Teachers’ Guide
to
The Redpath Mansion Mystery

Website

created by
Dr. Annmarie Adams and David Theodore, and the Mysteries Team

Teachers’ Guide by

Garfield Gini-Newman

and Laura Gini-Newman

With the assistance of

TC2, Ruth Sandwell and the Mysteries Team

A Great Unsolved Mysteries
in Canadian History Project

Project Co-directors

John Lutz, Ruth Sandwell and Peter Gossage

Table of Contents

Introductions:

Teachers’ Support and the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian Historywebsites

Historical Contexts: “The Redpath Mansion Mystery” in Canadian History

How to Use this Site

Learning Outcomes of this Site

Preparatory Exercises

Unit: What really happened at the Redpath mansion on June 13^th, 1901? A Unit for Intermediate Students

Fitting this unit into your provincial curriculum

Unit Overview

Unit Rationale

Unit Themes

Unit Objectives, Skills and Attitudes

Instructional Strategies

Unit Synopsis (detailed overview of lessons)

The Lessons

Lesson 1: Setting the context for the challenge

Lesson 2: Dimensions of historical thinking: Identifying significant events

Lesson 3: Blood ties: The cast of characters in the Redpath Mansion mystery

Lesson 4: The setting: Wealth and poverty in Montreal

Lesson 5: Examining the Evidence: Looking at pictures in history

Lesson 6: Health in historical context: Examining the most important changes in health care over the past century.

Lesson 7: Exploring illness: Issues and attitudes towards illness

Lesson 8: Dramatis personae

Lesson 9: Closet drama: Was there a cover up?

Lesson 10: Developing the interactive play

Support Materials

Support Material 1: Assessing Significance

Support Material 2: Who’s Who in the Redpath mansion mystery

Support Material 3: Me – Then and Now

Support Material 4: Montreal – Then and Now

Support Material 5: Interrogating a Painting

Support Material 6: Interrogating a Photograph

Support Material 7: Assessing Changes in HealthCare

Support Material 8: Examining Beliefs and Attitudes About Illness in 1901

Support Material 9: Rubric for an Authentic Editorial

Support Material 10: Research Record

Support Material No. 11: Source Analysis

Support Material No. 12: Storyboarding Our Play

Teachers’ Support and

The Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian HistoryWebsites

As the Teachers’ Corner of The Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian Historywebsites outlines [http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/teachers/indexen.html], these sites provide five kinds of support for teachers:

• a summary of the Foundational Ideas of history teaching that informs the Mysteries Project;

• a detailed Teachers’ Guide for each of the sites;

• short MysteryQuest lesson plans;

• a series of scaffolding activities and briefing sheets to introduce students to Key Concepts in Historical Thinking;

• access to the password protected “Interpretations” portion of the website.

1. Foundational Ideas gives you a thumbnail sketch of the teaching philosophy behind the Mystery websites, as well as a more detailed examination of the four different levels at which these sites ‘work’ as ways to teach and learn about history.

See: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/en/foundationalIdeas.php

2. Teachers’ Guides contain detailed, graduated, multi-lesson and age-appropriate unit plans as well as free-standing lessons for elementary and secondary students.

See: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/teachers/login/indexen.php

3. Short, focused, age-specific, single-lesson MysteryQuests include detailed lesson plans and teacher support relating to one or more of the Mystery sites. Each of the MysteryQuest lessons employs the popular and student-friendly Webquest format to present a lesson that uses The Critical Thinking Consortium’s “Critical Challenge” approach and a small selection of primary documents from the sites to create short but powerful lessons involving students in thinking critically about history.

See: http://www.mysteryquests.ca/indexen.html

4. Concepts in Historical Thinking provides activities and briefing sheets to introduce students to key concepts in historical thinking that they will be using as they work with these Mysteries. This part of the site is in active development at this time and currently includes three exercises: “What are Primary Documents?”, “History vs. the Past”, and “Testimony vs. Evidence”.

See: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/teachers/keyconcepts/indexen.html

5. Teachers are also eligible to request access to the password-protected “Interpretations” part of each of the Mysteries Website allowing you to read historians’ interpretations of the documents on the site. This section is password protected in order to encourage students to develop their own interpretations of primary documents, rather than relying on other people’s interpretations.

See: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/teachers/login/indexen.php

Historical Contexts: “The Redpath Mansion Mystery”in Canadian History

The website “The Redpath Mansion Mystery” is a virtual web archive that looks at a perplexing tragedy that befell one of the families among Canada’s elite at the beginning of the 20^thcentury. The events leading to the tragic deaths of Ada Redpath and her son Clifford remain shrouded in mystery and controversy. The task for students is to use the primary and secondary sources on the Redpath website to develop a plausible explanation to explain what happened in Ada Redpath’s bedroom on June 13^th, 1901 that lead to the deaths of both a mother and her son. While this mystery involves developing a plausible explanation for the deaths, the mystery will also provide insight into life among the elite of Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury including a way to use architecture as a lens to examine class divisions. As well, attitudes and beliefs about illness play a significant part in unravelling the Redpath Mansion Mystery. This Teachers’ Guide provides a full teaching unit that provides high school students with a more focused and structured examination of the evidence, and, in the process, gives them an introduction to historical research and historical thinking.

In 1901, the Redpaths belonged to an English-speaking elite that lived in Montreal’s wealthy Square Mile, an intimate and closed community of its own making. Families patronized the same educational, religious, and social institutions and their children intermarried. The families of the Square Mile shopped at stores and accessed professional services – medical, dental, legal, and accounting – provided by those of comparable ethnic and class background. The heads of these households, the so-called merchant princes and captains of industry, created business partnerships and sat on each other’s boards of directors. Families provided valuable assistance in business, encouraging fathers, brothers, uncles, and in-laws to work together. Sons and sons-in-law worked in their fathers’ businesses, and had ready access to capital so that they could establish their own enterprises.

All that is certain is that two members of one of Canada’s wealthiest families died from gunshot wounds on June 13, 1901. Ada Maria Mills Redpath, the 59-year old widow of industrialist John James Redpath, and her 24-year old son Jocelyn Clifford Redpath (“Cliff”) were shot in Ada’s bedroom in the Redpath mansion in Montreal’s affluent Square Mile district. Beyond these facts it is difficult to know what happened.

We do know that the investigation was hasty. Apparently the police were not called. A coroner’s investigation was opened, closed, and the bodies were buried within 48 hours of the shots being fired. By all accounts, the Redpath family never discussed the tragic events of 1901 among themselves or publicly.

Who shot whom and why? Why are there so many conflicting versions of the story? Why was the investigation perfunctory?

Students will confront attitudes and beliefs about illness very unlike our own and will need to consider how health may have played a role in the deaths of the Redpaths. And, as the Unit Plan relating to the site suggests, the challenge of developing a plausible explanation for what happened that led to the deaths engages students in discussions about a number of important historical topics, themes and issues: What makes historical evidence more or less significant? What aspects of Montreal society have changed and which have remained relatively constant? What can we learn about a society from its architecture? Can paintings and photographs “speak to us” about the past if we know how to interrogate them? The unit provides teachers with background information, specific lesson plans, and Support Materials to help students solve the Redpath mystery, and in the process, teaches them how to ‘do’ history.

Site Organization

First of all, rest assured that no one is expected to read the entire site, not even you. No one is expected to peruse every item in an archive before s/he starts to write a research paper and the same principle applies here. What you, as a teacher, needs is an understanding of the construction of the site in order to guide your students.

For a detailed overview of the site organization, and tips on how to use the site, see the “How to Use This Site” section found on the Home page of “Redpath Mansion Mystery”.

See: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/redpath/home/howtousesite/indexen.html

Learning Outcomes of the “Redpath” website

This website can be used as the foundation for a whole course or for a single class. This Teachers’ Guide provides a number of lessons that comprise a single unit built around the challenge of developing a plausible recreation of the events leading to the deaths of the Redpaths. Lessons in this unit are directed at an intermediate level class in history, social studies or law. They are designed to be cumulative, providing students with the scaffolding of skills and background knowledge that allows for their increased understanding, both of historical thinking and historic knowledge as the unit progresses. Nevertheless, many of the lessons in the unit can be adapted for stand-alone, single lessons, if time is too tight to allow an entire Unit on this site. We have generally found that a single class does not allow the students or the instructor to fully answer some of the basic questions and would suggest devoting more time.

