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