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The Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War Posted 17 August 2010 By Andrew Theobald, Ph.D.
Stories of the Second World War is an initiative of The Historica-Dominion Institute, the largest charitable organization dedicated to Canadian history. Headquartered in Toronto, The Institute's mandate is to promote and preserve Canadian history, identity, and citizenship. Stories of the Second World War grew out of the success of The Memory Project Speakers' Bureau, which has facilitated veteran visits to classrooms across Canada since its creation in 2001, and the original Dominion Institute Digital Archive, which houses over 1,000 oral testimonies from veterans of the First and Second World Wars, Korea, and other conflicts. The project is made possible with generous funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage. In support of Stories of the Second World War, special events have been held to record interviews and digitize memorabilia. To date, The Memory Project has visited two coasts, every province, and one territory to document stories from across the country. Locations visited include Charlottetown, Moncton, Montreal, Trenton, Brandon, Regina, Edmonton, and Victoria. Veterans who are unable to attend one of our events participate by recording their stories over the telephone and couriering their memorabilia to us at our expense. This mixed format of in-person and telephone interviews helps us reach the widest possible number of Second World War veterans, an imperative considering that their average age is now 88. We have conducted over 1500 interviews and collected nearly 7,500 artefacts thus far: Currently, over 700 interviews and nearly 4,000 artefacts are available on our website.  The veteran profiles feature an edited audio or video clip from the interview, generally five to ten minutes long, and display up to five artefacts per person. Each profile also offers a full transcript in both official languages.  The ability to hear a veteran speaking in his or her voice and the artefacts, often photos taken by veterans themselves, provide compelling personal impressions of the 1939-1945 conflict.  This artefact was provided to us by Robert "Tommy" Atkins, a King City, Ontario veteran who served in the Aleutians campaign.  This is a photo of Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division airwomen at a Christmas Dinner in 1944 taken by Leading Airwoman Ella Curtis of Miramichi, New Brunswick. The interviewing process encourages this. A pre-interview ensures that we have the same store of information for all of the veterans who share their stories with us, including age at enlistment, service campaigns, and medals and decorations awarded. This also allows us to break down potential barriers and lack of familiarity between interviewer and interviewee. Following each interview, we send participants a thank you package, which includes a card and a printed screen shot of their profile. In addition to a series of public service announcements, regular advertisements, and media outreach, The Memory Project has produced a series of learning tools for public schools. Interest in our project has been growing steadily, with our website averaging 3,500 visitors a day and more than 3.5 million page views since June, 2009. To further ensure that the fruits of our project reach the widest possible audience, we are publishing a book with Key Porter of Toronto. The book, to be released in both English and French editions in September 2010, will include sixty-five of our veteran profiles. Without a doubt, this project is happening at least ten years too late, but as the February passing of Jack Babcock, Canada's final First World War veteran, emphasized, it has never been more important to make the most of the opportunity to capture the experiences of Second World War veterans. The project also provides the opportunity to compare the stories told 65 years after the end of the war with those told at other times; ultimately, we are dealing with hindsight, and the memories that have lingered for individuals over many decades, especially since we encourage veterans to speak on whatever subjects are of the most interest to them. Demographic realties have meant that officers are underrepresented and female veterans overrepresented on our website. Those interested in the stories of army privates, lower deck sailors, and aircraftwomen - including many veterans who enlisted aged 18 or younger - will find ready material on our growing website. Moreover, we are focused on the diversity of the Canadian experience and visitors to our website will find all branches of service, ethnic and religious backgrounds, languages, military occupations, regions, and social classes represented. Unlike many other oral history projects, participants include veterans of the Canadian services or those who are now Canadian citizens, regardless of nationality during the conflict. Stories of the Second World War employs sixteen young Canadians full-time, assisted by an array of editors, researchers, translators, and volunteers. These employees have backgrounds in academia, archival studies, journalism, photo preservation, and television, making for a rich combination of skills. All of our employees blog about their experiences: This grants them the opportunity to reflect upon the work in a less formal manner. They consider themes and issues like the impacts of interview format (whether audio or video), the post-war return to civic life, and memory. Family historians may well find this Community section of our website particularly interesting. We also provide regular social media updates via our Facebook group and Twitter account. In addition, special features like narrated podcasts that group a collection of themed testimonials and interactive maps and timelines allow visitors to experience the archive in different, educations ways. The Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War is committed to creating a legacy that reflects the full diversity of the Canadian experience. It is an organic project that relies on communal interest and feedback to ensure continual improvement. We would certainly appreciate more direct engagement with the family history community and look forward to working together more closely in the future. Andrew Theobald, Ph.D. Research and Collections Officer The Historica-Dominion Institute, The Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War 43 Front Street East, Suite 301, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5E 1B3 Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-701-1867, ext. 245 Fax: 416-506-0300 atheobald@historica-dominion.ca www.thememoryproject.com Canadian Genealogy & History Resources from Global Genealogy:
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