This keynote was originally delivered at the CHA Conference in Charlottetown and posted on the CHA website. Shared with permission.
Edward MacDonald, University of Prince Edward Island
Canadian Historical Association, Charlottetown, June 2026
©Edward MacDonald
(Please do not reproduce without permission from gemacdonald@upei.ca)
PREAMBLE
May I offer you, as a native-born Islander, a welcome to Prince Edward Island, the first time that the CHA has graced our shores since 1992 and the first time that the ACS has met here since 2009.
I confess that when I was approached by Andrew Nurse to make some remarks at the CHA this year, I nearly said no. After all, I said, what has the likes of me, a slight sage from a small place, to say to the likes of you? What qualification do I have, aside from being old and so, allegedly wise. My mind immediately went back to my first class in graduate school at Queen’s in the fall of 1978. I was 20 years old and a long way from home. I left that day with two words I couldn’t define banging around in my head: “declension” and “paradigm.” “I do not belong here!” I thought.
I was probably right. Just the same, I stuck it out and here we are. But, the question I asked Andrew Nurse remains valid: what wisdom do I have to offer? Only the kind you can buy at any corner store. So, I’ve decided it is safest for me simply to remind you today of things that you already know. Then we can both feel smart!
I began with that reference to myself as a native-born Islander because, well, I am, but also, because it is the key to what I would like to rehearse with you. I am an historian of place, and that has furnished me with some insights into the significance of place when it comes to the practice of history. I would like to begin with that.