REPORT ON PHILANTHROPY 2013
FISCAL YEAR MAY 1, 2012 – APRIL 30, 2013
HONOURING
OUR DONORS Bringing Past & Present Together: The Gilbert Monture Oral History Lab
A
t the age of 86, Barbara Malloch was looking for something to contribute to that would make an impact on future generations. She found what she was looking for at Trent University when her recent $25,000 gift was used to create the Gilbert Monture Oral History Lab in the Department of Indigenous Studies. Having the lab named in honour of her father was especially fitting as Dr. Monture, an officer of the Order of the British Empire and member of Canada’s Indian Hall of Fame, was also member of Trent’s Board of Governors and played a significant role in creating the Indigenous Studies program at the University. “My father made a difference to the University and I wanted to recognize that,” Ms. Malloch said. “It is also thanksgiving for how my father helped me throughout my life.” The new Gilbert Monture Oral History Lab will fulfill a long-time goal for the Department of Indigenous Studies at Trent to increase the capacity of faculty and students to use digital storytelling approaches in oral history research. Ms. Malloch’s gift
helped to equip the lab with the hardware and software necessary to make the production of digital stories possible. A second gift, an estate gift from Dr. Martha Kidd, one of Peterborough’s foremost historians, will fund the inaugural project of the lab, which will focus on the preservation of local Indigenous place names. Dr. Kidd’s gift builds on an earlier gift from her husband, Dr. Kenneth Kidd, who helped establish the Indigenous Studies Program at Trent, the first of its kind in Canada. “Oral history, story-telling and the verbal transmission of knowledge rests at the heart of Indigenous learning approaches,” says Dr. David Newhouse, chair of Indigenous Studies at Trent. “We have always incorporated this aspect of Indigenous knowledge into our courses. These gifts will enable us to create a digital story-telling lab that can be used in a variety of ways to record local histories and stories and to help students build skills in recording and preparing stories.”