My name is Charlie Twist, and I’m a 30-year-old undergraduate history student from University of Toronto. I’m here to express my passion in history, and explain how these archives are valuable tools for students just like me. So, personally, I got into history because, back when I graduated high school, I wanted to answer the impossibly complex question, why is the world the way it is? So, I decided to engage in history, and a sister discipline, sociology, where I’ve learned about important historical figures, events, social movements, the responses to them. I’ve gotten the opportunity to develop my skills and critical thinking, by thinking about connecting what’s happening today, and to think what’s happening in the past, and through learning how to research effectively.
Now, there’s a [Indiscernible] for us history students. Now, we intend to study history, because it was the only class that we enjoyed back in high school—maybe that’s true for some of us. But to me, what history students really are are idealists. Think about it. The path of history can lead to so many careers that can do amazing things in the world. From law, to archiving work, to librarianship, teaching and academia, policy analysis, just to name a few roles that history students gravitate towards.
But I’m not here to talk to you about jobs. I’m here to talk to you about idealism in history, and why these archives are such valuable resources. So, as historians, we tend to draw from the past, to look upon the achievements, and achievements of those who helped make the world what is today. We recognize what their successes and failures are, and build off of both, to help ensure that the future will be brighter. For many history students, including myself, this is why we study history. We want to help build a better future, using the lessons and wisdom, as of the past. To effectively study history, we need to draw upon as many perspectives and stories as possible. We need to understand the lives of not only great kings and generals, but of otherwise ordinary people who have risen to prominence, too. History teaches us that anyone can be significant to humanity’s collective story. We each have the opportunity to leave our own unique mark on the world.
And to me, this is what the Empire Club of Canada is helping emphasize to us, as it offers us access to its Digital Archives. With 121 years of speeches from some of the most important historical figures from across the world, the knowledge that is being given to us is nothing less than astonishing. Students will still have access to some of the richest stories, ideas, and perspectives, from truly remarkable people throughout the world. People who have come from a wide range of unique backgrounds at each level, and equally unique mark on the world. A mark that students can continue, through the further researching and understanding of their stories, and further depth.
Furthermore, these archives are available in both French and English. The very idea of these archives can help Canadian scholars that may otherwise be unilingual is both incredible and inspiring to the future of academia. Canada’s multiculturalism and connection between languages is one of the country’s greatest strengths, and the very idea that these teachers could be understood between Canada’s primary languages, which can contribute to Canada’s global understanding of the past, through allowing for easier academic collaboration. As we tend to draw upon the past, as we tend to draw upon the wisdom of the past, the launch of the Empire Club of Canada’s Digital Archive will offer new insights for us to use in research. These archives are not just a clutch of speeches, but a trove of research material and primary sources from the very people we look up to today.
In my time as a history student so far, I can say for sure that one thing my TA’s and professors are always asking us for more of in our essays are these very kind sources. Primary sources are types of sources that involve first-hand evidence. Rather than a book put together by historian, primary sources involve information coming directly from those present at a specific time period we want to study. Not only are historians dependent on primary sources, but the entire discipline is dependent on them. In fact, what we don’t know of our own history is because we don’t have the primary sources of those subjects. As such, it is critical to the discipline of history itself to preserve all instances of primary sources that we can, and these archives are doing just that. The speeches inside may reveal to us lesser-seen signs of historical figures, and allow us to further understand them and their stories. With the importance of primary sources in the discipline of history, the rich information with these archives, I can say for certain that I will be using them whenever possible.
Thank you, again, to the Empire Club of Canada, for offering us such incredible first-hand accounts. I would like to encourage my fellow students to access these archives whenever possible, as well. Because the wisdom and diverse perspectives they offer can further teach us what it takes to build a better world, and how to contribute to humanity’s collective story ourselves.
