On Tuesday, October 15 2019, presented by the Ottawa Historical Association, Dr. Dominique Marshall (Professor, Carleton University) will be speaking at the Ottawa Art Gallery. The subject of her talk will be:
“1919: A Revolution in Children’s Rights: Andrée Colin and the Divided Loyalties of the League of Nations Secretariat.”
In 1924, the main employee of the Belgian based “Association internationale de protection de l’enfance”, moved to Geneva, as part of the agreement concluded by her employer with the League of Nations (LON). As one of the handful of members of the Social Question Section of the Secretariat of the LON, a position she occupied for 17 years, she travelled to international conferences, maintained an abundant correspondence, and supported the work of three successive directors of the Section. The papers she left in the archives of the LON reveal a network of Catholic charities, social workers and civil servants, as well as a group of French speaking reformers, who offered alternative notions of universal children rights, during debates otherwise dominated by Britain and the United States. The talk speaks of the many tensions behind the apparent simplicity of the first universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924, such as the nature of childhood in colonial territories, the very definition of childhood, the roles of states, churches and professions, the desirability of institutions and of foster families, and the political role of children.
This lecture will be held in the Studio Room of the Ottawa Art Gallery, 50 Mackenzie King Bridge, from 7:15pm to 9pm. The event is free and all are welcome to attend. Parking is available at the nearby Rideau Centre. The lecture will be delivered in English.
Please direct all inquiries regarding this lecture, and for further information, to ottawahistoricalassoc@gmail.com.
Dominique Marshall is professor of History at Carleton University. She researches the history of childhood, families, human rights and humanitarian aid. She is a member of the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History, the Carleton University Disability Research Group, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network and Gendered Design in STEAM for LMICs.
