Public Events

The “Onoto Watanna’s Cattle @ 100″ conference will be complemented by several events, listed below, that are open to the public. Read below for individual descriptions and register for any events you plan to attend via Eventbrite.

Interested in attending the conference itself? View the full schedule of scholarly and public events.

Jump to day: Thursday, July 27 | Friday, July 28 | Saturday, July 29 | Sunday, July 30

Thursday, July 27


Public Lecture: “Theatrical Presence: The Public Face of the Chinese Community in North America”

5:15pm-6:15pm | Taylor Family Digital Library, Gallery Hall, University of Calgary

Come hear Nancy Yunhwa Rao (Rutgers University), author of Chinatown Opera Theatre in North America, discuss the importance of theatre to Chinese immigrant communities in Canada and the US, drawing on evidence provided by historical Chinese immigrant newspapers, theatre company records, playbills, as well as family memorabilia. 

Sponsored by SSHRC and the University of Calgary Faculty of Arts (School of Creative and Performing Arts and Calgary Institute for the Humanities)

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


Tour of the Reeve Theatre

6:30pm-7:00pm | Reeve Theatre, University of Calgary

The Reeve Theatre at University of Calgary, opened in 1981, was funded in part by a $1 million donation from the Reeve Foundation founded by Winnifred Eaton’s husband, Calgary oilman Frank Reeve, after her death. It was designed by Hugh McMillan Architect Ltd. of Calgary to provide over 2,000 square metres of experimental instruction and performance space. Come learn more about the history of this architectural and theatrical gem.

Books about Winnifred will be available for purchase and signing in the lobby, sponsored by Shelf Life Books.

Sponsored by the University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts and Shelf Life Books

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE

The Reeve Theatre (source: Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary)

Friday, July 28


Transcribe-a-thon: “Transcribing Texts in the Winnifred Eaton Archive”

1:30pm-3:00pm | Taylor Family Digital Library 440 A/D, University of Calgary

Explore and enhance the Winnifred Eaton Archive by learning how to transcribe texts in this hands-on workshop! Once finished, transcriptions will be encoded and added to the archive with a credit listing the transcriber’s name. Technical skills required: the ability to read and type, and a basic familiarity with word processors (e.g. MS Word or Google Docs).

Sponsored by Simon Fraser University’s Digital Humanities Innovation Lab & University Library, University of British Columbia’s Department of English Language and Literatures, and UBC Public Humanities Hub

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


Winnifred Eaton Reeve in Hollywood

3:30pm-4:45pm | Boris Roubakine Recital Hall (Craigie Hall 105), University of Calgary

In the 1920-30s, Calgarian author Winnifred Eaton spent a few years in New York and Hollywood, running the scriptwriting department at Universal Studios. While in Hollywood, she contributed to at least 14 films produced by Universal and MGM, including Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Barbary Coast (1935). Come hear three scholars’ reflections on Eaton’s years in Hollywood.

  • Vito Adriaensens (Columbia University / Université libre de Bruxelles), “Winnifred goes to Hollywood”
  • Karintha Lowe (Harvard University), “Ephemeral Melodrama in Winnifred Eaton’s Cattle

A Historic Calgary Week event sponsored by Chinook Country Historical Society and the University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


Screening and Discussion of Phantom of the Opera (Universal Studios, 1925/1929)

6:00pm-9:00pm | Boris Roubakine Recital Hall (Craigie Hall 105), University of Calgary

Join us for a screening of Phantom of the Opera, Universal Studios’ adaptation (written by Winnifred Eaton) of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, starring silent film stars Mary Philbin and Lon Chaney, followed by a Q&A moderated by Vito Adriaensens (Columbia University / Université libre de Bruxelles).

A Historic Calgary Week event sponsored by Chinook Country Historical Society, University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts, and the Calgary Institute for the Humanities

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE

Saturday, July 29


“Getting Started in Chinese Genealogy” by Linda Yip (Past Presence)

11:00-12:15pm | Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre

197 1st Street SW, Calgary, T2P 4M4

Followed by Q&A moderated by Mary Chapman (UBC)

Have you ever wanted to trace your ancestry but are unsure where to start? Learn from a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Ancestry Canada Advisory Board, and many other genealogy societies, how to research your ancestors and other historical figures. In this free presentation, professional genealogist Linda Yip will introduce participants to valuable online sources available to Canadians researching their genealogy, particularly resources newly organized and made available in 2023, the centenary of what has come to be known as Canada’s Exclusion Act and many people are keen to explore their Chinese Canadian ancestry. This presentation will be particularly helpful to participants needing guidance about how best to conduct research on Chinese Canadian ancestry in Western Canada.

A Historic Calgary Week event sponsored by Chinook Country Historical Society, UBC’s Public Humanities Hub, and the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


CI 9 (image source: masscapture.ca)

Public Lecture by Lily Cho: “Mass Capture and Chinese Canadian History”

1:45pm-3:15pm | Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre

197 1st Street SW, Calgary, T2P 4M4

In this free public lecture, Lily Cho (Vice Provost and Associate Vice-President, Western University) will share findings from her recent award-winning book Mass Capture: The Chinese Head Tax and the Making of Non-Citizens. Between 1885 and 1953, and after the 1923 passage of the Chinese Immigration Act, the Canadian government used an array of state documents and photographs, known as CI 9s, to identify and determine citizenship among Chinese immigrants. Cho investigates a vast archive of C1 9s to tell the stories of the “mass captured” and reflect on the history of citizenship in Canada.

A Historic Calgary Week event sponsored by Chinook Country Historical Society, the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre, and SSHRC.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


Screening and Discussion of Golden Gate Girls (2013)

3:30pm-5:30pm | Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre

197 1st Street SW, Calgary, T2P 4M4

Moderated by Nancy Rao (Rutgers University)

Award-winning Hong Kong filmmaker S. Louisa Wei (City University-Hong Kong) will screen her acclaimed documentary Golden Gate Girls (2013) about Chinese American filmmaker Esther Eng (1914-1970). Eng was the first woman to direct Chinese-language films in the US and was once honored as “South China’s first woman director.” Followed by discussion.

In English, with English and Chinese subtitles.

A Historic Calgary Week event sponsored by Chinook Country Historical Society and the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | FREE


Multi-Course Traditional Chinese Banquet

6:00pm-8:30pm | Silver Dragon Restaurant

Come enjoy a traditional multi-course Chinese banquet and learn more about Calgary Chinatown history and Chinese cuisine from Calgary poet, playwright and essayist Dale Lee Kwong and Eaton food scholar Koby Song-Nichols.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED | Vegetarian ($40)* | Meat ($50)*

Please note the banquet is on the second floor and will require climbing a flight of stairs.

*Not including taxes

Sunday, July 30


“Winnifred Lived Here” Walking Tour

10:00am-11:30am | Lougheed House

A free event, open to the public. Meeting place: Lougheed House, 707 – 13th Avenue SW. 

The charismatic bestselling novelist known as Onoto Watanna was a literary luminary in 1920s Calgary. Join author and literary historian Shaun Hunter for a walk to two of Winnifred Eaton Reeve’s many city addresses and a window into her storied life in the city she came to call home.

Sponsored by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities and Chinook Country Historical Society (Historic Calgary Week)

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