Centre d’histoire de Montreal
November 16th, 2016Scandal! Vice, Crime and Morality in Montreal, 1940-1960
History students will get the opportunity to visit this exhibition which provides an extensive comprehension of the different aspects of crimes in Montreal. The exhibition is perfect to illustrate to what extent Montreal was a ‘ville ouverte’ in the 1940s and 1950s.
Canada’s largest city in the mid-20th century, Montreal was, as it still is, a port city and a transportation, business, and immigration hub. Manifestly Catholic in the daytime, it tuned into a capital of entertainment and adult gratification at night. Quebec having refused to adopt the prohibition laws that were passed in the United States in the early 1920s, Montreal acquired the reputation of a city of pleasure with an exuberant nightlife, where North-American tourists could come to enjoy themselves, drink, and go slumming without fear of raids or arrests. Besides the all-night bars, there were countless restaurants, movie theatres, nightclubs, and cabarets in the city.
Project Update
Students visited the museum and did a rally inside to uncover some of the ‘infamous’ aspects of Montreal’s past. Each student had an individual questionnaire to fill and some of the topics covered in the guide’s tour were included in the final test. Obviously, students did pay attention to the guide since the vast majority were able to do well in that part of the final test. Overall, this exhibition shows a different facet on their city’s past. Very few were aware of the intense night life Montreal enjoyed in the 1920s. Many had never suspected that Montreal already had a jazz tradition at that time. This inexpensive visit is always appreciated by students. The exhibition has been so popular that the Centre d’Histoire de Montréal will extend it to the end of December 2017.
