Peeling the Past

A blog about Peel's historical records by staff at the Region of Peel Archives

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Category Archives: Collection Highlights

Ghosts of Christmases past in Peel and beyond

December 21, 2022by Region of Peel Archives Leave a comment

While not a religious person, I love the Christmas season, and find many of its assorted traditions fascinating and enjoyable (especially Christmas trees, greenery, eggnog, and mince pies!).  A few […]

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Collection Highlights

Photojournalism in Streetsville-Mississauga: The Al Betts fonds 

August 6, 2021by Region of Peel Archives 8 Comments

Earlier this year the Archives was thrilled to accept a significant accrual of photographs to our Al Betts fonds. Betts was a prolific and skilled photographer based out of the […]

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Collection Highlights

Why I love government records

April 6, 2020by Region of Peel Archives 11 Comments

In celebration of Archives Awareness Week here in Ontario, I have decided to tackle a question I get asked fairly regularly: “What is it about government records that you love […]

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Collection Highlights, Why Records Matter

Researching the “woodland world”: Historic vegetation in Peel

October 18, 2019by Region of Peel Archives 2 Comments

“To a wanderer in forest solitudes a sense of mystery is often perceived which lures him on and on into the verdant depths of the woodland world.” Alexander Porteous, The […]

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Collection Highlights

Letters of loss: A sense of presence

September 12, 2019by Region of Peel Archives 7 Comments

  “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” James Baldwin In this post I want to share some […]

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Case studies: Archivists at work, Collection Highlights

Taking stock and seeing anew: Some highlights from the inventory project

September 25, 2018by Region of Peel Archives 5 Comments

Over this past year one of our special projects here in the Peel Archives has been to undertake a complete physical inventory of our holdings. Archivists Kyle and Samantha have […]

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Collection Highlights

Recent acquisition highlight: Peel railway records

March 14, 2018by Region of Peel Archives 1 Comment

Prior to the mid-1850s travelling in Peel involved relying on the small but growing road network or using the major waterways such as the Credit and Humber Rivers and Lake […]

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Collection Highlights

Halloween in Peel: A look at some selected records

October 26, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 3 Comments

I always look forward to the fall – cooler weather, beautiful foliage, and of course, Halloween. Those of us interested in the origin and history of Halloween generally can make good […]

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Collection Highlights

Making an exhibition of ourselves: This time it’s personal

September 29, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 4 Comments

We archivists tend to promote our collections far more than we promote ourselves and our daily work. For one thing, collections are our life’s work and, thanks to that work, […]

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Collection Highlights

Excess and evidence: Excuses for speeding in the early days of the car

August 29, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 3 Comments

As the summer wanes many car owners think about enjoying one last road trip and police officers think about managing chaotic long weekends on the highways. As long as cars […]

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Collection Highlights

Photographing Brampton: The Betty Odlum fonds

July 21, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 6 Comments

In 2016 the Region of Peel Archives was thrilled to accept the records of Brampton resident Betty Odlum. Betty was a skilled amateur photographer who spent most of her life […]

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Collection Highlights

“From Hemisphere to Hamlet:” Research on the Indigenous peoples of the County of Peel and North America within the Wm. Perkins Bull fonds

June 30, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 1 Comment

Note: A version of this article appeared in the Fall 2016 issue of the Archives Association of Ontario’s (AAO) themed issue of Off the Record focusing on “Archives and Indigenous […]

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Collection Highlights

The creation of the County of Peel, 1851-1867

April 25, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 5 Comments

This year the Region of Peel is commemorating both the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Dominion of Canada as well as the establishment of our forerunner, the County […]

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Collection Highlights

Peel in 1967

January 1, 2017by Region of Peel Archives 1 Comment

Libraries, schools, a college, a university, demolitions, a hockey tournament, and the end of Toronto Township.

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Collection Highlights

Staff favourites: The Township of Toronto Benchmark Book

December 14, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 4 Comments

Archivists here are often asked “What is your favourite record in the collection?” This can be a challenging question to answer, given that there are so many wonderful records in our […]

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Collection Highlights

Controlling disease: the fight against rubella, measles, polio, and typhoid

September 30, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 1 Comment

Typhoid, rubella, polio, and measles: we look through the collection at how these disease were recorded in archival records.

