Awesome new series of activities at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa

If you live in Ottawa, or are having family and friends coming to visit over the summer, and kids are involved, here is something that the children may like to do on the last Sunday of the month at the Canadian War Museum -

Starting June 28, the Canadian War Museum and the Friends of the Canadian War Museum are pleased to present Awesome Sundays, an exciting new series of activities for the whole family. On the last Sunday of every month, visitors can take part in exciting demonstrations, hands-on activities and take-home crafts. 

All activities are free with Museum admission. Each month will feature a different theme.

The first three Awesome Sundays are

 Awesome Colosseum Sunday, June 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., LeBreton Gallery Construction of the Colosseum in Rome took about a decade, with inauguration ceremonies that lasted 100 days. Join us as we build and celebrate the Colosseum, in a single weekend! Learn about the ancient Colosseum with a “virtual reality” trip back in time, then work alongside others to build a Roman amphitheatre with Mega Bloks®. Take a ride in a Roman-style chariot, check out ancient Roman fashion and etch your own Roman-style graffiti to take home. Related event: Saturday, June 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., LeBreton Gallery — Colosseum Mega Bloks® construction

In conjunction with the temporary exhibition Gladiators and the Colosseum – Death and Glory.

Awesome Tanks Sunday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., North Plaza and LeBreton Gallery, Did you know that some of the Museum’s tanks still run? Feel the rumble of their massive engines and witness history in motion at our vehicle demonstrations. Chat with Museum staff and get close to these powerful machines. Explore military technology through a display of over 100 model tanks and armoured vehicles.

Meet members of the Ottawa Valley Armour Modellers Association and learn more about their fascinating hobby. Then decorate your own delicious tank ... cookie!

Awesome Gladiators Sunday, August 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., LeBreton Gallery

In ancient Rome, gladiators trained hard for the high-stakes spectacle of gladiatorial games. Learn more as you watch actors demonstrate ancient Roman fighting techniques. After the demonstration, visitors ages 16 and under can try their hand at these techniques using special equipment and make their own gladiatorial shield to take home.

In conjunction with the temporary exhibition Gladiators and the Colosseum – Death and Glory.

For a list of Awesome Sunday themes and activities planned for the fall and winter, please visit http://www.warmuseum.ca later this summer.

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Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/06/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-22-june-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada

The Home Front, 1917 exhibit

Library and Archives Canada Photographer: W.J. Topley Studio PA-042857

The Canadian War Museum will open an exhibit to the public on February 19, 2015 called The Home Front, 1917. It will how the war changed Canadian society by delving into the themes of politics, economy, industry, and family life.

 

The press release says, “Among other things, The Home Front, 1917 examines the conscription crisis, explaining how Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden initially promised not to introduce the draft, but changed his mind in 1917, when the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Europe vastly outstripped the number of voluntary recruits. It outlines the bitter debate that led to riots in Quebec, pockets of resistance elsewhere in the country and Borden’s decision to grant the vote to women whose next of kin were serving in the war in the hope they would bolster his electoral fortunes”. 

 

Two lasting legacies of the war at home were the women’s suffrage (extended in 1918 to all adult women British subjects), and income tax!!! 

 

The Canadian War Museum website is at http://www.warmuseum.ca/home

 

 

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Kandahar - The Fighting Season

There is a special exhibit at the Canadian War Museum consisting of photographs by Louie Palu, courtesy of Kinsman Robinson Galleries, showing the Canadian Forces in the most dangerous districts of Kandahar. Palu captures “their world of firefights and exhausting patrols in an unforgiving landscape”.

Canadian Forces were there from 2005 to 2011. The exhibit will be on display until September 2013.

To see more about other exhibits that the Canadian War Museum has on display, go to www.warmuseum.ca/exhibitions

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

The Canadian War Museum Travelling Exhibit

The Canadian War Museum will soon reach more people than ever with its popular exhibition of the War of 1812. It will be available via a virtual exhibition that launched this week, and a travelling version that will travel to venues across Canada the exhibit closes January 6, 2013 in Ottawa.

