Nestled in farmland slated for development in Burlington, Ontario, is a site that tells a familiar story of nineteenth century immigration. Multiple families moved to Canada and set up roots in a rural community, building a new life for themselves and their descendants.  Almost two hundred years later, a group of archaeologists began to uncover their histories. One of the core values of ASI is to disseminate the results of our work. In 2024 we decided to add a new tool to our outreach efforts by establishing a digital exhibit page on our website. Our pilot exhibit will feature this farmstead, rich in local heritage. This exhibit page is currently in production and in our presentation we will share our development process and the lessons we have learned while launching this new endeavour. Our goal is to use a highly visual storytelling approach that presents two interlocking narratives- the archaeologist’s experience and the story of the people who lived on the farm in the nineteenth century. 

The Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852 was a watershed moment, not only for Ireland but also for the countries that absorbed the over 2 million famine emigrants forced to leave their homeland. These victims were often painted as a monolithic peasantry with limited agency; however, the archaeological study of the Irish Famine on both sides of the Atlantic offers a unique glimpse into the lived experiences of the individual. This presentation will use archaeological resources to build a more nuanced narrative of the Irish diaspora, from forcible evictions in 1847 to the typhus-laden St. Lawrence barges to homesteading in Canada West. Archaeological sites in County Roscommon, Kingston (Ontario), and Toronto will be used to demonstrate the most impactful strength of historical archaeology—revealing the lives of those who were ignored or erased by history.  

During World War II, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Liberator bomber 589 “D” crashed into Gander Lake, Newfoundland shortly after take-off on September 4, 1943. All four RCAF aircrew on board were killed in the crash. In June 2022, Kirk Regular from the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) and the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland & Labrador (SPSNL) located the bomber wreck on the bottom of Gander Lake using multibeam sonar. Initial surveys and mapping of the wreck site were done by SPSNL divers in 2022. We returned to the bomber wreck in September 2024 to recover an artifact: the bombardier’s bomb release interval control box. Technical divers from SPSNL recovered the artifact using decompression diving techniques. The control box underwent chemical and mechanical conservation treatment at MUN’s Conservation Laboratory. The objective of this project was to recover an artifact for a new exhibit at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander. The exhibit will tell the story of wartime anti-submarine patrols done by RCAF aircraft based in Gander, their importance to the Battle of the Atlantic and of this particular plane crash and the loss of the four aircrew.