Saint John: Nothing Happened Here

• Except for Farewell... For Now

  Unfortunately, Season 1 of the podcast is coming to an abrupt end. Greg is unable to continue with the show. As we said in the last episode, there is a lot of work that goes behind the podcast. If you know Greg, he is very active in the Saint John community through music and volunteer organizations, as well as being a busy academic at the University of New Brunswick. He took some time to evaluate his workload and priorities, and came to the conclusion that the podcast was proving to be a bit too much. I am sure all our listeners will join me in thanking Greg for all his hard work on the show in the last year and wish him well in all his endeavours. We learned a lot from him, and he will be missed. I would like to thank you, our listeners, for your support of the podcast. Your message was received loud and clear that you would like a Second Season. I’ll do my best to bring back the show in September 2025. Stay tuned to our website or Facebook page for updates. As I’ve said before, I believe it is important to have a local history podcast. I, for one, require more proof that Saint John: Nothing Happened Here.

  --------  

  1:55

  --------

  1:55
• Except for Season Two?

  In this episode, Saint John - Nothing Happened Here goes back to the 80s. Also, it is revealed that a big decision must be made.If you would like Saint John -Nothing Happened Here to come back for a second season, vote by giving the podcast a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify!

  --------  

  50:24

  --------

  50:24
• Except for the Fenian Threat of 1865/1866

  In this episode, we discuss the Fenian movement of the 1860s and its effects on Saint John during security scares in late 1865 and the spring of 1866, including its political impacts in the latter year and beyond. Founded on both sides of the Atlantic by former members of the Young Ireland movement of the late 1840s, the Irish Republican Brotherhood was dedicated to the liberation of Ireland from British rule and the establishment of an independent republic. A secret society whose membership and activities were far from secret in the United States, it was opposed by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church because of its radical goals and acceptance of physical force as opposed to gradual reform. American Fenianism channeled bitter memories among immigrant communities of the Irish Famine of the late 1840s [see episode # 4, The Irish Famine Migration].  One wing of the American movement, which attracted thousands of Irish Americans with Civil War combat experience, wanted to attack Canada to put pressure on Great Britain, but the O’Mahony wing believed in fomenting an uprising in Ireland. Fueled by press speculation as well as genuine intelligence from British officials on a possible raid, many citizens of Saint John in late 1865 feared a Fenian attack. In 1866, the provincial authorities prepared for an attack and/or uprising on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. In short order, hundreds of American Fenians began to gather on the Maine-New Brunswick border, seemingly intent on making some type of military incursion. The arrival of a schooner with a cargo of rifles and ammunition made the situation on the border - 75 miles from Saint John - potentially critical. As tensions mounted, the New Brunswick government sent volunteer militia infantry and artillery units to the border, joined by British troops from Halifax and five Royal Navy vessels.          The episode discusses a mysterious “Fenian circular” that appeared on the streets of Saint John near the height of the 1866 crisis and explores whether it could have been an example of ‘black propaganda,’ designed to discredit not the Fenians, but the current Anti-Confederation government of New Brunswick. We also examine evidence- admittedly slim- that is suggestive of a Fenian cell in the city and any lingering support for physical force republicanism in later years. By the middle of the 1910s, this became the dominant approach towards securing the independence of Ireland. Finally, our trip back to the 1860s explains how the Fenians, despite their avowed opposition to the federal union of the colonies of British North America, can be considered Fathers of Confederation.The song “Down by the Glenside/The Bold Fenian Men” written by Peadar Kearney was performed by Morgan Driscoll, backed up by John Lawrence on fiddle and Greg Marquis on guitar. It was recorded at O’Leary’s Pub in Saint John.     Show Notes: https://www.nothinghappenedhere.ca/post/except-for-the-fenian-threat-of-1865-1866

