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On April 25, 2026, the Society hosted the third presentation of its Bytown200 series. It followed a February presentation by Dr. Lynn Gehl on the past, present and future of the Anishinaabeg Algonquin of the Ottawa Valley, and one in March by Allison Margot Smith who gave a screening of her documentary on the Rideau Canal. Presented by Society member James Powell, the third and final part of the Bytown200 trilogy focused on Bytown itself. Despite stiff competition from two hockey games that afternoon with both the Ottawa Senators and…
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Ruth Hall-McMillan’s immense contributions to the Historical Society of Ottawa spanned four decades. Ruth passed away on December 8 2025, at the age of 93. Inspired by Ottawa’s 150th anniversary in 1976, with the encouragement of HSO, Ruth produced a magnificent series of oil paintings, a collection called “The Rideau Canal Before 1900”. These works, featured in a solo exhibition at Ottawa City Hall, represented a meticulously researched visual record of the canal’s 19th century history. In 1991, the HSO was honoured to publish a pamphlet by the same name, written by…
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Let’s hear your stories about Bytown and the Rideau Canal as we begin to mark 2026, the 200th anniversary of the beginning of both! All contributions are welcome. Selected submissions will be shared on a special webpage on the HSO website for all to access, including educators. Eligible contributions can be submitted in a variety of formats, including written or audio/video. We hope to also incorporate selected contributions into our many other platforms – such as our blog, the HSO Capital Chronicle newsletter, website articles and the Ottawa Stories sections…
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On Saturday March 28, 2026, Allison Margot Smith gave a film-screening of her recent film “Two Wars, Three Watersheds, a Slew of Surveys and a Canal.” The film describes the history of the Rideau Canal, and in particular, the planning of the route of the canal, starting in the 1780s. The reasons for building the canal changed over time, as did ideas for the route. So, it took more than fifty years to arrive at a plan for the canal. Even the geography of the land mass to be transited…
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One of the perks of being a member of the Historical Society of Ottawa is that we occasionally receive an invitation to a fundraising event for an important heritage cause, to enjoy a delicious meal and some cultural entertainment. A banquet hosted by the Vietnamese Canadian Centre was held at the Sala San Marco Event Centre on March 28, 2026, to raise funds for the Vietnamese Boat People Museum, to be built at the northeast corner of Preston and Somerset Streets. The Historical Society of Ottawa has had a special…
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Tuesday, 10 March 2026 08:44
Lynn Gehl – Algonquin Anishinaabeg of the Ottawa River Valley: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Dave Kent
The Historical Society of Ottawa’s Zoom presentation of February 11th, 2026, was the 1 st of a 3 part series on the beginning of the Rideau Canal, (March 28), and the founding of Bytown, (April 25), in recognition of 2026 being the 200 th anniversary of both. We started the series with a look at the effects these events had on the Algonquin Anishinaabeg peoples. We were pleased to welcome Dr. Lynn Gehl, noted academic, author, artist, and advocate. She is a member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation…
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On the afternoon of Monday, February 23rd, the Historical Society of Ottawa offered its first English language in-person Speaker presentation for 2026, generously hosted by the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. That afternoon, we were honoured to welcome Mohamed Ghadban, former member of Tannis Food Distributors and current Vice-President of the Ottawa Muslim Association. He has been recognized by the awarding of the King Charles III Medal for his community work, Mohamed told us the history of the Ottawa Mosque, the oldest Mosque in the City and the second…
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Barbara Ann Scott, Queen of the Ice, was the subject of the Historical Society of Ottawa’s first Zoom presentation of 2026, which was held on the evening of January 14, 2026. We were joined that evening by Ryan Stevens, an award-winning author and noted figure skating historian. Ryan runs the Skate Guard Blog, has written for a number of leading skating magazines and his expertise are sought out by both journalists and museums. Ryan is the author of a number of books, including: Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice…
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On the evening of November 12, 2025, the Historical Society of Ottawa held its first Zoom presentation of the season. In partnership with The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship - Ottawa (CHES), we were pleased that night to welcome Phil Emberley, who told us of his father whosurvived the Nazi Holocaust of the Second World War. Mina Cohn, current Chair of CHES gave us some background on her organization before introducing Phil. CHES is an Ottawa-based volunteer organization which has, for the past 10 years, helped to sharethe memories…
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