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…