Sunday, November 1, 2020

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Kindness

The City Daily Photo theme for the beginning of November is Kindness, and you can see how others are interpreting this theme right here.

I am choosing three locations today. Campbell House lies in Centretown, and dates to 1883. It was the residence of Sir Alexander Campbell, a lawyer, politician, and Father of Confederation. Today it houses offices.


As you'd expect, there's a historical plaque commemorating Campbell.


But there's another historical plaque here, commemorating another resident decades later, Colonel Elizabeth Smellie, a military nurse who resided here. The very profession of nursing involves acts of kindness, and felt appropriate to the theme.


Moving on a few blocks north, a statue stands at one of the entrances to Parliament Hill. Henry Harper's final act in life was one of kindness, sacrifice, and bravery, trying to save the life of a young woman who fell through the ice on the Ottawa River. His life is commemorated with this statue, done in the Galahad style, with plaques in English and French. 


An inscription in the stone quotes Tennyson's The Holy Grail: "Galahad... cried, 'if I lose myself, I save myself.'"


A short walk away along the Sparks Street pedestrian mall is this entrance, with a bas relief plaque to the left. 56 Sparks Street was the address for the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, still operating today and founded in 1945.


Its founder was Lotta Hitschmanova, seen here on the bas relief. She was a refugee from Europe who came to Canada during the Second World War and who would dedicate the rest of her life to humanitarian service. I'll have more about her as I continue my series from the Canadian Museum of History.

29 comments:

  1. I like the architecture of Campbell House.
    Wishing you a kind November!

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  2. Interesting and nice architecture (but bet Colonel Elizabeth had to hear some rather nasty things considering her name).

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  3. Thanks for some of these lesser known aspects of Ottawa, William.

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  4. A beautiful statue to commemorate the selfless act of Henry Harper in trying to save the life of a young woman who fell through the ice on the Ottawa River. Have a blessed Sunday.

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  5. A nice tribute to the kindness of these people, William.

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  6. Thank you for showing us those three locations. That was kind of you!

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  7. A kins and rewarding group of photos. Reading the French side of the plaques is a neat language lesson.

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  8. William, you were all in on today's theme. These are very good examples of kindness and also unique to Ottawa. Happy theme day.

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  9. ...kindness is a wonderful thing to remember every day.

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  10. Ohh ilike to see this streets !Also very nice monuments

    thanx for sharing that Kindness page!Adorable:))

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  11. Sounds like Henry Parker fits the theme very well.

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  12. Campbell House is a fine looking property - an interesting way to show kindness, something that we all need and thrive on.

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  13. Excellent theme day post William, nurses certainly are the angels of kindness 💜

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  14. People do some amazing acts of kindness,

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  15. Nursing is a great profession to illustrate kindness.

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  16. What a great post for the theme, William! Hope you are staying safe!

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  17. Great old buildings.
    Doesn't take much to be kind but what a blessing it is to others and ourselves too. :)

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  18. I like the entrance from the third photo.

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  19. Wonderful examples for the theme, William.

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  20. The third photo is perfect.
    May kindness infuse your realm.

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  21. @Italiafinlandia: thanks!

    @Iris: perhaps!

    @David: you're welcome.

    @Nancy: thank you.

    @Jan: I thought so.

    @Catarina: you're welcome.

    @Maywyn: I think so too.

    @Denton: thank you!

    @Tom: that it is.

    @Anita: thank you!

    @Sharon: he does.

    @Rosemary: I agree.

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  22. @Grace: quite so.

    @Red: that's true.

    @Marie: it is.

    @RedPat: thank you.

    @Happyone: true!

    @Marleen: so do I.

    @Bill: thank you.

    @Gemel: thanks!

    @Joanne: thank you.

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  23. Good examples of kindness.

    Happy November Wishes.

    All the best Jan

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  24. I love how you interpreted the theme. It worked very well.

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