Lecture Series

Heritage Ottawa is lining up an enticing program for our 2024-2025 Free Lecture Series!

We ask that you pre-register in advance of each free lecture. See the individual listings below for details.

Thank you to our Lecture Series sponsor ANDREX HOLDINGS .

Note: Several of our lectures are available for viewing on Heritage Ottawa's YouTube channel ​​​​​​.

Upcoming Lectures

  • Emerging Scholars Connect: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on Conservation and Community
    Wednesday, October 23, 2024 - 19:00 to 20:30
    University of Ottawa
    Desmarais Hall
    55 Laurier Avenue East, Room 1130
    Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
    Canada

    IN PERSON AT UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA, DESMARAIS HALL, ROOM 1130

    SCROLL DOWN to preregister.

    Young people bring fresh ideas, creativity, and a strong sense of innovation to the...

  • MOSHE SAFDIE — SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN
    Tuesday, November 19, 2024 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Canada

    VIA ZOOM | PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

    Moshe Safdie has been practicing architecture for almost 60 years. He has designed headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite offices in...

Past Lectures

  • Celebrating Village Heritage: The Sixth Annual Heritage Ottawa Forum
    Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 09:30 to 16:00
    Canada
    Celebrating Village Heritage The Sixth Annual Heritage Ottawa Forum

    Village of Kars | Saturday, September 30, 2017

    9:30 am to 4:00 pm | Doors open at 9:00 am

     

    Heritage Ottawa...

  • A Legacy to Build On:  Renewing the NCC’s Conservation Role in the Capital
    Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    In the context of the 150th anniversary of Confederation and the recent launch of the Plan for Canada’s Capital 2017-2067, Heather Thomson will discuss what has been and is being conserved as...

  • What's in a Name?
    Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - 19:00 to 21:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    This lecture will present the early histories of Bytown, Rochesterville and Nepean with an exposé woven from the Rochester, Cole, Baillie and McDougall families whose collective...

  • Heritage Ottawa Lecture: Prime Ministers' Row Project
    Prime Ministers' Row Project
    Wednesday, April 19, 2017 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    The extraordinary built heritage of Ottawa’s Laurier Avenue East, historically home to seven Fathers of Confederation and eight Prime Ministers, will be transformed into Canada’s first...

  • Vimy One-Hundred Years Later: A New Education Centre
    Wednesday, March 15, 2017 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, centred on the evocative design of Walter Allward's beautiful monument and the surrounding landscape, evokes tremendous emotion and provides...

  • A Landmark Transformed: The New Global Centre for Pluralism
    Wednesday, February 15, 2017 - 19:00 to 20:30
    The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat
    199 Sussex Drive ( use Boteler Street entrance )
    Ottawa, ON K1N 1K6
    Canada

     

     

    HERITAGE OTTAWA 2017 PHILLIPS MEMORIAL LECTURE

    UPDATE: This lecture is available on YouTube courtesy of our partners at the Global Centre for Pluralism.

    Order of...

  • Heritage Ottawa at Fifty
    Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - 19:00 to 21:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    Join us for a lively review of the past and future of local heritage as we gear up to celebrate a milestone anniversary year!

    Councillor and Chair of the Built...

  • THE GRÉBER PLAN: 65 YEARS LATER
    Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Dominion-Chalmers United Church
    355 Cooper Street ( use entrance on Lisgar Street )
    Ottawa, ON K2P 0G8
    Canada

    This talk presents the fascinating story of Jacques Gréber’s vision and plan for Canada’s capital, with a look at what worked and what we might do differently today.

    From his 1950's lens,...

  • THE DIEFENBUNKER: COLD WAR FORTRESS
    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    A marvel of Canadian engineering built under duress during the unknown threats of the Cold War era, the massive structure now known as "The Diefenbunker" demanded the development of a number of...

  • Emerging Scholars: Three Talks
    Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    Join us at 7pm for three informative talks by recent graduates. Each talk will be 15 to 20 minutes in duration and the audience will have an opportunity to pose questions to the speakers.

    ...
  • HOW HERITAGE WORKS IN OTTAWA: THE FIFTH ANNUAL HERITAGE OTTAWA FORUM
    Saturday, October 15, 2016 - 12:00 to 16:30
    allsaints
    317 Chapel Street ( at Laurier Avenue East, main entrance of former Church )
    Ottawa, ON K1N 7Z2
    Canada
    The Event is Full and Pre-Registration is Now Closed.

    Join us for this informative afternoon of presentations and practical information focusing on How Heritage Works in Ottawa. Hear and share...

  • From Triplex to Tower: Building Ottawa's Apartments 1945-1975
    Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    Between the post-World War II housing crisis and the dawn of the condo era, Ottawa witnessed successive waves of apartment building construction - good, bad, and indifferent.

    This...

  • National Arts Centre: The Rejuvenation in its Urban and Historic Context
    Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    National Arts Centre
    53 Elgin Street
    ( Lecture takes place in the SALON, access via Main Lobby )
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5W1
    Canada

    The National Arts Centre was the federal government’s centennial project to commemorate Canada’s 1967 celebration of Confederation. The project fulfilled a long-held national dream to create a...

  • History of Ottawa's Brickyards
    Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    Brick was an uncommon building material in the Ottawa area until the building boom that crested in the early 1870s.

    Brickworks for the Ottawa market mostly developed along the banks of the...

  • Bletchley Park's Outpost in Sandy Hill
    Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    During World War ll, an Examination Unit was installed in a Victorian mansion in Sandy Hill to carry out top secret code breaking activities. This lecture will examine how the Unit came to be set...

  • 2016 Phillips Memorial Lecture
    Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - 19:00 to 21:00
    The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat
    199 Sussex Drive ( use Boteler Street entrance )
    Ottawa, ON K1N 1K6
    Canada
    Saving Heritage: Preserving History in the Developing World

    Please note that PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED for this lecture.

    Harnessing the culture and history of a region can be a powerful...

  • MacDonald Gardens: A Study in Community Heritage
    Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    BEFORE AND AFTER FREDERICK TODD

    The park at the centre of Macdonald Gardens commemorates the graveyards of four congregations from 1845 to 1873.

    This lecture will reveal how...

  • Landscape Architecture in Canada 1870 - 1920
    Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada
    The Creation of Canada's Iconic Public Open Spaces

    This well illustrated talk explores the outstanding work carried out in the creation of Canada's public open spaces and institutions from about...

  • CRAFT, HERITAGE AND DIGITAL TOOLS
    Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada

    Digital technologies play an increasingly significant role in large, complex heritage documentation projects such as the one under way for the Parliament Buildings National Historic Site of Canada...

  • REINVENTING BUILDING 94 AT THE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM
    Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 19:00 to 20:00
    Auditorium, Ottawa Public Library
    120 Metcalfe Street
    Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
    Canada
    The New Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum

    The masterful re-purposing of Building 94, a "Recognized" Federal Heritage Building on the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site, was...

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