The 1812 virtual exhibition, like the physical version, presents the War of 1812 from four distinct perspectives—American, British, Canadian (including Canadian First Peoples), and Native American.

The virtual exhibition can be found at www.warmuseum.ca/war-of-1812

The smaller travelling version of 1812 is now fully booked until May 2015 at venues in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

Here are the places and dates where you can see the exhibit -

April 6 - August 18, 2013 St. Catharines Museum St. Catharines, ON

September 7 - December 1, 2013 New Brunswick Museum Saint John, NB

December 21, 2013 - March 16, 2014 Chatham-Kent Museum Chatham, ON

April 5 - June 29, 2014 Royal Canadian Artillery Museum Shilo, MB

July 19 - October 12, 2014 Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Halifax, NS

November 1, 2014 - January 25, 2015 Eptek Art & Culture Centre Summerside, PEI

February 14 - May 10, 2015 Diefenbaker Canada Centre Saskatoon, SK

And the places and dates where the text and images only will appear -

October 6 - December 30, 2012 Museum on the Boyne Alliston, ON

June 1 - August 25, 2013 Arthur Child Heritage Museum Gananoque, ON

September 14 - December 8, 2013 Peterborough Museum and Archives Peterborough, ON

January 4 - April 27, 2014 Grimsby Museum Grimsby, ON

May 17 - July 13, 2014 Fort Wellington National Historic Site Visitor Centre, Parks Canada Prescott, ON

August 2 - October 26, 2014 Vancouver Island Military Museum Nanaimo, BC

July 1 - August 30, 2015 McLeod's Lake Post McLeod, BC

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Living Library Inspires Human Books to Share Their Stories

Here is a 54 m4 4 4 4 4 4 4 645notice that I received this morning. In part, the message reads  –

"Irena Szpak, Hyman Yanofsky and Adam Leclerc's lives are all open books, literally. Irena, Hyman and Adam have joined nineteen other people from the Ottawa region to volunteer as 'living books', sharing with the public their personal stories as they relate to conflict.

At age 14, Irena trained with the Polish Resistance and was later taken by cattle train to a work camp in Germany. She survived to have a family and emigrate to Canada; Hyman joined the Canadian army to fight Hitler by intercepting messages from the enemy as he travelled through Europe; and Reservist Adam Leclerc spent seven months with the POMLT (Police Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team) training Afghan police to deal with security issues.

The Canadian War Museum, in partnership with the Ottawa Public Library and CBC, brought the Human Library program to Ottawa. The Museum featured one-on-one conversations with individuals who have fascinating personal life experiences and stories.

For their innovative and inspirational project that redefined the meaning of the term "living history", the Canadian War Museum for "Human Library" is the recipient of the 2012 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive! Presented by the Canadian Museums Association.

"We are extremely honoured to be the recipients of this prestigious award," said Mark O'Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation which operates the Canadian War Museum. "The Human Library concept was a dynamic and engaging way to help our visitors understand the personal stories that have shaped and continue to shape Canada's military history."

On December 10, 2012, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will honour the Canadian War Museum for their achievements and contributions to furthering interest in and understanding of our history and heritage.

Announcements continue throughout the coming week and profiles of all the recipients, will be available at Canada's History Magazine at http://www.CanadasHistory.ca/GGAwards

Ottawa Chapter has Fundraiser

The Bytown Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) will be hosting a fundraiser dinner on Sept 8 at 6:30 pm at the Museum of Civilization with Mr. Victor Suthren, who is the former Director General of the Canadian War Museum.

The topic of his talk will be “A Peaceful Place: The Wartime Origins of an Unwarlike Capitol”.

It will be $100.00 per ticket, and you can call Dorothy Meyerhof at 613.822.2946.

The deadline for registration is August 27, or until tickets are sold.

