Rural History Roundtable
Photograph: Large group eating meal after raising barn, Stephen Sylvester Main collection, University of Guelph Library, Archives, and Special Collections, Agricultural History (XA1 MS A230 #214)
The Rural History Roundtable is a speaker series that has been in operation since 2002. It hosts scholars of international repute and provides a venue for graduate students to present their latest research. It is vertically intergrated drawing into its fold undergraduates, graduates, post-docs, faculty, archivists, alumni, and other members of the public.
All are welcome to attend!
The third hybrid presentation of the 2025-26 series will take place Wednesday, November 19th from 3:30-5:00pm EST in the MacKinnon Building Room 132 at the University of Guelph. To view the presentation on Zoom, please register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/rural-history-double-billing-ordnance-in-the-orchard-and-raw-milk-debates-tickets-1925319806369?aff=ebdsoporgprofile. This will be a double billing with two talks taking place.
Presenter: Bram Fookes (UofG grad & Billy Bishop Museum)
Title: "Ordnance in the Orchard: WW2 and the Militarization of Rural Ontario"
Description: Millions of acres of land were expropriated for military use during the Second World War. Most of it was already inhabited and incorporated into an array of rural economies. This presentation traces the experiences of the inhabitants of St. Vincent Township, Ontario, as their farms and homes were expropriated to make way for a tank range in 1942. It examines the complicated feelings of rural Ontarians who were torn between loyalty to home and to country, and the resentment which lingers in the region to this day.
Presenter: Lydia Kinasewich (History MA student, UofG)
Title: "Raw Milk Debates: Rural Producers and Consumer Health Concerns, 1956-91"
Description: During the mid-20th century, provincial governments began to entrench pasteurization as the standard for milk across Canada. However, at times these policies were met with resistance from consumers and small-scale farmers. In British Columbia, there was a particularly strong vein of resistance. This talk examines how a fringe, yet vocal, movement emerged in support of raw milk after 1956, out of a desire for a more “natural” food product direct from farms and untainted by processing at large dairy plants.
Questions? Please contact:
Dr. Ben Bradley
ben.bradley@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Rebecca Beausaert
rbeausae@uoguelph.ca
For a list of past Rural History Roundtable speakers, see here.
