This Great National Object: Building the Nineteenth-Century Welland Canals

by Roberta M. Styran, Robert Taylor

Making extensive use of the National Archives and the Archives of Ontario, Styran and Taylor unveil previously unpublished information about the construction of the canals, including technical plans and drawings from a wide variety of sources. They illustrate the technical and management intricacies of building a navigational trade and commerce lifeline while also revealing the vivid characters - from businessman William Hamilton Merritt to engineer John Page - who inspired the project and drove it to completion. The history of the Welland Canals is a gripping tale of epic proportions. Given the ongoing importance of the Great Lakes in the North American economy, interest in the St. Lawrence Seaway - of which the Welland is "the Great Swivel Link" - and the relevance of labour history, This Great National Object will be of interest to enthusiasts and historians alike.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Roberta M. Styran (1927-2015) was a retired assistant professor of history at Brock University. She helped to found the Welland Canals Preservation Association and served as president of the Canadian Canal Society. She was editor of the Society's newsletter for several years and was an Honorary Life Member. A Director of the American Canal Society, she was also on the governing Council of Inland Waterways International. In that capacity, she organized the Canal Society's memorable tour of English canal sites in 1996 and organized and chaired the 2004 World Canals Conference at Brock University.

She was the co-author of several books and articles on the history of the Welland Canals, including The Great Swivel Link: Canada's Welland Canal, This Great National Object: Building the Nineteenth-Century Welland Canals and The Welland Canals Corridor: Then and Now. In recognition of her services to Canadian engineering history, she was given the W. Gordon Plewes Award by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in 2009.