stcmuseum podcasts

Sean jumps into another sonic journey through history with a deep dive into the steam whistle. Find out where this sound originated and what role it has played in the history of St. Catharines.

This episode features an edited recording of a live panel discussion hosted by the Niagara Falls Museum on November 19, 2025. The discussion was all about Spirit Walks and featured representatives from the St. Catharines Museum, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum, and the Niagara Falls History Museum.

Throughout our celebration of season 10 we've put together a few "supercut" episodes looking back at some of our favourite moments and episodes. We revisited the series we put together about the history of the bridges of the Welland Canal, and we revisited the series about the Victorians called Victorian Tweets. On today's last episode of season 10, we bring you a supercut compilation of our favourite instances where we used primary sources on the podcast. Using primary sources in this way is fun because we can voice them by welcoming other staff or volunteers to read out the source for our listeners. Additional enjoyment comes from hearing (rather than reading) the source, almost as if we get to meet the person who wrote the source or experienced the event firsthand. Since bringing history to the public's attention is our core purpose, we do use a lot of primary source material on the blog so we chose our four favourite instances. You can hear more by listening to past episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening! Links to the episodes featured in this episode: E205 Spooky Halloween Episode E310 The Fallen Workers Part 5 E906 Merritt’s Speech at the Turning of the Sod E103 Minnie Phelps and International Women’s Day

This podcast episode includes an interview with Foster Festival playwright and actor Jamie Williams and director Emily Oriold. Representing the museum are Visitor Services Coordinator Adrian Petry and Public Programmer Sean Dineley. The group discusses the exciting upcoming production, A Niagara Christmas Carol, which is a reimagining of the classic Charles Dickens tale set around the Welland Canal in the 1840s.

On this episode of Hearing History, Sean explores the sound of a pry-cap bottle and the history of carbonated beverages in St. Catharines, including breweries and soft drink makers.

This episode in the Hearing History series explores the history of the Lakeside Park Carousel through the sounds of its incredible band organ!

It's time for the big reveal. After an interesting discussion about pablum (ironic, we know), Adrian reveals the theme (and subthemes) that linked together the episodes of this season! For footnotes to this episode, please visit stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

In the most scientific episode since the infamous gyroscope episode in season 7, Kathleen and Adrian try to tackle the fascinating and very technical history of the wirephoto. For footnote to this episode, please visit stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

Bet you didn't know how an electronic organ works! Well, now you do! In another attempt at explaining science, Kathleen and Adrian explore the history of this impressive instrument, talk family electronic organs, and sports! Footnotes to this episode can be found at stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

How does the mail get sorted? One of the first computerized and automated mail sorters was the Route Reference Computer. Despite its "state secret" level of confusing technical aspects, we learned a lot about the mail in this episode. Please visit stcatharinesmuseumblog.com for footnotes to this episode.

On this episode we're explore the important history of the electric powered wheelchair, and our research takes us through the history and importance of mobility aids today. For more info and the footnotes to this episode, visit stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

We're cracking open season 8 of One Hour in the Past with the history of the egg carton. The episode is filled with a surprising amount of unintended egg puns and lots of egg-sellent history. Enjoy the episode! For more info and the footnotes to this episode, visit stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

Throughout our 10th season, we will be including several “supercut” episodes which revisit clips from some of favourite episodes, themes, and series over the last ten years! Enjoy this look back on our Season 6 miniseries about the Victorians which was produced during the run of our temporary exhibition Victorian Tweets. The exhibition translated Victorian happenings from newspapers, diaries, letters, and more in the Museum's collection into modern (at the time) tweets. The tweets themselves acted as windows to the past but also helped visitors to see themselves in the "issues" of the Victorians. This three-part podcast series further explored notions of identity, tradition, and our modern understanding and perspective of the Victorians.

On this episode of Museum Chat Live! we're chatting local food history and baking as we wrap up our (now beloved) Food, Glorious Food Blog Series. The series was a chance for Abbey Stansfield (public programmer) and Kathleen Powell (curator) to explore local food history by baking through historic recipes in our collection. This bake-off was a way to explore food history in a first-hand way and draw attention to our temporary exhibit of the same name, on display at the Museum through the autumn of this year. Listen in for a chat about food history, writing a blog series together, challenges in baking historic recipes, the things we learned, and most importantly: our favourite desserts!

On this episode of Museum Chat Live! Sean discusses trends in museum outreach programming. He explores how museum interpretation has evolved over the years, and how history is interpreted out in the community in St. Catharines, across Canada, and around the world. This episode includes an interview with Visitor Services Coordinator Adrian Petry and a peek into what outreach programming the museum has in store for 2025 and beyond.

