There’s more to Laura Secord than just chocolate
REENA BESA
Issue date: 3/5/02 Section: Features
The heavenly chocolates, premium ice cream, and other ‘sinful’ treats tempt us to buy at least one item, or at our weakest, a handful, when we visit one of their many stores. Most Canadians associate the name Laura Secord with the confectionary manufacturer, but there’s much more to the the name than just chocolate.
“For many years she [Laura Secord] was the only flesh and blood, real, actual, woman to appear in many historical narratives told about Ontario’s history, specifically about the War of 1812,” stated Dr. Cecilia Morgan, a Professor at University of Toronto.
On Feb. 26, at the Senate Chambers in Mac Chown, assitant professor Donald Wright, in the department of history and Canadian studies at Brock University, hosted a special event about Laura Secord. Morgan was the guest speaker with her oration entitled, ‘Candy, Cows, and Commemoration: The Case of Laura Secord.’
Of all the events that occurred in Canadian history, it is rare to find a woman mentioned in any textbooks for elementary or secondary history courses. Among the few who were significant figures, Madeleine de VerchFres and Laura Secord are the most known but least recognized, explained Morgan.
At the Feb. 26 presentation, the audience heard stories about the Laura Secord Company, Canadian nationalism, female roles in history, and the varying accounts of Laura Secord’s story.
The lecture was based on the book Heroines and History: Madeleine de VerchFres and Laura Secord, which Morgan co-wrote with Colin Coates of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
As a historian, she attributes her fascination with Laura Secord to her work with Upper Canada and her interest in gender and women’s history.
Morgan explained: On June 21, 1813, while American soldiers were staying at her home in Queenston it is believed that Laura overheard a plan for a surprise attack against the British North American Army at Beaverdams. Laura and her husband, James, knew that Lieutenant Fitzgibbon should be notified. James was not in good enough health to relay the message to the British forces, for he was wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights. Whether or not Laura heard the news, it is definite that she engaged on the treacherous journey to pass the message to Fitzgibbon to warn him of the ambush. “Many people have claimed this info [ambush] as crucial to Fitzgibbon in organizing a defense method as planned by the American attack,” says Wright.
“For many years she [Laura Secord] was the only flesh and blood, real, actual, woman to appear in many historical narratives told about Ontario’s history, specifically about the War of 1812,” stated Dr. Cecilia Morgan, a Professor at University of Toronto.
On Feb. 26, at the Senate Chambers in Mac Chown, assitant professor Donald Wright, in the department of history and Canadian studies at Brock University, hosted a special event about Laura Secord. Morgan was the guest speaker with her oration entitled, ‘Candy, Cows, and Commemoration: The Case of Laura Secord.’
Of all the events that occurred in Canadian history, it is rare to find a woman mentioned in any textbooks for elementary or secondary history courses. Among the few who were significant figures, Madeleine de VerchFres and Laura Secord are the most known but least recognized, explained Morgan.
At the Feb. 26 presentation, the audience heard stories about the Laura Secord Company, Canadian nationalism, female roles in history, and the varying accounts of Laura Secord’s story.
The lecture was based on the book Heroines and History: Madeleine de VerchFres and Laura Secord, which Morgan co-wrote with Colin Coates of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
As a historian, she attributes her fascination with Laura Secord to her work with Upper Canada and her interest in gender and women’s history.
Morgan explained: On June 21, 1813, while American soldiers were staying at her home in Queenston it is believed that Laura overheard a plan for a surprise attack against the British North American Army at Beaverdams. Laura and her husband, James, knew that Lieutenant Fitzgibbon should be notified. James was not in good enough health to relay the message to the British forces, for he was wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights. Whether or not Laura heard the news, it is definite that she engaged on the treacherous journey to pass the message to Fitzgibbon to warn him of the ambush. “Many people have claimed this info [ambush] as crucial to Fitzgibbon in organizing a defense method as planned by the American attack,” says Wright.
