Research

Truth and reconciliation come with a lot of responsibility, not only for the descendants of those who colonized and settled on Turtle Island, but also for those who come here today to call this land their new home. We have a responsibility to learn about the history of this land and its people, as we…

In June 1910, one of the most famous men on Earth visited a hillside subdivision overlooking Lake Superior and made what appears to have been his only Canadian real estate purchase. How Sir Ernest Shackleton came to own two lots in a Thunder Bay subdivision is a small, strange footnote to a legendary life. It…

The Canadian First Nations communities had traversed the Great Lakes shorelines for centuries before colonial settlers became an integral part of their lives.

To follow up with our February Blog about the Mechanics’ Institute in Port Arthur, we will turn our attention now to the development of the Port Arthur Public Library and the building of what is now called Waverley Resource Library.  In 1900, after much deliberation, the town of Port Arthur took over the Mechanics' Institute…

"When men, engaged in the liquor business commenced to carry revolvers with which to protect themselves against possible police interference, then they ceased to be simple law breakers, and became bandits and potential murderers" — Magistrate William Palling, Fort William, 1922 Four Ontario Provincial Police officers, led by Inspector Charles W. Symons, waited in the…

On April 9, 1917 the Canadian military began an assault that would solidify itself as a formidable force for the remainder of the First World War. The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place from April 9 - 12, a battle that marked the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought alongside each…

Sometimes you hear about a life that is so grand and full of adventure it almost seems impossible. Affectionately known as the Lady Lumberjack, Dorothea Mitchell settled in the Thunder Bay District and led a life full of adventure. Dorothea was a force of nature up until her death in 1976. She never let age…

Over two decades before a public library was established in Port Arthur, then Prince Arthur's Landing, there was the Mechanics' Institute. The Institute, which began in 1876, put on classes and operated a reading room with books for leisure and for learning. In 1907, Port Arthur's Town Hall burned to the ground, resulting in the…

Floor space is not a new issue for the Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) system. In 1951 what is now the Waverley Library was built and the Port Arthur Public Library moved operations to the new location. In 1974 a new addition was built onto Waverley to meet the needs of the public who utilized…

In early September 1916, halfway through the First World War, two haggard Allied soldiers crept toward the barbed wire entanglements surrounding their heavily guarded German prisoner-of-war camp. They had been captured months earlier and had spent weeks carefully planning their escape. Up to this point in the war, no one had ever escaped from German…