While this unit is directed at an intermediate class, Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History websites have been used for elementary to university graduate students, and the Redpath Mansion Mystery is no exception. The level of your students will determine how “deep” you ask them to go.

A list of the specific courses across Canada for which this site would beparticularly appropriate has been included at the beginning of the unit. In general terms, this site will promote the following kinds of knowledge and skills. It will allow students to:

• identify and clarify a problem, an issue, or an inquiry

• develop a vocabulary that will allow them to analyze historical documents

• plan and conduct research using primary and secondary electronic sources

• generate and critique different interpretations of primary and secondary sources

• assess and defend a variety of positions on controversial issues

• construct a narrative from pieces of evidence that are non-sequential

• plan, revise, and deliver formal presentations that integrate a variety of media

• demonstrate leadership by planning, implementing, and assessing a variety of strategies to address the problem, issue, or inquiry initially identified

• develop their abilities to work independently or in groups

• refine abilities to construct and defend an argument

Please see the Unit Plan that follows to find more specific ways to introduce your students to the site, and for examples of instructional strategies that take full advantage of the pedagogical strengths of this site.

UNIT

The Redpath Mansion Mystery

~ A unit of study designed to foster critical thinking

in the intermediate level Canadian history curriculum ~

Fitting This Unit into Your Provincial Curriculum

Our Teachers’ Guideteam has done some research into provincial curricula across Canada. The Redpath Mansion Mystery could be used effectively in the following courses, by province:

British Columbia

• Social Studies 5

• Law 12

Alberta

Social Studies 7: Canada: Origins, Histories and Movement of People

Saskatchewan

• History 30 – Canadian Studies

• Law 30

• Social Studies 30

Manitoba

• Senior Social Studies 3 – Canada: A Social and Political History

Ontario

• Grade 8: A Changing Society

• Grade 12: Canada: History, Identity and Culture

• Understanding Canadian Law, Grade 11, University/college prep

• Canadian and International Law, Grade 12, University Prep

Quebec

• Secondary 4: History of Quebec and Canada

New Brunswick

• Grade 11: Canadian History 121

Nova Scotia

• Canadian History 11

• Law 12

Prince Edward Island

• Grade 12 – Canadian History 621

• Canadian Law 521 (Grade 11)

• Canadian Law 531 (Grade 11)

Newfoundland

• Canadian History 1201

• Canadian Law 2104

Nunavut & NWT (see Alberta)

Yukon (see British Columbia).

Unit Overview

The Redpath mystery is one of secrecy and controversy. When two members of Montreal’s elite were found fatally wounded from gunshots in a bedroom of their home in the wealthy Square Mile district, the family closed ranks and allowed for little investigation and even less discussion of what had happened. Over a century later, the deaths remain shrouded in mystery. This unit invites students to use the primary and secondary sources on this website to develop a plausible recreation of the events that led up to the shooting that claimed the lives of two Redpath family members. In the process, students will investigate some key themes, issues, and events relating to the social and economic history of Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury. These include issues that are often difficult to ‘see’ in the historical record, for example attitudes towards illnesses such as depression and epilepsy. In the process, students have the opportunity to actively engage with some key aspects of historical thinking: how can historical evidence be teased out of visual sources by reading against the grain? What makes some evidence better than others? How can architecture help us to understand issues of class and privilege? Students, in other words, will learn about ‘doing’ history, and will emerge with a better understanding of Canada’s past as a result.

The rich selection of documents that students will encounter provide a nuanced picture of the development of the mystery surrounding the deaths of Ada and Cliff Redpath and the many ways individuals have tried to shed light on this gripping mystery. With a careful reading of available documents, and with some background readings about the period and region, students can explore not only “what happened” in the Redpath Mansion on the evening of June 13, 1901, but also how we can use evidence to understand not only particular events but also to develop a broader understanding of the past through multiple lenses.

The overriding question is one of historical evidence and interpretation. What is the most significant and reliable evidence available that can be used in cracking the Redpath mystery? In essence, this comprises the "hook" for students. They are being asked to play detective: to evaluate the diverse puzzle pieces offered, to seek out additional information, and to assemble their own historical narrative and assign responsibility for these events as they see fit. This unit is intended to focus on the examination and analysis of evidence to culminate in the formation of an interactive play that presents a plausible explanation as to what happened in Ada Redpath’s bedroom – did her depression cause her to shoot her son and then turn the gun on herself? Or, did Clifford kill his mother and then attempt to take his own life as a result of a mental illness?

This unit has been designed to be flexible in its application. Students will be invited to consider historical significance, change and continuity, and how to read against the grain to make use of primary sources. Students will simultaneously broaden their knowledge of the Canadian past, be introduced to the use of historical primary documents, and learn to exercise skills of critical analysis, evaluation, and thinking. Students at the intermediate stages of their education cannot be expected to have the time and academic resources to re-examine every proffered piece of evidence from interdisciplinary perspectives. This unit proposes to introduce them to these skills and resources. Nevertheless, each exercise and lesson suggested here draws students further into the case itself, encourages a personal engagement with history, and generates an opportunity to examine history and the social sciences in a more critical and informed manner.

Unit Rationale

First, this unit uses the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History website “The Redpath Mansion Mystery”to introduce students to some of the issues surrounding wealth and privilege as well as attitudes towards illness in Montreal at the outset of the of the 20^thcentury. Secondly, it is designed to introduce students to primary documents in history and social studies. In particular, it aims to facilitate students' critical awareness of the social context of historical documents, to teach them to evaluate opposing evidence, to understand the utility of documents from a variety of perspectives, and to encourage students to adopt a broader and more critical perspective when reading historical evidence and narratives.

Unit Themes

To facilitate teachers in developing additional lessons and/or an expanded unit, some of the central themes of this website are listed:

Architecture as a Window to the Past

Wealth and Poverty

Canadian Social History

Change and Continuity

Historical Significance

Canadian Heritage

Unit Objectives, Skills, and Attitudes

The central goals of this unit are:

• to encourage students to think about the significance of everyday life in history

• to refine students’ historical thinking through the use of primary documents, understanding the nature and uses of evidence, and the role of both of these in building historical narratives

• to raise students' awareness of the constructed and contested nature of historical narratives

• to encourage students to develop tools appropriate for the evaluation of opposing evidence

• to facilitate students' critical awareness of author's perspective in historical documents

• to encourage students to adopt a broad perspective when reading historical evidence and narratives in order to become aware of less-obvious and alternate agendas

• to build a coherent narrative based on non-sequential evidence

• to develop skills in defending an argument

Instructional Strategies

Need for Computer Lab Time

While this entire unit is fully integrated with the Redpath website, most tasks can be completed if the requisite documents are printed off ahead of time and handed out to students. In this way, classes with limited access to computer lab time can still complete the unit.

Assessment & Evaluation

Because assessment and evaluation standards vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, only generalized guidelines have been included here. Instructors may wish to assign process marks for completion of the various tasks, or not, if their students are sufficiently mature enough to recognize that the successful completion of the various tasks is crucial to successful completion of the culminating activity.

The following skills and habits of mind are ones that should be carefully assessed in the process of evaluating the critical thinking needed in working with this site:

• Issues are analyzed seriously and thoughtfully

• Presentations and talks are given carefully, with materials well-prepared and organized, and points well thought out

• Results are expressed cautiously and are supported with reference to appropriate evidence

• Opinions are reasoned. Reports and narratives are written discerningly, reflecting the above and with care, attention and evident pride in quality work¹

Unit for Grades 7-9:

Synopsis, or, The Lessons Summarized

The Lessons

Lesson 1: What really happened at the Redpath mansion on June 13^th, 1901? (1 class)

(DAY 1 of unit)

Overview

In this class, students are introduced to the overarching challenges of developing a plausible account of what led to the deaths of Ada and Cliff Redpath on June 13, 1901 and developing an interactive play to depict their account. Similarities between detective work and “doing history” will be explored and students will be asked to consider criteria for a plausible account. Finally, in this lesson students will be provided with a chart that will assist them in gathering evidence throughout the unit that will help to ensure their interactive play is based upon important and relevant evidence.