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Collection Highlights

5 things in the Peel Archives about eating

July 29, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 2 Comments

Peel’s Archives, like many municipal archives, covers the food story from farm to table. Let’s take a bite out of the collection, looking at documents and photographs that tell five stories about […]

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Collection Highlights

From mud to pavement: the early history of Peel roadways as told by our records

June 30, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 7 Comments

“…Driving down a corduroy road, Weeds standing shoulder high…” At The Hundredth Meridian by The Tragically Hip I have long harboured a fascination with the history of the road network […]

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Collection Highlights

5 environmental things in the Peel Archives

April 21, 2016by Region of Peel Archives Leave a comment

With Earth Day approaching, can records relating to the environment be found in the Region of Peel Archives collection? While we don’t have the papers of any household names from the Canadian […]

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Collection Highlights

5 funny things in the archives collection

April 1, 2016by Region of Peel Archives Leave a comment

From cheeky war posters to the world’s tightest roundabout, we look at five things in the archives that are funny.

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Collection Highlights

Caroline Armington, a Canadian artist in Paris

March 11, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 4 Comments

Caroline Armington struggled to become an artist, in an era where her gender was a liability to art sales.

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Collection Highlights

Unbuilt Peel: What could have been

January 28, 2016by Region of Peel Archives 5 Comments

Taking inspiration from Mark Osbaldeston’s Unbuilt Toronto books, the Peel Archives is currently showcasing records documenting never-realized planning and building initiatives within the Peel area. The exhibition, now open in […]

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Collection Highlights
A series of maps on a green wall.

Mapping Peel: An exploration of maps from the Peel Archives, 1805-2013

September 11, 2015by Region of Peel Archives Leave a comment

The Peel Archives is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition: Mapping Peel: An exploration of maps from the Peel Archives, 1805-2013. Visitors to the Reading Room will […]

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Collection Highlights

A trip around the world in archival records: A Peel tribute to International Archives Day

June 9, 2015by Region of Peel Archives 4 Comments

To mark International Archives Day 2015, we’re posting a sampling of some of the international fare in PAMA’s archival collections. Now of course we’ve said several times on this blog […]

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Collection Highlights

“Old Friends”: An Archivist Reflects on Treasured Favourites

May 22, 2015by Region of Peel Archives 5 Comments

Here at PAMA, we’re celebrating  over 30 years of service by Peel’s Regional Archivist, Diane Allengame, as she prepares to retire and move on to new adventures. Diane’s unswerving dedication, […]

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Collection Highlights

Records Reveal Peel’s Cold War Measures

May 8, 2015by Region of Peel Archives 2 Comments

Here in Canada we’re wrapping up Emergency Preparedness Week. The nature of potential threats to an entire community can change over time. In the 1960s and 70s, the Cold War […]

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Collection Highlights
Hydro truck at intersection, hydro employees walk about.

Before Hydro One: electricity records for Brampton and Caledon

April 16, 2015by Region of Peel Archives Leave a comment

Our archives holds records that show how electricity has been delivered in parts of Peel by publicly owned utilities – a tradition of ownership that seems set to change. This […]

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Collection Highlights

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Categories

  • Archives FAQs and Facts
  • Archives How-tos
  • Archives in pop culture
  • Case studies: Archivists at work
  • Collection Highlights
  • The Cumbrian Connection
  • Why Records Matter

Recent Posts

  • Ghosts of Christmases past in Peel and beyond
  • The case of the mysterious Mississauga Public Utility Commission records
  • “Your Friend, Standing Bear”: Coming together through repatriation
  • An archivist’s night at the movies, part VI: Christmas revisited
  • Redeeming records: Uncovering the deaths – and lives – of the Whitehead brothers
  • Photojournalism in Streetsville-Mississauga: The Al Betts fonds 
  • The quiet power of ordinary people: Reminders from the archives

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