Half-day conference

Friday, March 22, 2024 | 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

McCord Stewart Discoveries

Paid activity at the Museum • Free online | Reservation required

In the McCord Stewart Discoveries, the Museum’s experts present the research projects they’ve been working on and share their recent discoveries related to the Museum’s collections and archives.

The event is geared towards an academic audience as well as anyone interested in history and archives, museum studies, or material culture.

The talks will take place in French or English, with a question period in both languages.

Program

Information

Series of talks presented on Friday, March 22, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The event will take place at the Museum and online. Choose how you will join (at the Museum or online) and sign up!

At the Museum

Limited space, reservation required.
The activity will be followed by a reception from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Location: J. Armand Bombardier Theatre
Fees:

  • General admission: $5
  • Museum Member: Free
  • Student: Free
  • Member of Indigenous communities: Free

Attend online

  • Fee: Free. The event will be broadcast live on Zoom and on LinkedIn.
  • Register on Zoom to receive connexion instructions.
    After the event, you will receive the recording by email to watch it later.
  • Join the Linkedln event to attend live on this platform.

Presentations Abstracts

James Duncan: Art correspondent for The Illustrated London News

James Duncan was responsible for half of the images of Montreal published by the prestigious London magazine in the 1850s. By the mid-19th century, advances in communications were profoundly transforming the way Montrealers interacted with the rest of the world. As a man of his time, Duncan understood this reality and put it to good use.

Presentation in French by Christian Vachon, Head, Collections Management and Curator, Documentary Art.

  • James Duncan, <em>Curling Match at Montreal</em>, February 17, 1855, front page published in <em>The Illustrated London News</em>. Gift of Charles P. deVolpi, M977.164.1, McCord Stewart Museum
  • James Duncan, <em>Curling Match at Montreal</em>, February 17, 1855, wood engraving published in <em>The Illustrated London News</em>. Gift of Charles P. deVolpi, M977.164.1, McCord Stewart Museum
  • James Duncan, <em>Burning of Hayes House, Dalhousie Square, Montreal</em>, 1852, oil on wood. Gift of David Ross McCord, M310, McCord Stewart Museum
  • James Duncan, <em>Great Fire at Montreal. Dalhousie Square, Hay’s House, etc.</em>, August 7, 1852, wood engraving published in <em>The Illustrated London News</em>. Gift of Edith Milburn Ross, M21990.21.89.1, McCord Stewart Museum
  • James Duncan, <em>Bonsecours Market Scene in Winter</em>, 1850–1860, oil on wood. Gift of David Ross McCord, M316, McCord Stewart Museum
  • James Duncan, <em>Montreal Market: Habitants Purchasing Cloth</em>, March 19, 1859, wood engraving published in <em>The Illustrated London News</em>. Gift of Charles P. deVolpi, M975.62.653.1, McCord Stewart Museum

Feelings buried in the archives: The Shared Emotions project

The McCord Stewart Museum’s Textual Archives collection is rich in personal documents, such as letters and diaries, providing an intimate window onto the emotions, sensibilities, attitudes and values of people in bygone days. The Shared Emotions project aims to make these elements, hitherto neglected by archival description and indexing conventions, more readily identifiable.

Presentation in French by Mathieu Lapointe, Curator, Archives.

The Curious Case of the Kul-e-Tuk Parka: Appropriation of an Inuit Garment

In 1959, the Kul-e-Tuk parka made its debut on the Canadian market and was touted as the ultimate Canadian winter coat. Erased from the success of the Kul-e-Tuk, however, were the Inuit people from whom the style was appropriated. This talk explores the complicated history of the Kul-e-Tuk, its connection to Montreal’s garment manufacturing industry, the synthetic fibre revolution of the post-war era, winter sports, and colonial projects in the Arctic.

Presentation in English by Alexis Walker, Associate Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles.

 

  • Lydia of Montreal, Kul-e-Tuk parka, about 1960. M2021.9.2, McCord Stewart Museum

Threads of Black Emancipation in an Eighteenth-Century Dress

A photograph of a young woman wearing her ancestor’s dress for a 1927 costume ball led to the unlikely discovery of the garment in a Laurentians cottage in 2022. Research has traced the garment from its origins in colonial Virginia in the 1760s, through the upheaval of the American Revolution, to Quebec City in 1789, embedding it in the first wave of Black emancipation.

Presentation in English by Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research; Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles.

  • <em>Eileen Peters in 18<sup>th</sup>-century dress</em>, 1928, II-282443, McCord Stewart Museum
  • Dress, 1760-1780, M2022.18.1.1-2, McCord Stewart Museum
  • Detail, dress, 1760-1780, M2022.18.1.1-2, McCord Stewart Museum

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