History Archives - Queen's Journal

‘Queen’s Refuge’ exhibition running through November

Written on November 5, 2021. Posted in Arts, Visual.

Queen’s Refuge: Refugees and the University is now on display at the W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections library until Nov. 26. This unique exhibition examines the complex history of refugees at Queen’s across four themes: directions, transit, relief, and arrival. Each object and image...

Bears and Gaels: Making sense of Queen’s symbolism

Written on April 8, 2021. Posted in Sports.

Queen’s symbolism can be downright confusing. Many students end up graduating without ever finding out what a Gael is, and much less what its teddy bear mascot, Boo Hoo, has to do with anything. The answer to the first question is relatively straightforward, which will be addressed later. But how...

How the oil-thigh lost its shine: Queen’s fading football tradition

Written on February 11, 2021. Posted in Sports.

“Queen’s! Queen’s! Queen’s! Oil Thigh No Banrighinn Gu Brath! Cha gheill! Cha gheill! Cha gheill!” The thunderous Queen’s war cries which once flooded campus on football game days are no more, their echoes having faded into silence long ago. While many students may look at you sideways if you were...

A history of Queen’s Football: a new sport for a new school

Written on November 26, 2020. Posted in Football, Sports.

This story is the first of a two-part series on Queen’s football before, during, and after the two World Wars. When today’s students zip through Mackintosh-Corry Hall between lectures for a reprieve from the winter wind, few, if any, are aware they’re standing on hallowed ground. Where the current...

Halloween is a performance of history

Written on September 18, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Today, dressing up in costumes for Halloween is just for fun, but 2,000 years ago in Europe, it was considered a matter of life and death. Historicists of Halloween trace the holiday’s origin back to the Celtic celebration of the New Year, which they called Samhain—pronounced So-win—which was celebrated...

A tour guide’s timeline of the city Queen’s calls home

Written on January 24, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

Whether you’re just starting at Queen’s or you’ve lived in Kingston for years, there’s probably lots of interesting history about this city that you’ve never learned. In my experience as a tour guide with Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises last summer, my perspective on Kingston changed completely. Where...

Ontario’s history curriculum ingrains racism into schools

Written on September 20, 2019. Posted in Opinions.

It was only recently that I became confident in my ability to write an article like this one. Studying the humanities at a university focused on liberal arts, I’m lucky enough to have countless opportunities to study what forms our identities. As a ConEd student, I’m doubly fortunate: I get to study...

Featurette: The forgotten impact of George Masoud on Kingston

Written on February 13, 2018. Posted in Features.

Between 1901 and 1911 was the biggest wave of immigrants in Canadian history. Among them was George Masoud. Masoud arrived in Canada from Syria in 1901 as a young man of about 18 or 19 years. For his first job, he joined his uncle and male cousins as a peddler. Despite knowing only Arabic upon arrival,...

Featurette: Looking back at the AMS

Written on January 29, 2018. Posted in Features.

The Alma Mater Society here at Queen’s is the oldest student association in Canada and has been the primary institution of student government at Queen’s since its founding. The AMS was officially founded in 1858, emerging from the Dialectic Society, which was a debating association. The Dialectic...

Workhouse to Welfare

Written on January 25, 2018. Posted in Features.

If you walk past 305 Earl Street today, you would see an old, grey brick house with the occasional piece of litter on the lawn. While it’s no different from any other home you’d walk past in the University District, it’s a far cry from what it was 160 years ago. In May of 1850, the Kingston House...

Bohemian beauty in Prague’s Mucha Museum

Written on September 8, 2017. Posted in Arts.

When I went to Prague this summer, I went for everything but its art reputation. In a city where beer is cheaper than water and homes are sandwiched between massive gothic cathedrals, most of my attention was focused away from the world’s only museum dedicated to the Czech Art Noveau artist Alphonse...

From silent sisterhood to outspoken alliance

Written on May 28, 2017. Posted in Features.

There were five women in the class of 1884. While each would go on to have a prosperous career — a writer, a medical missionary, a teacher, a professor and a doctor — their journeys were not without struggle. Their graduation marked an important moment in history and the beginning of a new era for...

Commentary: Who has the right to tell Indigenous stories?

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Arts.

At the crux of the controversy unleashed by allegations that Canadian author Joseph Boyden’s heritage isn’t as Indigenous as he claims is a question readers have to ask themselves as we consider his work: who has the right to tell Indigenous stories. Recent allegations by the Aboriginal People Television...

And a Rector does what?

Written on September 23, 2016. Posted in Features.

When Cam Yung talks about policy, he uses his hands. “Policy, in my opinion, is meta,” the Rector said, excitedly pantomiming the scope of his topic. “We may not see the [policy] makes a difference right away but in 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now, it may be one of the greatest changes.” Yung, ArtSci...

Never forget, 9/11 continues to effect

Written on September 16, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Alongside the annual commemorations of those lost, the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center also marks something new: the first year that high school freshmen will be reading about 9/11 as a piece of history they weren’t alive for. The attack on the World Trade Center...

