The Canadian War Museum is housed in a heritage-designated building which was
the first home of the (then) Dominion Public Archives. For many years it was a
VERY traditional museum, but over the past few years it has been in a rapid
state of change - revolutionary, in fact.

We hire as many as 6 university students in history in co-op programs for a
four month "work term" each summer. We also call on them as volunteer live
interpreters from time to time during the remainder of the academic year,
mainly to assist in special events, such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day
ceremonies and activities.

They have many persona, which include French line (Regiment de Bearn) and
Canadian colonial infantry and a camp follower of the early 18th century; a
British grenadier, seaman and camp follower of the Seven Years War/American
Revolutionary War period; seaman, Newfoundland Fencible and camp follower of
the War of 1812-14, infantryman of the Fenian Raids period; Boer War light
horseman (minus the quadruped); First World War infantryman, sailor and nursing
sister; Second World War infantryman, sailor, fighter pilot, nursing sister and
female factory worker; etc. We are adding other persona, including an
infantryman of the US Civil War (why? 40,000 Canadians fought in that war,
mainly on the Union side. We have selected the 4th Rhode Island Regiment. One
of its bandsman, badly wounded at Antietam, was a Canadian, Calixa Lavalee, who
later wrote our national anthem "O Canada".) and a soldier of the Revolutionary
War period (probably of the 40th Foot [Lord Cornwallis's Own, which was raised
in the Maritimes and fought at Quebec, where a member is thought to have fired
the round that killed the rebel general, Montgomery, in the final unsuccessful
assault on the city during a snowstorm, following which the plaguey rebels
withdrew.]). We add two or three persona each year, depending upon the
availability of funds. As might be imagined, we have a wide range of supporting
uniforms, weapons and equipment, under the direction of a Chief, Living
History, who is an acknowledged expert on materiel history.

The interpreters are selected, trained and supervised by the Chief, Education
and Outreach; he and his two permanent staff are all experienced interpreters
and re-enactors. Indeed, every member of our staff, regardless of position,
participates in interpretation from time to time. This past weekend, I was, in
turn, a sutler and an ordinary seaman in the Provincial Marine of Upper Canada
(War of 1812-14) and my girlfriend was a camp follower (War of 1812) who
specializes in period cooking. I DO wish that, when people ask her why she
wears her skirt kilted up and a sheath knife strapped to her thigh, she
wouldn't respond, "Because I'm a slut!", though I am glad that she goes on to
explain what she's doing and why she's there doing her bit to confound the
rascally rebels.

Our staff do many different things:

They present school programmes in costume, both inside the museum and in
schools;

They conduct tours;

They lurk about in the galleries related to the periods they are interpreting
and bring these to life;

They do demonstrations of a wide range of skills, from open fire cookery to
musketry;

They step into full size dioramas, to bring them to life. The most popular of
these is the Canadian equivalent of "Rosie the Rivetter", who assembles STEN
guns in our factory scene populated otherwise by female factory worker
mannequins.

They participate in reenactments off-site, from Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, to
Ticonderoga in the Hudson Valley to Chatham in southwestern Ontario.

They add life to programs organized by other agencies, such as the National
Capital Commission (we won first prize this year for our 1867 boat entry in the
Ottawa "Festival of Spring", and the Veterans' Week school programmes run in
November by Veterans Affairs Canada in Montreal (1996) and Quebec City (1997).

Most important, when we have major displays on our courtyard, such as the
Canadian Forces displays this past summer, which brought in between 100,000 and
125,000 visitors, they form the bridge between the stories OUTSIDE and the
stories INSIDE the museum.

They are, in short, one of our most popular and effective program elements and
they enhance almost all the others in a very special way.

Harry Needham
Director, Programmes & Operations
Canadian War Museum