Final Mysteries Selected For Popular History Website
The final three mysteries of the University of Victoria-based Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History project have been selected by a national competition, so student sleuths will soon have a total of 12 whodunits with which to hone their historical skills.
The three new mysteries, funded by a $450,000 grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage, are about an apparent high-society murder-suicide in Montreal, the mysterious drowning death of an iconic Canadian artist and the suicide of a Canadian diplomat in Cairo.
“We can turn students off history if we approach it as a list of dates, but give them a set of clues, and they are off,” says UVic historian Dr. John Lutz, co-director of the project. “They get drawn into the past by these puzzling deaths, but while solving the mysteries, they learn about the gulf between the rich and poor, the place of art in culture and the tensions of the Cold War, which has many parallels with our ‘War on Terror.’”
The new mysteries are:
“The Redpath Mansion Mystery”:
On June 13, 1901, two shots were heard in the mansion of the wealthy Redpath family, who lived in Montreal’s ritzy Square Mile. Ada Maria Mills Redpath, 62, and her son Jocelyn “Clifford” Redpath were found dead in Mrs. Redpath’s bedroom. Though the coroner’s report stated they were discovered by Clifford’s brother, newspapers reported they were found by their servants. Though only two shots were heard, three bullets were recovered from the bodies. Who shot whom, and why? Annmarie Adams and David Theodore, historians from McGill University, are developing this mystery.
“Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy”:
Famous painter Tom Thomson went out alone for a fishing trip on a lake in Algonquin Park on July 8, 1917, and never returned. His empty canoe was sighted on the lake that afternoon, and his body was found afloat in the lake eight days after that. But what happened to him? Was it an accident caused by bad luck? Or did he meet a more sinister end as a result of debt, his support of the First World War or a love interest? The research director for this mystery is Gregory Klages of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University in Toronto.
“Death of a Diplomat: Herbert Norman and the Cold War”:
In 1950, the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) suggested Herbert Norman, a Canadian diplomat in Japan, could be a communist. He was removed from his position and underwent intense questioning by the RCMP. Despite this, he was made Canada’s ambassador to Egypt in 1956 and was instrumental in defusing the Suez Crisis. Unfortunately, the SISS then took a renewed interest in Norman and implied the USSR had recruited him as a spy. On April 4, 1957, Norman jumped off a Cairo rooftop and died. Why did he do it? Was he afraid of being exposed as a communist agent? Or was he desperate, innocent and convinced he could never clear his name? UVic’s Dr. Larry Hannant, an adjunct history professor, is the research director for this mystery.
The final mysteries are scheduled for completion by March 31, 2008. This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. Currently, there are nine mysteries on the website, located at canadianmysteries.ca, and 21 shorter “Mysteryquest” websites aimed specifically at middle and high school students. The mysteries and the teaching support material cover Canada from coast to coast to coast and involve a span of nearly 1,000 years. The project, which makes use of 3D historical recreations, video and audio on some of its recent sites, has been shortlisted for Canada’s National History Society’s 2007 Pierre Berton award, which honours achievement in popularizing Canadian history.
The three new mysteries, funded by a $450,000 grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage, are about an apparent high-society murder-suicide in Montreal, the mysterious drowning death of an iconic Canadian artist and the suicide of a Canadian diplomat in Cairo.
“We can turn students off history if we approach it as a list of dates, but give them a set of clues, and they are off,” says UVic historian Dr. John Lutz, co-director of the project. “They get drawn into the past by these puzzling deaths, but while solving the mysteries, they learn about the gulf between the rich and poor, the place of art in culture and the tensions of the Cold War, which has many parallels with our ‘War on Terror.’”
The new mysteries are:
“The Redpath Mansion Mystery”:
On June 13, 1901, two shots were heard in the mansion of the wealthy Redpath family, who lived in Montreal’s ritzy Square Mile. Ada Maria Mills Redpath, 62, and her son Jocelyn “Clifford” Redpath were found dead in Mrs. Redpath’s bedroom. Though the coroner’s report stated they were discovered by Clifford’s brother, newspapers reported they were found by their servants. Though only two shots were heard, three bullets were recovered from the bodies. Who shot whom, and why? Annmarie Adams and David Theodore, historians from McGill University, are developing this mystery.
“Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy”:
Famous painter Tom Thomson went out alone for a fishing trip on a lake in Algonquin Park on July 8, 1917, and never returned. His empty canoe was sighted on the lake that afternoon, and his body was found afloat in the lake eight days after that. But what happened to him? Was it an accident caused by bad luck? Or did he meet a more sinister end as a result of debt, his support of the First World War or a love interest? The research director for this mystery is Gregory Klages of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University in Toronto.
“Death of a Diplomat: Herbert Norman and the Cold War”:
In 1950, the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) suggested Herbert Norman, a Canadian diplomat in Japan, could be a communist. He was removed from his position and underwent intense questioning by the RCMP. Despite this, he was made Canada’s ambassador to Egypt in 1956 and was instrumental in defusing the Suez Crisis. Unfortunately, the SISS then took a renewed interest in Norman and implied the USSR had recruited him as a spy. On April 4, 1957, Norman jumped off a Cairo rooftop and died. Why did he do it? Was he afraid of being exposed as a communist agent? Or was he desperate, innocent and convinced he could never clear his name? UVic’s Dr. Larry Hannant, an adjunct history professor, is the research director for this mystery.
The final mysteries are scheduled for completion by March 31, 2008. This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. Currently, there are nine mysteries on the website, located at canadianmysteries.ca, and 21 shorter “Mysteryquest” websites aimed specifically at middle and high school students. The mysteries and the teaching support material cover Canada from coast to coast to coast and involve a span of nearly 1,000 years. The project, which makes use of 3D historical recreations, video and audio on some of its recent sites, has been shortlisted for Canada’s National History Society’s 2007 Pierre Berton award, which honours achievement in popularizing Canadian history.
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Media contacts
Dr. John Lutz (History) at 250-721-7392 or jlutz@uvic.ca