The proceeds from the dinner will go towards the DAR Bytown Chapter History Award given at Carleton University annually.

95th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

One just has to say "Vimy Ridge" to any Canadian, and we think of the sacrifices that our fellow countrymen have made in the First World War. And this year. Major Arthur William Currie, grandson of  famed Canadian commander, General Arthur Currie, will lead Ottawa-area cadets on a pilgrimage to Vimy Ridge.

The cadets are from the Ottawa unit of the Royal Canadian Dragoons Cadet Corps, and they will see Vimy Ridge today. They will participate in a Remembrance Ceremony organized by the government.

To find out more about the Memorial, please visit http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/vimy-ridge/history.

To learn more about Vimy Ridge, visit the following websites –

Canadian National Vimy Memorial Stone Display www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/cbmr/wall_stone_display See if your ancestor is on the Memorial.

Canadian War Museum www.warmuseum.ca/home See the events and displays at the museum on Vimy Day.

If you want to find out more about your ancestor in the First World War, Glenn Wright has written an excellent book, Canadians at War 1914-1919: A Research Guide to World War One Service Records. I have used this book many times to help me answer the questions that my clients have about their ancestors in the First World War.

It is available from Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/military/resources/101160.htm

Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC)

As we approach the 75th Anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War in 2013, there are a number of events coming up in the future that you may want to attend, or read about on the Internet.

One of them is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC).

Mr. Douglas Townend, an avid collector of memorabilia related to the Corps, will be displaying his extensive collection at the LeBreton Gallery, Canadian War Museum on Saturday, September 17, 2011 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Their Canadian War Museum is at http://www.warmuseum.ca/home

This event will be the same day as the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Conference http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22 which is being held just up the hill from the War Museum at the Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html, so I will be unable to attend.

For a history of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, these places have their history online -

The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001342

The Juno Beach Centre http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-cwa-e.htm

Canadian Women's Army Corps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Women's_Army_Corps

Got an Old Work Uniform? Call the Museum of Civilization!

Just received this press release from the Museum of Civilization today -

"The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum are developing a collection of material related to industrial production work in the 1940s and would like to acquire period civilian uniforms.

The new material will enrich the collection of objects connected with the social history of war and will fill gaps related to 20th-century women-and-labour history. The items will be added to the Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) collection, which is currently being developed.

The Museums are interested in everything people may have kept from that period, such as items from Canadian Car (uniform smock, hat, photographs, books, awards, commemorative ashtrays, pay stubs, lunch box, ID badge) and items that were used during the war (clothing, keepsakes, hair ornaments, household items, kitchen or gardening tools, children’s items, etc.)”.

They would have been employed at airplane plants which would have produced airplane parts such as the Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) during the Second World War. CCF had numerous plants in the Montreal area—Turcot, Longue Pointe, Saint-Laurent, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Propeller, Dominion—as well as a few in Ontario

For more information about the project or to donate an item, please contact Krista Cooke, Archaeology and History Division, at 819-776-8366 or krista.cooke@civilization.ca.

Holocaust by Bullets

Father Patrick DesBois, author and Holocaust expert, has been in Montreal at the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre to speak during Education Week <www.mhmc.ca>.

He is the president of the Yahad-in-Unum Association, a group which has brought to light the percise conditions under which 1.5 million Jews who lived in the Ukraine were exterminated by mobile Nazi units during the Second World War.

He has a website called "Mass Shooting of Jews in Ukraine (1941-1944): The Holocaust by Bullets", and he travels the Ukraine finding people who lived there at the to hear the stories.

He has used the German and Soviet archives, gathering eyewitness reports of the execution and burial sites, and to gather material proof of the genocide. The sites are recorded, including its GPS readings, and personal items are recovered by the teams including victims glasses, children's games, and jewellery.

He will appear tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m at the Barney Danson Theatre in the Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, to tell the story.

The website is <www.warmuseum.ca>, and the phone number is 819.776.8600.