Lesson 1, Class 1 (Day 1 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Present students with a riddle as follows:

Late one afternoon, shots are heard coming from a bedroom on the second floor of a Montreal mansion. Family members rush to the room where they discover their mother dead of a gunshot wound, and her 24 year old son fatally wounded. No one else had entered or left the room prior to the discovery of the tragedy. What happened?

Invite students to brainstorm a list of ideas that might explain what happened by doing an APC (Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices). In carrying out an APC, student groups of 3-4 should list all the ideas that come to mind and should not reject any ideas at this point.

Allow the groups two minutes to complete the APC then ask each group to share a few ideas. Inform students that to develop a plausible theory of what happened they need to support their ideas with convincing evidence and strong inferences. After groups have shared their ideas, invite students to consider what additional information would help them to develop a plausible theory. You may want to suggest students consider the following questions:

1. What do you know?

2. What can you infer?

3. What additional information do you need – about the event, the people, and the society?

Step 2: Draw parallels between detective work and “doing history” by explaining to students that history is not about memorizing names, dates, and events but rather it is an attempt to reconstruct a plausible account of the past based on the limited evidence available. Much like a crime detective, historians draw upon the limited traces left behind and what they generally know about the past in an attempt to develop a credible theory of what happened. Consequently, history is a dynamic and provocative subject open to debate and conjecture that when practiced thoughtfully and with care can provide fascinating insights into many aspects of the past.

Step 3: Inform students that the scenario they have been considering is based on a real Canadian murder mystery that some feel has not yet been adequately explained. They will be invited to act as both detectives and historians as they attempt to develop a plausible theory of what really happened on that fateful day in Montreal, and why the investigation into the deaths was so quickly terminated and a veil of silence about the events imposed by the family.

Inform students that they are embarking upon a two-part challenge dealing with the Redpath Mansion Mystery. The first challenge will be to develop a plausible account of what happened in the bedroom of Ada Maria Mills Redpath that led to her death and the death of her son. Students will develop the account after considering the known events surrounding the deaths, the people immediately connected to the Redpath family, the setting of the events, the social milieu in which the events occurred, and the attitudes towards health and medicine at the time. Their second challenge will be to develop and conduct an interactive play that clearly and convincingly presents their account of what led to the deaths of Ada and Cliff Redpath.

Step 4: Identify criteria for a plausible account by reminding students that criteria are attributes that tell us something is what we claim it to be. Therefore, the criteria for a plausible account should help us to determine the extent to which an account of the Redpath deaths is believable. Remind students that not all accounts of events are plausible and suggest a continuum of plausibility as follows:

Impossible Improbable Possible Plausible

Suggest to students that an account that meets all three of the following criteria would usually be considered plausible while an account that meets none of the criteria may be deemed impossible.

• consistent with the available evidence

• consistent with what is known

• reconciles any apparent contradictions in the evidence

Invite students to read the Welcome page to the Redpath Mansion Mystery and the introduction to the “Tragedy” section of the website. Based on the limited and preliminary information, ask students to speculate as to what might have happened. Invite students to share their speculation with a partner and to assess the plausibility of each of their initial thoughts using the continuum set out above. Invite students to share their responses with the class.

Step 5: Invite students to work with a partner to generate 4 powerful questions that could help guide their research throughout the unit and help them to solve the mystery. Powerful questions should:

• not be obvious

• assist in making connections

• encourage deep thinking

• be relevant and focused on important issues

Provide students with post-it notes and ask that they write one question on each note. When students have created their 4 questions, ask them to post them on the wall or board around the room. Invite students to do a Walk-About reading the questions. Encourage students to cluster questions that address the same issue or topic and to make suggestions to strengthen questions that do not meet the criteria for a powerful question.

On large cards, write several of the most important and frequently asked questions and post them around the room for future reference. Consider adding additional questions as the unit unfolds.

Step 6:Introduce the story of the Redpath deaths providing additional details as to time, location etc. Provide a brief overview of the story, perhaps reading a brief account of the story from the Mysteries website, and emphasizing how the examination of this particular incident provides a window into Canadian society in the early 20^thcentury.

Explain that over the course of this unit, thanks to a special project called the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History, students will learn not only about the Redpath deaths in the context of their own time and place, but, through the analysis of digitized primary source materials on the site, they will learn a great deal about class, architecture, mental health issues, and the challenges historians face in attempting to reconstruct the past. These insights into life in Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury will assist them in reconstructing the events of that fateful day enabling them to construct a plausible account of what happened.

Lesson 2:The Events

Dimensions of Historical Thinking: Create a timeline of significant events to understand the mystery

(3 classes)

(DAYS 2-4 of unit)

Overview

In this lesson, students are provided with traces and accounts that help them to broadly assemble the events that occurred on June 13^th1901 and the days immediately following. The challenge for students will be to develop a timeline of the 10 most significant events that occurred between June 13^thand June 15^th. Students will be invited to re-visit and revise the timeline as their understanding of the Redpath Mansion mystery deepens. To assist students in selecting the events for inclusion on the timeline, they will be introduced to the idea of historical significance and will be invited to consider what makes evidence and events more or less historically significant.

Lesson 2, Class 1 (Day 2 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Invite students to think to themselves for 30 seconds to see what they can remember about the Redpath mansion mystery based on yesterday’s overview. Suggest they share what they can recall with a partner. Invite students to explain what is at the crux of the Redpath mansion mystery and to suggest what additional information would help them crack the mystery. Invite students to read the “Welcome” section on the website.

Welcome

Step 2: Discuss with students the concept of historical significance. Point out that history is often paradoxical in that historians must work with limited evidence left behind and yet there is often more evidence than can be used. As a result, historians must determine which events and which evidence is relevant and most significant to the questions being asked. It is important to stress that determining the historical significance of evidence is dependent on the questions we seek to answer. If the primary objective is to understand how the elite of Montreal viewed the working class, then evidence and events pertaining to the relationship between the Redpaths and their employees is significant. If the focus of the inquiry is about how depression may have contributed to the deaths, then other evidence and events will be more significant.

Step 3: Inform students that they will be constructing a timeline of events surrounding the deaths of the Redpaths and the subsequent investigations. The timeline is limited to the 10 most significant events. Share criteria for significance with the students suggesting that events should be deemed significant if they:

• provide a clear causal link to the deaths

• provide insights into why the investigation was quickly concluded

• provide relevant insights that suggest a motive for the killing

• shed light on the course of events that were directly related to the deaths and the investigation

Inform students that their timeline is to include the 10 important events; the date and time if possible; a concise, informative, and accurate caption that clearly establishes the significance of the event to understanding what happened and why it happened; and 4 relevant and interesting pictures or illustrations to support the timeline. Note: As the unit progresses, students should be encouraged to revised their captions and the events included on the timeline if new evidence warrants.

Step 4: Provide each student with a copy of Support Material No. 1: Assessing Significance.Invite students to read the “Tragedy” section (including the Introduction, Breaking News, and Investigation) to establish a context for the deaths and the investigation.

Investigation

Step 5: Ask students to form groups of 3-4 students. Invite students to individually jot down on a piece of paper the events that they believe to be of significance based on the introductory sections they have read. Suggest students share their lists with the group and have one person record the events that they all agree upon. For events where there is not complete agreement, invite the student who suggested the event to make a case for its inclusion. Remind students to be open-minded as they consider each argument. After all events have been considered, ask students to list the top ten events they deemed historically significant. Note: At this stage students may not have identified 10 significant events. Remind students that as they look more deeply into the evidence they will have an opportunity to add or revise their list.

Lesson 2, Class 2 (Day 3 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Ask students to rejoin their groups from the previous day. Assign each group member a number from 1-4. Assign the following sources from the Tragedy section of the website to be read by the students:

1’s: The Calgary Herald; The Ottawa Morning Citizen

2’s: The Gazette; The Globe

3’s: The Halifax Morning Herald; The Montreal Daily Star

4’s: La Presse, La Patrie

A Blood-Soaked Tragedy, La Patrie, June 14, 1901
A Blood-Soaked Tragedy, La Presse, June 14, 1901
Mysterious Shooting
Son Clifford Did It
A Sad Affair
Mother and Son Dead
Young Redpath Shot His Mother
Sad Occurrence

Step 2:You may want to invite all the 1’s to work together, the 2’s and so on. Ask students to read the assigned news report on the deaths of the Redpaths. As they read each of the news reports, encourage students to identify significant events for inclusion on their timeline. Remind students to consider the criteria for significance and to make brief notes to support their decision.

