In today’s crossover episode between Foreword, The Tattooed Historian, and the Brown Homestead, PhD student John R. Heckman and history MA alumna Jess Linzel take us on an audio tour of St. Catharine’s oldest house and explore what it means to preserve and study local history.  

Jess Linzel (BA ’18, MA ’21) is a graduate of both the BA and MA programs in Brock’s Department of History. She has unrivalled passion for Niagara history, and she has been recognized with scholarships and awards both locally and provincially. She is now the Director of Community Engagement at the Brown Homestead in St. Catharines, where she co-supervises a team of seven staff, produces heritage restoration video content, and co-leads research initiatives at the heritage home. 

John R. Heckman is a talented podcaster and a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD program at Brock University. Known to thousands online as the “Tattooed Historian,” John’s mission is to make history inclusive and accessible to the public. John channels his passion for history into YouTube videos, podcasts, live-streaming, and social media content.  

• Department of History


• Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD


• Tattooed Historian YouTube


• Tattooed History Podcast


• Brown Homestead Website


• Brown Homestead Podcast  


• Brock grad puts local history on the map (Brock News, 25 Aug. 2023)


• Grad student earns scholarship for digitizing Niagara history (Brock News, 9 June 2021)

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Episode subtitles can be viewed when listening on Podbean. Printable transcripts available by request. Find past episodes on our website brocku.ca/humanities. 

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Foreword is hosted and produced by Alison Innes for the Faculty of Humanities at Brock University. 

Series five sound editing is by Serena Atallah. Theme music is by Khalid Imam. 

This podcast is financially supported by the Faculty of Humanities at Brock University.