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Sherry Olson

Title: 
Professor Emerita
Sherry Olson
Contact Information
Address: 

Burnside Hall 611

Email address: 
sherry.olson [at] mcgill.ca
Research areas: 
Environmental history
Life Histories in Urban Environments
Life trajectories
Current research: 

As a historical geographer, I work at the intersection of economy, culture and environment. Early projects dealt with forest history pricing water, railways as tree-planters, and traditions of response to risk. More recent projects focus entirely on cities: the creation of environments that advantage some citizens over others. In terms of method, my work addresses two challenges:

The first is the problem of connecting micro with macro analysis. For a miniaturized model of the population of Montreal, we reconstituted families from parish records of births, deaths and marriages, to explore survival rates, fertility, and migrant behaviour. The sample, amounting to a thousand married couples, allowed comparison of three cultural communities French Canadian, Anglo-Protestant, and Irish Catholic.

The second challenge to visualize our living-spaces as four-dimensional is best shown in the Montreal HGIS of the MAP team: an array of databases integrated as geographic information systems. For putting homes, workplaces, and institutions on the map, our layers are richest for 1825, 1846, 1880, and 1901. Data are available to all scholars for exchange, enrichment, and exploration, in searchable formats.

Research projects:

  • Montr矇al, l'avenir du pass矇.This bilingual website has interactive maps of Montreal1881-1901, historic photos, overlaps of map imagery and GIS layers, downloadable files. Sherry Olson, Robert Sweeny et l'矇quipe du Centre interuniversitaire d'tudes qu矇b矇coises, Laval & UQTR. A part of the broader research site: https: EspaceCIEQ.ca
  • / This website has searchable and interactive maps for Lovell's city directory of 1880, Census of Montreal 1881, Taxroll Ville de Montr矇al, 1880, Occupants; Taxroll Ville de Montr矇al, 1880, Propri矇taires. Created in collaboration with L矇on Robichaud, Joanne Burgess, Laura Barreto, Robert Sweeny and others, in the Laboratoire d'histoire UQM
  • / MAP - Montr矇al lavenir du pass矇 is a long-lived but informal research network. This website provides QGIS demos, and documentation of MAP geobases for 1825, 1846 and 1881. Downloadables. Collaboration with Robert C.H. Sweeny and others
  • An Irish innkeeper in 1840s Montreal: his friends, his bookshelves, his investments
  • A social network: in collaboration with the project of Mary Anne Poutanen (History, Concordia) on the city's women tavernkeepers 1840-1860

Appointments:

  • Assistant Professor, Geography & Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins (1965-1972)
  • At 91勛圖, Department of Geography since 1973
  • Membre associ矇 du CIQ Centre interuniversitaire d矇tudes qu矇b矇coises, Universit矇 Laval et UQTR
Degree(s): 

  • PhD Geography, The Johns Hopkins University (1965)

