Help Keep History Alive ... Join the Manitoba Historical Society

Are you interested in the history of Manitoba and Western Canada? If so, the Manitoba Historical Society is for you! Membership is open to individuals, students, families, organizations, and businesses.

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Benefits of membership in the Manitoba Historical Society include:

Publications

Manitoba History – Our journal, published three times a year, is devoted to the history of Manitoba and Western Canada. It contains well researched, scholarly articles as well as articles of general interest, book reviews, and advertisements.

Time Lines – Our newsletter is published every two months. It reports on MHS activities, advertises upcoming events and museum developments, and informs members about heritage news around the province and elsewhere.

Web site – Our web site contains a wide variety of historical information drawn from our publications (Transactions, Manitoba Pageant, Manitoba History, and Time Lines). It also contains unique documents and articles, biographies, lists of award recipients, and information about the MHS museums and programs.

Edwin Nix Memorial Library – Our library honouring late MHS member Edwin C. Nix contains collection of books, journals, newsletters, local histories, and pamphlets relating to the general theme of Manitoba history.

Museums

Dalnavert Museum and Visitors Centre – In 1970, we purchased the former home of Sir Hugh John Macdonald at 61 Carlton in Winnipeg and restored it to its 1895 appearance, complete with Victorian furnishings. Named “Dalnavert” for the Macdonald ancestral home in Scotland, the house is operated year-round as a museum. It has won awards for preservation excellence and, in 1990, it was designated as a National Historic Site. The attached Dalnavert Visitors Centre contains a gift shop and it provides space for meetings and presentations, offices for our staff, and storage space for museum artifacts.

Ross House Museum – This log house, site of the first post office in western Canada, was built in 1852 by William Ross. It has been moved twice and is now located in Joe Zuken Heritage Park, in Winnipeg’s Point Douglas neighborhood. Ross House Museum, open during summer months, illustrates life as it was during the time of the Red River Settlement.

Programs

Sir John A. Macdonald Dinner – This event is held each year on the Saturday closest to January 11, nationally designated as Sir John A. Macdonald Day, the birthday of Canada’s first Prime Minister. It is the Society’s primary fundraiser. Recent dinners have featured such speakers as the Honourable John Crosbie, Rex Murphy, Mel Hurtig, Phil Fontaine, Jamie Brown, Judge Murray Sinclair, Jake MacDonald, the Honourable John N. Turner, entertainer Mike Ford, Margaret Sweatman, and others.

Multicultural Dinner – This annual events highlights the ethnic diversity of Manitoba. Each dinner features a particular group, including its indigenous foods and beverages, and accompanied by a presentation on its activities in Manitoba. Recent dinners have been held at the Centro Caboto, the Icelandic Club, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, the Czech and Slovak Association, the St. John’s Cathedral, the Winnipeg Chilean Association Hall, the Hindu Society of Manitoba Temple, the Asper Jewish Community Campus, and the Polish Combatants Association Hall.

Field Trips – The MHS operates guided historic bus tours to various sites in the region. Recent trips have included stops at Wawanesa’s Sipiweske Museum, the Archibald Museum near La Rivière, the Inglis grain elevators, the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum in Shilo, and the northern communities of The Pas, Flin Flon, and Grand Rapids. The MHS has prepared walking tour guides of the Tuxedo, Crescentwood, Wolseley, and Point Douglas neighbourhoods in Winnipeg.

Committees – The MHS’s standing committees address topics of specific interest. Some committees are responsible for research, planning, and presentation of awards, or operation of museums. Others are more wide-ranging in their terms of reference. At present, committees include: Centennial Business, Centennial Farm, Centennial Organization, McWilliams, Young Historians, Field Trip, Finance, Publications, Membership, Program, Macdonald Dinner, Historic Preservation, Heritage Trust, Dalnavert Museum Management, and Ross House Management.

Presentations – The Program Committee, often in collaboration with other MHS committees and external groups, organizes oral presentations on a range of topics.

Representation – The MHS appoints a representative to provide input to several external groups, such as the City of Winnipeg Historic Buildings Committee, which advises on significant architectural features around the city. Our representative on the Winnipeg Real Estate Board’s Citizen’s Walk of Fame proposes nominees in an historical category, for whom a brass bust is unveiled annually in Assiniboine Park. We are represented on the Board of Heritage Winnipeg, which considers heritage matters in Winnipeg.

Affiliated societies – The MHS’s mandate includes assistance in the formation and work of local historical societies in furthering the objectives of the Society throughout Manitoba. Any local, regional, national, or international group which endorses the objectives of the MHS is invited to become an affiliated society with a view toward facilitating intercommunication and mutual enrichment.

Awards

Centennial Farm Awards – This program was initiated by the MHS in 1980 to recognize farms which have been operated continuously for 100 years or more by a single family. To date, over 1,200 farms have been so designated throughout southern Manitoba. Recipient families receive a plaque or certificate, usually at a formal presentation ceremony. A separate Century Farm program of the provincial government provides signs which recipient families post at their farm gate.

Centennial Business Awards – In 1999, the MHS initiated the Manitoba Centennial Business Awards to recognize businesses that have operated continuously in the province for over 100 years. Changes in business location and ownership are permitted. Recipient businesses, of which there have been 52 so far, are presented with a commemorative plaque at the annual Macdonald Dinner or at an event sponsored by the recipient.

Centennial Organization Awards – This program was started in 2004 as part of the MHS’s 125th anniversary celebrations. It commemorates 100 years of continuous operation by non-profit organizations, clubs, congregations, and associations in the areas of culture, economic development, education, health, heritage, labour, politics, recreation and sport, religion, and social reform. Numerous awards have been made to date, usually at our annual awards ceremony.

Margaret McWilliams Awards – This award, one of the oldest literary awards in Canada, was instituted in 1955 as a memorial to Margaret S. McWilliams, a well-known Manitoba author, by her husband, former Lieutenant-Governor Roland F. McWilliams. Its purpose is to encourage the study and interpretation of the history of Manitoba. Certificates are presented at our annual awards ceremony to authors of scholarly books, popular books, local histories, and other works.

Young Historians Awards – This award program is open to all school children in the province to encourage them in producing essays, posters, models, and videos on themes from Manitoba history. Thirty-three awards were made at our most recent annual ceremony. The winner of the Dr. Edward Shaw Award (named in honour of the late MHS President and historian) for an outstanding senior essay has his or her work published in our journal, Manitoba History.

Douglas Kemp Award – This award was inaugurated in 1988 to recognize exceptional service in the promotion and preservation of Manitoba’s heritage, usually by an MHS member. It commemorates the late MHS President, Douglas Kemp. This award is typically presented at our Annual General Meeting.