The HISTORYTELLERS Project

Written by: Grade 10 Students, Garth Webb Secondary School, HDSB

Edited by: Ian Duncan (he/him)

We are all storytellers. And we want you to know that each of these non-fiction stories were researched, written, and curated by Grade 10 students with pride, curiosity and integrity for a history that is too often missing from our classrooms. Inspired by photographs from the ArQuives’ collection, we wrote these stories to show you the bravery, perseverance, and heart of Canada’s 2SLGBTQ+ community. We worked hard to inform, inspire, and include those whose stories aren’t often told. 

This project taught us not to hide our identities and to be proud of ourselves too. Our stories are meant to teach others to do the same. 

If we can find these stories, so can you. There’s so much more to know, so we encourage you to keep learning. We were hooked by the photographs, curious about our research, and thought a lot about 2SLGBTQ+ history. We really grew to care about each story; we were interested, engaged, and we worked hard. 

Our teacher, Mr. Duncan, says;

“The past is the past. History is a story written about the past.” 

Grade 10 History students from Garth Webb Secondary School, in the Halton District School Board (HDSB), are proud to partner with The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives in creating new historical narratives from Canada's 2SLGBTQ+ history. We are really grateful to our project partners; we've been really inspired by the items and memories collected by the ArQuives. We're also grateful for the support of the HDSB and the Halton Learning Foundation whose funding was generously applied to this project and our final exhibit panels.