CSTHA members enjoyed a dinner among the aircraft at the Canada Aviation Museum during the 2005 Ottawa conference.
Photo: Crystal Sissons

Student Awards 2005

At the Ottawa Conference of the CSTHA, two awards were presented for the best student papers. Judging was based on originality, presentation, depth of knowledge of the subject, etc. The papers were outstanding and confirm that our discipline will be in good hands with our young scholars.

The first, provided by the Royal Society of Canada, was awarded to Crystal Sissons of the University of Ottawa. The second award provided by the CSTHA went to Jean-François Gauvin of Harvard University. The abstracts of their presentations follows their photos.

CSTHA President Randall Brooks presenting awards to Crystal Sissons and Jean-François Gauvin

Crystal Sissons
University of Ottawa

Elsie MacGill: Feminist Engineer and “The Moving Force” of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, 1967-1970

The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (RCSW) created by the Lester B. Pearson Administration in 1967, was the result of continuous pressure during the interwar years by Canadian feminists to ensure that their concerns regarding Canadian society were addressed. Understanding the ongoing work of key feminists such as pioneering engineer Elsie Gregory MacGill is essential in order to evaluate women’s continuing public activism and call for equality which culminated in the creation of the RCSW. Additionally, it allows for an analysis of the unique brand of feminism championed by these women within ‘male-coded’ careers such as engineering. These women prevailed within the predominantly male working environment not only towards their own success, but at the same time breaking stereotypes and gender expectations of women’s place in society and her role in the public realm whether in the workforce or within society at large. This assessment overall will challenge past assumptions about women’s place during the interwar years and generate new insights into the unique brand of liberal feminism which these women forged and then applied to bridge the gap between the multiple segregated dimensions of Canadian society in their quest for equality.

Jean-François Gauvin
Harvard University, Department of the History of Science

Objets Décoratifs au Collection de Recherche Sui Generis? l'abbé Nollet (1700-1770) au Musée Stewart de Montréal, 1983-2005

Le Musée Stewart de Montréal fête ses 50 ans cette année. Dans le cadre d'une exposition anniversaire, nous avons souhaité illustrer à l'aide des instruments scientifiques fabriqués "à la manière de" l'abbé Nollet l'importance cruciale que revêt la recherche des collections dans les musées. Pierre angulaire de toute institution dite savante, la recherche devrait dès maintenant (re)devenir la priorité des musées du XXIe siècle. C'est l'unique façon, à notre humble avis, de redorer le blason de l'institution muséale auprès du grand public et, surtout, d'éviter de sombrer davantage dans la Disneyfication du savoir patrimoniale...

2003
- Kingston (2003)

2001
- Kingston (2001)

1999
- Kingston (1999)