Social Studies
Study guides, atlases and encyclopedias, and other resources covering a variety of topics and time periods.
Databases & Information Guides
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Local History Info GuideFrom books to online archives, newspaper clippings to historical postcards, Red River to the Winnipeg General Strike, local history associations, museums and more, we hope this Guide supports and inspires your research.
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Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & Two-SpiritFind a missing persons toolkit for families and community, and various reports and studies about MMIWG2S, including Manitoba-specific information.
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Racism & Anti-RacismBooks, videos and websites to help people learn about the forms of racism, about racial privilege, and what it means to be anti-racist.
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Residential SchoolsLearn more about Canada's "Indian Residential Schools System". Find information to start learning and also to do more in-depth research.
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TreatiesFind information to learn about treaties between Indigenous nations and Canada, with a focus on Winnipeg and Manitoba.
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Words Matter: Anti-Oppression TerminologiesInformation to help learn the meaning of terms and concepts related to different forms of oppression.
Manitoba and The Prairies
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CBC's Black on the Prairies - Alberta, Saskatchewan, ManitobaSUMMARY: A multimedia project launched in April 2021: "Exploring the past, present and future of Black Prairie life through the themes of Migration, Putting in Work, Black and Indigenous Relations, Politics and Resistance, and Black to the Future."
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Love the skin you're in: Winnipeg has a diverse, resilient black cultureSOURCE: CBC Manitoba. author: Rhonda Wilson-Thompson
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Fighters, scientists, protectors: Meet 5 notable black Manitobans you may never have heard ofSOURCE: CBC Manitoba. author: Ian Froese
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West End Dumpling blog: local (Winnipeg/Manitoba) Black history postsSOURCE: West End Dumpling blog by Christian Cassidy
In Our Collection
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A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders
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ISBN: 9781891011573Publication Date: 2024-10-08Many lines on the map are worth far more than a thousand words, going well beyond merely marking divisions between nations. In this eye-opening investigation into the most remarkable points on the map, a single boundary might, upon closer inspection, reveal eons of history--from epic tales of conquest, treaties, and alliances to intimate, all-too-human stories of love, greed, and folly. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, none of the lines we know today were inevitable, and all might have looked quite different if not for the intricate interplay of chance and ambition. By listening to the stories these borders have to tell, we can learn how political identities are shaped, why the world's boundaries look the way they do--and what they tell us about our world and ourselves. From the very first maps in Egypt to the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilization, from the profound shift in meaning of the Mason-Dixon line to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and from the dark consequences of Detroit's city limits to the intriguing reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a singular look at human history--told through its most spellbinding border stories. -
Through Their Eyes
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ISBN: 9780228010579Publication Date: 2022-08-09By the summer of 1917, Canadian troops had captured Vimy Ridge, but Allied offensives had stalled across many fronts of the Great War. To help break the stalemate of trench warfare, the Canadian Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie, was tasked with capturing Hill 70, a German stronghold near the French town of Lens. After securing the hill on 15 August, Canadian soldiers endured days of shelling, machine-gun fire, and poison gas as they repelled relentless enemy counterattacks. Through Their Eyes depicts this remarkable but costly victory in a unique way. With full-colour graphic artwork and detailed illustration, Matthew Barrett and Robert Engen picture the battle from different perspectives - Currie's strategic view at high command, a junior officer's experience at the platoon level, and the vantage points of many lesser-known Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. This innovative graphic history invites readers to reimagine the First World War through the eyes of those who lived it and to think more deeply about how we visualize and remember the past. Combining outstanding original art and thought-provoking commentary, Through Their Eyes uncovers the fascinating stories behind this battle while creatively expanding the ways that history is shared and represented. -
1493 for Young People
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Call Number: YA 909.08 MANN 2016Publication Date: 2016How did the lowly potato plant feed the poor across Europe and then cause the deaths of millions? How did the rubber plant enable industrialization? Here is the story of how sometimes the greatest leaps also posed the greatest threats to human advancement. -
Branded by the Pink Triangle
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Call Number: YA 940.5318 SET 2013Publication Date: 2013A history of the persecution of gay men by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust, combining historical research with first-person accounts and individual stories. -
First Canadian Army
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Publication Date: 2020A pictorial history of the First Canadian Army in northwest Europe during the final year of the war with over 350 illustrations. Includes battle, landing and assault maps; photographs of soldiers in action and resting, aerial photographs of key sites of action then and now; battlefield survivors such as Sherman tanks; memorials to individuals and units; and the cemeteries of Canadian, Polish and British soldiers. -
Hidden Like Anne Frank
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Call Number: YA 940.531809 PRI 2014Publication Date: 2014Fourteen unforgettable true stories of children hidden away during World War II. These riveting first-person accounts add a new layer to our understanding of the Holocaust. They help create a wider portrait of what it meant to be Jewish in Europe during World War II. And they leave us with an unforgettable sense of what it took to survive. -
