Author seeks out stories of Sault's bootlegging past

A Sudbury-based author and college professor originally from Sault Ste. Marie is seeking out the old stories of her hometown that can’t be found in any history textbook.   

Shawna Partridge was recently awarded a $14,000 grant from Ontario Arts Council’s Northern Arts Project program in order to author a novel based on archival research and the oral histories from those who know what life in the Sault was like between the 1930s and 1960s. 

Partridge’s latest project follows the 2016 release of her first book, Rule of Seconds, which explored the lives of four generations of women in her hometown. 

“I’m going to comb through the archives and microfilms in the main library in the Sault, because I what I noticed when I was researching Rule of Seconds was how many stories - the colourful stories - weren’t in the records or in the textbooks, so I really want to gather more of those type of stories,” said Partridge. “The majority of my research will be collecting oral histories from whomever would like to participate and tell me these stories.” 

Partridge is particularly interested in hearing stories about boarding houses and speakeasies, inspired in no small part by the tales of her great grandmother who pursued her business ventures near the present-day International Bridge on Queen Street West.   

“I grew up with stories about my great grandmother who was a bootlegger. She lived on Queen Street West. She ran a boarding house, and in that boarding house she had a pool hall, but she also had a bar."

That was until about the 1960s when the city bought her boarding house because it was in the way of building the bridge, she said.

“They bought the boarding house and she stopped bootlegging, so that really started my curiosity into learning more about these stories, and particularly the women bootleggers. It was taboo back then, no one really wanted to talk about it.

“My family also didn’t want to talk about it, because it was illegal doing this.” 

Her great grandmother was arrested multiple times for bootlegging, says Partridge, but there were no archival records of those arrests to be found. 

“There are records about males doing this and being arrested, but not about the women, so I want more of those stories that aren’t in the records and preserving that,” Partridge said. 

The author says it’s not uncommon for her to visit people’s homes in order to capture the oral histories, with relatives of those storytellers usually offering to tag along for the talk.  

“I didn’t consider that, and it’s really powerful how this dialogue is being created with multiple generations. I’m very much looking forward to these conversations and the storytelling,” Partridge said. 

People interested in sharing stories with Partridge can contact her via email at [email protected].