Guest Speaker Lynn Gehl Ph.D, Anishinaabe Algonquin Advocate, Academic, Author & Artist Wendy Jocko Sgt. CD (Ret’d),  Former Chief of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. Canadian Forces Veteran Details Wendy Jocko’s uncle and four great uncles served in WWI and her father and five uncles served in WWII. Wendy served for 23 years, including tours of...

Gwen Tuinman, Author Unrest Details A behind-the-scenes look at how Unrest, set in 1836 Bytown, grew from historical research into fiction. Gwen will share how primary and secondary sources, from maps and essays to museum visits and walks in the woods, helped her imagine the people who lived here and the world they inhabited. Gwen will...

Guest Speaker Phil Gurski, Author, Historian & former CSIS Analyst Details Among the earliest threats of invasion to stir concern in our new nation’s capital came between 1866 and 1871 as Irish-American militants launched a series of cross-border raids in an attempt to pressure Britain into granting independence to Ireland. Join Phil Gurski as he explores how...

Come celebrate the soundtrack of the Bytown era. Join us in sharing the loggers’ songs of life in the shanties, the Irish canal workers’ ballads, love songs from the old country and songs of the English, Scottish and French. Featuring Maura Volante singer, researcher, and teacher. These songs are easy to learn—no previous musical experience required. All voices and ages...

Guest Speaker: Lawrence P. O’Brien, Author, Swallowing the Muskellunge Details Creating a work of historical fiction, drawn from the Ottawa-Gatineau area’s past, Lawrence O’Brien re-imagines the journey that might have been made here by the Ottawa Valley’s first Black settler, London Oxford, and his family. The resulting novel blends action, adventure… and ventures into the supernatural....