My latest #LocalHistory post has more than a tiny element of #PersonalHistory, as it's about my elementary #school (and its predecessor of the same name). I was lucky enough to find some great #ClassPhotos and shots of the #playground, where I spent thousands of hours of my youth.
#histodons #upstateNY #UpstateNewYork #Schenectady #ScotiaNY

https://hoxsie.org/2025/12/10/scotias-mohawk-schools/

New blog post with a fascinating Revolutionary War detail: During British occupation, the Cole family ferry at the foot of Dock Street was the only authorized transport on and off Staten Island. Also sharing details about my book signing this Sunday at the Mount Loretto Christmas Fair—stop by from 12-4 PM if you're in the area.
#TottenvilleHistory #StatenIsland #RevolutionaryWar #LocalHistory #HistoryBlog
https://medium.com/@AngieMangino/tottenville-history-blog-3357a9328cee?sk=4e92ec3497bd6ae1f418b04b878e5f91

This Sunday, December 7th, I'll be at the Mount Loretto Friendship Club for a book signing from 12-4 PM. The Christmas Fair is the perfect setting to get copies of my Tottenville history books signed—whether you bring one you've already purchased or pick up a copy there. Great for anyone interested in Staten Island's deep roots or looking for meaningful local gifts this holiday season.
#TottenvilleHistory #StatenIsland #LocalHistory #BookSigning #HistoryBooks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FT1GQPPJ

The iconic 1937 Hazel Park “bottle house” — built with more than 20,000 glass bottles — is back on the market after a full renovation. The 1,225 sq. ft., two-bedroom home is listed at $350,000 just minutes from downtown.

👉 Full story here: https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/news/local-news/michigan/unique-hazel-park-home-made-with-20000-bottles-hits-the-market/

#MichiganNews #HazelPark #BottleHouse #MichiganRealEstate #BWHL #GBSMedia #LocalHistory #MetroDetroit

Imagine my surprise to learn that the daredevil Bobby Leach, the second person to go over #NiagaraFalls in a "barrel," did some "dry runs" for his attempt years earlier at #CohoesFalls. He got pretty banged up, which may be why 12 years passed before he took another run at Niagara.

#history #LocalHistory #Histodons #UpstateNY #UpstateNewYork #CohoesNY

https://hoxsie.org/2025/12/01/over-cohoes-falls-in-a-barrel/

New video out today, and no it's not about the Metro Tunnel!

Discover the history of the planned but never-built railway between Dandenong and Frankston https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RiarUeDKmvk

#Melbourne #MelbourneTrains #MelbourneHistory #AustralianTrains #LocalHistory

Before Tottenville had its name, the Lenni Lenape called this place Aquehonga Monocknong — sandy banks and spirited forest. Their matrilineal society was remarkably progressive: women elders could remove male leaders they deemed unfit. They lived communally, moved with the land's rhythms, and thrived on the abundant oysters of Raritan Bay.
#IndigenousHistory #Lenape #NativeAmerican #StatenIsland #LocalHistory
https://medium.com/@AngieMangino/the-lenape-20afbde43ddc?sk=f9cdd259fe38299fdc342b59935b9e57

A little bit of #LocalHistory : The Battle of Southsea was a series of riots over 4 days in August 1874 over access to a section of #Southsea beach. Earlier in 1874, the Clarence Pier Company attempted to connect Clarence Pier to the nearby Assembly Rooms effectively closing public access to the beach between the pier and the Hot Walls in Old Portsmouth. Rioting broke out on Southsea Common as the crowd attempted to reopen the route. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Southsea #Portsmouth

Got this at a garage sale, unopened. Victorian railways existed under that name from 1859 until a rebrand in 1974.

#trains #VictorianRailways #LocalHistory

Internet Archive Blog: Grant Award Will Support Digitization of Diverse Local History Collections. “Internet Archive’s Community Webs program has received a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and their Digitizing Hidden Collections program to digitize and provide open access to thirty local history collections from six partner organizations across the US and […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/21/internet-archive-blog-grant-award-will-support-digitization-of-diverse-local-history-collections/

Just made my first edits on National Library of Norway's local history wiki.

Let's see if they last longer than my first edits on Wikipedia.

:grimace_fb: :face_laughing_with_sweat_drop_fb:

https://lokalhistoriewiki.no

#Wiki #MediaWiki #LocalKnowledge #LocalHistory #History #Norsk #Norwegian #Oslo

Grant Award Will Support Digitization of Diverse Local History Collections

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://blog.archive.org/2025/11/17/clirgrant/

Check out the video explaining the #LocalHeritage project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeoANm7h8uM

#Histodons #ERC_funded #EU_funded #ERCCoG #Minho #CulturalHeritage #LocalHistory #PortugueseHeritage #PatrimónioCultural #RibeiraLima #PonteDeLima #Património #HistoryInThePublicSphere #HistóriaNaEsferaPública

🆕 The initiative 'Links with History: discovering the historic houses of Ribeira Lima', coordinated by the VINCULUM project, was selected as a finalist of the Iberian Heritage Awards 2025, that distiguish good practices in the Iberian cultural heritage sector. 🙌

👉 https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/vinculum-iberian-heritage-2025/

#Histodons #ERC_funded #EU_funded #ERCCoG #Minho #CulturalHeritage #LocalHistory #PortugueseHeritage #PatrimónioCultural #RibeiraLima #PonteDeLima #Património

#1111 Daniel and Samuel Lysons - Magna Britannia; Being a Concise Topographical Account of The Several Counties of Great Britain - Volume the Third, containing Cornwall. Printed For T. Cadell and W. Davies, in The Strand, London, 1814, 1st edition.

