Call for Contributions – The Oar: New Brunswick’s Popular History Magazine

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Since 1985, when it began as a quarterly newsletter for the Fredericton Region Museum, The Officer’s Quarters has been an important part of the work of the York-Sunbury Historical Society in documenting the history of Fredericton and surrounding area. After 40 years of publication, the Society will be retiring The Officer’s Quarters as its annual publication and launching a new periodical with an expanded mandate and fresh design.

The Oar, New Brunswick’s popular history magazine, will launch in Summer 2026 as the new official annual periodical of the York-Sunbury Historical Society and Fredericton Region Museum. To better encapsulate the storied pasts of this place and the peoples who live here, the mandate of The Oar will include histories and narratives not fixed within the Fredericton region or Wolastoq [Saint John] River Valley. In the spirit of propelling forward the telling of these shared stories and pasts, this new publication invites submissions from contributors interested in writing pieces for popular or wide audiences.

About the Editorial Committee

Richard Yeomans (Chair) is a historian of Atlantic Canada who specializes in the history of science, settler colonialism and statecraft in New Brunswick.

Rachel Bryant is an English professor who studies settler treaty responsibilities and colonial American literatures at UNB Saint John. She supports Wolastoqewi-led treaty education as a member of the board at Caribou Club.

Zachary Tingley is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of History & Politics at the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus. He explores the layered histories of Atlantic Canada’s maritime spaces—both human and non-human—tracing their ties to within the broader currents of the Atlantic World.

Sandi Stewart is a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of History & Politics, Saint John at the University of New Brunswick. Her research focuses on Public History, Atlantic Canadian History, and Women’s History.

Gemma Marr teaches part-time in the Department of Humanities and Languages at the University of New Brunswick Saint John and is the coordinator of the Lorenzo Society, an arts and culture organization housed in the Faculty of Arts at UNBSJ. Her research focuses on gender and sexuality in Atlantic Canadian history and culture.

Guidelines for Proposed Contributions

The Editorial Committee invites proposals for contributions that document aspects of New Brunswick’s past, broadly defined, and inclusive of Indigenous territories and nations not confined by the province’s contemporary borders. We welcome contributions from various creative approaches used to tell stories of New Brunswick’s past, including short articles and essays, exhibit reviews and object analysis, literary works and more. Subject to review by the committee, contributions may be between 500 and 1500 words in length and ideally include 1 to 3 images that will appeal to a board readership.

Abstracts for proposed contributions should be no more than 300 words and include a brief description about the author(s). The deadline for abstract submission is 30 September 2025, with final drafts to be submitted to the Editorial Committee by 31 January 2026.

Proposals and questions may be submitted via email to TheOarNB@gmail.com

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Feature Image: New Brunswick home. Credit: National Film Board / Library and Archives Canada / PA-048826
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Richard Yeomans

Richard Yeomans, PhD, is a historian of Atlantic Canada who specializes in the history of science and settler colonialism in New Brunswick. He is the editor of The Oar, the official periodical of the Fredericton Region Museum, and the former Project Manager of the UNB Atlantic Canada Studies Centre. Richard is currently working at Library and Archives Canada as part of the Access and Services Branch.

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