Selected publications: 
  • Olson, Sherry, Property and power: connecting the dots, chapter 2 inColonial Metropole: The Making and Transformation of Montreals Square Mile, edited by D. Anastakis, E. Kirkland and D. Nerbas.University of Toronto Press. ISBN: 978-1-4875-2569-9 (in press for December 2022)
  • Gauvreau, Danielle, Sherry Olson et Patricia Thornton. Dynamiques d矇mographiques Montr矇al, 1880-1900, para簾tre dansLe Fait urbain,Claude BellavanceetMarc St-Hilaire,dirs.,s矇rie Atlas historique du Qu矇bec (CIEQ)
  • Poutanen, Mary Anne, and Sherry Olson, Left out of the official history The Women of St Anne's Market, pp. 74-79 inMontr矇al Capitale: L'exceptionelle histoire du site ach矇ologique du march矇 Sainte-Anne et du parlement de la province du Canada.Mus矇e de la Pointe--Calli癡re, Cit矇 d'archaeologie et d'histoire de Montr矇al Montr矇al, Les ditions du L'Homme 2021 (English edition February 2022).See also pp 66-67 and 101
  • Olson, Sherry, and Peter Holland, What newspaper archives can tell us about childscapes, pp 87-101 inDoing Spatial Historyedited by R. Bavaj, K. Lawson and B. Struck, Routledge Guides to Using Historical Sources, 2021.
  • Poutanen, Mary Anne, and Sherry Olson,Public houses and hidden networks: Roles of women in mid-nineteenth-century Montreal,pp. 161-180inMicro-geographies of the Western City, c. 1750-1900, edited by J. Stobart,D. Lindstr繹m &A. Clemente, Routledge, 2021
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson,The farmer's cutting edge in southern New Zealand 1864-1914,International Review of Environmental History6-2 (2020): 27-56.
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson,Appetite for grass: Re-engineering landscapes of Otago and Southland 1864-1914,New Zealand Geographer76-3 (December 2020): 237-246
  • Olson, Sherry, Montreal property-owners of the 1850s: 'born or to be born', pp. 213-237 in Largent des familles : pratiques et r矇gulations sociales en Occident, 19e et 20e 莽勳癡釵梭梗莽. Qu矇bec: Pressses de lUniversit矇 Laval et Centre interuniversitaire d矇tudes qu矇b矇coises, edited by Thierry Nootens and Yvan Rousseau, Presses de l'Universit矇 Laval
  • Olson, Sherry, and Peter Holland. Conversation in print: A network of children and youth in the South Island of New Zealand, 18861909, Journal of the History of Children and Youth 12-2 (Spring 2019): 219-240
  • Holland. Peter, Sherry Olson, and Chris Garden. Work schedules on lowland farms in southen New Zealand from the late colonial period to the 1930s, New Zealand Geographer 75 (2019): 12-20
  • Olson, Sherry. Refocus on women in an Industrial Revolution: Montreal 1848-1903, pp. 12-34 (chapter 1) in The Routledge Companion to Spatial History, eds. Ian Gregory, Don Debats, and Don Lafreni癡re. London, Routledge, 2018
  • Olson, Sherry, Moving into the world of work: Youth today and a century ago, pp. 209-228 (chapter) in Living in Quebec: A Reader in Intercultural Relations, St矇phan Gervais, Raffaele Iacovino, and Mary Anne Poutanen eds. Peter Lang, Bern (May 2018)
  • Olson, Sherry, and Mary Anne Poutanen. Shelter from the hurry? Hospitality in nineteenth-century Montreal, pp. 154-171 in Architectures of Hurry, eds. Philip Mackintosh, R. Dennis, and D. Holdsworth. London, Routledge, 2018
  • Olson, Sherry, Setting the census household into its urban context: Visualizations from 19th-century Montreal, Demographic Research 36-46: 1399-1434, published 28 April 2017 DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.46
  • Olson, Sherry, The urban horse and the shaping of Montreal, 1840-1914, pp. 57-86 in Animal Metropolis: Histories of Human-Animal Relations in Urban Canada, edited by C. Sethna, D. Ingram, and J. Dean, Calgary, University of Calgary Press, 2017. Open access pdf download:
