2023 Clyde River History Lecture Series

The Clyde River History Society is pleased to once again host the Clyde River History Lecture Series. After a three-year break, we are launching our 9th series with three presentations. We welcome you to join us to learn more about the history of quilting, Island tourism and the Women’s Institute. The events run on Saturdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. with the presentation in the first hour followed by refreshments. We space the lectures two weeks apart to allow for storm dates which, if required, would be held on the following Saturday. The location is the Riverview Community Centre at 718 Clyde River Road. We also invite visitors to tour our museum of artefacts and historic photos. If you have any specific questions, please email vivian@eastlink.ca.

Marg Weeks – “Quilts of COVID” – January 28th, 2023, 1:30 p.m.

Marg Weeks (credit: Saltwire)

During the pandemic, some PEI quilters took fabric that they already had stashed around the house and created quilts. Marg will tell the story of how this pandemic project progressed and will bring along a few of the quilts.

Available for sale at event

The resulting book features photos of 70 quilts from 27 quilters. Some of them are machine quilted and others are hand-quilted works of art and museum quality. A glossary of quilting terms is included for non-quilters. The book helps to spread the joy of quilting and gives these creations a place in the pages of Island history.

Margaret (Marg) Weeks was born and raised on a dairy farm near Picton, Ontario, in Prince Edward County, Ontario. She graduated from MacDonald College, McGill, in Montreal with a Bachelor of Food Science in 1972. In that same year, she accepted a position with the Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and moved to the Island. She worked with the 4-H program across the Province in Home Economics skill development and rural leadership enhancement and later with UPEI managing Profit Learn PEI.

Aside from her professional career, she built skills in many areas through volunteer activities with the PEI Women in Agriculture, 4-H, Missions Thrift Store, her Church family and, of course, the Kindred Spirits Quilt Guild. Her interest in writing, as well as fabric and design, has led to her leadership in the production of “Quilts of Covid”.

Dr. Ed MacDonald – “Enshrined: Island Tourism and the Confederation Story” – February 11, 2023, 1:30 p.m.

Dr. Ed MacDonald

Dr. MacDonald will present how the Island’s claim as the “Birthplace of Confederation” has evolved over the years. He will reference research for the book he co-authored with Dr. Alan MacEachern, “The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island”. Books will be available for sale at this event.

Edward MacDonald is Professor of History at the University of Prince Edward Island, where since 2000, he has taught various courses in Canadian and Prince Edward Island history, public history, tourism history, and the history of rock and roll.

MacDonald was educated at UPEI (BA, History and English,1978) and Queen’s University (MA, 1980; Ph.D., 1984). Prior to joining UPEI, he was editor of The Island Magazine (1985—97) and Curator of History with the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation (1987—97), then Director of Research with UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies (1997—2000).

Available for sale at event

He has authored, edited or co-edited ten books dealing with the social, environmental, and tourism history of Prince Edward Island and its environs, including If You’re Stronghearted: Prince Edward Island in the Twentieth Century (2000); Time and a Place: An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island (2016), The Greater Gulf: Essays on the Environmental History of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (2020), and, with Alan MacEachern, The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island, published in 2022. Over the course of his career he has published over fifty articles in various academic and popular history venues, is often called upon as a public speaker, and serves as a resource to local media.

Among his awards and distinctions are the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to the culture and heritage of Prince Edward Island (2012); Heritage Canada’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Award (2014); the Canadian Catholic Historical Association’s G. E. Clerk Award for outstanding service to the history of Catholicism in Canada (2016); the Award of Honour for lifetime achievement from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation (2017); and the Boyde Beck Memorial Award (2018)  for contributions to the preservation of Island heritage.

Marie Kenny – “Women’s Institute – A living legacy” – February 25th, 1:30 p.m.

Marie Kenny

Marie Kenny will present on the living legacy of the Women’s Institute movement that began in Canada over 125 years ago. From humble beginnings and a vision for women to become better educated in domestic science, this valued principal continues today empowering women to engage in issues that affect family, community and our world. This is the history of how one voice can ignite a spark and how in working together, a global difference can be achieved. The story began, the work continues and the impact is enormous.

Marie Kenny is an Islander, a wife, mother, grandmother, author, artist and pastor. Humanitarian work and community capacity building have involved much of Marie’s life at a local, national and international level. Growing up on a family farm and raising her family in a rural community, Marie has a deep appreciation for rural life and the Women’s Institute organisation, which she feels truly is the backbone of rural communities across our nation.

Through both her professional and volunteer capacity, Marie has witnessed firsthand the injustice and discrimination faced by women. She has a passion for advocacy work and building strong partnerships, and enhancing community. Marie has received numerous awards including the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Woman of the Year, Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteerism, Senate of Canada Sesquicentennial Medal, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Premier’s Award for Craft Education. In 2014, she was nominated as one of Canada’s most influential and aspiring women leaders.