Step 3: Ask each group of 3-4 to rejoin and share the events they believe should be added to the timeline. Again, remind students to remain open-minded and to consider the criteria when deciding what events to include on the timeline. Also, remind students that they cannot include more than 10 events on their timeline and they must be the most significant.

Lesson 2, Class 3 (Day 4 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Ask students to rejoin their group from the previous day. Invite each group to examine all of the documents found in the “Tragedy – Investigation” section of the website. As they examine these documents, students should be considering the criteria for significance to determine if any events on their timeline should be replaced or the explanations revised.

Ada Maria Mills Redpath – Parish Record of Burial
Jocelyn Clifford Redpath – Parish Record of Burial
Ada Marie Mills Redpath – Mount Royal Cemetery Registration Card
Jocelyn Clifford Redpath – Mount Royal Cemetery Registration Card
Declaration of Succession by Peter Whiteford Redpath Esq. et al
Ada maria Mills Redpath – Death Notice
Jocelyn Clifford Redpath – Death Notice
Investigation
Gravesite Image
Coroner’s Report – Ada Mills Redpath (verso)
Coroner’s Report – Ada Mills Redpath (page 1)
Coroner’s Report – Ada Mills Redpath (page 2)
Coroner’s Report – Ada Mills Redpath (page 3)
Coroner’s Report – Ada Mills Redpath (page 4)
Coroner’s Report – Jocelyn Clifford Redpath (verson)
Coroner’s Report – Jocelyn Clifford Redpath (page 1)
Coroner’s Report – Jocelyn Clifford Redpath (page 2)

Step2: Invite students to work individually to construct a timeline that has the 10 most significant dates with concise, accurate, and informative captions explaining the significance and 4 visuals that help to illustrate the timeline.

HOMEWORK: Complete the visual timeline with captions

Lesson 3: The characters

Blood ties: The cast of characters in the Redpath murder mystery

(2 Classes)

(DAYS 5 and 6 of Unit)

Overview

Building upon their understanding of the events of June 13, 1901, students will be invited to consider the cast of characters involved in this mystery. They will be asked to group characters into one of three tiers – central figures, important figures, and peripheral figures. Students will need to identify criteria for each tier and will provide evidence to support their decisions. As with the timeline, students will be encouraged to re-visit and revise their tiers as necessary as they uncover more insights into the events surrounding the deaths of the Redpaths.

Lesson 3, Class 1 (Day 5 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Invite students to imagine they are preparing a list of people to invite to their graduation party. If they were only allowed 5 people at the party, who would they be? What if they were allowed 10 people? 20 people? Suggest students think in terms of who has played a central role in their success so far, who has been important in their lives, and who it would be nice to have there if there was room. Historical events are somewhat like this process in that there are figures and causes directly related to the event being studied, some that are important but not central, and others that relate to the event but in a somewhat peripheral manner.

Step 2: Inform the students that they will be considering the role of a variety of characters in the Redpath Mansion Mystery. Their challenge will be to cluster the characters into three groups or tiers – tier 1: those central to the mystery; tier 2: those who played an important role in the mystery; tier 3 – those who had a peripheral role. Remind students that they are considering the role of the characters in the lives of the Redpaths and in the investigation that followed the deaths.

Step 3: Ask students to form groups of 3-4. In the groups, have students number themselves from 1 to 4. Inform students that numbered groups will be responsible for identifying the role of a group of characters connected to the Redpath Mansion Mystery. Number 1’s will consider the role of the Redpath men, number 2’s will consider the role of the Redpath women, number 3’s will consider the role of medical men, and number 4’s will consider the role of others including servants, friends, and business acquaintances.

Step 4: Invite students to suggest criteria that could be used to determine whether a character played a central, important, or peripheral role. For example, characters that played a central role a) made influential decisions; b) had intimate knowledge of what was found in the room and/or the state of the bodies; c) knew intimate details of the lives and health of the Redpaths.

Step 5: Instruct students to read documents as follows:

Number 1’s: Dramatis Personae – Redpath men

Number 2’s: Dramatis Personae – Redpath women

Number 3’s: Dramatis Personae – medical men

Number 4’s: Blood Ties – The Redpaths

Jocelyn Clifford Redpath
Harold Mills Redpath
John James Redpath – Obituary
John Redpath – Obituary
John Reginald Redpath
Peter Redpath
Letter from Peter Redpath to Peter Whiteford Redpath, 22 June, 1884
Redpath Men
Letter from Jocelyn Clifford Redpath to Peter Whiteford Redpath, 22 April 1901
Letter from Peter Whiteford Redpath to Jocelyn Clifford Redpath, 23 April 1901
Last Will and Testament of Dame Ada M. Mills Widow of the late John J. Redpath
Letter from Ada Maria Mills Redpath to Clifford Jocelyn Redpath, 15 August 1900
Letter from Ada Maria Mills Redpath to Children
Letter from Ada Maria Mills Redpath to Clifford Jocelyn Redpath, 12 August 1898
Ada Maria Mills Redpath
Diary Extract “Life is a Burden”
Amy Redpath Roddick
Grade Wood Redpath
Women at Home
Medical Men
Dr. Hugh Mattewson Patton – Obituary from The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Handbook of Canadian Biography
Dr. James Bell – Obituary
Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie – Obituary from The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Handbook of Canadian Biography
Dr. Rollo Campbell – Obituary
Dr. Roddick Obituary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal
Charles James Fleet
Mary Rose Shallow
Photograph of Rose Shallow and Amy Redpath Roddick in wheeled chair
Contract of Marriage Between John James Redpath Esq and Ada Maria Mills, 19 August 1867
The Redpaths
Photograph of Amy’s marriage to Dr. Roddick at Chislehurst

Provide students with a copy of Support Material No. 2 Who’s Who in the Redpath Mansion Mystery. Invite students to make notes on the chart as they read the assigned documents. They should identify the characters and how they relate to the mystery and assign a tier to each character with a short rationale. Remind students that not all characters they encounter in the documents should be listed – only those who played at least a peripheral role in the lives of the Redpaths and/or contributed to the investigation.

Lesson 3, Class 2 (Day 6 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Invite students to complete the chart they had started the previous day.

Step 2: Ask that students return to their home group. Suggest that each student share their list of characters and the tier they in which they placed them. Encourage discussion between the students over whether or not the suggested tier seems reasonable considering the criteria established. Once the group reaches a consensus on which tier to place a character in, ask that they write the name of the character on a card.

Step 3:Once all students have shared the characters they identified and they have all been clustered in tiers, inform students that they can only keep 4 characters in each tier. Ask that they select the four most significant in each tier and place those cards under a heading on the wall. There should be three headings on the wall: Central Characters, Important Characters, Peripheral Characters.

Step 4:Check to see if there are any discrepancies in the clusters. If a character appears in more than one cluster, invite students to make a case for the cluster they believe to be most appropriate. Encourage students to use the criteria established and evidence to support their position. If a consensus cannot be reached, ask that students conduct a blind vote by putting their heads down and voting for one of the tiers.

Step 5:Remind students that the cluster of characters will remain posted throughout the unit and if more evidence emerges that suggests a character should be shifted to a different tier, they are encouraged to make the case and a vote will be held again.

Lesson 4: The setting: Wealth and poverty in Montreal

(4 Classes)

(DAYS 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Unit)

Overview

To complete the contextualization of the Redpath Mansion Mystery students will have an opportunity to examine life in Montreal as the twentieth century dawned. Working in small research teams, students will use this site, other websites, and other kinds of research tools both primary and secondary to reconstruct a day in the life of Montreal in 1901. The students will be encouraged to share their “Day in the Life of Montreal” in the medium of their choice (short story, poster, collage, dramatization, mind map, slides). The “Day in the Life of Montreal” must address issues of wealth and poverty, class and privilege, and gender roles in society. Through the medium they select students are to highlight those aspects of life in Montreal we would recognize today and those that would seem foreign to use. In so doing, students will consider the role of change and continuity in attempting to construct a plausible account of the events that led to the deaths of the Redpaths.

