Follow the BU Public History Program and the Brandon University History Department on Instagram to stay up-to-date on our activities. You can find us @bupublichistory and @brandonuhistory. See you there!
Coming in the New Year…Fresh Podcasts by our Students
Students from the Introduction to Public History course (Fall 2024) successfully created podcasts in collaboration with various museum partners and Assiniboine College's Centre for Creative Media. Special thanks were given to these partners for offering valuable real-world experiences, with the podcasts set to be released on Public History on the Prairies in the upcoming year.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
This term, some of the students in Professor Rhonda L. Hinther’s Museums course researched vintage bedpans from the Health Sciences Centre Archives/Museum’s collection. You can read more about their work in today’s Winnipeg Free Press.
The Rail System of Portage La Prairie: A Brief History
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba is home to a unique railway site. The two major transcontinental railways – the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) – cross each other at what is known as a “diamond junction.”
Sitting Bull: The Great Lakota Chief
Sitting Bull is remembered as a great leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota.Through hardships, he united several tribes to combat the Americans.
The Red River Flood of 1979
The Red River flood of 1979 should have been even more devastating than the infamous flood of 1950, but because of the Red River Floodway and ring dikes protecting rural areas, it was one of the least harmful major floods in Manitoba history.
Brandon, Manitoba’s WWI Enemy Alien Detention Centre
The creation of an internment camp in Brandon is a highly overlooked chapter in the history of the city. The camp was used to detain hundreds of innocent immigrants, most of whom came from what we now know as Ukraine.
The Pre-contact Occupation of Brandon/Grand Valley at the Stott Site
The Stott Site, it is a place where Indigenous people have lived and hunted since around 800 A.D., long before Europeans arrived in this area. Stone tools, animal bones, and pottery sherds, among other objects, have been recovered at the site and demonstrate the diversity of activities that once took place.
The Daly Overpass
The 59-year-old Daly Overpass has long been a part of the history of Brandon, Manitoba. It is a major access point in Brandon and is considered the city’s primary traffic route.
The Chinese Head Tax
Chinese immigrants came to Canada to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Soon after the CPR was completed, federal authorities passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. A “head tax” of $50 applied to all Chinese people wishing to migrate to Canada.

