When a small journal makes big headlines

By Jean-François Venne. Editorial team forced to scramble when an article about Aboriginal experiments sparks a media frenzy. When historian Ian Mosby submitted an article to the editors of the journal Histoire sociale/Social History, none of them suspected that it would create a media frenzy. A sizeable management challenge awaited them.
It was no wonder that the subject matter caught the media’s attention. In his article, Dr. Mosby, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Guelph, revealed that between 1942 and 1952, some of Canada’s leading nutrition experts, in conjunction with various federal departments, conducted experiments on Aboriginals in native communities and residential schools without their consent or that of their parents. Some children’s milk rations were cut in half for two years, while others were deprived of vitamin B1, iron and iodine, in addition to having their dental care suspended. More...