Lesson 4, Class 1 (Day 7 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Provide students with a copy of Support Material No. 3: Me - Then and Now. Invite students to complete the overlapping Venn diagram by writing in the centre characteristics of themselves that are the same today as they were 10 years ago. On the left of the diagram, write characteristics that described them 10 years ago but less so now, and on the right note characteristics that describe them today but did not 10 years ago. Remind students to include both physical as well as personality traits.

Step 2: Encourage students to share their completed Venn diagram with a peer. Ask if the peers noticed any changes that were common between both students. Point out to students that they have identified aspects of continuity and change in themselves. In a very similar way, the concept of continuity and change is important in doing history. To avoid the dangers of imposing the present on the past, it is important that we are able to identify how societies have changed over time. It is also important that we understand that some aspects have remained constant. Separating aspects of continuity and change is important for historians as it helps to limit the degree to which our understanding of the past is tinged by the way we see and understand the world. Inform students that they will be examining life in Montreal at the dawn of the 20^thcentury. For them to understand the events surrounding the deaths of Ada and Cliff Redpath, they will need to be able to situate the events in the Montreal of over a century ago.

Step 3: Ask students to form groups of 3 students. Inform them that they will be preparing a showcase of “A Day in the Life of Montreal in 1901” using a medium of their choice (short story, min map, PowerPoint, poster, documentary, dramatization etc.). The central themes for their showcase are to be:

a) wealth and poverty

b) class and privilege

c) gender and roles in society

Suggest that each student in the groups take responsibility for one theme.

Step 4: To help contextualize their research, suggest students read the introductions in the “Settings” section of the website (Domestic Architecture, Healthy Spaces, Redpath Architecture). Invite students to generate 3-4 powerful questions that could help guide their research on the theme they have been assigned.

Domestic Architecture
Healthy Spaces
Redpath Architecture

Lesson 4, Class 2 (Day 8 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Provide students with time in a resource centre to build a bibliography of resources that can shed light on life in Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury. Encourage students to review the available primary and secondary sources listed in the “Blood Ties: Wealth and Poverty in Montreal” and “Setting” sections of the website. As well, suggest students visit the McCord Museum for some helpful resources (http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/).

The Golden Square Mile
The Pistol and Revolver
Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich
Two Solitudes
The City Below the Hill
Wealth and Poverty in Montreal
Montreal from Street Railway Power House chimney, QC, 1896 [towards mountain]
Montreal from Street Railway Power House chimney, QC, 1896 [towards factory]
City Below the Hill (map D)
City Below the Hill (page 3)
City Below the Hill (page 4)
Canada Sugar Refinery Co., employees

Step 2:Encourage students to create an annotated bibliography consisting of a variety of both primary and secondary sources that are accessible, informative, and relevant to the theme they are studying. The annotations should be not more than 30 words and should clearly explain the value of the resource, and any particular perspective represented.

Step 3:Encourage students to make concise, relevant, and accurate notes on the assigned aspect of life in Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury.

Homework: Complete research notes on daily life in Montreal.

Lesson 4, Class 3 (Day 9 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Provide each group with a copy of Support Material No. 4: Montreal Then and Now. Invite students to share their research on their assigned theme with the members of their group. Suggest that they capture the most important information on the overlapping Venn diagram, placing important aspects of daily life in Montreal in the centre that remain similar today to the past.

Step 2:Encourage students to discuss the medium they would like to use to showcase a day in the life of Montreal in 1901. Remind students that they have a short period of time in which to complete their showcase and therefore should be comfortable with the medium they choose. Invite students to prepare a draft or mock-up of their showcase (story outline, draft script, storyboards, PowerPoint outline).

Lesson 4, Class 4 (Day 10 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Invite students to submit their draft material for their showcase for approval before moving on to the finished product.

Step 2:Allow student groups time to complete their showcase of a day in the life of Montreal in 1901.

Step 3:If time allows, invite students to share their showcase with the class. Encourage students to provide a productive critique of their peers’ showcases and to watch for common ideas to emerge.

Lesson 5: Examining the Evidence:Looking at pictures in history

(2 Classes)

(DAYS 11and 12 of Unit)

Overview

In this lesson students will be invited determine the most reliable and helpful visual images by examining a variety of visual representations of places (such as those included in the Healthy Spaces section) and portraits of people on the site. Students will need to determine what these visual images of people and/or places can tell us about the past in general, and the Mystery in particular. Students will be asked to select the 5 most reliable and important images that could be used in creating a plausible play that reconstructs the events of the day of the Redpath murders.

Lesson 5, Class 1 (Day 11 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: To introduce students to the idea of “reading against the grain” show them a photograph of a family event. Ask students to think to themselves for thirty seconds about what they would write on the back of the picture if they were to leave an explanation for future generations. After students have had an opportunity to reflect on their own, ask them to share their thoughts with a partner. Once partners have had an opportunity to share ideas, invite a few students to share their ideas with the class.

Step 2: Show students a painting from the past such as The Arnolfini Portraitwhich can be found athttp://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG186.

Invite students to suggest a note that might have been written by the Arnolfini family when this painting was completed. You may need to provide a bit of context for the painting for students to suggest a reasonable note.

Step 3: Suggest to students that in “reading” a painting or photograph for the intended message is reading with the grain. When historians read against the grain, they tease out information contained in the picture that the painter or photographer had not intended. Provide students with a copy of Support Material No. 5: Interrogating a Painting. Invite students to practice “reading against the grain” by completing columns 2 and 3 (Directly Observable and Inferences). Encourage students to make inferences or frame questions that they could use to guide further inquiry if they were to study this painting in depth. Ask that a few students share what they have observed and inferred and the questions they have framed.

Step 4: Remind students that both photographs and paintings are an important source of evidence that historians draw upon to understand past societies. By reading with and against the grain, pictures become a rich source. Invite students to interrogate a picture and a photograph that relates to the Redpath Mansion Mystery. Ask that students join with one other student for this activity.

Step 5: Provide each set of partners one copy of Support Material No. 5: Interrogating a Painting”and Support Material No. 6: Interrogating a Photograph. Assign each pair of students one of the following paintings and one of the following photographs:

Portrait of Lady Roddick, 2nd wife of Sir Thomas Roddick
Portrait of Dr. Roddick
Harris Portrait, Grace Redpath
Robert Harris Portrait of Peter Redpath
Robert Harris Portrait of Peter W. Redpath
Diary Extract “Life is a Burden”
Harold Redpath and family in Georgeville
Sherbrooke Street at Redpath, Montreal, QC, about 1900
Mrs. David Morrice’s drawing room, Montreal, QC, 1899
Lady Roddick in her livingroom, Montreal, QC, 1930
Mrs. David Morrice’s bedroom, Montreal, QC, 1930
Dr. Buller’s consulting room, Montreal, QC, 1890
J. Clifford Redpath with dog
Rose Shallow and Amy Redpath Roddick in wheeled chair
Group portrait: group of doctors visiting Dr. Bell at his farm at Saraguay
The wedding of George Drummond Redpath and Alice Stiles Mills
Amy’s marriage to Dr. Roddick at Chislehurst

Step 6: Invite students to begin with either their assigned painting or photograph. Encourage them to complete as much of the chart as possible. In the end they are to decide if the picture they are studying provides vital, helpful, or limited insights into daily life in Montreal in 1901 and specifically details required to create a plausible re-creation of the events surrounding the Redpath deaths.

Lesson 5, Class 2 (Day 12 of Unit)

Activities:

Step 1: Encourage students to complete their interrogation of the second piece of visual evidence they have been assigned and to make a decision regarding the importance of the piece of evidence.

Step 2: Invite student partners to briefly share their assessment of their two pieces of visual evidence. If they have concluded that the visual provides helpful or vital information for their task of creating a plausible re-creation, post the visual on the wall or board. If they conclude the visual is of limited value, ask if the class has any questions or comments before relegating it to the discard pile.

Step 3: Once the class has identified all of the visual sources that provide vital or helpful evidence that will allow them to create a plausible re-creation set in 1901, inform the students that they can only keep five visuals and therefore they must select the five most important visuals. Suggest to the students that an important source should:

• provide reliable evidence

• provide insights into setting, props, and/or costumes

• provide insights into world view, attitudes towards class and/or gender roles

Invite students to suggest (with support) the five visuals they believe should be retained. Encourage cordial and respectful discussion framed by the criteria for important visual sources listed above.