History Year by Year
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ISBN: 9780744091991Publication Date: 2024-03-05Discover the world's most significant events through a detailed, dynamic, book-long timeline of over 7 million years. When did Hannibal cross the Alps? What caused the War of Jenkins' Ear? Who was Rosa Parks? How did the Arab Spring unfold? Discover history's most decisive moments as and when they happened. Taking a chronological approach, History Year by Year invites you to explore momentous discoveries, ingenious inventions, and important events from around the world in the context of their time. Along the way, you'll meet charismatic leaders, brutal dictators, influential thinkers, and innovative scientists from around the globe. Follow in the steps of your human ancestors as they colonized the planet, developed tools, harnessed fire, and painted cave walls. Learn how their descendants established great civilizations, founded huge empires, domesticated animals, built pyramids, produced great art, authored epic poems, and even traveled into space. There are wars, rebellions, voyages of adventure and discovery, extraordinary technological developments, and incredible sporting feats. In this history book, you will find: -Maps, photography, facts, and statistics about the timeline of the world for over 7 million years. -
History of the World in 1,000 Objects
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Call Number: 909 HIS 2014Publication Date: 2014From the watch Napoleon used to synchronize with his generals at Waterloo, to the Mayan Dresden codex, History of the World in 1,000 Objects provides a completely fresh perspective on the history of the world. Packed with timelines and maps that make it easy to compare how people lived at different times and in different parts of the world. -
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
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Call Number: YA 970.00497 DUNBAR-ORTIZ 2019Publication Date: 2019Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples' resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism. Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming the country's national identity. -
Silent Cities
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Publication Date: 2021A moving, recognizable look at life on lockdown and the effect the coronavirus pandemic had across the world--because every city had a story to tell, and at the end of it all, we were all in it together. -
Terra Incognita
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Publication Date: 2021From the global impact of the Coronavirus to exploring the vast spread of the Australian bushfires, join authors Ian Goldin and Robert Muggah as they trace the ways in which our world has changed and the ways in which it will continue to change over the next hundred years. Full of facts that will confound you, inform you, and ultimately empower you, Terra Incognita guides readers to a new place of understanding, rather than to a physical location. -
World War I
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Call Number: 940.30222 GRA 2014Publication Date: 2014Charts the developments of the war from a global perspective using illustrated timelines, detailed maps, and personal accounts. Key episodes are set clearly in the wider context of the conflict, in-depth profiles look at the key generals and political leaders, and full-color photo galleries showcase the weapons, inventions, and new technologies that altered the course of history. -
World War II
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Call Number: 940.53022 WOR 2015Publication Date: 2015A complete overview of the war, including the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, fascism, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and the D-Day landings. Expanded with an all-new guide to battlefield and memorial sites to honor the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, World War II: The Definitive Visual History covers key military figures, pivotal battles, political profiles, and strategies. Gallery spreads feature collections of uniforms, weapons, and other equipment. Maps, timelines, and side panels offer an inviting variety of entry point to the huge wealth of information. -
A History of the World in Six Plagues
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ISBN: 9781982197834Publication Date: 2025-03-11With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues is "a breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history" (Uché Blackstock, New York Times bestselling author). Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme's examination of humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease takes us across place and time from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania, and from plantation-era America to our modern COVID-19-scarred world to unravel shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Also a rising call to action, this "tour de force...will change the way people think about public health and histories of medicine"
Recommended Websites
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The Atlas of CanadaA selection of interactive and historical maps and geographical data available for reference or downloading
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Black History Month in CanadaLearn more about the origins of Black History Month in Canada.
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The Canadian EncyclopediaArticles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public. Includes collections on topics such as Women in Canadian History, Black History in Canada, and Indigenous Peoples.
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CrashCourse
YouTube channel started by John and Hank Green. Videos cover topics such as chemistry, history, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and study skills. -
Dictionary of Canadian BiographyA dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. Initiated in 1959, the DBC is a collaboration between the University of Toronto and Laval University.
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Library and Archives CanadaThis vast website contains several databases useful for genealogist. It includes census, immigration, land (including Metis scrip records) and military information about both world wars.
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Manitoba Metis FederationInformation about the Metis, their culture, and the Michif language.
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Smithsonian Institute Learning LabImages, recordings, and texts from the Smithsonian's museums, research centers, and the national zoo. Add notes and tags, and save and share items of interest.
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The Virtual Museum of CanadaThe largest digital source of stories and experiences shared by Canada's museums and heritage organizations