More than taverns and brothels: French Canadian, Irish, and Jewish struggles against oppression in Lowertown
ByWard Market, c. 1910
Discover Lowertown and the Market’s colorful origins as home to French and Irish canal workers and timber men, and its subsequent evolution into a place of refuge for Jewish immigrants. Hear about key moments of solidarity and division, as these three groups, each with their own pre-Ottawa experience of oppression, resisted the domination of their communities by Ottawa’s self-appointed British rulers. Learn about the institutions and organizations the French, Irish, and Jews built, and the demonstrations, strikes, riots, occupations, and other actions they undertook to defend themselves during the first century of Ottawa’s history.