Step 4: Once the five visuals have been determined, post copies around the room for future reference.

Lesson 6: Health in historical context - Examining the most important changes in health care over the past century

(2 Classes

(DAY 13 and 14 of Unit)

Overview

In this lesson, students will begin to dig deeper into the particulars of the Redpath mansion mystery by coming to understand the nature of health care for different classes in Canada at the beginning of the 20^thcentury. Students will identify the three most significant differences in the nature of health care for the wealthy and the poor in Montreal. They will also be asked to identify three significant changes in health care practice over the past one hundred years.

LESSON 6: CLASS 1 (DAY 13 OF UNIT)

Activities:

Step 1: Put the term “universal health care” on the board and invite students to share ideas about what the term means. You may want to have the students do a popcorn activity during which they “pop off” or shout out ideas as they come to mind. Capture ideas on the board as they are offered. If necessary, offer some prompts such as: What would a universal health care system look like? Would it include all aspects of health including preventative measures, dental and so on?

Step 2: Once several key ideas are written on the board, invite students to join with a partner to discuss the degree to which Canada has a truly universal health care system. Remind students to provide evidence to support their assessment. Suggest students offer a score for Canada’s ‘universal health care” from 10 (exists in the perfect form) to a 1 (virtually non-existent)

Step 3: Explain to the students that the concept of universal health care is relatively new. Efforts at creating a health system accessible and affordable to all Canadians came about in 1960’s. When we examine the Redpath Mansion Mystery we gain insights into a health care system built on very different views and objectives.

Step 4: Inform students that their challenge will be to: a) identify the 3 most significant differences between the health care available to the wealthy and those with limited incomes in 1901, and b) identify 3 significant changes in health care practice that have occurred since 1901.

Step 5: Invite student groups to respond to the 2 challenges set out above by creating two mini role plays based on a scenario provided. The first role play is to be set at the beginning of the 20^thcentury and the second role play should be set in the present. Assign groups of 3-4 with a scenario such as:

1. You belong to a wealthy family. One of your family members has begun to have serious seizures. Role-play the meeting with the doctor who is providing a diagnosis and making recommendations.

2. You are the father of a small family with three young children. Your wife does not work and your income as a labourer is sufficient to cover basic needs but leaves little extra money at the end of the month. Your wife has developed pneumonia. Role–play how and from whom your wife receives care and the extent that the medical system plays a part in her diagnosis and treatment.

3. You are the mother of a large family including 6 children ranging in age from 19 to 6. Although you had a fairly comfortable life, your husband has recently died and your youngest child has fallen ill with a persistent cough. Role-play the discussion over how medical treatment will be obtained for the child and the impact it will have on the family finances.

4. You are the teenage daughter of a wealthy family. Your mother has increasingly withdrawn from the family showing growing signs of prolonged sadness and inconsolable grief over seemingly minor issues. Role-play a meeting between yourself, your father and the family doctor in which the causes of the depression and suggested treatments are discussed.

Step 6: Instruct students to read the introductory sections on the Redpath Mansion Mystery website relating to “Family Health” in the Blood Ties section; “Medical Men” in the Dramatis Personae section; and “Healthy Spaces” in the Settings section to establish a context for their exploration of health care in early 20^thcentury Canada. Also, encourage students to carefully study relevant written and visual sources as well as primary and secondary sources as indicated below. Encourage students to do some additional research into the nature of health care at the beginning of the twentieth century including care for the poor and underlying beliefs about causes and treatments of diseases, epilepsy, and depression. To ensure an accurate understanding of Canada’s current health care system, students should draw upon their prior knowledge and personal experience supplemented by additional research to identify the current understanding of the causes of disease, epilepsy, and depression, as well as the accessibility and affordability of health care for all Canadians.

The Yellow Wallpaper
On Being Ill
Diary, June Saturday 4 1897
Diary, July Wednesday 21 1897
Photograph: Interior view: the surgical ward with Dr. James Bell and his staff
Surgery: Its Principles and Practices
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
American Nervousness: It’s Causes and Consequences; A Supplement to Nervous Exhaustion (Neurasthenia)
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
Insanity and Its Treatment: Lectures on The Treatment, Medical and Legal of Insane Patients
Subconscious Homicide and Suicide; Their Physiological Psychology
Insanity and Its Treatment: Lectures on The Treatment, Medical and Legal of Insane Patients
Suicide, Its Alleged Increase, Causes, and Remedies
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
Melancholia, with Special Reference to its Characteristics in Cumberland and Westmorland

Criteria for a plausible role play:

• reflects an accurate understanding of the differences in health care for the wealthy and those living with limited means

• reflects an accurate understanding of how the health care system and medical treatments differed in 1901 from today

• integrates specific evidence from the sources studied

LESSON 6, CLASS 2 (DAY 14 OF UNIT)

Step 1: Provide students with a copy of Support Material No. 7: Assessing Changes in Health Care. Encourage students to use the graphic organizer to gather evidence that will assist them in assessing the changes in health care since 1901. Invite each group to share their role play to the class and remind the students who are observing the role play to make notes on their graphic organizer.

Step 2: After all groups have had an opportunity to share their role play, invite students to work in groups of 3-4 to identify how the evidence presented in the role plays can contribute to our understanding of the circumstances that led to the deaths of the Redpaths.

LESSON 7: EXPLORING ILLNESS: ISSUES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ILLNESS

(2 Classes)

(DAY 15 and 16 of Unit)

Overview

In this lesson, students will uncover the attitudes towards depression, epilepsy, and other afflictions held by the upper class in Montreal at the beginning of the 20^thcentury. Students will be asked to assess the degree to which they believe it is plausible that attitudes towards illness (as opposed to the illness itself) contributed to the deaths of the Redpaths. Students will be asked to write their conclusions in the form of an authentic editorial that may have appeared in a Montreal newspaper in 1901 commenting on attitudes towards illness.

LESSON 7, CLASS 1 (DAY 15 OF UNIT)

Activities:

Step 1: Invite students to think about illnesses today that carry a social stigma. You may need to explain the concept of social stigma to the students. Ask them to consider which illnesses (HIV/AIDS, Mental illness, Hepatitis etc.) carry the most difficult stigma using evidence from the popular press to support their answer.

Step 2: Invite students to read the introductory section of “Family Health” on the website. Ask students to discuss with a partner how plausible they believe it is that medical conditions may have contributed to the deaths from what they know so far.

Step 3: Have students form groups of 4 and assign each student in the group a number from 1 to 4. Inform students that they will each be responsible for researching beliefs and attitudes in 1901 towards one of 4 illnesses. Assign the following illnesses to students:

1’s: Epilepsy

2’s: Tuberculosis

3’s: Neurasthenia

4’s: Hysteria

Step 4: Provide each student with a copy of Support Material No. 8: Examining Beliefs and Attitudes about Illness in 1901and suggest they read the pertinent documents from “Family Health”.

Family Health
News report: Coroner Holds Inquest
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
American Nervousness: It’s Causes and Consequences; A Supplement to Nervous Exhaustion (Neurasthenia)
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
Subconscious Homicide and Suicide: They Physiological and Psychology
Insanity and Its Treat: Lecture on The Treatment, Medical and Legal of Insane Patients
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
A Complete Pronouncing Medical Dictionary: Embracing the Terminology of Medicine and the Kindred Sciences, with their signification, Etymology, and Pronunciation
A Complete Pronouncing Medical Dictionary: Embracing the Terminology of Medicine and the Kindred Sciences, with their signification, Etymology, and Pronunciation
Insanity and Its Treat: Lecture on The Treatment, Medical and Legal of Insane Patients
Melancholia, with Special Reference to its Characteristics in Cumberland and Westmorland
The Principles and Practices of Medicine
Letter, November Saturday 19 1898
Diagnosis by Dr. Lafleur: Tuberculosis

Instruct students to complete the graphic organizer by placing the assigned illness in the centre and important evidence about the symptoms, causes, treatments, and social attitudes in the boxes.

