The Secret Lives Of....

I love historical fiction novels. I think the genre is great. I also think they are a form of public history. A great historical fiction novel can transport the reader to the time and place created by the author - giving readers a glimpse at what life may have been like for the Tudors, Helen of Troy, or Mary Magdalene. The wonderful thing about historical fiction is that it appeals to many different interests: students/lovers of history are drawn to the historical basis of the novels while other readers are interested in plot and the imaginative/fantastical aspects of the genre. Historical fiction is also pure entertainment.

Authors of historical fiction provide readers with a disclaimer that acknowledges that the storylines and facts may not be completely true, that they are the author's interpretation of certain factual events, people, and eras. Isn't this idea of interpreting the facts similar to the job of an academic historian? I think certainly Keith Jenkins would agree with me. He says that the past is gone and there is "no fundamentally correct 'text' of which other interpretations are just variations; variations are all there are."1 Couldn't historical fiction be another one of Jenkins's variations?

I think so. Books like Philippa Gregory's The Constant Princess and Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Carolly Erickson's The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette beautifully describe their respective periods with details of clothing, landscape, leisure time, housing, social conditions and much more. Gregory's Katherine of Aragon often describes her home in Grenada, the Alhambra, with such detail that the reader cannot help but imagine the palace in all its glory with painted murals and beautifully dressed women and men. In George's novel she writes of a banquet for Henry VII and family that consisted of "venison, crayfish, prawns, oysters, mutton, braw, conger-eel, carp, lamprey, swan, crane, quail, dove, partridge, goose, duck, rabbit, fruit custard, lamb, manchet, and so on...."2

These authors have inspired me to learn more about the actual historical events that surround the places and people described in the books. After reading about the Alhambra I took steps to learn of its Muslim origins and eventual transfer to Spanish control. George's description of a banquet feast provided me with insight as to Tudor eating habits and festivities. Countless other works of historical fiction have had the same effect.

Historical fiction affects its readers in another way: it teaches them to read with a critical mind. It is important to remember that this genre is indeed fiction. But I would argue that you need to read academic articles and historical non-fiction in the same way. Students and readers must be aware of author bias, contradictory evidence, and fact manipulation.

As a new student of public history it only recently occurred to me that historical fiction novels are a great way to promote history to the public. They are written in such a way that encourages the reader to learn more about the subject at hand. The only thing more that I could ask for is for someone to write Canadian historical fiction. Perhaps a novel based on a band of brave rebels fighting in Lower Canada during the rebellion of 1837 or one that tells of a wild romance between a beautiful native and her coureur des bois on the snowy, cold Canadian frontier.

Either way, any book of historical fiction will continue to be my genre of choice and I can't wait until February 28 when Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl will premier as a major motion picture! YES!



1 Keith Jenkins, Re-thinking History (London: Routledge, 2003), 14.
2 Margaret George, The Autobiography of Henry VIII (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1987), 32-33.

The View from Here

I was born and raised in Oshawa, Ontario. I'm sure some of you have heard of it, sometimes it's referred to as "the dirty shwa" or "the armpit of Ontario". Anyway, if you have heard of my lovely, relatively safe, blue collared hometown it's probably because of General Motors. The national headquarters is located there, not to mention two car plants, a truck plant, a paint shop, the Canadian Regional Engineering Centre (where most of the designing is done) and countless other affiliated automotive industries. You also may have read/heard about GM's latest announcement to cut 1200 jobs by eliminating the third shift at the truck plant. Not surprisingly, this decision is going to effect many people who live in Oshawa and the surrounding area as well as the economy of the region.

While GM boardroom decisions can have a negative effect on Oshawa, there are also many reasons to praise the big business. Oshawa's OHL team, the Oshawa Generals, is well known for kick-starting the careers of hockey legends like Bobby Orr and Eric Lindros. General Motors Centre, built just last year and partly funded by GM, has brought new life to the downtown. But what is more interesting to me, and more to the point of public history, is that Oshawa would not be the city it is today without Colonel R. S. McLaughlin.

