When Royal Roads University professor Theresa Mackay was gathering research for her prize-winning historical essay, she had no idea it would eventually lead to a link to her family.
Mackay, an assistant professor and program head at RRUB次元官网网址檚 School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, was recently named as the winner of the 2016 WomenB次元官网网址檚 History Scotland Essay Prize.
She spent 18 months researching her paper, titled Women at Work: Innkeeping in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, 1790-1840. The essay identified 60 female innkeepers who helped establish the impact women had in the development of tourism and hospitality infrastructure in the country.
B次元官网网址淭here was very little (research) out there, and all of it was from an urban perspective,B次元官网网址� Mackay said, regarding her difficulty finding source material. B次元官网网址淭he essay looks specifically at women innkeepers in rural areas, which was significant because no one had found that before.B次元官网网址�
Mackay, who holds a master of letters with distinction in history from the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, said, B次元官网网址淭hese women worked to establish hospitality and tourism before the tourism explosion in the 1840s.
B次元官网网址淭hey provided a place to stay, food, the rental of horses and boats and sold souvenirs, all the things you see today. We would call the people they served tourists, but they were more travellers then.B次元官网网址�
She was B次元官网网址渁bsolutely shockedB次元官网网址� to win the prize for her essay, which she submitted after encouragement from faculty members at her university of study.
B次元官网网址淲orking on the essay forces you to be really clear in what youB次元官网网址檙e writing,B次元官网网址� said Mackay, an RRU faculty associate for four years before signing on full-time in August. B次元官网网址淭o have the adjudicators acknowledge the topic and the significant contribution (these women made), IB次元官网网址檓 still pinching myself.B次元官网网址�
She was in awe as well during a visit to Scotland in September when her cousin asked about the topic of MackayB次元官网网址檚 essay. B次元官网网址淚 found out that I have a family member born in 1890, Flora Mackay, who was an innkeeper in Scotland,B次元官网网址� explained the Saanich resident. B次元官网网址淔rom a personal standpoint, that was so exciting.B次元官网网址�
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