Department of History
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Browsing Department of History by Author "Kheraj, Sean"
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Item Open Access The Great Epizootic of 1872–73: Networks of Animal Disease in North American Urban Environments(Environmental History, Oxford University Press, 2018-07) Kheraj, SeanThis article examines the outbreak of an unknown illness (later thought to be equine influenza) among the horses of Toronto and its subsequent spread as a continent-wide panzootic. Known as the Great Epizootic, the illness infected horses in nearly every major urban center in Canada and the United States over a 50-week period beginning in late September 1872. The Great Epizootic not only illustrated the centrality of horses to the functioning of nineteenth-century North American cities, but it also demonstrated that these cities generated ecological conditions and a networked disease pool capable of supporting the rapid spread of animal disease on a continental scale in localities from widely divergent geographies. This article invites environmental historians to broaden their view of cities to consider the ways in which networked urbanization produced forms of historical biotic homogenization that could result in the rapid and widespread outbreak of disease.Item Open Access Improving Nature: Remaking Stanley Park’s Forest, 1888-1931(BC Studies, 2008) Kheraj, SeanThis article examines forest policy for Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1888-1931. The author argues that Park Board's forest policy developed with the objective of eliminating or disguising evidence of natural and anthropogenic environmental change, a landscape technique known as facade management. This policy was shaped in large part by a series of insect infestations and the recommendations of federal entomologists from the 1910s to the 1930s.Item Open Access Map of the Great Epizootic, 1872-1873 (ArcGIS)(2017-03-13) Kheraj, SeanOver the course of 50 weeks, an outbreak of what was believed to be equine influenza spread from Toronto to nearly every major city in Canada and the United States, infecting an enormous population of urban horses. The disease also infected horses in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Nineteenth-century cities in Canada and the US were filled with horses. Equine labour provided the power for intra-urban transportation and shipping. They pulled streetcars, delivered goods, and even powered machinery. In 1872-73, cities in Canada and the US were connected by an expanding network of railways. The Grand Trunk spanned the most populous provinces of Canada and the Union Pacific recently connected the Atlantic and Pacific urban centres of the US. Railways sped the Great Epizootic across the continent, linking the bodies of horses in Toronto to nearly every city in Canada and the US. This is a map of the spread of the 1872-73 Great Epizootic. It also displays the approximate railway networks in Canada and the US. Each point on the map documents when the disease was first reported to have arrived in that city. Click on the points for details and source information about the arrival of the disease in each city. Use the timeline at the bottom to see how the epizootic spread over time week-by-week.Item Open Access Nature's Past Episode 001: The Environmental History of the Don River(Network in Canadian History and Environment, 2008-12-10) Kheraj, SeanOn this pilot episode of the show, we introduce listeners to the study environmental history by speaking with Jennifer Bonnell, a graduate student at the University of Toronto who is researching the history of Toronto’s Don River. Jennifer’s research spans the long history of the Don River and its place in the social and environmental history of the city. From nineteenth-century grist mills to Depression-era hobo jungles to Hurricane Hazel in 1954, we find out more about this river valley on Toronto’s eastside. Also, we speak with Adam Crymble, the website administrator for the Network in Canadian History & Environment, about web resources for environmental history at niche-canada.org.