#DanielLysons #SamuelLysons #Cornwall #LocalHistory #BookOfTheDay

Next year’s Guild of #OneNameStudies is in Portsmouth, Hampshire. It’s shaping up to be a great programme:
https://one-name.org/guild-conference/

#genealogy #FamilyHistory #LocalHistory

The 2025 #OnePlaceStudies Conference and AGM is just two and a half weeks away! Don’t miss out on this excellent event – for just £10 you can join us as a member, join in with this and our monthly webinars, and enjoy our other membership benefits! #OnePlaceWednesday
https://www.one-place-studies.org/join-us/
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #LocalHistory

Good to see the Fremantle Society Photographic Survey photos are getting used:

https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au/2025/11/12/my-favourite-freo-street-gold-street/

There are 3,616 of them:

https://freopedia.org/Fremantle_Society_Photographic_Survey

#Fremantle #LocalHistory

LILA BRUYERE ON RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCES IN NEW DOCUMENTARY

On Sept. 9, 2025, Bangishimo launched a GoFundMe campaign to support completion of the documentary I Am Water. Co-directed by Bangishimo and Erik O’Neill, co-founder of Astro Dog Media, the documentary tells the story of Lila Bruyere, who is Bangishimo’s mother and a survivor of the residential school system. 

Educator and public speaker Bruyere wrote her memoir of surviving the residential school system until an issue with her computer changed her plans. Losing months of work would be a blow to anyone, but Bruyere took it as a sign to tell her story in a different medium.  

“I had five chapters written, and I swore I saved it, but when I went back to continue, I couldn’t find it. Thankfully, my oldest son was able to find it, but then my computer ate it again. I take things as a sign, and then a friend of mine asked me if I had thought about doing a documentary,” she said.  

Bruyere was new to the documentary world and sought help from a friend with experience in filmmaking. She was approved for a grant to begin work on the documentary, but the project stalled after a friend who helped them apply for the funds failed to pass the money along. While there was no fraud involved, Bruyere’s son and photographer, and community leader Bangishimo said the experience was a major setback.  

“We did call him out on social media. He claimed that he never spent the money, so he didn’t steal it. He ended up giving it back to the Arts Fund, but then we had to start from square one,” Bangishimo said.  

Bruyere was frustrated, and Bangishimo offered to help introduce her to Erik O’Neill, co-founder of Astrodog Media.  

“I have already made two short documentaries with Erik, Stories from Land Back Camp and Recollections and Imaginings. I introduced the two of them, and they hit it off immediately. They’re like besties now, which is hilarious,” they said. 

Bruyere tells the story slightly differently.  

“I met Erik and I didn’t want him to do it. I told Bangishimo that he’s too miserable. But then I went over to his studio, and this was the first time he ever videotaped me, and we were talking and laughing. I thought, oh my gosh, like this guy does laugh. Now, we’re the best of friends,” she said.  

With a new crew onboard, the team travelled to Bruyere’s home reserve on Couchiching First Nation near Fort Frances, Ont. for a 10-day shoot in June 2025.   

“I told the crew I didn’t want this to be all doom and gloom, even though it is a sad story. This is not your ordinary documentary. This is a spiritual experience. I told them I hoped they were open to learning things about our culture, and they were amazing,” Bruyere said.  

The documentary trip was also the first extended trip home for Bangishimo. While they had passed through over the years, they said their experiences growing up as a queer person on a small reserve were not positive.  

“I didn’t have a lot of great memories in my community. Growing up on my reserve and in a small town was not always a safe place for queer kids, especially in the 80s. But once I got there, my whole perception had changed. My therapist told me the community that I grew up in is no longer that community and I am not that same person,” they said.  

The trip was a chance to run into relatives they had not seen since they were children and meet new ones they had not met before.  

“It was so nice to be with my people and on my people’s land. It was the highlight of 2025 for me, and it made me actually really miss home. We’re now hoping to go home again next summer just because we had such a great experience,” Bangishimo said. 

Bruyere hopes the documentary will change the conversation on residential schools to one of moving forward while not forgetting the atrocities committed. She added that she spent five years working with a therapist and attending counselling to deal with the trauma she experienced.  

“I know what happened to me, but I don’t live there 24/7. I don’t let it cripple me like it used to. I shouldn’t even be here because I went through so much drama. Sometimes, I don’t know where I got the strength from, but then I always give my credit to my mom. She was a really strong person, and I want people to know that there is life after residential school.” Bruyere said.  

For more information or to donate, visit the I Am Water GoFundMe.

#alexKinsella #astrodogMedia #bangishimo #documentary #educator #erikOneill #gofundme #lilaBruyere #localFilm #localHistory #memoir #nationalSurvivors #nationalSurvivorsCircle #queerHistory #residentialSchoolSurvivors #residentialSchools #truthAndReconciliation