Dictionary of Canadian Biography

Thoughts on biography, AI, and a return to undergraduate teaching as David Wilson steps down as editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography: stmikes.utoronto.ca/news/celtic-...

Our thematic galleries bring together many bios within a theme. Today's highlighted theme is sports. It is an overview of the development of sports, their practice by Canadians, and the achievements that have left their mark on the collective imagination. www.biographi.ca/en/special_s...

Bio of the Day: Wellmein William Le Gallais (1833–69), Church of England clergyman and missionary. When he was caught in a gale and drowned, Bishop Feild mourned the loss of “perhaps the most active and useful of our Missionaries in Newfoundland.” www.biographi.ca/en/bio/le_ga...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Mary Travers, known as La Bolduc (Bolduc), (1894–1941) is considered the first singer-songwriter of the chanson québécoise. Her success stemmed from her authenticity. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/trave...

Bio of the Day: Pierre Falcon, (or jocularly Pierriche – Pierre the rhymer) (1793–1876), poet and song-writer, a Métis of Red River. Regrettably, the words of many of Falcon’s songs were never written down and have been lost. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/falco...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Susan Moir (Allison) (1845–1937) was a teacher, pioneer rancher, storekeeper, historian, and author. Her memoirs (1931) are among the few primary sources about women’s experiences in 19-c. British Columbia. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/moir_...

Bio of the Day: Rebecca Agatha Armour (Thompson) (1845–91), teacher and author. In 1878, the Saint John Daily Telegraph published her novel 'Lady Rosamond’s secret: a romance of Fredericton', which provides interesting glimpses of Fredericton in the 1820s. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/armou...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Florence Bridgwood, known as Florence Lawrence and “the Biograph Girl” (1886–1938), represents a number of young Canadian-born/raised women who, during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, forged careers as actors in theatre or film. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bridg...

Bio of the Day: Andrew Paton (1833–92), manufacturer and politician. His company would become the largest woollen-goods factory in Canada – and make a major contribution to the growth in Sherbrooke’s population. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/paton...

Bio of the Day: Colin H. Campbell (1859–1914), lawyer, businessman, and politician. He moved to Winnipeg in 1882. In 1899 he ran in the provincial general election and won, and was later appointed attorney general. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/campb...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Harriet Brooks was the first woman to earn a master’s degree in physics at McGill University, and worked with Marie Curie. She died at 56, probably due to exposure to radiation. biographi.ca/en/bio/brook... 📷@museemccordstewart.bsky.social

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Marie Dressler lived a roller coaster of a life. She had enormous success on the vaudeville stage after years in stock companies and then faced a period of dire financial straits before finding Academy Award–winning film stardom. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/koerb...

Bio of the Day: James Ward (d. 1891), sailor, tavern and boarding-house keeper, and crimp. Known to the sailors as “the biggest rogue in Quebec,” Ward was the most infamous of the Rue Champlain crimps, stealing or enticing sailors away from their ships. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ward_...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Diana Bestian (d. 1792), an enslaved Black female, was likely raped a member of Cape Breton’s Executive Council. Her pleas for assistance were refused, demonstrating the helplessness felt by enslaved women and girls in the Maritimes. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/besti...

Bio of the Day: Sigismund Mohr (1827–93), engineer. An unrecognized pioneer, a figure neglected in general historical works, this modest Jewish immigrant helped to transform the face of Quebec in the late 19th century. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mohr_...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Margaret Gascoigne (1876–1934) immigrated to #Montreal in 1913 and opened The Study, a private English-language girls’ school, which developed a reputation for high educational achievement. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gasco...

Northern Landscape A.Y. Jackson 1939

Women's History Month: Carrie Best was co-founder of The Clarion, one of the first newspapers in Nova Scotia owned and published by Black Canadians. She used the platform to advocate for Black rights. buff.ly/ypP6Vhl

Constructing the Bathurst Street bridge over the Cedarvale Ravine on this day in 1929. This photo is looking south. https://ow.ly/zlxZ50ZYxSv

What should the next Heritage Minute be about? We asked some prominent Canadians to make their case, and they had thoughts. As Heritage Minutes celebrate 35 years, we’re looking ahead to the stories still waiting to be told. What would you nominate for a Heritage Minute? 👇

Our thematic galleries bring together many bios within the context of a theme. Today's highlighted theme is The Fenians. William Randall Roberts argued that Irish revolutionaries should hit the British empire where it was most vulnerable – Canada. www.biographi.ca/en/theme_fen...

