New website gives Canadians access to early immigrant experience

March 23, 2010

Athabasca University is pleased to launch a new and unique website Connecting Canadians. (http://www.connectingcanadians.org)
Connecting Canadians provides individuals with a unique opportunity to explore early 20th Century Canadian newspapers online and to connect with their heritage. AU has digitized and deployed to the web more than 20 early immigrant newspapers in their original languages. All content is freely accessible and is keyword searchable. Some titles include:

o Latvian - Bavarijas Latviesu Vestnesis, and Brivais Latvietis
o Finnish - Canadian Uutiset, Isien Usko, Leikki, Viikkosanomat and Vapaus Sana
o Ukrainian - Edmonton Ukranian News, Homin Ukrainy, Ukrainian Toiler and Ukrainian Weekly
o Yugoslavian - Jedinstvo, and Nasa Novine
o Hungarian - Kanadai Magyarsae, and Magyar Elet
o Lithuanian - Liaudies Balsas
o Estonian - Vaba Estlane
o Croatian - Novosti
o Serbian - Serbian Herald
o Polish - Zwilazkowiec Alliancer

Communication between immigrants and their loved ones in the home country in the pre-internet, television and radio age relied heavily on newspapers. As a result, immigrant newspapers document the earliest years of immigrant experience in Canada. Often the newspapers were published in the heritage language of the community, making them an invaluable resource for descendants of immigrants, students and teachers of the immigrant experience, as well as genealogists.
The Connecting Canadians project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy.

For more information, contact:
John O'Brien
Manager, Media Relations
Athabasca University
403-298-2931
jobrien@athabascau.ca

 

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Updated August 21, 2012