The Open Door: Recent Episodes
The Brown Homestead
The Open Door is about looking for ways to create a better future - by exploring the past. Host Andrew Humeniuk speaks with guests about historical issues that relate directly to our changing world, while sharing the journey to transform his ancestral homestead into a vital community space for today.
When a historic building is preserved, the stories embedded into its walls and floorboards are also preserved. On this special crossover episode with Brock University’s Foreword, we take The Tattooed Historian YouTuber and podcaster, John R. Heckman, on an immersive audio tour of The Brown Homestead. We peel back the layers of history found in floor stencils, lath walls, and wallpaper to uncover why purpose-driven adaptive reuse matters in the heritage field.
A history of whisky in Niagara offers a flavourful glimpse into Loyalist agricultural industry and trade in Upper Canada, the social nature of tavern culture, and the unexpected outcome of the temperance movement. Ajay Bhardwaj, Canada’s first certified whisky ambassador, leads a live, guided tasting of three select whiskies paired with insightful stories from Niagara’s past to help us understand whisky culture today.
The Kanesatake Resistance, or Oka Crisis, was a defining historic moment with an enduring legacy in Canada’s challenged relationships with Indigenous peoples. Mohawk writer and director Tracey Deer speaks to her experience as a twelve-year old girl in the summer of 1990, and how it helped shape her powerful, and immensely personal 2021 Canadian Screen Award winning film, Beans.
In celebration of the holiday season, we are happy to offer Jennifer Humeniuk’s reading of Truman Capote’s classic tale, A Christmas Memory.
Is E.A. Brown Dead? In 1894, Charles McCain published a History of the SS Beaver containing a chapter recounting the events of the night that Edward Brown disappeared. Does it contain clues to what really happened or an answer to the mystery that followed and the ultimate fate of his friend? You be the judge!
A young man from Pelham moved to Vancouver in 1888 following a family tragedy. Four years later, on New Year’s Eve, a friend reported that he drowned, leaving behind a wife and two children. But did he? Rumours and reports of sightings began flooding into the police and newspapers and continued for many years, leading people to ask … Is E.A. Brown Dead?
The old barns scattered across our countryside are the iconic backdrop to Canada’s rural heritage, yet comparatively little has been documented about them. Studying the structure and style of a barn can enrich our understanding of rural life, and how farming has evolved over time. In this episode, author and Ontario Barn Preservation President Hugh Fraser shares the unique qualities of the historic swing beam barns of early Niagara.
Maligned by some and misunderstood by most, heritage designations are, nonetheless, the most immediate means we have to protect the historic buildings that represent our local history and define the character of our hometowns. City of Hamilton Planner Chloe Richer guides us through the mazework of heritage designations, addresses common misconceptions, and considers what we lose when we lose our built heritage.
Much of Niagara’s urban history is closely linked to our marine history, particularly after the Welland Canal began operation in 1829. Maritime archaeologist Dr. Kimberly Monk has worked to piece together the nuances of the local shipbuilding industry of the early nineteenth century, and, in this episode, delves into the major players, their contributions, and challenges in an era of changing technology.
The Brown Homestead is one of the oldest Loyalist homes in Ontario. Navigating the known and unknown about its early history is an exploration of our heritage. We recently undertook an archaeological survey to add to our understanding of this important historic site. In this episode, supervising archaeologist Dr. John Triggs joins us to talk about the value of what is found and not found, and to reveal some of the stories we uncovered.
Doctors during the War of 1812 faced an uphill battle to save the lives of soldiers damaged by battlefield trauma or ravaged by diseases without known treatments. We often look at medicine before anesthesia or the discovery of germs as barbaric, but Kaitlyn Carter has a different perspective, choosing to see the humanity behind the history in a time when pain, service and heroism had a different meaning than they do today.
The Métis Nation and its history is often misunderstood having been either poorly taught, misrepresented or ignored. On our journey to discover a more complete history, we are very happy to have the opportunity to sit down at the kitchen table to chat with Graham Paradis. Graham is Michif/Wiisaakodewin from Penetanguishene with ancestral ties to the Métis homelands in Lesser Slave Lake and the Red River Settlement.
Growing up in Puglia, Italy where his family has been farming for at least six generations, Tonio Creanza has been witness to a dramatic transition from the civiltà contadina, the peasant's civilization, to a new world of technology and globalization. In response, he founded Messors, a heritage organization focused not just on the conservation of historic places, but also the preservation of a traditional way of life.
The Niagara Jazz Festival is a highlight of summer in the Niagara Region and this year the festival comes to The Brown Homestead for the first time. In this episode, social anthropologist, Black music historian and musician Wade Pfaff shares a history of Canadian jazz in the context of his research into local Black history.
Revisiting history that we think we know through the eyes of those who lived it sometimes gives us a different perspective. In this episode, researcher Jake Breadman reviews his findings about the Brown family’s participation in the War of 1812 and brings us closer to the experience of the militiamen and their families.
With urban farming being the latest trend and home gardens becoming popular again, we remember a time when almost everyone had their own vegetable patch at home. In this episode, domestic historial Meg Grimsmo joins us to explore the World War II era Victory Garden and why they may be the perfect cure for what ails us today.
One of the compelling discoveries about The Brown Homestead was its use as a tavern between around 1809 and the late 1830’s, but our modern assumptions about what that means may not be accurate. In this episode, we raise a glass and swap stories about the complex role of taverns in Colonial society with medical historian, Dan Malleck, director of Brock University’s Centre for Canadian Studies.
Why do we cut down evergreen trees and put them in our living rooms every December? Why do people kiss under the mistletoe? And what is plum pudding, anyway? In this episode, we explore the curious origins of our Christmas traditions with domestic historian and historic interpreter Meg Grimsmo from the Nelles Manor Museum.
In this episode, we dig into the complicated question of what to do about the controversial statue to Private Alexander Watson in front of St. Catharines City Hall. Brock University professors Michael Ripmeester and Russell Johnston examine the complex history of the monument and walk us through ways that its challenging narrative offers opportunities for education and reconciliation.
In this episode, we celebrate Halloween with a walk on the spooky side! Historian and author Dr. Adam Montgomery, the creator of Canadian Cemetery History, leads us through the history of burial grounds and death rituals as we explore how cemeteries, as historical sites, have an important role to play in helping us celebrate life and shape a better future.
In 2015, The Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums challenged and outraged the orthodox heritage community. In this episode, we catch up with the Museum Anarchist himself, Franklin Vagnone, to talk about how embracing change has helped progressive historic sites survive Covid, and how continuing to reinvent the heritage paradigm will be essential to thriving in the new normal.
The history of Upper Canada begins with the Loyalists, but they remain misunderstood and sometimes misrepresented. In this episode, Dr. Timothy Compeau, an expert on the cultural history of the Revolutionary period, joins us to delve into the enigma, dispel some of the myths and consider what understanding the Loyalists can teach us about the present and future.
In our inaugural episode, we explore the project that inspired the podcast, the restoration of The Brown Homestead. Founders Andrew and Jennifer Humeniuk revisit their journey from the purchase of the historic site in 2015 through reimagining its future as a community cultural space where people gather to celebrate our heritage and work together to shape a brighter future.
The Open Door is a brand new podcast presented by The Brown Homestead in the Niagara Peninsula. This podcast will share our journey of reimagining our historic site as a cultural and educational venue and explore ways that other sites can be catalysts for change in their communities. You can also expect great conversations with guests about historical issues that relate directly to the world we’re living in as we work to create a better future – by exploring the past. So make sure to join us for the first full episode, coming soon!