"Connecting" to the Past

I'm currently working on transcribing and editing the diary of a First World War soldier. The entire process has been fascinating and a poignant experience of how the past can be so easily brought to life in the present. This is my first experience approaching a research project using digital resources to assist in the completion of my work, and it has yielded some pretty exciting results. I am working from the scanned images of a primary document, which allows me greater freedom with the document - I'm not confined to an archive and can use a pen if I want to! - without losing the critical feeling and experience of working with a genuine artifact. In addition to ensuring this wonderful document is preserved in the event something happens to the original, having the diary digitized also means I have been able to make my own copy.

Now that I've moved on to the editing (which includes adding footnotes and creating a glossary to establish context/location and explain some of the slang/terminology used by soldiers in the War), the internet has proven to be an invaluable resource. There are innumerable articles, books, and collections online that have made the answers and information I'm looking for available with ease and without cost. I've been able to cross-reference the information I've found in books with what I've found online to gain a more accurate perspective of this man's experience, and what of his story I need to help tell to make it relevant and understandable to a present-day reader.

I've also been able to find more out about who this man was because of the incredible volume of open source primary documents available online. At Library and Archives Canada, I was able to view and print his Attestation papers, which document the details of his enlistment and offer amazing insight into his personal situation as well as the tenure of the times. The most exciting thing however, happened a couple of weeks ago when I was reading an entry in his diary where he talks about being awarded a medal for what he did at Passchendaele. Ever the modest soldier, he doesn't provide any details about what he did in battle to receive this decoration, but this only incensed my curiousity. I googled his name and the type of medal he won and found myself at the Library and Archives UK site, where I was given the option of viewing the original record of his medal win for £2. After being tempted by this jackpot information find, it took little convincing to enter in my visa number. Within 30 seconds, I received an email thanking me for my support and containing the link to access my document for 52 days with the ability to print it out.

Being able to see these original documents without having to leave the house or the country for that matter, is such an amazing thing. The technology available today can so effectively be used to complement or dare I say supplement, traditional methods of research. It gives historians access to things that would otherwise be unreachable and thus lost as sources for our work. To experience all these different research methods come together has been, for lack of a better word, really cool. Digitization has made possible a final product that would otherwise have been impossible for me to create. Through the internet, the present has actually become one of history's greatest allies.

Seeking the Truth and finding it in the most unexpected places

Today a colleague and I made the trip to Chatham to visit the Black Heritage Room, a small museum that explores black heritage and history in Chatham. Waking up before the sun and making the drive along the 401 to the small Southwestern Ontario town, we weren't sure (other than Tim Horton's and McDonald's) what the visit would entail. What we found was an impressive small museum built of love, dedication, and hard work. As part of our visit, we were lucky enough to meet and interview self-made historian Gwen Robinson, a woman whose contribution to history is both incredible and noteworthy. Sparked by an interest in her family history and her son's request for assistance on a research paper, Gwen started researching and has never looked back. She is a living example of public history in practice, and the power and accomplishment that can be achieved through a passion for the past. Speaking with her and hearing the stories she has to tell makes it clear that she is a treasure to her community and to the field of history.

Frustrated that black history in Chatham was without a voice, a victim of selective history and the colour barrier, Gwen has dedicated the last 40 years to changing the face of history in Chatham. Her book, Seeking the Truth: A Story of Chatham's Black Community is a commendable achievement and the first book to tell this story. She has brought to life a history that might otherwise have been forgotten, and created the opportunity for people to understand and learn about a fascinating part of Canadian black history. I hesitate to call Gwen an amateur historian after hearing her speak and seeing shelf after shelf full of her research, but for the sake of this post, I will stick to the term, because I want to highlight the possibilities in history that are available to everyone.

Public history and particularly digital history, place a lot of emphasis on accessibility, and Gwen's achievements prove just how close to history the public can become. History of all kinds is out there waiting to be found. With interest, passion, and a dedication to "seeking the truth," anyone is capable of finding it.

If it's inspiration you're looking for, go meet Gwen Robinson and explore the Black Heritage Room. It's worth the drive to Chatham.

The Will to Remember

“To you from failing hands/ we throw the torch/ be yours to hold it high.”

90 years after the end of the First World War, only one Canadian veteran remains alive, and with him, the war will pass from living memory. Monuments, plaques and literature have already been created to ensure the veterans of the Great War are not forgotten in the physical world. But as the event fades further into the past, it becomes our responsibility to preserve their memory in our present and future consciousness by engaging with history and in active remembrance. Now, it is our turn.

War is a horrible thing, but remembrance cannot be clouded by contemporary interpretations of contemporary wars. Concepts of honour, courage, liberty, truth and justice are tainted by post-modern cynicism, but to past generations, these values were real and they were everything worth fighting for, worth dying for. Part of remembrance is accepting the truth of the past, even if it does not exist the same way in the present. Knowledge of the war that defended and preserved the civilization we know today and of the beliefs that forged nations and led people to fight, deeply enrich our modern existence and provide a constructive reminder of the capabilities of human good and evil.

In the now, it is essential that people understand that supporting our troops and veterans does not mean supporting war, and that the meaning of remembrance should not be distorted through a modern looking glass. Future generations need to be told about our history and the events that shaped our nation. They should know about the sacrifice made by so many Canadians and about the unimaginable impact of total war. They should know to be thankful for their freedoms, for their youth, and for the opportunities of their future. They should know it is a luxury to be able to take these things for granted, to expect them. They should know that history has not been as kind to past generations, and they should know that through remembrance, we have the chance to say thank you.

They had the courage to sacrifice their lives, so we must have the will to Remember.