Intervening in the Belden Historical Atlas

The Belden Historical Atlas of the Country of Carleton(1879) is one of 40 subscription county atlases produced in Ontario (Upper Canada) between 1874 and 1881. These atlases feature a combination of maps, historical texts, portraits of people and properties, and some ephemera/material about business. Though these atlases offer an interesting historical record, only subscribers were recorded. Subscribers with means had the opportunity to control how they were represented.Today's readers of the Belden Historical Atlas are able to gain insight into what is represented and how it is represented as well as what is left out.

Students from the 2018 cohort of CDNS 3000/GEOG 3001 had the opportunity to intervene in this colonial and capitalist atlas. Each student produced a "response object" to one of the images or texts.

We would like to thank Monica Ferguson and all of our colleagues and friends, who shared their knowledge and experience with us.