In this 3-episode series, host Sean Dineley lets a sampling of long-time St. Catharines residents do most of the talking. The people whose stories you will hear have all been participants in the museum’s StoryLab program. This ongoing oral history project is all about getting the diverse experiences and perspectives of real St. Catharinites into the museum’s collection. By conducting, recording, and transcribing interviews with local residents, we hope to learn more about the wide array of people and communities who call this city home as well as how it has evolved in their lifetimes. Ultimately, the project supports our mission to collect and present a more complete story of St. Catharines. This episode is the third and final part of this series. Parts one and two provided a glimpse into the significant waves of emigration caused by the totalitarian regimes, famines, genocides, and World Wars that ravaged Europe in the first half of the 20th century. Even before this period of turmoil the ethnic makeup of immigrants in Canada had been overwhelmingly European, but beginning in the 1960s, the trend started to change. Race-based selection criteria was removed from Canada’s Immigration Policy in 1962, and new schemes like the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Canadian Multiculturalism Policy helped sow the seeds for new cultural communities. Take a listen and share your thoughts with us! The views and opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre and the City of St. Catharines.

Enjoy this look back on our series on bridges across the Welland Canal!

The 10th season of our Museum Chat Live! podcast is here! My, oh my, how time flies. It’s like one day you’re recording an episode about the Welland Canal and the next its… history… Anyway! Have a listen to this little preview to help set the stage for all the awesome things we have planned for the upcoming year on Museum Chat Live!

November 30th, 1824 is an important day in the history of Niagara. A handful of businessmen who had less than a year before formed the Welland Canal Company met at Allanburg to shovel and turn over the first sod, marking the beginning of construction of one of the most important infrastructure projects in Canadian history. As those events usually go, speeches were delivered amongst the small group on that cold day. William Hamilton Merritt's speech has been shared and reshared many times over the years as it reveals not only the hard work the Company was about to endure, but also the vision of the project itself. This vision: a great canal linking the Great Lakes and facilitating trade and settlement, and linking the world to the interior of North America was a practical reality only realized with the third and fourth Welland Canals. But they hard to start somewhere, and so Merritt called on his fellow Niagarans to join the cause and celebrate this new beginning. Today's episode of Museum Chat Live! brings a reading of an excerpt of Merritt's speech from 200 years ago to our ears. Edited and read by museum volunteer Des Corran, you can hear the optimism with which Merritt would cling to over some very challenging years of construction ahead. Enjoy the episode. Listen

This podcast episode is in our Hearing History series, exploring local history through sound. Today’s sound is the film projector, which has been a constant feature of downtown St. Catharines for nearly 130 year! This episode follows the history of film and traces this medium’s presence in the Garden City, including cinemas, drive-in theatres, and our own home-grown stars of the silver screen! Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show! Take a listen and share your thoughts with us! The views and opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre and the City of St. Catharines.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing to provide a lecture presented on December 13, 2022 which provided an update on her work at the Shickluna Shipyard archaeological dig. After two long years away from the site, Dr. Monk will be back on the dig this summer and we’re looking forward to welcoming her back to hear more about this fascinating history. This lecture was originally recorded on December 13, 2022

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing "Ponderous Fraus, Mynheers, and Jaded Farm Horses, or Early St. Catharines Before the First Welland Canal" with special guest Brian Narhi. Special guest, local historian, and Chair of the City's Heritage Advisory Committee Brian Narhi joins the lecture series once again to deliver an exciting look at the earliest settlement activity in St. Catharines. This lecture was originally recorded on November 29, 2022.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what’s going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. 706 Machine Guns On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the scientifically complicated history of the machine gun and its remarkable and terrible impact in 19th and 20th century warfare. Also: it's the season finale and the mystery theme linking all of this season's episodes is revealed!

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing "In the Public Interest: Public Works in St. Catharines" presented by Kathleen Powell. Museum Curator Kathleen Powell will deliver a talk about public works and early city services during the inter-war period, with special focus on the explosion of infrastructure projects taken on by municipalities at that time. This lecture was originally recorded on November 15, 2022.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing "Our Gallant Employees: Corporate Commemoration in Port-War Canada," with special guest Jonathan Vance. Special Guest Dr. Jonathan Vance, military historian and professor of history at Western University, will discuss his current research into corporate war memorials and their legacy in our communities. This lecture was originally recorded on November 1, 2022.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what’s going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the local history of sewing machine manufacturing, a patent war, and the pivotal role of the lock stitch!

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what’s going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. E704 Plastics They said they weren't a science podcast, but Kathleen and Adrian are back with some more fascinating science-based historical research into the history of plastics. Specially on this episode: how not to pronounce "phthalate."

