Riel.

Born in Montreal in 1947, Robert N. Wilkins was educated at Concordia University, Carleton University, and McGill University. High school teacher in the Montreal area for some 35 years, he was also a contributor to the Quebec Family History Society quarterly Connections, The  Westmount Examiner, The Suburban, The Montreal Gazette, and, occasionally, other national newspapers as well. He published the books Montreal, 1909 (Shoreline Press, in 2017), Montreal Recorder’s Court, 1906 (in 2020), and Grandad’s Montreal, 1901 (in 2022).

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L'histoire des ponts de Montréal

Speaker: Ginette Charbonneau
When: Thursday, January 16, 2025, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
       288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in French followed by a bilingual question periodon.

Let us pause for a conference to look at the history of the main bridges that have contributed to making Montreal the important place of trade, cultural and social exchanges that it has become. Because, although they are often a source of irritation for motorists, they were and still are essential witnesses of the evolution of the city!

A graduate in Education Sciences from the Université de Montréal, Ginette Charbonneau was an animator for the Service des Arts et de la Culture of the City of Saint-Eustache for many years. History enthusiast, co-author of a book on genealogy and family history, coordinator for ten years and author in La Feuille de chêne, the periodical review of the Société de généalogie et d'histoire de Saint-Eustache, she offers conferences and courses, meticulously documented and accompanied by relevant visual presentations. She has been teaching at UTA (Université du Troisième Âge, Faculté d’éducation, Université de Sherbrooke) since 2010. Her passion for history, as well as her experience and interest in research, documentation and communication, led her to the desire to share the knowledge she had acquired.

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A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter

Speaker: Wayne Larsen
When: Thursday, February 20, 2025, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
       288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English, followed by a bilingual question period

This illustrated presentation follows one of Canada’s most beloved characters, from his impoverished Montreal childhood to national recognition as an outspoken champion of modern Canadian art. Best known as a founding member of the Group of Seven and Beaver Hall Group, A. Y. Jackson spent nearly 70 years travelling across Canada to paint its vastly different landscapes, battling harsh weather and hostile art critics along the way.

Wayne Larsen is a Montreal-based artist, writer, musician, university professor, and a past director of Canada’s Institute for Investigative Journalism. Concurrent to a 20-year career on Concordia University’s Journalism faculty, he has been a features, opinion, and humour writer for The Montreal Gazette and Toronto Star, and a copy editor at Reader’s Digest Canada. From 2000 to 2012, he was editor-in-chief of the award-winning Westmount Examiner. He has written four books on Canadian art, including biographies of James Wilson Morrice and Tom Thomson. His 2009 book, A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter, was a Globe & Mail bestseller.

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Montreal's Women Painters at the Art Association during the 1890s

Speaker: Lorne Huston
When: Thursday, March 20, 2025, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
       288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English, followed by a bilingual question period

Montreal had very talented women painters in the 1920s, like those associated with the Beaver Hall group. Few people know that there were dozens of women painters in the late 19th century who regularly participated in the annual exhibitions of the Art Association of Montreal. Many of them had works which were included in the exhibitions of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Their work has been mostly lost and there is next to nothing written about them. New research tools in genealogy now enable us to learn more about them, a fascinating discovery. After sharing some rare photos of their works and the artists themselves, Lorne Huston will give an overview of the demographics of their situation and their careers.

Lorne Huston holds a PhD in history from Concordia University and a Master's degree in Sociology from the Université de Montréal. He has been doing research on the history of the arts sector in English Montreal since he retired from active teaching at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in 2010. In addition to the book he co-authored with Marie-Thérèse Lefebvre on the Montreal musicologist, George M. Brewer, he has also written articles on the Art Association, and on Samuel Morgan-Powell, art and drama critic at the Montreal Daily Star (1913-1953).

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Peuples autochtones du Québec: histoire et modes de vie

Speaker: Martin Lominy
When: Thursday April 17, 2025, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
       288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in French, followed by a bilingual question period

Learn about indigenous people of Quebec with an archaeologist from paleohistoric to modern times through a hands-on interactive activity with artifact reproductions. This presentation based on current archaeological knowledge will offer an overview of the landscape, the lifeways and the main cultural traditions throughout paleohistory.

Martin Lominy studied anthropology at the Université de Montréal with a specialization in prehistoric archaeology. Over the course of a decade as a museum educator and anthropology teacher working with artifact collections and aboriginal colleagues on various education projects, he developed an expertise on aboriginal technologies through the reproduction and experimentation of artifacts. He founded Abotec in 2005 and has since provided educational and scientific services for schools, museums, universities, research groups and aboriginal communities.

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The Life and Times of Charles Wilson, Montreal’s 1^st directly elected Mayor

Speaker: Joanne Burgess
When: Thursday May 15, 2025, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
       288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English, followed by a bilingual question period

Charles Wilson (1808-1877) was a prominent Montreal businessman and politician, best known as the city’s mayor from 1851 to 1853. In 1852, he became the first mayor directly elected by those eligible to cast their votes. However, Wilson’s political success and popularity were short-lived. Governing Montreal during the 1850s was not an easy task and, in a city marked by intense ethnic and religious strife, Charles Wilson could not avoid becoming a polarizing figure.
This presentation examines the life of Charles Wilson, exploring his family origins, his business pursuits and, especially, his life in politics. Particular attention is paid to the brief period when he served as mayor of Montreal and to the challenges which the city faced in the early 1850s. This was an exceptionally rich and fascinating time in Montreal’s history, and our speaker is looking forward to sharing it with you.

Joanne Burgess is Professor Emeritus in the History Department of the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she taught until her retirement in 2023. Her area of expertise is the socio-economic and urban history of Québec and Canada. She is the director of the Laboratoire d’histoire et de patrimoine de Montréal, an academic and community-based research partnership which she founded in 2006. Her current research interests relate to the history of commercial activities and buildings in Old Montreal in the 19th century, as well as the history of food and provisioning in Montreal with a special focus on the baking industry. During her career, she has been active in both academic and applied research. She particularly enjoys working with museums and other community partners. Joanne Burgess was awarded the Acfas André-Laurendeau Prize in 2015 and was made a Knight of the Order of Montreal in 2017. She currently serves on the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

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