Looking through the stained glass of Kingston's history

Written on August 2, 2016. Posted in Arts.

The Agnes Etherington Art Centre has a new piece in its collection that combines art, history and politics into a story of Kingston’s beginnings. A historical stained glass window, brought to the Agnes in collaboration with the City of Kingston, marks Kingston’s 175th anniversary of becoming the first...

Robert Sutherland’s lasting legacy

Written on February 26, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Robert Sutherland’s enrolment at Queen’s was and continues to be a significant part of the school’s history. As someone who’s remembered not only for surpassing Canadian milestones, but saving Queen’s during a crucial financial crisis, Sutherland is among the university’s most notable alumni. Born...

Purview artist talks at Modern Fuel

Written on October 30, 2015. Posted in Arts.

The Purview artist talks offered Kingston artists a think-tank setting for to share new ideas and criticism on their projects and future endeavours. During the talks, Kingston artists Tara Lynn MacDougall and Andrew Rabyniuk spoke to an audience of artists from the Kingston community about their...

A Presbyterian past

Written on October 8, 2015. Posted in Features.

Despite more than a century as a secular institution, vestiges of the University’s Presbyterian heritage continue to impact student life today. The student population is more diverse than it’s been at any point in the institution’s 174-year history. Efforts to support and promote diversity have combated...

Technology takeover

Written on January 16, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

You might not think your history degree would ever have you digitizing the x-rays of a sarcophagus, but with the rise of digital humanities, it could be a reality. This area of study looks at the intersection between computing and humanities. It’s a lens that allows people to interact with important,...

Social histories get a voice

Written on November 21, 2014. Posted in News.

For the past eight months, CFRC and Queen’s Archives have been collaborating on a revitalization of the Archives’ “Speaking Stones” website guide to the social history of Kingston. Kristiana Clemens, operating officer at CFRC, said their initial plan was to create audio walking tours of certain locations...

Sir John A. a divisive figure

Written on November 14, 2014. Posted in News.

The legacy of Canada’s first Prime Minister is being debated in the lead-up to Sir John A. Macdonald’s bicentennial. The 16th annual symposium on Indigenous research, organized by the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre (FDASC), will take place Friday and Saturday at Sutherland Hall and will...

Forgotten adversaries

Written on October 9, 2014. Posted in Sports.

Ask around campus who Queen’s biggest rival is and you’re likely to hear a rousing chorus of “Wuck Festern”. It’s no secret that Western and their sports teams, the Mustangs, rile up a sense of school pride and resentment. The schools share a great deal of similarities, each boasting long traditions...

Stones in the Woods sheds light on part of the community's history

Written on September 23, 2014. Posted in Arts.

Set in a quiet, woody area of City Park, Stones in the Woods isn’t only a historically informative play, but an intimate, well-acted one. The one-act play is presented by The Cellar Door Project, a non-profit organization that uses theatrical presentation as a means to refreshingly convey stories...

Queen’s at war

Written on July 29, 2014. Posted in Features.

Two-and-a-half years after Arthur Thorne Darby left Queen’s, a German artillery shell exploded next to him, driving shrapnel into his chest and hip. Darby had enrolled at Queen’s as an engineering student in the fall of 1913, but attended for only a semester, having failed his examinations that December. It...

The Scottish connection

Written on July 28, 2014. Posted in In Focus.

Orientation week at most universities includes your average frosh week fare: activities, concerts and students finding their footing in a new place. But Queen’s isn’t like most universities. All the flavours of a regular frosh week are present at Queen’s, but with a unique ingredient: a deeply-rooted...

‘Roots’ of Queen’s: black won’t crack

Written on February 13, 2014. Posted in Opinions.

Stephanie Jackson, ArtSci ’14 This past summer, I learned that my ancestors spoke Gaelic. While this might not seem like something worth mentioning since there are probably many other Queen’s students whose ancestors spoke Gaelic, this is why it’s important: I’m black. My father is black. My mother’s...

Dedicated decades for students’ sovereignty

Written on January 28, 2014. Posted in Features.

The Queen’s Alma Mater Society outdates Canada and has outlived other products of its era. The AMS was born out of the Dialectic Society — now known as Queen’s Debating Union — in the 1850s, the same decade the penny was minted. The penny’s now gone, but the AMS persists. While this year’s AMS executive...

Tartan-tailored tradition

Written on January 24, 2014. Posted in Features.

Tartan and tams are only the beginning — Queen’s has plenty of reasons to celebrate Robbie Burns Day. Jan. 25 marks the 255th annual celebration of the birthday of Scotland’s national poet and lyricist, Robert Burns, whose words remain revered across the globe. Beloved by the Scots as ‘the people’s...

Holocaust education gets personal

Written on November 8, 2013. Posted in News.

Elana Moscoe and Zoey Katz want to make learning about the Holocaust more personal for students. Moscoe and Katz, who are spearheading Holocaust Education Week this year as part of Queen’s Hillel on campus, said they want to relay a focus on “preserving legacies and sharing stories,” as Moscoe, ConEd...

Tag: History

The Journal, Queen's University - Since 1873

Get the App

Get the App