  • Olson, Sherry, and Peter Holland. Commentaires des jeunes sur une 矇conomie en croissance : 矇chos de la Nouvelle-Z矇lande de 1884 1914, Enfances, Familles, G矇n矇rations. . Accessible also in English: "Youthful commentary on a growth economy: soundings from New Zealand 1884-1914".
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson. Agents of landscape change in southern New Zealand, 1896-1920, 2017) to New Zealand Geographer (published on line October 2017) doi: 10.1111/nzg.12174
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson, Ledgers and landscapes: Indicators of rural landscape change in southern New Zealand, 1878-1919, New Zealand Geographer 73-1 (April 2017): 45-56 DOI:泭10.1111/紳堝眶.12145
  • Olson, Sherry. La pr矇sence irlandaise: un essai cartographique, in Dire la diversit矇 du Qu矇bec: R矇flexions sur fond mus矇al, eds. M矇lanie Lanouette and tienne Rivard, 2017, pp. 93-104. S矇rie Cahiers du CIQ. Centre interuniversitaire d矇tudes qu矇b矇coises
  • Olson, Sherry. Ladders of mobility in a fast-growing industrial city, pp. 189-210 (chapter 9) in Lives in Transition: Longitudinal Analysis from Historical Sources, edited by Peter Baskerville and Kris Inwood, 91勛圖-Queens University Press, 2015
  • Dufaux, Fran癟ois, and Sherry Olson, Rebuilding a neighbourhood of Montreal, pp. 7988 (chapter 8) in Historical GIS Research in Canada, edited by Jennifer Bonnell and Marcel Fortin, University of Calgary Press, 2014. Open access pdf download
  • Olson, Sherry, and Patricia A. Thornton 2011. Peopling the North American City: Montreal 1840-1900. Montreal: MQUP. Honorable mention, Sir John A. MacDonald Award of the Canadian Historical Association 2011
  • Schwartzman, Kevin, Paul Brassard, Jason Gilliland, Fran癟ois Dufaux, Kevin Henry, David Buckeridge, and Sherry Olson 2012. Geomatics as a tool for bridging the cultures of research, pp. 75-100 in The Added value of scientific networking: Perspectives from the GEOIDE Network Members 1998-2012, N. Chrisman and M. Wachowicz eds., Quebec, 2012
  • Olson, Sherry, Kevin Henry, Michele Jomphe, Paul Brassard and Kevin Schwartzman 2010 Tracking tuberculosis in the past: the use of genealogical evidence. Journal of Historical Geography 36-3: 327-341
  • Olson, Sherry 2013. Silver and hotcakes and beer, Irish Montreal in the 1840s, Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol 45, no 12, pp. 179201, doi: 10.1353/ces.2013.0024
  • Olson, Sherry 2013 St Patricks and the Irish Catholics, chapter 11, pp. 303-318 in The Sulpicians of Montreal, A History of Power and Discretion 1657-2007, edited by Dominique Deslandres, John A. Dickinson, and Ollivier Hubert (Montr矇al, Wilson & Lafleur). French edition 2007
  • Olson, Sherry 2012. la ville, la sc癡ne, limpact fondateur des immigrants fran癟ais. dition 矇lectronique du Colloque Les immigrants fran癟ais au Canada l'矇poque de la Grande Migration transatlantique (1870-1914), .
  • Olson, Sherry 2011. City streets as environmental grid: The challenge of private uses and municipal stewardship, pp. 148-167 In Metropolitan Natures, Environmental Histories of Montreal, St矇phane Castonguay and Mich癡le Dagenais eds. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press
  • Gilliland, Jason A., Sherry H. Olson, and Danielle Gauvreau 2011. Did segregation increase as the city expanded? The case of Montreal, 1881-1901, Social Science History 35-4 (Winter): 465-503. doi 10.1215/01455532-1381823
  • Thornton, Patricia, and Sherry Olson 2011. Mortality in late nineteenth-century Montreal: geographic pathways of contagion, Population Studies 65-2: 157-181
  • Gilliland, Jason A., and Sherry Olson 2010. Residential segregation in the industrializing city: a closer look, Urban Geography 31-1: 29-58
