About Stephanie Bellissimo, M.A.
I have always had a deep fascination with history and material culture. As a young girl, I spent countless afternoons sitting on the floor of grandparent's bedroom pulling old family photographs out of the bottom drawer of their armoire. Today, I can happily say that I have turned my greatest interest into my vocation. I have been involved in the heritage field performing archival work, collection management, and exhibit development since 2009, working for such places as the Atikokan Centennial Museum, Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives.
I have experience organizing and digitizing collections, creating and implementing programs, researching and developing exhibits (both physical and digital), conducting oral history interviews, creating transcriptions, presenting historical research, monitoring museum environments, and organizing archival fonds and collections.
I have a certificate in Heritage Resource Management from Athabasca University, a Master of Arts degree in History from the University of Saskatchewan, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Toronto.
What's the Blog About?
This blog is something I work on in my spare time. Its purpose is to share my experiences in the field with the wider public. It focuses on a large variety of topics, including: women's history, garden history, military history, and rural history, to name several. It also features heritage discussions about museum and archival collections, programming, conservation, and policies.
Canadian History and Heritage offers an eclectic mixture of posts about stories I find interesting from Canadian archive and museum collections.
In the Field gives a more in-depth look at my work. Here, you will find virtual exhibits, as well as an inside look into the many different heritage and history projects I have worked on.
All photographs used in this blog are owned by me unless otherwise specified.
For more information about my work please check out my Abbreviated CV.
I have experience organizing and digitizing collections, creating and implementing programs, researching and developing exhibits (both physical and digital), conducting oral history interviews, creating transcriptions, presenting historical research, monitoring museum environments, and organizing archival fonds and collections.
I have a certificate in Heritage Resource Management from Athabasca University, a Master of Arts degree in History from the University of Saskatchewan, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Toronto.
What's the Blog About?
This blog is something I work on in my spare time. Its purpose is to share my experiences in the field with the wider public. It focuses on a large variety of topics, including: women's history, garden history, military history, and rural history, to name several. It also features heritage discussions about museum and archival collections, programming, conservation, and policies.
Canadian History and Heritage offers an eclectic mixture of posts about stories I find interesting from Canadian archive and museum collections.
In the Field gives a more in-depth look at my work. Here, you will find virtual exhibits, as well as an inside look into the many different heritage and history projects I have worked on.
All photographs used in this blog are owned by me unless otherwise specified.
For more information about my work please check out my Abbreviated CV.
Links to Additional Work
Museum/Archive Work
Academic Work
Public Work
Museum/Archive Work
- Royal Botanical Gardens’ Exhibit on the History of Ontario Horticultural Societies, Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Newsletter, Number 149, May 2018.
- Royal Botanical Gardens has a New Collection, Trillium (Ontario Horticultural Association newsletter), spring 2018.
- The Wikipedia page I created for the Centre for Canadian Historical Horticultural Studies, 2018.
- Example of finding aid: Mount St. Joseph Centre, Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, 2018.
- Textile Museum of Canada Narrative Threads Virtual Exhibit macramè fish and birch bark hat artifact submissions, 2016
- Woodland Nurseries: A Retrospective 1930 to 2009, Museums of Mississauga, 2009-2010.
Academic Work
- Review of Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present, by Stephen Lubar, Canadian Journal of History, Volume 53 Issue 1, Spring-Summer 2018, pp. 174-176
- They were Triomphanti: The Italian Homesteading Experience in Saskatchewan, 1896-1930 (thesis), University of Saskatchewan, 2012.
- Scowlitz: A Preliminary History, Ethnohistory Field School Report, University of Saskatchewan, University of Victoria, and the Stó:lõ First Nation, 2011.
Public Work
- The St. Joseph's Motherhouse Chapel Hamilton, Ontario, Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives, 2018.
- Gardens can help communities achieve important social goals, St. Catharines Standard, April 13, 2018.
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