Living History

Getting the Word Out offers a small glimpse of a rich history. Grassroots movements in Canada have woven threads of activism into an immense multicoloured historical tapestry. The work of trying to change things for the better has been going on for as long as the world has been imperfect, and it continues today.

Connexions’ own work of documenting and sharing the work of activist groups in Canada has been going on for half a century, and it too continues today. Most of the materials showcased in this exhibit come from the Connexions Archive, which preserves an extensive and growing collection of posters, leaflets, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, pamphlets, books, buttons, postcards, audio and video recordings, as well as a wide-ranging collection of creative ‘ephemera’ of all kinds, ranging from T-shirts to frisbees to cookbooks.

In addition to the physical archive, which contains more than 100,000 individual items, Connexions also maintains an extensive website – www.connexions.org – with more than 300,000 files and a palette of research tools for online users.

Thanks to the following for their work on this project:

Paul Baculna, Kai Baek, Justine Basi, Mads Bayliss, Maya Bielinski, Marie-Pier Cantin, Emmanuelle Carignan, Billie Crane, M. Desjardins, Ulli Diemer, Amy Dierdorf, Rowaa El-Habib, Seán Finn, Tamara Kukic, Gigi Lone, Sini Maury, James Naudi, Sofía Peralta, Emma Pipes, Michelle Robidoux, Hamna Takhmir, Sana Takhmir, Margaret Watson, Lidet Y. Woldesenbet, Frances MacInnis.

Developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.