  • Gilliland, Jason A., and Sherry Olson 2010. Residential segregation in the industrializing city: a closer look. Urban Geography 31-1: 29-58
  • Olson, Sherry, Kevin Henry, Michele Jomphe, Paul Brassard and Kevin Schwartzman 2010. Tracking tuberculosis in the past: the use of genealogical evidence, Journal of Historical Geography 36-3: 327341
  • Poutanen, Mary Anne, Sherry Olson, Raphael Fischler, and Kevin Schwartzman, 2009. Tuberculosis in town: mobility of patients in Montreal, 1925-1950, Social History / Histoire sociale 42, no 83 (May): 69-106
  • Dufaux, Fran癟ois, and Sherry Olson 2009. Reconstruire Montr矇al, reb璽tir sa fortune. Revue de Biblioth癡que et Archives nationales du Qu矇bec, num矇ro 1, 44-57
  • Carter, Andrew, Alice Zwerling, Sherry Olson, Terry-Nan Tannenbaum, and Kevin Schwartzman 2009. Tuberculosis and the city, Health & Place 15-3 (September): 807-813
  • Gauvreau, Danielle, and Sherry Olson 2009. Mobilit矇 sociale dans une ville industrielle nord-am矇ricaine: Montr矇al, 1880-1900, ADH Annales de d矇mographie historique 2008, num矇ro 1: 89-114
  • Gauvreau, Danielle, Patricia Thornton, and Sherry Olson 2007. The harsh welcome of an industrial city: Immigrant women in Montreal, 1880-1900, Social History - Histoire Sociale. 40, no 80 (November): 345-380
  • Brassard, Paul, Kevin A. Henry, Kevin Schwartzman, Michele Jomphe, and Sherry Olson 2008. Geography and genealogy of the human host harbouring a distinctive drug resistant strain of tuberculosis, Infection, Genetics and Evolution 8: 247-257
  • Olson, Sherry, 2007 Downwind, downstream, downtown: The environmental legacy in Baltimore and Montreal, Journal of Environmental History 12-4 (October): 845-866
  • Olson, Sherry, 2007Saint-Patrick et les paroissiens irlandais, pp. 289-304 in Les Sulpiciens de Montr矇al, Une histoire de pouvoir et de discr矇tion, 1657-2007, D. Deslandres, J.A. Dickinson, and O. Hubert, eds. (English edition 2013)
  • Haase, Ian, Sherry Olson, Marcel A. Behr, Ian Wanyeki, Louise Thibert, Allison Scott, Alice Zwerling, Nancy Ross, Paul Brassard, Dick Menzies, Kevin Schwartzman 2007. Use of geographic and genotyping tools to characterise tuberculosis transmission in Montreal, International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 11(6): 632-638
  • Henry, Kevin, and Sherry Olson, 2006 Balises patronymniques de l'Am矇rique fran癟aise, pp. 251-266 in Thomas Wien, C矇cile Vidal and Yves Frenette, De Qu矇bec l'Am矇rique fran癟aise Histoire et m矇moire, Presses de l'Universit矇 Laval
  • Thornton, Patricia, and Sherry Olson, 2006 The religious claim on babies in nineteenth-century Montreal, pp. 207-237 in Religion and the Decline of Fertility in the Western World, Renzo Derosas and Frans van Poppel, eds. Dordrecht, Springer
  • Wanyeki, Ian, Sherry Olson, Paul Brassard, Dick Menzies, Nancy Ross, Marcel Behr, Kevin Schwartzman, 2006. Dwellings, crowding, and tuberculosis in Montreal, Social Science & Medicine 63-2 (July): 501-511
  • Gauvreau, Danielle, Sherry Olson, and Patricia Thornton 2005 Three demographic regimes in an industrializing city, Poster, International Union for the Study of Population
  • Olson, Sherry 2004. Thinking on time, toward a four-dimensional geography, pp. 383-400 in Glimpses of a Gaian World, Essays in Honour of Peter Holland. G. Kearsley and B. Fitzharris eds. Dunedin, University of Otago School of Social Science
  • Sweeny, Robert C.H., and Sherry Olson 2003. MAP: Montr矇al lavenir du pass矇, Sharing geodatabases yesterday, today and tomorrow, Geomatica 57-2: 145-154
  • Gilliland, Jason, and Sherry Olson 2003. Montr矇al lavenir du pass矇, G矇oinfo, Le bulletin du Plan g矇omatique du gouvernement du Qu矇bec, janvier-f矇vrier, pp. 1-3 ()