In 1867 the McLaughlin Carriage Company was the largest in the British Empire. It moved its factory to Oshawa in 1876 from a small town north of the city. Toward the turn of the century, R.S. McLaughlin (affectionately known as Sam) encouraged his father (then owner) to switch to the manufacturing of automobiles. The McLaughlin Motor Car Company was created in 1907. A year later, the McLaughlins teamed with Buick and in 1915 with Chevrolet. McLaughlin cars were known for their reliabilty and quality but in 1918 Sam realized the best way to ensure success was to join forces with the booming company, General Motors. Sam became president of General Motors Canada and the headquarters remained in Oshawa. The McLaughlins were known throughout Oshawa and the surrounding areas.

I was fortunate enough to work at Parkwood, the R.S. McLaughlin Estate, National Historic Site for four summers. The estate dates to 1917 and was the home of Sam, his wife, and their five daughters. It now serves as a community museum which displays the original furnishings and anything else you can think of that belonged to the family. While I worked there I gained a lot of experience in archiving, tours, and museum management - something I don't think I would have gotten at a provincial or national museum. For one summer, I was responsible for cataloging, conserving, and preserving family archives.

Every summer, visitors come from around the world and are amazed at Parkwood and its grounds. But for the most part, Parkwood is still very unknown; citizens of Oshawa will often come in for a tour admitting they've lived in Oshawa their entire lives and not known about Parkwood (they know about Sam though). What's even more interesting, to me anyway, is that Parkwood has been the site for the filming of many movies: Billy Madison, Hollywoodland, X-Men, Chicago, The State Within (a wicked BBC production, by the way), to name a few. It was even featured on the TV show Rich Bride, Poor Bride (it's a wedding hotspot ladies!!!!). A lot of the times, visitors come just to see the staircase where Adam Sandler walked down, or the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

My point is this: there are a lot of museums just like Parkwood all throughout Canada and sometimes they are the best ones. A tour of Parkwood is filled with anecdotes and family stories; tours are limited to 15 people so visitors and tour guides form a rapport that, I think, leads to a better museum experience. I know for certain that the reason I am in public history is because of Parkwood. The community size of the museum meant that I could be responsible for things like grants, archiving, and sometimes security (not to mention the lack of funding...errr).

So go out and explore the lesser known museums in Canada (like Nana's beloved Spadina House or London's Eldon House). While an internship at the Canadian War Museum or History Television or the ROM might look better on a resume, I think you'll get more experience and have more fun at a smaller community museum. Next time you meet anyone from Oshawa you can think of more than GM. Heck, you might even surprise them with your knowledge of the McLaughlins and the history behind the city.

P.S. If anyone is ever in the Oshawa area and wants a tour of Parkwood, let me know! :D Ghost stories included.
P.P.S. I have to mention that Adam and I had a similar conversation in the Grad Club last night. ; )

Chapter One: Going Public

I wouldn't call myself a Billy Joel fan. I enjoy a late night rendition of Piano Man and I know most of the words to For the Longest Time, but that's about it. A few years ago, I came across Joel's 1989 song, We Didn't Start the Fire. Admittedly, I didn't think much of it. I mean, if you've heard it, you'll know it's just a rambling list of names and historical events that are in some way linked to American history and/or culture. I'm not particularly interested in American history, I am a Canadian"ist" through and through.

It wasn't until I was trying to think of a catchy name for my public history blog that I actually reconsidered Joel's song - particularly the chorus: "We didn't start the fire/it was always burning since the world's been turning/We didn't start the fire/no we didn't light it/but we tried to fight it..." (ok, it sounds kind of lame without the music). For me, the "fire" Joel is referring to is history as a whole - the people/places/events of our past that continue to affect us today. We, the collective we, did not make the decisions of the past but it is necessary for us to interpret them and to study them (if only for interest's sake). As public historians, it is our job to present the various "fires" to the public so they are aware of our history as a nation, as a people. After all, it was the philosopher George Santayana who said, "A country without a memory is a country of madmen." Anyone can rattle off a list of names of significant people and events but it takes more to actually understand what happened and why these things are significant.