Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"WHAT WOULD DR. HINSHAW DO?"

Date Range From

2020

Date Range To

2021

Materials

COTTON, POLYESTER

No. Pieces

1

Length

66.1

Width

62.9

Description

DARK GREY T-SHIRT WITH BOXED WHITE TEXT: “WHAT WOULD DR. HINSHAW DO?” AND DR. DEENA HINSHAW’S PROFILE WEARING SUNGLASSES PRINTED IN WHITE ABOVE. TWO TAGS ON INSIDE OF COLLAR, FIRST TAG READS “EUROSPUNTEES” IN MULTI-COLOUR TEXT ON FRONT AND MATERIAL INFORMATION “60% COTTON 40% POLYESTER 60% COTON 40% POLYESTER” ON BACK. SECOND TAG READS “ATC THE AUTHENTIC T-SHIRT COMPANY LADIES + FEMMES M/M” ON FRONT. TWO TAGS ON INSIDE OF LEFT-SIDE, FIRST TAG READS “ATC THE AUTHENTIC T-SHIRT COMPANY CA 51778…MADE IN BANGLADESH” ON FRONT AND FRENCH TRANSLATION OF TEXT ON BACK OF TAG. SECOND TAG READS, “61431 ATC8000L” ON FRONT. TAGS ON INSIDE OF COLLAR ARE CRUMBLED AND STARTING TO FRAY ALONG EDGES. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