  • Thornton, Patricia, and Sherry Olson, 2002. The challenge of the Irish Catholic community in nineteenth-century Montreal, Histoire sociale / Social History, 35, no 70: 333-362
  • Olson, Sherry, 2004. Ethnic partition of the work force in 1840s Montreal, Labour / Le Travail 53 (Spring): 157-200
  • Olson, Sherry, and Patricia Thornton 2003. Mobilit矇 et structure d矇mographique dans la r矇gion montr矇alaise, 1840 1900, pp. 341-354 in C. Dessureault, J. Dickenson et J. Goy eds., Famille et march矇 XVIe-XXe 莽勳癡釵梭梗莽 (Montr矇al, Septentrion)
  • Olson, Sherry, et Patricia Thornton 2001. La croissance naturelle des Montr矇alais au XIXe si癡cle, Cahiers de d矇mographie du Qu矇bec, 30, 2 (automne 2001): 191-230
  • Thornton, Patricia, and Sherry Olson 2001. A deadly discrimination among Montreal infants 1860-1900, Continuity and Change 16-1: 95-135
  • Olson, Sherry, 2001Ces touchants spectacles, pp. 232-47 dans La Paroisse , Serge Courville et Normand S矇guin, eds. (Sainte-Foy, Presses de lUniversit矇 Laval)
  • Olson, Sherry, et Jean-Claude Robert 2001.Morphologie de la paroisse urbaine, pp. 98-105 in La Paroisse , S. Courville et N. S矇guin, eds. (Sainte-Foy, Presses de lUniversit矇 Laval)
  • Olson, Sherry 2000. Form and energy in the urban built environment, pp. 224-43 in Canadian Cities In Transition, T. Bunting and P. Filion eds. (Oxford University Press, 2000, 2d ed.)
  • Olson, Sherry 2000l Feathering her nest in nineteenth-century Montreal, Social History / Histoire sociale 33 (May), 65: 1-35
  • Olson, Sherry 1998. Pour se cr矇er un avenir, Strat矇gies de couples montr矇alais aux XIXe si癡cle, Revue d'histoire de l'Am矇rique fran癟aise 51-3 (hiver): 357-389
  • Gilliland, Jason, and Sherry Olson 1998. Claims on housing space in nineteenth-century Montreal, Urban History Review 26-2: 3-16
  • Olson, Sherry 1997. Wind and Water, 1970-1996, pp. 387-418 in expanded (2nd) edition of (own) Baltimore, Building an American City, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
  • Thornton, Patricia, and Sherry Olson 1997. Infant vulnerability in three cultural settings in Montreal 1880, pp. 216-241 in Infant and Child Mortality in the Past, A. Bideau, B. Desjardins et H. Perez-Brignoli eds. (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
  • Olson, Sherry 1996. Le peuplement de Montreal, pp. 81-94 and 104-107 (plates) in Population et Territoire, series Atlas historique du Qu矇bec, dir. S. Courville, PUL
  • Olson, Sherry, and Patricia Thornton 1995. Le raz de mar矇e irlandais Montr矇al, pp. 69-80 in Y. Landry et al., Les Chemins de la migration en Belgique et au Qu矇bec XVIIe-XXe 莽勳癡釵梭梗莽. MNH
  • Olson, Sherry 1995. A profusion of light in nineteenth-century Montreal, pp. 253-262 in S. Courville and N. S矇guin, eds. Espace et Culture /Space and Culture (Sainte-Foy, Presses de lUniversit矇 Laval)
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson 1995. Maintaining the rural landscape: expectations and costs of hedging, New Zealand Geographer 51-2: 16-24
  • Olson, S.H., and A.L. Kobayashi 1993. The emerging ethncultural mosaic, pp. 138-52 in L.S. Bourne and D.F. Ley, The Changing Social Geography of Canadian Cities. Montreal, MQUP
  • Olson, Sherry, et Patricia Thornton 1992. Familles montr矇alaises du XIXe si癡cle : trois cultures, trois trajectoires, Cahiers qu矇b矇cois de d矇mographie, 21-2 (automne) : 51-75
  • Olson, Sherry, and David Hanna 1990 and 1993. Social landscape of Montreal 1901, In Historical Atlas of Canada (Presses of University of Toronto and Universit矇 de Montr矇al), vol. III (1990) Plate 30, and in volume II (1993) Plate 49.
  • Olson, Sherry 1991. The Evolution of metropolitan form, pp. 240-262 in Trudi Bunting and Pierre Filion eds., Canadian Cities in Transition (Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1st ed.)
