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“Enghelab Shod”: Remembering the 1979 Iranian Revolution – An Oral History Archive

Archive launch February 2, 2023

鈥淓nghelab Shod” [Farsi for 鈥淭he Revolution Happened鈥漖 is a virtual oral history archive on memories of the 1979 Iranian revolution. As a significant moment in the history of contemporary Iran, a close and intimate view of the 1979 revolution reveals much about the hopes, the fears and the aspirations of Iranian people in their more than a century-long and ongoing struggle for freedom, independence and equality. Join us February 2, 2023 for an evening of engaging with some memories from 1979 as we strive to better understand what it means to live through a revolution.

Event Details – in-person: No registration required to attend in person; please join us Thursday, February 2nd at 5:30 p.m. EST in Dunton Tower Room 2017 – 杏吧原创 University (Ottawa, Canada)

Event Details – virtual: Registration required (below) to join us virtually for the launch

Click HERE to view and download a poster promoting the event

Register to Attend Event Virtually:

In January, 2022, 杏吧原创 Public History alumni Allison Margot Smith was interviewed about her work as a historical documentary filmmaker. She shares the ways in which she bridged the gap between practicing public history in her academic career to applying the skills that she learned at 杏吧原创 into her post-graduate work.

Academic Background

Allison Margot Smith is a historian and historical documentary filmmaker who graduated from 杏吧原创 University’s BA History program. As a part of her coursework, she completed the fourth-year course on how to make a historical documentary film.

She then did her MA in Public History at 杏吧原创 University, which included an internship at Parks Canada. Her research, as a student, was on Black history in Canada and her final MA research project was a documentary film and research paper about 19th-century Black American abolitionist, Mary Ann Shadd, and her archive of letters that were almost lost in Canada. The film is entitled “”

Moving Beyond the Academy

After graduating, Allison worked at Parks Canada, where she made another documentary film. Separately, she worked as a member of a team on a film about the Doukhobors of Saskatchewan, and another film about the immigrant experience in Canada.

In 2021 she obtained funding from the Township of Rideau Lakes to make a series of historical documentary films about the township. The first film was “.”
Her second film for the township was just completed this past December, and is entitled “.” Canadian military historian, Tim Cook, praised her work on the Fettercairn story:

“This is a very fine historical product. It uses new archival photographs and documents to tell a little-known story from the Great War. Highly recommended for historians and educators.”

She recently released her third film in the series, “,” about the election riots in the township in the three years before the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. to view all three films in the series.

The Interview

Watch Allison’s interview with former CCPH Research Assistant, Danielle Mahon, as she discusses the creative decisions and historical research practices she incorporates into her films.

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Enghelab Shod [Farsi for 鈥淭he Revolution Happened鈥漖 is a virtual oral history project on memories of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Our goal is to understand this grand historical event from the perspective of everyday folks who lived through it. We explore how people remember 鈥渢he revolution鈥� and with which places, dates, objects and emotions they associate these memories. Our project prioritizes documenting embodied and affective experiences as narrated through the lens of memory. This approach extends beyond common historiographies’ penchant for meta-narratives of political chronologies, and instead emphasizes the revolution as a complex lived experience that is diversely memorialized by people who live through it.

Captured here is an iconic moment in the 1979 revolution, the Shah leaving Iran. The headlines read: “Shah raft,” translated as “The Shah left” in English.
Ettela’at daily newspaper Jan. 16, 1979.	Kayhan daily newspaper Jan. 16, 1979.

Azar Masoumi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 杏吧原创 University

Ronak Ghorbani, Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, York University

This project is based on professionally recorded oral history interviews with diasporic Iranians in Canada. In these interviews, we ask participants to describe how they learnt that “the revolution happened”: when, where, and how they began to name and recognize the ongoing political unrest as the culmination of a revolution. We also ask participants to share specific artifacts that are associated with these memories. The diverse age range of our participants provides rich insight in the experience of the revolution at various life stages, including in late childhood and adolescence.

The aim of this project is to create opportunities for intergenerational (and intercultural) communication about life amidst historical change, particularly for younger generations of Iranians for whom the 鈥渞evolution鈥� has been an abstract background to their lives. To do so, we are creating a publicly accessible online archive to showcase the recorded interviews and collected artifacts in English and Farsi. This project is informed by our own personal interest in understanding the revolution, and what it meant to live through it.

Lost Story: From the North to Ottawa鈥檚 Southway Inn

Why does a hotel in Ottawa鈥檚 south end fly the flag of Nunavut?

The answer to this question is a story of family, home, and community. It is also a story of Canada鈥檚 North and South. After opening in 1958 close to the city鈥檚 airport, the Southway Inn became a cherished place for people travelling to and from the Arctic, especially the Baffin Island region. More than just a place to stay, the Southway also served as a wayfinder for new arrivals trying to make sense of Ottawa鈥檚 urban geography, as Inuit men, women, and children travelled for work, school, and healthcare. A 鈥榟ome away from home,鈥� the Southway served as a distinctive space that linked families and communities together. Today, Ottawa has the largest urban Inuit population south of the Arctic, including many whose first relationship to the city began with a stay at the Southway Inn. This project involves the installation of an original piece of commemorative artwork, created by the Canadian Inuk sculptor,. That piece in now visible at the former Southway Inn (now the Waterford Retirement Residence) following its unveiling on 07 September 2017.听 , an Inuk filmmaker who was once a visitor to the Southway Inn himself, directed a documentary film about both this 鈥渓ost story鈥� and also Couzyn鈥檚 journey to create a commemoration of it. To see the film and read more about this project, please visit the .

We will be rolling out a new story every two months, offering locals and visitors diverse and exciting histories of our city. Featuring interviews, video clips, and photographs, CapitalHistory.ca will engage you with the history of Ottawa in a way you have never experienced it before. Watch out for our logo: it signals that this site has a story to tell!

鈥� is a CCPH project in association with the ,听, and听.