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing "Queenston: A Working Neighbourhood" presented by special guest Paul Miller, minister of Westminster United Church. This lecture was originally recorded on October 18, 2022.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing "Discovering Niagara's Freedom Trail" with special guest Rochelle Bush. Special Guest Rochelle Bush, trustee and historian of Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church National Historic Site and proprietor of Tubman Tours Canada, will speak about Niagara’s Freedom Trail – the loosely connected network of important heritage sites, museums, and other historical places connected to the story of freedom and the Underground Railroad throughout Niagara. This lecture was originally recorded on October 4, 2022.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings. Adrian really has no idea what’s going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the local history of canning and a long list of all the weird things that come in cans today.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what's going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the history of paperclips, with a special guest appearance by Clippy!

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing One Dish, One History: There Were People Here Before 1876 with special guest Karl Dockstader. Radio host, and of the Oneida bear clan Centre Karl Dockstader will walk us through a part of Niagara history that is underexplored. We'll talk about the friendships and agreements that formed to make settler people living here in Niagara possible and how that friendship may need to be rekindled to keep Niagara viable. This lecture was originally recorded on September 20, 2022

Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what's going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the history of paperclips, with a special guest appearance by Clippy!

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode we’re sharing a very special lecture presented by Dr. Natasha Henry-Dixon, president of the Ontario Black History Society, and the topic expert on Emancipation Day. This lecture was originally recorded on May 24, 2022. Enjoy the lecture.

This episode of Hearing History explores the "slap shot" and how it, and other hockey history, have played into the story of St. Catharines.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing a lecture presented by our own Kathleen Powell titled “Election 1917: Wartime Canada Goes to the Polls.”’” This lecture was originally recorded on May 10, 2022. Enjoy the lecture.

This episode is in our Hearing History series, taking full advantage of the podcast format by exploring local history through sound. Today’s sound is the internal combustion engine, which has powered vehicles and industrial machinery in this city for over a century - and we build them here too! This episode follows the history of internal combustion engines in and around St. Catharines and considers the memories, associations, and future considerations that come up along the way. Start your engines and come along for the ride! Take a listen and share your thoughts with us! The views and opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre and the City of St. Catharines.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing a lecture titled "The Indigenous Underground Railroad" with special guest Dr. Roy Finkenbine, professor of history and Director of the Black Abolitionist Archive at the University of Detroit Mercy. This lecture was originally recorded on April 26, 2022. Enjoy the lecture.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing a lecture titled Return to "Civvy" Street: Postwar St. Catharines originally presented in March, 2022 by Sara Nixon. Enjoy the lecture.

In Part 2 of this StoryLab series, host Sean shares pre-recorded stories from people who immigrated to St. Catharines from Paraguay, but whose families had originated in war-torn Eastern Europe.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing a lecture titled From Anatevka to St. Catharines: the Early Years of the Spiritual Home of the Jewish Community, presented by special guest Howard Slepkov. This lecture was originally recorded on March 1, 2022. Enjoy the lecture.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing the history of early black residents of St. Catharines with a lecture titled: ‘The Daily Grind: The Records of Freedom Seekers in St. Catharines’ presented by Abbey Stansfield. This lecture was originally recorded on February 1, 2022.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing about the Coloured Corps and the construction of the Second Welland Canal with a lecture presented by yours truly titled “Upper Canada’s Black Defenders take on Niagara’s Wild West.” This lecture was originally presented on February 15, 2022.

Museum Chat Live! E901 - Finding Home - Tales From The StoryLab 1 by St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing the exciting story of the First World War as it looked to the residents in St. Catharines with a lecture given by our curator Kathleen Powell titled ‘When the World Changed.” This lecture was originally recorded on December 1, 2021. Enjoy the lecture.

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures. On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing the fascinating story of early St. Catharines with a lecture titled: “Woe be to the malefactors” presented by our friend, historian, and chair of the City’s Heritage Advisory Committee Brian Narhi. This lecture was originally recorded on November 2, 2021. Enjoy the lecture.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! On today’s episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian take a deep dive into the world of literary murder mysteries, with lots of pop-culture pit stops along the way. Join us for a fascinating discussion on topics from the Queen of Mystery to board games and local murder mysteries.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! This episode is perfect for the pamphleteers of the 18th century to the bloggers and YouTubers of today. Kathleen and Adrian explore the fascinating democratization of publishing with an episode about self-published materials. For footnotes to this episode, please visit www.stcatharinesmuseumblog.com

This episode is another sonic journey in our Hearing History series, taking full advantage of the podcast format by exploring local history through sound. Today’s sonic selection is accordion music. St. Catharines and the Niagara Region have long been home to German, Slovenian, Polish, and other European communities that have brought the accordion and the invariably fun music that goes along with it. From Oktoberfests, to cultural clubs, to television programs, to the Polka King himself, the cheerful sounds of the accordion have been an essential part of St. Catharines for at least 80 years.

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Cue the trumpet fanfare from your favourite Hollywood sci-fi flick! On this week's episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the fascinating pop-history of science fiction. For footnotes to this episode, please visit www.stcatharinesmuseumblog.com