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PO Box 523, Station B,
Ottawa, ON, K1P 5P6

PO Box 523, Station B, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5P6
Sunday, 26 December 2021 16:45

HSO Facebook Post Goes Viral

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From small acorns do mighty oaks grow, the saying goes. And this is certainly true for the HSO Facebook page. It was almost four years ago that Karen Lynn Ouellette, our President, and Jen Seltzer, HSO Director, met to discuss the feasibility of using social media to promote the Historical Society of Ottawa. While our pamphlets, meetings, and website were valuable tools for spreading the word about Ottawa’s rich and fascinating history, they believed that social media had the potential to not only engage with our members, but also to…
Monday, 08 March 2021 15:08

HSO Community Project Chosen

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The Society’s Board of Directors is delighted to announce that it has approved a pledge of $5,000 towards a project to construct a replica gazebo at Strathcona Park. This project was proposed by HSO member, François Bregha. At last year’s Annual General Meeting, members agreed to allocate funds to finance community projects over the coming years. Members were asked to suggest potential projects, and a process was established to choose among projects. The selection process was based on a number of criteria, including relevance to HSO’s mission and objectives, cost,…
We do indeed live in interesting times. Normally HSO holds its Annual General Meeting in May, but with all of us putting our lives on hold, the decision was made in April to postpone the AGM until we could safely get together again. Once it became clear that a community gathering was not going to happen soon, the decision was made to invite as many members as possible to join us electronically for an Annual General Meeting on July 22, 2020. We’re aware that this is not a perfect solution,…
Saturday, 15 August 2020 13:29

The HSO returns–virtually!

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Although COVID-19 continues to prevent us from getting together in person, your Society is getting back in action—virtually! After a successful, virtual, Annual General Meeting held in July, Ben Weiss has organized three fantastic, virtual presentations to kick off our 2020-2021 speakers’ programme. Leading off will be Michael Kent, the curator of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection at Library and Archives Canada. Michael will be speaking to us about Ottawa’s Jewish history on September 16th. Up second on October 14th will be Jo-Anne McCutcheon from the University of Ottawa. Jo-Anne…
Dear members of the Historical Society of Ottawa, As patron of your organization, I wanted to send along my best wishes to you during these difficult times. I hope you are well. Wherever you are and whatever you do, you are facing a historic and unprecedented challenge alongside people and organizations from around the world. And you are tackling it head-on. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything and it is affecting every aspect of our society. This invisible enemy is scary and strong, and it has forced us to change…
Owing to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, our President, Karen Lynn Ouellette, unanimously supported by the Society’s Board of Directors, announces that the Society’s Annual General Meeting, scheduled to be held on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library, has been postponed. The meeting will be rescheduled once there is a clearer idea of when the emergency will be lifted and members can once again meet in safety.
Our website is a vital tool in the Society’s communications tool kit. It not only informs members of upcoming events and Society news, it is our prime means of disseminating information about the Society and interesting Ottawa historical stories to the general public. Its reach is global; we have visitors from around the world. Look for a forthcoming HSO article on our readership. Despite its success, few are probably aware of the person who built the website and maintained it since its inception. That person is John Reeder. In January…
An elaborate public art installation at the new Lyon Street light rail transit station in downtown Ottawa is sharing the origin story of the HSO with thousands of daily commuters. The undulating stainless steel sculpture commemorates and celebrates the 1898 founding of the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa — later opened to men and renamed the Historical Society of Ottawa — and incorporates the entire 5,000-word text of a society-published pamphlet about the city’s early history. Individualized silhouettes representing the 32 women who were present at the first meeting…
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