Historical Highlights #022

This week’s historical highlights feature medical history, technology, a new TV series, and police sketches of literary characters. Let’s get started!

Read this article if you want to learn about the eugenics movement in early 20th century Canada.

Have you heard of James Douglas? “He opened Lower Canada’s first asylum, and under his watch, for a brief period of time in the mid-nineteenth century, the treatment of the mentally ill was perhaps as humane, creative, dignified, personal, and healthy as it’s ever been before or since.”

A new TV show called Lost L.A. is “a collaboration with historians and the USC libraries, [that] digs into the city’s history with the help of the region’s rarely seen archives.” Here you can watch the promo for the first episode, which focuses on L.A.’s forgotten subway tunnels.

This is a fascinating article on the use of 3D scanning to preserve cultural artifacts. “The attempts to destroy some of the world’s heritage have had quite the opposite effect: an entirely new area of research and scientific practice that has transformed archaeology, heritage, paleontology, museum studies, architecture, and a suite of other disciplines.”

Isn’t this blog post title intriguing? “Where We Find New Old Books, Chapter 5, Part I, A Beginners’ Guide to Uncovering Rare Book Treasures: A 500-Year-Long Tale Between Parisian Pages” Read Part II here.

A blog post on the U.S. National Archives’ pioneering of microfilm, along with an online exhibit.

“Police Sketches of 5 Literary Characters Based on Their Book Descriptions” — I love this idea and want to check out the entire book.

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Police sketch of Sherlock Holmes by Brian Joseph Davis

 I hope you found some reading to entertain and/or educate yourself this weekend!

Update: I forgot to include this link from BBC News, “Beatrix Potter story Kitty-in-Boots discovered after 100 years”. (I don’t think Quentin Blake’s illustrations will be quite right, do you?)

2 thoughts on “Historical Highlights #022

  1. Lori Ferguson says:

    The eugenics article was (sorry for the cliche) shocking. I wonder what attitudes we have today that are similar and will cause the next generation to ask, “What were they thinking?”
    It was encouraging to read about the 3-D scanners. It’s enough to make a person weep to think of the ancient treasures being destroyed by Islamic State.
    Thanks for the always-interesting links, Margaret!

  2. Shelley says:

    I’m not taken with Quentin Blake as a Potter illustrator, either. I like his work in general, but don’t think he’s the best choice for this project.

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