PERSONAL CARE

HEALTH SERVICES

History

ON THE 15TH OF FEBRUARY 2022, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED LORI HARASEM ABOUT HER DONATION OF A “WHAT WOULD DR. HINSHAW DO?” T-SHIRT. HARASEM EXPLAINED WHY SHE PURCHASED THE T-SHIRT: “…SO, BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS OF COVID, OF COURSE, WE WERE ALL VERY UNKNOWING WHAT THE PANDEMIC WAS GOING TO LOOK LIKE; WHAT IT WAS GOING TO MEAN; HOW SERIOUS IT WAS GOING TO BE; IF IT WAS ONLY GOING TO BE THE THREE WEEKS THEY WERE PREDICTING AT THAT POINT, AND SO THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, DR. HINSHAW, BECAME VERY WELL-KNOWN, BECAUSE SHE WOULD DO UPDATES DAILY, SOMETIMES MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY THROUGH [TRADITIONAL] MEDIA, AND THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA… TO [UPDATE] THE COMMUNITY, AND LET US KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO. AND, IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC, SHE BECAME ALMOST GOD-LIKE, I FEEL LIKE, TO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS PROVINCE, BECAUSE SHE WAS ALL WE HAD, AS FAR AS KNOWING WHAT THIS [PANDEMIC] ACTUALLY MEANT TO US. AND, SO PEOPLE WOULD EVEN JOKE ‘WHAT WOULD DR. HINSHAW DO?’, AND THINGS LIKE THAT… SHE BECAME SUCH A REVERED FIGURE FOR THE FACE OF THIS PANDEMIC FOR US… THERE’S A LOT OF POLITICAL POLARITIES IN THE PROVINCE, AT THE TIME, AS WELL. SO, SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT NEUTRAL, NON-POLITICAL ROLE. SO, VERY EARLY ON IN THE PANDEMIC, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THERE WOULD BE SUPPORTS NEEDED FOR BASIC HUMAN NEEDS THAT WERE TRYING TO BE ADDRESSED BY MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS, AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PROVINCE. AND, ONE OF THOSE WAS FOOD SECURITY, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE PEOPLE REALLY WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THEIR HOUSE, AND LOW-INCOME PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, FACED A LOT OF BARRIERS TO ACCESSING FOOD. AND, SO, AN INITIATIVE CAME AROUND ONLINE, WHERE SOMEBODY CREATED A T-SHIRT, THAT HAD HINSHAW’S PROFILE ON IT, AND ‘WHAT WOULD (DR.) HINSHAW DO?’... THE MONEY [MADE] FROM THOSE T-SHIRTS WERE GOING TO FOOD BANKS ACROSS THE PROVINCE TO HELP THEM. AND, SO, FOR ME, I PURCHASED ONE [T-SHIRT] #1 BECAUSE I VERY-HIGHLY RESPECTED DR. HINSHAW, AND HER LEADERSHIP, AND ALSO, BECAUSE I WAS SEEING, IN MY JOB, AT THE TIME, THE NEED OF THE FOOD BANKS, AND SO I KNEW THAT THE MONEY [RAISED] WAS GOING TO A GOOD CAUSE. AND, SO I PROUDLY PURCHASED ONE (MARCH 2020) … AND I PROUDLY WORE IT, EVEN THOUGH I WASN’T LEAVING THE HOUSE VERY OFTEN. BUT, EVERYBODY WAS VERY JEALOUS THAT I GOT ONE OF THE SHIRTS, BECAUSE THEY WERE IN SUCH A LIMITED SUPPLY. AND, SO I WAS PRETTY PROUD, AND HONORED TO HAVE IT IN THOSE EARLY DAYS [OF THE PANDEMIC].” HARASEM COMMENTED: “…THERE PROBABLY WAS ABOUT SIX FOOD BANKS THAT WERE OUTLINED [ON THE WEBSITE] … THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE NOT WORKING, AND IT WAS REALLY BEFORE THE FEDERAL FUNDING PROGRAMS CAME OUT, SO THERE WAS PEOPLE NOT GETTING THEIR PAY CHEQUES SUDDENLY, AND NOT GETTING THEIR PAY REPLACED. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THAT CHANGED QUITE CONSIDERABLY ONCE THE CERB (CANADA EMERGENCY RESPONSE BENEFIT), AND THOSE OTHER FEDERAL PROGRAMS WERE LAUNCHED... BUT, THIS WAS EARLIER ON (WHEN THE T-SHIRT WAS PURCHASED), WHEN WE WERE REALLY SCARED ABOUT WHAT THE PANDEMIC WAS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.” HARASEM EXPLAINED WHY SHE CONSIDERED DONATING THE T-SHIRT: “…BECAUSE I WOULDN’T WEAR THE SHIRT ANYMORE. I HAVE SEEN, OVER THE LAST ALMOST 2 YEARS NOW, WHAT I THINK UNFORTUNATELY IS THAT DR. HINSHAW’S ROLE (AS CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH), OR HER AS A PERSON, ISN’T THE NEUTRAL PERSON THAT I BELIEVE, AND UNDERSTAND, THAT ROLE TO BE… I DON’T TAKE HER WORD NOW AS BEING, I GUESS, LIKE THAT BIBLE OF THE PANDEMIC, OR WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING, OR WHEN WE SHOULD BE DOING IT, AND HOW WE SHOULD BE DOING IT…” HARASEM CLARIFIED: “…THE BIGGEST TURNING POINT [WAS] WHERE I THINK WE STARTED TO SEE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN HOW ALBERTA WAS RESPONDING, AND I THINK WHERE DR. HINSHAW’S RECOMMENDATIONS REALLY CAME INTO QUESTION, TO THE POINT WHERE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA WERE CALLING FOR HER TO STEP-DOWN, AND RESIGN, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T FEEL SHE WAS NEUTRAL, WAS WHEN WE WERE SUPPOSED TO ‘OPEN FOR THE SUMMER’ OF 2021… BUT IT ALL SEEMED VERY RELATED TO THE (CALGARY) STAMPEDE... AND FOR THE CALGARY STAMPEDE TO GO AHEAD, RESTRICTIONS HAD TO BE LIFTED. AND, THE RESTRICTIONS WERE LIFTED SUDDENLY, RIGHT BEFORE THE STAMPEDE, AND, OF COURSE, WHAT ENDED UP HAPPENING WAS ALBERTA WAS THE UNFORTUNATE LEADER INTO THE NEXT WAVE OF THE PANDEMIC, WHICH STARTED IN AUGUST. AND, WE GOT NO UPDATES IN THAT TIME OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. IT WAS LIKE THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT, AND HINSHAW DISAPPEARED…” ACCORDING TO THE CBC ARTICLE, ‘THE WORLD NEEDS STRONG LEADERS’: ALBERTA’S MEDICAL FACE OF COVID-19 SHINES LIGHT IN DARK TIMES, DAVID BELL WRITES: “[ALISON VAN ROSENDAAL] THOUGHT SHE WOULD TAKE TWO OR THREE OF [THE SHIRTS] AND AUCTION OF THE REST [OF THE SHIRTS]… THAT WAS, UNTIL HER SISTER… JULIE VAN ROSENDAAL, TWEETED THE DESIGN AND GOT THINGS ROLLING…” “THAT INITIAL 1O [ALISON] HAD IN MIND, QUICKLY TURNED INTO ABOUT 750 BASED PURELY ON DEMAND…” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE “WHAT WOULD DR. HINSHAW DO?” T-SHIRT, INCLUDING APPAREL-MAKER INFORMATION, CBC COVERAGE, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20210017000

Acquisition Date

2021-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail