'Wee women no more': female partners of republican political prisoners in Belfast

Studies of the female partners of politically motivated prisoners have generally studied women via a caring paradigm. Less well observed are those women who privately transgressed and challenged masculine-centred renditions or political imprisonment. This lacuna in the research dedicated to such women has been constructed around stereotypical depictions of them as a barely visible support network. We argue that the relatively indiscernible appearance of women who challenged such typecasting is attached to a persistent process of gender blindness within which women remain peripheral to wider narratives of collectivity and ideological presentation. We chart how some women actively involved themselves in creating their own identity as active agents, especially when the effects of conflict entered the private sphere.

Victimisation and Attitudes Towards Former Political Prisoners in Northern Ireland

The release of ex-combatants and the mechanisms for their re-integration within society has become an increasingly controversial issue in peace settlements. Yet to date, the view of victims concerning such arrangements in post-conflict societies remains unexplored. Mindful of this omission and using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article investigates the relationship between victimisation and attitudes towards the treatment of former political prisoners. Based on the 2011 Northern Ireland Social and Political Attitudes Survey, the results suggest that individual victims—those who directly and/or indirectly experienced violent incidents—are notably less supportive of a punitive approach towards the treatment of former political prisoners than non-victims. Moreover, this is particularly the case when victims from within the Catholic community are considered. The Northern Ireland evidence suggests that victims can act as a positive and inclusive force in terms of the rehabilitation and re-integration of former combatants in societies emerging from conflict.

On the Road to Democracy? Political Liberalization in Myanmar. Asia Policy Brief 2014/01, January 2014

Myanmar’s liberalizing reforms initiated by President Thein Sein after taking office in March 2011 are raising high hopes of peace and democracy in the country. Progress, after nearly three years, has however been uneven: there have been positive developments in the area of press freedom, with regard to political prisoners and in dealing with the political opposition. At the same time the dialogue with ethnic groups has stagnated and ethnic and religious violence has escalated. This Asia Policy Brief critically assesses the reform policy and weighs up the chances of democratization of the long-time military regime.

Native American woman Yvonne Wanrow speaking at Political Prisoner speak-out

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Office of the University President Sous fonds: Dr. James A. Gibson

Dr. James A. Gibson was born in Ottawa on January 29, 1912 to John W. and Belle Gibson. At an early age the family moved to Victoria, B.C. where John W. Gibson was a director of the Elementary Agricultural Education Branch, Department of Education. Gibson received his early education in Victoria, receiving a B.A. (honours) at UBC in 1931. In 1931 he was awarded the Rhodes scholarship and received his B.A., M.A., B.Litt and D. Phil at New College, Oxford. This was to be the beginning of a long and dedicated relationship with the Rhodes Scholar Association. Upon his return to Canada, Dr. Gibson lectured in Economics and Government at the University of British Columbia. In 1938 he was married to Caroline Stein in Philadelphia, and the same year joined the staff of the Department of External Affairs as a Foreign Service officer. Within twenty minutes of his arrival he was seconded to the Office of the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs, W. L. Mackenzie King in charge of War Records and Liaison Officer. This was a critical time in the history of Canada, and Dr. Gibson experienced firsthand several milestones, including the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. Dr. Gibson was present at the formation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, being part of the Prime Minister’s professional staff as well as attending conferences in Washington, Quebec and London as an advisor to the Canadian delegation. Gibson contributed many articles to the publication bout de papier about his experiences during these years. After his resignation in 1947, Gibson joined the staff of the fledgling Carleton College, as a lecturer. In 1949 he was appointed a professor and in 1951 became Dean of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Gibson acted as President from 1955 to 1956 upon the sudden death of Dr. MacOdrum. In 1963 Dr. Gibson accepted the invitation of the Brock University Founders’ Committee, chaired by Arthur Schmon, to become the founding president. Dr. Gibson guided the new University from a converted refrigeration plant, to an ever expanding University campus on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment. Dr. Gibson remained firmly “attached” to Brock University. Even after official retirement, in 1974, he retained the title President Emeritus. Gibson’s final official contribution was an unpublished ten year history of the University. In retirement Gibson remained active in scholarly pursuits. He was a visiting scholar at the Center of Canadian Studies, University of Edinburgh; continued his ongoing research activities focusing on W. L. Mackenzie King, the Office of the Governor General of Canada, and political prisoners transported to Van Dieman’s Land. He remained active in the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars, becoming editor from 1975 to 1994 and was appointed Editor Emeritus and Director for Life in 1995 in honour of his dedicated and outstanding service. In 1993 he was awarded one of Canada’s highest achievements, the Order of Canada. Gibson retained close ties with Brock University and many of its faculty. He maintained an office in the Politics Department where he became a vital part of the department. In 1996 Brock University honoured Gibson by naming the University Library in his honour. James A. Gibson Library staff was instrumental in celebrating the 90th birthday of Gibson in 2002, with a widely attended party in the Pond Inlet where many former students, including Silver Badgers. The attendees also included former and current colleagues from Brock University, Canadian Rhodes Scholars Association, family and friends. Gibson was later to remark that the highlight of this event was the gift of his original academic robe which he had personally designed in 1964. In 2003 Dr. Gibson moved to Ottawa to be near some of his children and the city of his birth and early career. In that year “two visits to Brock ensued: the first, to attend a special celebration of the James A. Gibson Library; his late to attend the 74th Convocation on Saturday, October 18, 2003. A week later, in Ottawa, he went for a long walk, returned to his residence, Rideau Gardens, went into the lounge area, took off his coat and folded it up, put it on the back of his chair, sat down, folded his hands in his lap, closed his eyes, and died”. With sources from: Carleton University The Charlatan, Gibson CV, and Memorial Service Programme