Step 5: Encourage students to consider the reliability of the evidence used to gather insights into beliefs and attitudes towards illness. Suggest they use the following criteria to assess the reliability:

• is the source credible? (was the author of the source knowledgeable about the subject or offering an uniformed opinion?)

• are the beliefs and attitudes identified from a single source or corroborated by two or more sources?

• Does the evidence fit with what is already known about beliefs and attitudes towards illness at the time?

Invite students to share their findings and assess the reliability with others who have examined beliefs and attitudes towards the same illness. Ask students to make note of any evidence they find suspect and ask them to decide whether they should reject the evidence, accept the evidence with caution, or attempt to find additional evidence to corroborate the findings.

Step 6: After sharing and assessing the reliability of the evidence, invite student groups to draw 2-3 sound conclusions (supported by evidence, consistent with the evidence, does not ignore any evidence) about beliefs and attitudes towards the illness they have studied and the degree to which those beliefs and/or attitudes are likely to have been a contributing factor to the deaths (highly likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, very unlikely)

LESSON 7, CLASS 2 (DAY 16 OF UNIT)

Step 1: Invite students to rejoin their home groups where they are to share the findings about beliefs and attitudes towards the various diseases they have examined. Also, be sure to encourage students to share their conclusions about the likelihood the beliefs and/or attitudes contributed to the deaths of the Redpaths. Once all students have shared their conclusions, invite the group to arrive at a consensus regarding the overall likelihood that beliefs and/or attitudes were a contributing factor to the deaths.

Step 2: Provide each student with a news report and an editorial on the same issue that has appeared recently in a local or national newspaper. Invite students to read each and to identify how they differed. Ask students to share with the class the differences they noticed. As they share, capture on the board the key features of an editorial including:

• the title states a position

• the first paragraph clearly identifies the issue and the position being taken

• the concluding paragraph restates the position

• the paragraphs between the first and last offer arguments supported with evidence

Students should come to see that a news report does not take a position but rather relays information on an event. Typically, the most important details appear first and less important details appear towards the end of the report.

Step 3: Provide students with an editorial from a newspaper in 1901 that addressed an aspect of the Redpath deaths. Invite students to read this editorial and as they do have them a) identify the position taken; b) identify the similarities and differences between the 1901 and current editorial (tone, language, structure). Once students have carefully read and considered the similarities and differences, invite the class to discuss whether editorials today reflect greater change or continuity from a century ago.

Editorial, A Genuine and Painful Sensation

Step 4: Invite students to write an authentic editorial (reflect the tone, language, structure and accurate use of evidence) that addresses illness and the Redpath deaths.

Step 5: Using the Support Material No. 9: Rubric for an Authentic Editorial, suggest students exchange their work with a partner and assess each other’s work. Encourage students to peer assess by looking for an accurate portrayal of beliefs and attitudes, authentic voice, a clear statement of position, and convincing supporting arguments. Encourage students to use the peer feedback to assist them in revising and polishing their editorial.

LESSON 8: DRAMATIS PERSONAE

(2 CLASSES)

(DAY 17 AND 18 OF UNIT)

Overview

In this lesson students will carefully examine a variety of documents that will shed light on one of the characters they have encountered in the Redpath Mansion Mystery. They will be encouraged to sift through the information to identify the most pertinent and reliable information as it pertains to solving the mystery. Students will be asked to use the information to create a character card with a visual likeness of the character on the front (drawn from visual sources or from inferences garnered from written documents) and vital statistics on the back. As there will be limited space on the card, students will need to carefully select only the most important information and will need to present the information in a concise format. Students will be reminded that the character cards will be an important source of support in creating their interactive play.

LESSON 8: CLASS 1 (DAY 17 OF UNIT)

Activities:

Step 1: Remind students that they will be creating an interactive play that explains the events that led to the death of the Redpaths. For the play to be convincing they will need to build the script around the characters central to the events. To assist them in preparing for the play, students will be invited to develop a character card for one of the following characters:

Ada Redpath

Amy Redpath

Cliff Redpath

Dr. Thomas Roddick

Peter Whiteford Redpath

Mary Rose Shallow

Ada Maria Mills Redpath
Photograph, Amy (as a child) and Ada Maria Mills Redpath
Diary Extract, “Life is a Burden”
Letter from Ada Maria Mills Redpath to children
Photograph, Amy Maria Mills Redpath and family
Amy Redpath Roddick – Notice of Death
Portrait of Lady Roddick, 2nd wife of Sir Thomas Roddick
Amy’s Will
Amy Redpath Roddick – Obituary
Photograph, Amy’s marriage to Dr. Roddick at Chislehurst
J. Clifford Redpath with dog
Notice of J. Clifford Redpath – A Candidate for Admission to the Examinations for the Practice of Law
Jocelyn Clifford Redpath
Sir Thomas George Roddick – Obituary
Portrait of Dr. Roddick
Dr. Roddick Obituary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal
Robert Harris Portrait of Peter W. Redpath
Peter Whiteford Redpath
Letter from Peter Redpath to Peter Whiteford Redpath, 22 January 1892
Mary Rose Shallow – Notice of Death
Mary Rose Shallow
Rose Shallow and Amy Roddick in Egypt

Inform students that the character card should be on 10 cm x 15 cm cue cards. The front will be a visual likeness of the character created by the students based on evidence from visual sources or inferences garnered from written documents. On the back, the character card will include important information about the character that is accurate and pertinent to their role in the Redpath Mansion Mystery (connection to the family, social class, role in the investigation etc.)

Step 2:Randomly assign each student one of the characters by having them draw a name from a jar or hat. You will need to include each name 3-4 times depending on the size of the class. Invite students who have drawn the same name to work collaboratively to gather research.

Step 3:Provide each group with a folder containing a variety of documents relating to the character the group is researching. Also provide each group with a copy of Support Material No. 10: Research Record. Discuss with students the concepts of traces and accounts as types of evidence historians use. Inform students that traces refer to evidence the characters left behind either intentionally or unintentionally. Accounts refer to sources of evidence created about the event (including films, plays, novels, poems, paintings). Instruct students to each take a document from the folder and carefully examine it looking for evidence that will help them to understand the role the character played in the events. Encourage students to record their findings on the graphic organizer provided. Remind students that it is not essential that all of them complete all of the boxes but as a group there should be notes in each column.

LESSON 8, CLASS 2 (DAY 18 OF UNIT)

Activities:

Step 1:Invite students to review their completed chart. Based on the evidence they have gathered, ask students to determine if their character is central, somewhat significant, or peripheral to the events. Suggest they determine the significance of the character’s role by considering if:

• they were directly involved with the deceased immediately prior to the deaths or were directly involved in the investigation

• had detailed knowledge of the lives and illnesses of the deceased

Step 2:Invite students to highlight the most important evidence they have gathered by considering which evidence is: reliable, sheds light on the events, and helps us to understand why the investigation was quickly completed and the silence that followed.

Step 3:Suggest that students create their character card by capturing the visual likeness of the character on the front of the card and clearly and concisely arranging the most important information on the back. Remind students that the information must be accurate and relevant to the mystery.

LESSON 9: CLOSET DRAMA: WAS THERE A COVER UP?

(2 CLASSES)

(DAYS 19 AND 20 OF UNIT)

Overview

In this lesson, students closely examine the evidence about the deaths, and reactions to the deaths (particularly that presented in the Closet Drama section) to answer the question “Was there a cover up in the investigation, or is there another plausible explanation for the failure of the authorities to have a real investigation of the two deaths?” Students will be invited to prepare a press release that makes the case either for or against re-opening the investigation in light of the evidence presented.

LESSON 9, CLASS 1 (DAY 19 OF UNIT)

Activities:

Step 1: Present students with the following data set, revealing one pair of movie titles at a time. You may need to provide students with a bit of background about the films if they are not familiar with them. It is important that they come to see that list A are fictional films while list B are historical fiction. As you reveal each set, ask students to try to deduce how the movies in list A differ from list B. After you have revealed 2 sets of titles invite students to turn to a partner and share their thoughts. After the fourth set is revealed invite students to share their ideas with the class. Finally, present students with a tester and ask them if it should go under list A or list B. Once students have shared their answers and their rationales, reveal that the films under list A reflect entirely fictional stories while the films in list B are historical fiction, meaning they are based on actual events with fictional elements fleshing out the story and/or making the film interesting for today’s general public.

