In the News...

Dufferin Board of Trade | August 13, 2024

By Lindsay W. 

History is deeply embedded in every facet of Dufferin County, but how well do we truly understand our past? Neil Orford and his team at CanHist and Defining Moments Canada, provide extensive digital resources and immersive educational experiences inspiring community members through the stories from Canadian history. 

Neil’s lifelong passion for history began at an early age and blossomed throughout his career. Moving to Dufferin County in the mid-eighties, after being recruited to teach in Orangeville District Secondary School’s history department and later at Centre Dufferin District Highschool, Neil quickly identified a growing demand for great history education. Speaking at conferences to teachers, schools and communities across Canada to meet this demand, earned him a plethora of awards for his initiatives in history education.  

Establishing CanHist in 2013, Neil explains “it was a reflection of everything we were doing in the schools.” The organization provides accessible resources for historical education inside and outside classrooms, interactive walking tours, research, and speaker experiences for adults, veterans and community members. 

“History matters; so, it needs to be told in an engaging way, through storytelling” 

Based originally in Dufferin County, CanHist focuses on developing valuable history programs for local communities, teachers and business groups in hopes of enticing others to begin discussing their own town’s history. The offered Heritage Walking tours immerses students, teachers and other adults as they explore significant sites in Canadian history. Expressing how participation is key when understanding history, Neil says, “When you get them off the coach and you get them to walk, then they start asking questions,” continuing, “When immersed in something it becomes more significant to you.” These tours are run both inside and outside of Canada, some places including Juno Beach in Normandy France or Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom.  

Looking towards the future, CanHist’s aims to “become advocates for greater community involvement,” explains Neil. Encouraging teachers to equip students with historical knowledge using CanHist’s digital story mapping tools and working with community groups such as Dufferin County Veterans, “to figure out digital ways to be more expansive,” says Neil.  

“There are not a lot of Toronto's in Canada, but there are lots of Orangeville’s”  

This past spring, and continuing into the fall, CanHist has been hosting “Small Town, Big Ideas,” a speaker series gathering Canadian intellectuals to Dufferin County in hopes of reviving what was a common occurrence decades ago. Access to these events is often limited to small towns, as Neil emphasizes, “Canada is filled with great thinkers, so they deserve to come to a small town as much as they deserve to come to a big city.” When attending the series at either Grace Tipling Hall or at the Dufferin County Museum, Neil challenges the audience to consider these five things: “Discover, Query, Inquire, Reflect and Provoke.” This series aims to engage people in conversation, creating another opportunity for the community to come together.  

Engaging with local history is key to understanding one’s connection to the community. It can simply start with visiting the local museum, attending council and committee meetings, joining walking clubs on local trials, reading plaques, or, more peculiarly, visiting the town’s cemetery. “What can you learn about Dufferin County by reading the inscriptions on the gravestones?” inquires Neil. “These things are low impact but have high engagement opportunities.” But he suggests the number one place anyone should start is with “engaging in your family history.” 

Click here to view the article on the Dufferin Board of Trade website.