Mirrors of Stone delves into the many ethnic cultures that thrived in the mining areas of Northern Ontario from the 1920s to the 1960s. The stormy history of hardrock mining camps has never fit into the comfortable cliches by which Canada “tells its story.” Angus unearths the dark sides of this history–“the wild tales of bootleggers, mobsters, and prostitution rings” and in so doing opens up new ways of seeing Ontario’s history and culture.
This is Angus’ third work on the economic and cultural history of Northern Ontario, and the second collaboration between Angus and Louie Palu. We Lived a Life and Then Some (BTL, 1996) tells the marvelous story of Cobalt, Ontario, and Industrial Cathedrals of the North (BTL, 1999) portrays in images and words the ghostly mining structures now largely abandoned in the north.
[The] personal perspectives [in the book] give the book a passion often missing in “grounded academic history.” [Angus’] findings are presented in casual prose that will entice the casual reader. His considerable reliance on the memories of both men and women (the latter are far more than an afterthought here) should interest more serious students of history. [This is] a book worth reading and looking at for anyone interested in the North, in mining, in the capitalist-worker relationship and more.
– Labour/Le Travail
Introduction | |
Part I | Strangers on the Land |
Prologue | The Road to Emmaus |
Chapter 1 | Relics of the Pioneers |
Chapter 2 | Outlaws in Murphy Township |
Chapter 3 | The Short, Unhappy Life of Natasia Baldiuck |
Chapter 4 | Joe Basill Gets Whacked |
Chapter 5 | The Hollinger Fire |
Chapter 6 | Joe and Lola |
Part II | Strangers and Memory |
Prologue | Stumbling through History |
Chapter 7 | Burning Crosses and Red Co-operatives |
Chapter 8 | The Afternoon Matinee |
Chapter 9 | The Night in Moneta |
Chapter 10 | Henry and the High-Graders |
Chapter 11 | The Paymaster Disaster |
Chapter 12 | Breathing the Powder |
Chapter 13 | Death by a Thousand Cuts |
Part III | A Changed World |
Prologue | In Search of the Synagogue |
Chapter 14 | The Mystery of Bill Barilko |
Chapter 15 | Battle of the Broulan Reef |
Chapter 16 | The Birth of the New Dragon |
Conclusion | |
Notes | |
Bibliography | |
List of Interviews |