Dr. Stuart D. Scott Papers, 1837-2010 (non-inclusive)

Dr. Stuart D. Scott has written extensively in the fields of prehistory and history. As an archaeologist, he has traveled to some of the most significant sites in the world, including Pompeii, Stonehenge, the Valley of the Kings, Egypt’s pyramids and the Taj Mahal. He spent nine months excavating with the Tikal Project in Guatemala before returning to the University of Arizona where he received a Ph.D. in 1963. He excavated in New Zealand as a Fulbright scholar in 1963-1964. In the fall of 1964, Dr. Scott started a long career in the Anthropology Department of the State University of New York. He taught graduate and undergraduate archaeology courses and continued his archaeological and historical research. In 1979, Scott established the Old Fort Niagara Archaeology in Progress Project at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York. For many years, he became involved with historical archaeology in western New York. It was during this work that he became interested in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838 and its aftermath. Dr. Scott and his wife, Patricia Kay Scott, would use Christmas breaks, summer vacations, and sabbatical years to travel. They were repeatedly lured back to the South Pacific, conducting research in New Zealand, Australia and many of the Micronesian and Polynesian islands. To tell the whole story of the Rebellion and the prison exiles, they traveled extensively in Canada, the United States, England and Tasmania to collect archival research and to experience the scenes of this remarkable narrative. In 2004, Dr. Scott published To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation: Americans and Canadians Transported to Tasmania in the 1840s, which told the story of the men captured, tried, convicted, and exiled as a result of the Rebellion, also called the Patriot War. Other contributions include: • A collaboration with Dr. Charles Cazeau on the book Exploring the Unknown, Great Mysteries Reexamined published by Plenum Press in 1979 • The Patriot Game: New Yorkers and the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-1838, which appeared in New York History, Vol. 68, No.3. 1987 • A Frontier Spirit: The Life of James Gemmell published in Australiasian Canadian Studies, Vol. 25, No. 2 2007 • To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation which appeared in the Friends of the National Archives, Vol. 20, No. 1 2009 • Numerous academic journal publications • Service on conference panels • Various research papers and proposals Before retiring in 1997 and while still a resident of Buffalo, N.Y., Dr. Scott spent considerable time with Brock University President Emeritus James A. Gibson and History Professor Colin Duquemin. The three shared a love of Rebellion history. It was largely because of this connection that Brock University was chosen as the recipient of Dr. Scott’s research materials.

СЛІДИ КОНФЛІКТУ – ПОЛІТИЧНІ В’ЯЗНІ У ПРОЗІ ЗОФІЇ НАЛКОВСЬКОЇ

The main aim of the article is highlighting subplots present in the prose works of Nałkowska which are devoted to Ukrainian and Belarusian political prisoners. The author maintains that the Polish colonizing activity along the so-called ‘Eastern Borderland’ requires a detailed and comprehensive study. The results of this analys is should then be compared against contemporary Ukrainian literature as well as the history of the national liberation and nationalist movements at the beginning of 20th century. The article explores three prose texts by Nałkowska, that is, “Węzły życia” (The Bonds of Life), “Niedobra miłość” (Bad Love) and “Ściany świata” (The Walls of the World). The subplots present in all three works can be analyzed in terms of inevident, yet indelible traces pertaining to ethnic conflicts between Poles, Ukrainians and Belarusians, as well as the Jewish pogroms. The themes that span the above- mentioned text can be outlined as follows: first of all, the radical metamorphosis of political attitudes on the part of the protagonists representing former Legionists; secondly, the heroines’ active work for the benefit of the prisoners, also the political ones. In spite of censorship and visibly more and more extreme politics of the authoritarian state towards ethnic minorities, Nałkowska remained one of the few writers who managed to deliver the arrested history of persecutions. Keywords: politics of colonization, national minority, traces of conflict, political prisoners