Magda Fahrni

Magda Fahrni, “Glimpsing Working-Class Childhood Through the Laurier Palace Fire of 1927: The Ordinary, the Tragic, and the Historian’s Gaze,” Journal of the History of Children and Youth 8 (Fall 2015): 426-450.

Fahrni’s analysis of a deadly 1927 fire at a Montreal cinema creates a richly textured portrait of working-class childhood.  Her innovative analysis of court cases, newspapers, and official investigations, including personal testimony, sheds new light on children’s independence vs. parental authority, the allure of commercial entertainment, and the changing perceptions of acceptable risk. The committee was impressed by Fahrni’s readable prose, engagement with the scholarly literature, and concept of voyeuristic empathy which should challenge historians of children and youth to think about their approach.