The Ontario Historical Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Cynthia Comacchio as the new editor of Ontario History journal.
Cynthia Comacchio, Phd, FRSC, is a Guelph native of Italian heritage, the first of the Canadian-born generation from a family of Northern Italian immigrants who resettled in Ontario shortly after the Second World War. She studied at Glendon College, York University, and the University of Guelph. She is currently Professor Emerita in the history department at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Canadian sociocultural history for nearly forty years.
Dr. Comacchio has published a number of award-winning monographs, collections and articles on the histories of childhood, youth and family in Canada. She is especially interested in the ways in which young Canadians are impacted by shifting class, gender, sexuality, and racial prescriptions, and influenced by new technologies and media. Her most recent study, just published, is “Ring Around the Maple:” A Sociocultural History of Children and Childhoods in Canada, 19th and 20th Centuries, Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2024). Her inaugural work on age and generational relations was recognized in her election to the 2024 cohort of the Royal Society of Canada.
Personal Introduction from Dr. Comacchio:
I am honoured and delighted to take up the post recently left vacant by the retirement of long-standing Ontario History editor Tory Tronrud. I met Tory when we served on the OHS board during a transitional moment for the Society, in which we had to learn (fast) to cope with lessening funds and new expectations of heritage associations. When he took the journal’s reins, I was very happy to serve as an editorial board member. He was ever the epitome of “the scholar and the gentleman,” gently modernizing the journal for the twenty-first century. I learned much from him.
Now it’s my turn to put that learning into practice. In addition to the editorial board list on the inside page of the journal, some OHS members will know my name from the masthead of my ongoing review column, “From the Bookshelf,” in the OHS Bulletin. I have very much enjoyed reading and recommending the books I received, the majority of which were local histories published by local historical societies. It is heartening to see how much our history matters to Ontarians, and I discovered many things I could never have known were it not for the “labours of love” that these works represent. I will very much miss my seasonal column, which I now have to relinquish. But I will never stop reading about the many still-obscure corners of our provincial past. Please keep sending them in!
In addition to my history with the OHS and Ontario History journal, I have served on half a dozen editorial boards, several times as book review editor, and even performed a stint as an Associate Editor at one of our flagship interdisciplinary journals. I was also the inaugural editor of an interdisciplinary series, Childhood and Family in Canada, produced by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, the first of its kind in Canadian scholarly publishing. So I do bring related editorial experience as this chapter opens in the journal’s own history. So much has changed, so quickly, where the compilation, publication and circulation of journals is concerned.
Much credit and appreciation are due not only to retiring Editor Tory Tronrud but also to Book Review Editor Dr. Alison Norman, Ontario History Committee founder Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu, retired Executive Director Rob Leverty, current Executive Director Daniel Dishaw, and the indefatigable Sarah McCabe, Project Manager, Librarian, and wearer of countless other hats at the OHS. And, of course, the hard-working staff at the Society’s headquarters in the historic John McKenzie House. I hope to live up to their example and serve our membership as efficiently and gracefully as they always have.
For anyone wishing to reach out to Dr. Comacchio in her new role as Editor of Ontario History, she can now be reached at editor@ontariohistoricalsociety.ca.
The OHS congratulates Dr. Comacchio on her unanimous appointment by the Board of Directors and looks forward to this new chapter in the journal’s 125-year history. Thank you, Cynthia!
On behalf of the Board, the staff, and our members and subscribers from across the province, I would also like to thank and congratulate Dr. Tory Tronrud for leading Ontario History through a period of unprecedented growth and success. Earlier this year, Tory informed the Board of his intention to retire as Editor at the end of 2024 after 20 years in the role. His leadership and contributions have made a lasting impact on the history of our flagship publication. Tory was presented with the 2019 OHS Cruikshank Gold Medal for outstanding service to the Society.
On a personal level, I also want to thank Tory for all the support and assistance he has provided through this transition period. Staff and OHS Directors find ourselves continuously grateful for the generosity and dedication of our predecessors.
Sincerely,
Daniel Dishaw
Executive Director