Step 2: Discuss with students the role that historical fiction can play in the study of history. Historical fiction provides a window on how the historical event was perceived at the time the play, novel, or movie was created. When reading historical fiction we must be careful to read on the line (what is actually said), between the lines (what the author inferred) and beyond the lines (how the author’s world view and perspective shaped how they perceived and therefore portrayed the event).

Step 3: Inform students that some who have examined the Redpath mystery wonder if the family’s silence was an effort to cover something up. Invite students to act as the coroner’s office and tell them they must decide if there is enough evidence to warrant re-opening the investigation. After carefully examining a variety of documents that address the family’s reaction to the deaths and excerpts from a play written by Amy Redpath that closely resembles the events surrounding the deaths, students will make their determination. Inform students that they will prepare a press release to announce their decision.

Step 4: Share with students the criteria for a sound decision suggesting the following:

• reflects the volume of evidence (are there many or few documents suggesting a cover-up?)

• The quality of the evidence (is the evidence of a cover reliable, and close to the event or questionable and hearsay?)

• Is the body of evidence consistent?

To ensure everyone understands, invite students to discuss the criteria and to ask questions.

Step 5: Ask students to join with a partner. Provide each set of partners a selection of documents from the Redpath Mansion Mystery website as well as a copy of Support Material No. 11: Source Analysis. Suggest that students read and interpret each of the documents they have been assigned using a Pairs Read strategy. In a Pairs Read strategy, one student reads the document while the other partner records information on the graphic organizer. In this case, the student recording should only record information in the second column (Reading on the lines). After each document has been read, the pairs should discuss what they can infer (column three) and how they believe the author’s perspective may have impacted on the writing of the document. Finally, the students should determine if each document provides evidence that does or does not warrant re-opening the investigation. This process should be repeated for each document.

Letter from Grace Wood Redpath to Amy and Peter Whiteford Redpath, 14 June 1901
Letter from Grace Wood Redpath to Amy Redpath, 16 June 1901
Letter from Grace Wood Redpath to Amy and Peter Redpath, 28 June 1901
Letter from Grace Wood Redpath to Peter Redpath, 2 July 1901
Letter from Gladys Plinsoll to Amy Redpath, 15 June 1901
Letter from Jane C. Cooper to Amy Redpath, 17 June 1901
Letter from Maud Redpath to Amy Redpath, 26 June 1901
Letter from Helen Redpath to Amy Redpath, 26 June 1901
Closet Drama

Step 6: Once students have completed the Pairs Read activity for all of the documents, invite them to join with another pair of students to form a group of 4. Invite the groups of 4 to share their insights and to draw overall conclusions considering the documents.

Lesson 9, Class 2 (Day 20 of unit)

Step 1: Ask students to reflect on the evidence they examined in the previous class and whether or not they feel the evidence warrants re-opening the investigation.

Step 2: Inform students that they will be preparing a press release to announce their decision. Remind students that an effective press release must clearly and succinctly state the conclusion they have reached and provide compelling evidence and arguments to support their decision. Provide each student with a template for preparing a press release.

Step 3: Invite student to develop a draft press release using the graphic organizer they completed during the previous class to guide them. Once they have completed a sound draft, suggest they exchange with another student for peer feedback. Remind students of the criteria for an effective press release (conclusion is clear, succinct, and supported with compelling evidence and arguments).

Lesson 10:Developing the Interactive Play

(2 classes)

(DAYS 21 and 22 of unit)

Overview

The final activity for the challenge will be for students to work in groups of 4-5 to create an authentic recreation of the events of June 13 and the days immediately following the murders in the form of an interactive play. Students will collaborate on developing the play although each will be assigned areas of individual responsibility. Students will discuss the evidence and each will take on developing the script for a portion of the time that elapsed. As well, students will need to carefully consider the layout of the home to accurately stage the events. Students will use storyboards to plan the play, will develop a script that accurately reflects their conclusions about the day and will develop supports such as character cards and prompts that will allow audience participation in the recreation.

Lesson 10, Class 1 (Day 21 of unit)

Activities:

Step 1:Remind students that they are to develop a plausible explanation and will share their explanation through an interactive play in which the audience (classmates, another group of students, parents etc.) will be invited to participate. This will require preparation of clearly defined roles, planting of evidence and scripted prompts to assist the participants in contributing to the play.

Step 2: Work with students to build criteria for an effective interactive play by showing a variety of clips from plays. Ask students to make a note of the various elements that they see. Ask students to share their observations. Record their observations on the board under the title “What might be included in a dramatization?” Ask them to add to the list based on other plays they may have seen in the past.

Step 3: Next, show students one particular segment of a chosen play. Ask students to consider how effective the play was on a scale from -2 to +2 (-2 = very ineffective; +2 = very effective). Ask them to first individually rate the play and jot down the reasons for their rating. Invite them to share their answers with a partner and then to share again with another set of partners. As a group of 4, challenge them to organize their reasons behind the effectiveness of a play in order from most important to least important.

Step 4: Consider randomly calling on a member of each group to share their group’s answers with the class. List the reasons on the board and indicate by means of an ongoing tally when other groups cite the same reason. Based on the tally, decide on the top 3 or 4 things which are crucial for an interactive play to be effective (e.g. includes ample specific and detailed evidence to support its claims; addresses a variety of interpretations of the issue; uses relevant and compelling testimony of relevant key players in the case; uses visuals and music to both engage the viewer and create a compelling case, and invites meaningful audience participation). Post the agreed upon criteria for an effective interactive play on the wall of the classroom for reference.

Step 5: Invite the groups to discuss how they could effectively involve audience participation in their play. Suggest that they consider making use of the character cards they created earlier to serve as prompts. Also, suggest that they consider scripting questions and interviews with characters that will be played by audience members. They should also consider effective ways to engage the audience members in critiquing the theory put forward regarding the deaths and investigation. For example, to encourage a discussion of plausibility of the theory offered, the interactive play could involve a bar or coffee shop conversation during which the theory is shared and audiences members in role have an opportunity to join in assessing the degree to which the theory fits the evidence.

Lesson 10, Class 2 (Day 22 of unit)

Step 6: Invite groups of 4 students to develop the script for an interactive play paying close attention to the criteria established. Provide each group with a copy of Support Material No. 12: Storyboarding Our Play. Encourage students to develop their script and storyboard noting details such as props and costumes required and opportunities for audience involvement. Sample storyboards are readily available on line by simply “Googling” (http://www.google.com) sample storyboard.

Step 7: Once the main ideas for the script are developed, encourage students to divide the task for preparation as follows:

Script:Flesh out and polish the script

Props:Create and/or gather the props needed for the set

Costumes:Arrange for costumes for the cast including simple accoutrements (e.g. a hat or a boa) that could be quickly given to a participating audience member to get them into role.

Music and Audience Prompts: Select and obtain the music to be used during the play. Prepare any prompts that will be used to assist the audience in getting involved.

Remind students that they are each responsible for the aspect of production assigned.

Homework: Students continue to prepare for their interactive play.

Support Material No. 1:Assessing Significance

SUPPORT MATERIAL NO. 2: Who’s Who in the Redpath Mansion Mystery?

Redpath Men

Redpath Women

Medical Personnel

Others Connected to the Redpath Mansion Mystery

SUPPORT MATERIAL NO. 3: Me – Then and Now

Support Material No. 4: Montreal – Then and Now

Support Material No. 5: Interrogating a Painting

Adapted from Penney Clarke’s “Training the Eye of the Beholder: Using Visual Sources Thoughtfully” in Roland Case and Penney Clarke, The Canadian Anthology of Social Studies.

Support Material No. 6: Interrogating a Photograph

Adapted from Penney Clarke’s “Training the Eye of the Beholder: Using Visual Sources Thoughtfully” in Roland Case and Penney Clarke, The Canadian Anthology of Social Studies.

Support Material no. 7: Assessing Changes in Health Care

Support Material no. 8: Examining Beliefs and Attitudes About Illness in 1901

Support Material no. 9: Rubric for an authentic editorial

Support Material NO. 10: RESEARCH RECORD

Character:

Support Material No. 11: Source Analysis

Support Material No. 12: Storyboarding Our Play

Storyboard Script Building

Video Audio