Taylor C. Noakes is an award-winning public historian who has worked for museums, cultural organizations, non-governmental organizations, and as a historical consultant.
His consulting work has focused primarily on historic preservation, restoration and rehabilitation projects. He is qualified to work in both Canada and the United States.
Taylor worked as a historical consultant with Pfaffmann + Associates, a boutique architecture firm based in Pittsburgh, that won AIA Pittsburgh’s 2022 Social Impact in Design Award, for its work on the August Wilson House.
He earned an MA in Public History from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
He has also presented at conferences, including the Oral History Association (OHA), the National Council on Public History (NCPH), and the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH).
Taylor is a frequent contributor to the Canadian Encyclopedia, covering a wide variety of topics, including history, politics, arts & culture, science & technology, business & industry, pop culture, Canadiana, culture & society, and Indigenous history.
As a journalist, he frequently comments on contemporary issues from a historical vantage point, and writes about history, important historical events, and matters of contested commemoration for a broad general audience.
He is regularly invited to comment on historical matters in print, and as an invited guest for podcasts and radio.
Selected Published Historical Articles
The Great Flag Debate was not only a fight worth having, it reminds today’s leaders of a better way to fight
Toronto Star February 9, 2025
This man’s fight to escape slavery became a sensation in Canada. Here’s why the story should inspire us today
Toronto Star February 25, 2024
The 1993 Montreal Hockey Riot Raged Against Political Dysfunction and Deindustrialization
Jacobin April 29, 2023
McGill University and Hochelaga Rock, or how institutions erase history
Cult MTL October 24, 2022
A reply to Conrad Black: On Indigenous history we cannot ignore inconvenient truths
National Post March 26, 2021
The History and Possible Futures of an American Steel Town
Belt Magazine September 24, 2021