  • Olson, Sherry 1991. Ethnic strategies in the urban economy, Canadian Ethnic Studies 23-2: 39-64
  • Thornton, Patricia A., and Sherry Olson 1991. Family contexts of fertility and infant survival in nineteenth-century Montreal, Journal of Family History, 16-4 : 401-17
  • Olson, Sherry 1989. Occupations and residential spaces in nineteenth-century Montreal, Historical Methods 22-3 (Summer), 81-96
  • Olson, S., P. Thornton, and Quoc Thuy Thach 1989. Dimensions sociales de la mortalit矇 infantile Montr矇al au milieu du XIXe si癡cle, Annales de D矇mographie historique 1988, pp. 299-325
  • Olson, Sherry 1989. Paternalism and urban reform: an introduction, Urban History Review 17-3 (February): 143-47
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson 1989. Introduced versus native plants in austral forests, Progress in Physical Geography, 13-2: 260-93
  • Holland, P.G., and S.H. Olson 1989. Provenances of naturalised plants in Australasia, Australian Geographer 20-2: 136-43
  • Holland, Peter, and Sherry Olson 1989. Ecosystems in transition: the experience of Australia and New Zealand, New Zealand Journal of Geography 87 (April): 2-7. (Available at )
  • Olson, Sherry 1988. Environments as shock absorbers, examples from Madagascar, Environmental Review 12-4 (Winter): 61-80
  • Olson, Sherry 1987. Red destinies: the landscape of environmental risk in Madagascar, Human Ecology 15-1: 67-89
  • Olson, Sherry, and Paul Gauthier 1984. Qui est membre dune coop矇rative dhabitation? Service social 33-1: 37-56
  • Olson, Sherry, and Michael Taylor 1984. Les coop矇ratives face aux fluctuations du march矇 de lhabitation, Actualit矇 immobili癡re 8-1 (printemps): 11-22
  • Olson, Sherry 1984. The robe of the ancestors: Forests in the history of Madagascar, Journal of Forest History 28-4 (October): 174-86.
  • Hanna, David, and Sherry Olson 1983. M矇tiers, loyers et bouts de rues: larmature de la soci矇t矇 montr矇alaise, 1881 1901, Cahiers de G矇ographie du Qu矇bec 27, no 71: 255-275.
  • Olson, Sherry 1982. Urban metabolism and morphogenesis, Urban Geography 3-2 (April-June): 87-109
  • Olson, Sherry 1980. Baltimore, Building an American City (Johns Hopkins University Press, 400pp.) First published in 1980, updated in 1997 (the citys bicentennial), and chosen in 2012 as Book of the Year by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study
  • Olson, Sherry H. 1979. An ecology of workplace hazards, Economic Geography 55-4 (October): 287-308
  • Olson, Sherry H. 1979. Baltimore imitates the spider, Annals of the Assoc. of American Geographers 69-4 (December): 557-74
  • Olson, Sherry 1977. The Mirage of long-range planning, pp. 31-44 in Forestry and Long-Range Planning, F.J. Convery and C.W. Ralston, eds. Duke Univ. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
  • Olson, Sherry 1976. Baltimore. Series Comparative Metropolitan Analysis Project of Assoc. of Amer. Geographers and National Science Foundation. (Ballinger Press, 112pp.)
  • Olson, Sherry H., Geoffrey N. Berlin, and L. Stephen Guiland 1973. Computer modeling in a course on urban decision-making, Simulation & Games 4-4 (December): 440-453
  • Olson, Sherry 1971. The Depletion Myth, A History of Railroad Use of Timber (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 228pp.)
  • Olson, Sherry 1966. Some conceptual problems of interpreting the value of water in humid regions, Water Resources Research 2-1 (First Quarter): 1-11
  • Hessler, Sherry O. 1962. The great disturbing cause and the decline of the Queen City, Bulletin Historical & Philosophical Society of Ohio (July): 169-185
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Faculty
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