Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
Trevor Parsons, PhD prize
I am honoured to win the Tri-U essay prize. This recognition reflects not only my work but the support and feedback of my peers and family. I hope my research allows for further conversations; firstly, about the multi-faceted nature of Canadian Britishness and, secondly, about the often overlooked role of the Klan in Ontario.
Elizabeth Spence, MA prize
I am deeply grateful for this recognition of my research on The Forest Rangers. My heartfelt thanks go to my professors and peers at the Tri-U, whose support has meant so much throughout this year. It’s an incredible privilege to be part of such an inspiring and supportive community.
Trevor Parsons' article, "The Ku Klux Klan and Ontario's Evolving Britishness: A Case Study of Belleville and Hastings County," was commended by the judges for being well-written and insightful. Trevor showed initiative in dealing with some of the archival gaps he found by casting his net wide to include a variety of primary sources like newspapers and community archives. Published in Spring 2024 issue of Ontario History, the article presents a microhistorical account of the Ku Klux Klan and its leader, George Marshall, in the Bay of Quinte region of Ontario in the 1920s.
"The article is noteworthy for its direct discussion of the challenges of archival silences regarding historical materials on the KKK given the secretive nature of the organization and the fact that former Klan members and their descendants have been unwilling to provide oral testimony or documentary evidence," explain the judges.
"Parson’s history of the KKK attests to its uniquely Canadian manifestation, and while sharply racist in orientation, the KKK primarily targeted Roman Catholics in its local activities in the Bay of Quinte region. Parsons discovers that while the KKK was anti-Semitic and anti-Asian, they were oddly not anti-Indigenous, which Parsons notes might have been expected given Haudenosaunee peoples were the largest non-British, racialized group in the area.
"For a long time, historians only examined the Klan's various interwar iterations in western Canada, from Vancouver to Saskatchewan, and focused on its links to nativism and anti-Asian / anti-immigrant movements. While this is the same time period, it's about very different types of communities."
Elizabeth Spence's paper, "The Making of a Generation of Nationalists: Analyzing The Forest Rangers Onscreen and in Collective Memory," was nominated for the MA prize by Dr. Susan Nance.
The paper was submitted as a final assignment to, "HIST 6290 North American History (focus: Television)," taught by Dr. Nance at Guelph in Fall, 2024.
"Elizabeth's work provides a wonderful and skilled analysis of The Forest Rangers, a 1960s Canadian children's television series, demonstrating how it functioned as both entertainment and a vehicle for state-supported nationalism," says Nance.
"Through rich historical research and sharp media analysis, Elizabeth argues that the show reinforced an idealized vision of Canadian identity—rooted in nature, resource conservation, and multicultural harmony—while subtly upholding colonialist narratives and Cold War-era anxieties about unity and modernity. She attends to the ways the show instructed young Canadians to minimize Indigenous rights and knowledge, as well as how the show has been remembered through some innovative social media research in the show's Facebook nostalgia and fan page."
Dr. Nance commends Elizabeth's work with the episodes of The Forest Rangers as primary sources and affirms her "expert work with the quasi-oral history on the Facebook fan page."
Judges stated that the paper demonstrated a depth of analysis of the TV show and integrated a breadth of secondary sources.
As a student at Laurier who took a course at Guelph, Elizabeth's achievement demonstrates the breadth of course options MA students have in the Tri-U.
The PhD Prize is given to the best paper published by a doctoral student in the previous calendar year.
The MA Prize is awarded to the best paper written for a Tri-University MA seminar in the previous fall semester, nominated by the student's instructor.
The Tri-U thanks the judges this year who provided thoughtful feedback on the submissions:
- Dr. Ben Bradley, University of Guelph
- Dr. Susan Neylan, Wilfrid Laurier University
- Dr. Ryan Touhey, St. Jerome's University/University of Waterloo
The prize for each winner is a $100 gift certificate towards a book purchase.