Nova Scotia’s Part in the Great War Revisited: Cultural Communities, Memory and the First World War

Nova Scotians interested in the First World War can learn more at events taking place this spring. A free public history and archaeology symposium in Windsor on June 10 and 11 brings together experts on the contributions of diverse communities; on May 14 and June 18, pop-up museums will bring together Acadians whose relatives went to the First World War.

Pop-up Museums

The pop-up museums will be “Antiques Roadshow”-style events in the Chéticamp and Pubnico Legions, focused on the Acadian experience of the conflict. The public are encouraged to bring their ancestors’ artefacts, photographs, and documents from home to be identified and catalogued. The events will be quite social, with an atmosphere of commemoration.

While admission is free, members of the public are asked to register for any or all of the three events in advance: by email at gorsebrook@smu.ca, by phone at 902-420-5668, or online at smu.ca/research/ns-in-first-world-war

West Pubnico, NS

Saturday, May 14th from 1 to 5 pm 

Royal Canadian Legion #66

668 Route 335, West Pubnico, NS

Cheticamp, NS

Saturday, June 18th from 1 to 5 pm 

Royal Canadian Legion #32

15438 Cabot Trail, Chéticamp, NS

Public History and Archaeology Symposium 

This symposium will give historians, students and those interested in this history a chance to share stories of the First World War experiences of Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaelic speakers, Jewish soldiers who trained in Windsor, and the Mi’kmaq. Students from universities and nearby high schools are especially invited to attend the symposium.

Keynote speakers at the symposium include Dr. Jonathan Vance from the University of Western Ontario, a specialist on the memory and commemoration of the First World War in Canada, and Dr. Sean Cadigan from Memorial University of Newfoundland, who brings a broader Atlantic Canadian perspective to the commemoration and memory of the conflict.

While admission is free, members of the public are asked to register for any or all of the three events in advance: by email at gorsebrook@smu.ca, by phone at 902-420-5668, or online at smu.ca/research/ns-in-first-world-war.html.

Windsor, NS

Friday, June 10th from 12 pm to 7:30 pm

Saturday, June 11th from 9 am to 7 pm

Hants County War Memorial Community Centre

78 Thomas St., Windsor, NS

Free Admission, All welcome