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About the Collection: The Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada (MSCC) Glass Lantern Slide Collection consists of 48 glass lantern slides, 29 of which are hand-tinted. The slides include images related to four Residential Schools: Elkhorn (Manitoba), St. Michael’s (British Columbia), Shingwauk (Ontario), and Choutla (Yukon). About Lantern Slides: Magic lantern slideshows were a common presentation tool used by Canadian churches in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Vivid, carefully chosen images were presented to congregations alongside commentary at church events, and served to summarize, justify, and raise funds for church mission work, including involvement with Residential Schools. These slides would have been projected to audiences by means of a gas-illuminated magic lantern, bringing dramatic emphasis to the church’s account of their work with Indigenous populations, while simplifying and typifying their subjects for broad public consumption. Collection Goals: Our goal in digitizing the MSCC Glass Lantern Slide Collection is to document the narrative the church constructed around the impact of its missionary work. While these representations of Residential Schools leave out much context — including the damaging cultural and emotional consequences they have had for Indigenous communities — viewing the collection can contribute to a more complete understanding of the tools that were used to convince congregations of the value of Residential Schools, while obscuring the harm they caused. We hope the collection can be used to support learning about Residential Schools both locally and beyond.