  --------  

  1:05:54

  --------

  1:05:54
• Except for the Fight for Women's Voting Rights

  This episode, released close to International Women’s Day (March 8), recalls an important political reform cause in Saint John’s past that was part of a national and international movement: the fight for women’s voting rights. Starting in the late 1800s, the Saint John Women’s Enfranchisement Organization, which was a spinoff from a national organization, worked tirelessly for the provincial franchise for New Brunswick women as a citizenship right.The Saint John suffragists, who had male allies, were the most active group in the Maritime provinces working on the issue. The stories of its key members, such as Emma Fiske, Mabel Peters and Ella Hatheway, deserve to be better known. Many were involved in other causes, such as public playgrounds for the urban poor, temperance and worker’s rights and became involved in reform activism because of strong religious convictions. They held meetings, wrote letters to newspapers, organized petitions, lobbied politicians and even drafted legislation. Although mainly middle class in background, their challenging of the status quo was met by inertia, ridicule, hostility and misogyny. Saint John’s suffragists hosted the prominent American abolitionist, social reformer and women’s rights champion Julia Ward Howe in the 1890s and in1912, famous British suffragette Sylva Pankhurst, who was on a North American speaking tour. Although the Saint John Women’s Enfranchisement Organization avoided the militant tactics of their high profile British ‘sisters,’ they were inspired by their struggles and shared their goals.The long and determined campaign of Saint John’s suffragists finally succeeded in 1919, when all women, regardless of their marital status or personal property holdings, were extended the right to vote in provincial elections. The exception were First Nations women who lived on reserves (who would have to wait more than 4 decades). This episode ends with an interview with the leading expert on the history of women’s voting rights in Atlantic Canada, Dr. Heidi MacDonald, Dean of Arts at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. Dr. MacDonald is the author of We Shall Persist: Women and the Vote in the Atlantic Provinces (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2023): https://www.ubcpress.ca/we-shall-persistShow Notes: https://www.nothinghappenedhere.ca/post/except-for-the-fight-for-women-s-voting-rights

  --------  

  1:08:03

  --------

  1:08:03
• Except for the 1914 Street Railway Riot

  Two weeks before Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, the Saint John central business district was the site of another type of conflict, a labour struggle that pitted more than 100 members of the street railway union against the unpopular streetcar company. The three-day strike drew thousands of onlookers and supporters to the uptown area and produced the most iconic image from early 20th-century Saint John, two tram cars resting on their side in Market Square, observed by curious citizens. Despite its significance, the strike and riot are not commemorated by a plaque or found in any tourism promotion materials for the city.    This episode begins with an overview of the history of the city’s streetcar system, which in the era before mass automobile ownership and public transit buses was an essential urban service for commuters, workers and shoppers. We next examine the labour movement in early 20th century Saint John, noting some of its victories and losses, to remind listeners that Saint John in the past was also a workers’ city and that unions were in the vanguard of social reform.We next move on to the causes of the strike, which involved unfair labour practices by the employer, and how the union members maintained discipline and appealed to replacement workers to come over to their side, while non-union sympathizers used intimidation tactics to stop the running of the streetcars. The overturning of two streetcars on the second day of the strike led to some of the most dramatic incidents in the city’s history. These included the reading of the Riot Act; a foolhardy and dangerous cavalry charge into a crowd of several thousand men, women and children; an attack on the company’s power plant that knocked out electricity to the city for a few hours; a less successful attempt on the company’s car barns and workshop that was fended off by armed private detectives and the calling out of several hundred militia, armed with rifles, bayonets and cavalry sabres, to maintain order.The episode concludes with a conversation with playwright and Université de Moncton literature professor Thomas Hodd, author of the play O’Brien, which is inspired by the events in Saint John in July 1914. The discussion here includes the richness of Saint John as an inspiration for dramatic work and the importance of telling New Brunswick stories. O’Brien, a production of Theatre New Brunswick, will be staged in several New Brunswick communities from March 5 to March 16, 2025. The play’s Saint John date is March 9, 2025. For more in the production, see:   https://www.tnb.nb.ca/obrien/.Show Notes: https://www.nothinghappenedhere.ca/post/except-for-the-1914-street-railway-riot

  --------  

  1:02:52

  --------

  1:02:52

More Education podcasts

Trending Education podcasts

About Saint John: Nothing Happened Here