Les Canadas vus par les Canadiens 1750 – 1860. Pièces choisies de la collection Baby
Directly access the writings of 18th and 19th century Canadians!

Montreal, Mai the 7th 2007 – The Université de Montréal Archives and the « Modelling change: The paths of French » project proudly present to researchers, teachers and the public a new virtual exhibit based on the archives and the published materials of the Baby collection.

At his death in 1906, Judge Louis-François George Baby left to the Université de Montréal his archives and his historical library. A century later, parts of this prestigious collection, which has been recently classified as cultural property, is now available to everyone, thanks to the digitization and the full transcription of the documents.

Let yourself be seduced by the original writings of 18th and 19th century Canadians, by the language of the period and discover our ancestors’ perceptions of the major social, political and cultural events of this period of transition in our history.

A Fully Searchable Database. All documents have been thematically and chronologically indexed into a database to permit searching. Many of these documents come with historical and linguistic comments that provide an explanation of the contextual elements surrounding the creation of the documents and give a brief overview of their historical and linguistic usefulness.

Educational Activities for Primary and High School Students. Educational activities are suggested to primary and high school teachers. Enseigner la langue à travers la Guerre de Sept Ans and Enseigner l’histoire avec la collection Baby offer educators activities adapted to new educational programs in French and in history. Each activity includes a description of skills to develop, a list of documents required and instructions.

This virtual exhibit has been made possible through the financial support of Heritage Canada, Library and Archives Canada (Canadian Culture Online) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in the “Major Collaborative Research Initiatives” section.

The virtual exhibit is accessible at the following URLs (Websites in French):

http://www.collectionbaby.umontreal.ca ou
http://www.collectionbaby.uottawa.ca

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Contacts:

Diane Baillargeon, Division des archives, Université de Montréal
diane.baillargeon@umontreal.ca
(514) 343-5629
France Martineau, Modelling change : The paths of French
fmartin@uottawa.ca
(613) 562-5800 extension 1104