Contested Territory:
Transformation of the Woods

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New Brunswickers have regularly responded to significant economic and technological change in the resource industries that have long formed the backbone of the New Brunswick economy. A major case study will focus on the working experience in the forest industries over the course of the 20th century.

Our features on this theme include the following:

• Women's Work in the New Brunswick Lumber Camps: Women have always worked, and when thinking about the history of work in the New Brunswick woods, it is important to remember that women also played a part in the history of work in these operations. [ more ]
• Life and Work in Stanley Parish at the time of the Great War: This feature takes us into the world of rural work, as seen in the diaries of a York County farmer and labourer in the 1910s and 1920s, a time of major changes in the New Brunswick countryside. Bill Parenteau and Stephen Dutcher have published a new book, War on the Home Front: The Farm Diaries of Daniel MacMillan, 1914-1927 (Goose Lane Editions, 2006), and our site features a short introduction as well as excerpts and illustrations from the book. [ more ]
• Crisis in the Forest Industries: In recent years many New Brunswick communities have been severely affected by the crisis in the province's forest industries. The closing of important mills and factories and the loss of well-paid jobs have presented serious challenges for the people and communities who rely on this economic sector for their livelihood. On this part of our site you will be able to read articles from provincial daily and weekly newspapers focusing on the crisis and other documents discussing how workers, unions and communities have developed strategies to respond to them. You will also be able to hear excerpts from the testimony of workers who have been affected by the crisis. [ in preparation ]

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