Bio of the Day: Archibald Glenlyon Campbell (1863–1917), rancher, politician, office holder, and militia and army officer. As early as 1914 Campbell advocated for the formation of a battalion composed entirely of Indigenous soldiers. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/campb...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Educator, abolitionist, author, publisher, and journalist Mary Ann Shadd (1823–1893) gained recognition by articulating what became her perennial themes: Black independence and self-respect. 📷@library-archives.canada.ca www.biographi.ca/en/bio/shadd...

Violet King's parents came to Canada from the United States in the hope of finding a better life. Violet went on to become the first Black female lawyer in Canadian history and the first Black person to graduate law school in Alberta. youtube.com/shorts/ZlcWd...

After the Deep Dive, read our bio of Tommy Douglas here: www.biographi.ca/en/bio/dougl...

Bio of the Day: John Bell (1788–1855), Wesleyan minister. In 1816 he was one of six British Wesleyan Methodist missionaries dispatched to Newfoundland. Known as “the Bishop,” Bell was a powerful speaker and an excellent pastor. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bell_...

This fall, OCAD University is celebrating its 150th anniversary! Standing behind the easel in this 1911 life class at The Grange is artist George Agnew Reid, the first principal of the Ontario College of Art. https://ow.ly/vYlx50ZW1p8

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Maud Menten (1879–1960), educator, research scientist, biochemist, and pathologist, was inducted into thte the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1998. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mente...

Bio of the Day: Nicholas John Schaack (1883–1935), farm labourer and protester. Nick Schaack was part of the On-to-Ottawa trek, the most significant protest movement of the depression. He was one of the rioters during the Dominion Day melee. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/schaa...

Henrietta Louise Muir (Edwards) (1849–1931), feminist activist, artist, and legal expert. Appreciated and celebrated by only a small group of her contemporaries, as one of the Famous Five she is now a Canadian cultural icon. #WomensHistoryMonth #PersonsDay www.biographi.ca/en/bio/muir_...

Bio of the Day: Michael Power (1804–47), Roman Catholic priest and bishop. Though his episcopate was short, the first bishop of Toronto had through his energetic administration laid the foundations for a flourishing diocese. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/power...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Phoebe Johnson (d. 1940), Tuscarora woman and labourer. Her losses, family strife, and poverty are a reminder of the struggles many Indigenous women in Canada faced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/johns...

Bio of the Day: Robert McKechnie (1835–1909), manufacturer, politician, and office holder. His prominence as a successful manufacturer led him to contribute to the organization of the industrial interest and to the creation of the Ontario Manufacturers’ Association. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mckec...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Dorimène Desjardins (1858–1932) ran the Caisse Populaire de Lévis from her family home. L’Action catholique wrote that “Without her, we must admit, the Caisses Populaires Desjardins would probably not exist.” www.biographi.ca/en/bio/desja...

Bio of the Day: Florence Sarah Hussey (Hall) (1864–1917), temperance worker, suffragist, and feminist. Before her death, she moved far beyond the arguments of many of her colleagues whose demand for equality focused on woman’s role as mother and helpmate of men. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/husse...

www.labourheritagecentre.ca/collection/s...

That’s fantastic! Learn more about Gordon Tamblyn and his drug stores here: www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tambl...

Happy birthday to Willie O'Ree, born on this day in 1935 in Fredericton, NB The first Black player in the NHL, he played 45 games for the Boston Bruins, recording 14 points. In the WHL, he had 639 points in 785 games. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. 📸 Philip Cheung

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Marjory Jardine Ramsay MacMurchy (Willison, Lady Willison) (1870–1938) was among the most respected Canadian female journalists of the early 20th century. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/macmu...

Bio of the Day:Paul Denys de Saint-Simon (1649–1731), provost of the marshalcy, member of the Conseil Souverain. He participated in the 1671–72 expedition to James Bay, whose primary purpose was to the assert French sovereignty there. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/denys...

It is #WomensHistoryMonth! Edith Rayside was a nurse. She served in #WWI, helped enhance the educational standards and professional appreciation of nurses, and advanced the recognition of women’s place beyond the gender boundaries of her day. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/raysi...

Women have played a vital role in the history of Canadian literature and journalism: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/albums/72157710139975242/ #CanadianLibraryMonth #MoisHistoireFemmes 📷3420530, 3194762, 3191524

#NewBio! Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve (1883–1947), Roman Catholic priest, Oblate of Mary Immaculate, teacher, author, archbishop, and cardinal. Although he played a leading role in the Catholic Church, his political actions were often misinterpreted and debated. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ville...

🍎 Teaching grades 6 to 10? Help #students apply historical thinking 🧠 to the changing imagery on Canadian🍁 bank notes—and see why our #vertical10 is so important. Get the #LessonPlan. 👉 https://bit.ly/3Lwg0aI