Lest We Forget

As we approach Remembrance Day, with many disturbing misadventures in real time, it is appropriate to reflect on those who gave their efforts and their lives in each of the wars in which Canada has been involved, to ensure the freedom of democracy in Canada.



Nurses and Soldiers from WWI.
A. E. 'Hoppy' Hopkins is in the back row, second from the left
84.1377.2, gift of Barbara Crawford

During the Second World War, men and women from Peace River defended our country. It was well on its way by September 1940, when John Hopkins joined up with the Calgary Highlanders and leaving the next morning. “Of course, we knew it was inevitable and not long after, Michael enlisted in the Edmonton Fusiliers,” says their mother, Mary. Michael and Dudley Stranaghan enlisted at the “old” Legion Hall. John and Michael were following in the footsteps of their father, Hoppy, who had served in the First World War.

Four years after enlisting, Michael arrived in Europe. In the meantime, he truly was on guard for thee, O Canada, as he patrolled the West Coast after the Japanese might became evident at Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, and protected the Niagara Escarpment and the Welland Canal – a reminder – Canada’s Armed Forces protected from within, as well as without.

All Hopkins men returned home, safe. Many did not.

You are invited to view Museum Remembrance Day displays in the window of the Main Street entrance of Riverdrive Mall and at the Museum (open Tuesday, Nov. 11, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.).

Artifact of the Week – Photograph of WWI Recruits from Peace River

 

This photo, taken in 1914, depicts four Peace River Army recruits in crisp new uniforms. When Britain declared war on Germany in August of that year, public opinion held that the entire affair would be short-lived, and the boys would be home in time for Christmas. The optimistic expressions seen here reflect the attitudes of the time: war was still largely perceived as an adventurous opportunity and an excellent chance for young men to see the world.

73.550.27 Gift of Mrs. E. M. Blake

As the war dragged on over four long years, opinions began to change. The impact of trench warfare combined with modern technology was both unexpected and devastating. Newfangled machines like tanks and machine guns, scientific developments like mustard gas, and a disturbing malady known only as ‘shell shock’ sent many soldiers home with horrific and often incurable injuries. Others were not so lucky: more than sixty thousand Canadians lost their lives in the First World War. By the time the conflict ended in 1918, the idea of war as a romantic notion had literally been killed in action.

 

Roy Foote, seen on the far right, is 22 years old in this photograph. He died two years later in 1916, likely during the Battle of the Somme. His body was not recovered. Roy Foote is currently memorialized on the Vimy Ridge Memorial Monument in Pas de Calais, France.

The identity and fate of the other soldiers in the photograph is unknown.

 

 

Remembrance Day 2011

The Peace River Museum will be open this Remembrance Day, Friday November 11 from 11 am to 4 pm.

We invite everyone to come and view some of our local veterans uniforms as well as a collection of digitized World War I postcards on display.

New Research Resources available online!

The Peace River Archives received a grant from the Archives Society of Alberta and the National Archival Development Program to hire a student this summer. This student handled many front end duties as well as entering the archival maps into our database to increase their accessibility.
The Archivist was then able to spend her time putting 8 new sets of records (fonds) online on the Archives Network of Alberta website, which brings our total to 16.

 

New records include:

• Alberta Historic Sites Service fonds
• This fonds covers a survey done in Peace River and surrounding areas of many of our major historic buildings and sites.
• Alexander Wallace fonds
• Alexander Wallace started the Wallace Drug Company, which later became the Hanna Drug Company.
• Hanna Family fonds
• Sam & Grace Hanna bought into the Wallace Drug Company and it became the Hanna Drug Company. Their son, Jim, was a World War II veteran.
• Dora Lloyd fonds
• Dora Lloyd was an early nurse and matron of the Irene Cottage Hospital in Peace River. This fonds focus on her time here.
• Jack O'Sullivan fonds
• Jack O'Sullivan owned, with his partner Ted Stigsen, O'Sullivan and Stigsen Company which freighted up and down the river until 1949 as well as operating trading posts in the region. This fonds includes a great deal of information on Jack's career on the river as well as his family.
• "Peace River" Jim Cornwall fonds
• "Peace River" Jim was a tireless promotor of the possibilities in thenorth, MLA for this area as well as operating boats on the river and many other activities in the north. This fonds includes, amongst other records, 3 photograph albums of trips through the Peace Region.
• Pearl MacRae fonds
• A collection of photographs of early Peace River.
• Stanley Lawrence fonds
• This fonds contains information on two generations of the Lawrence family, the Sheridan & Juey Lawrence family and their son, Stanley Lawrence and his family.

We thank the Archives Society of Alberta and the Government of Canada for their funding for this project.

Remembering Our Veterans

This past Remembrance Day, the Museum created an archival exhibit to honour the veterans of our town who served. The exhibit includes copies of newspaper clippings from the wars with various details, mainly from the the World Wars. Also as part of the exhibit we have digitzed a series of World War I postcards and put together an album of these. They depict various scenes from the rubble of destroyed buildings, the exodus of civilians from threatened cities and burying of soldiers on the front lines. The postcards show in vivid detail the reality of war and its effects on our land and peoples.

One of the important projects that the Museum and Archives has been working on over the past year or so in concert with the Legion is to create a comprehensive list of the veterans from this area, past and present. We have a copy of our current list in this exhibit and would welcome additions to the list. If you have information regarding veterans or those currently serving in our forces, please contact the Museum at (780) 624-4261 or email us at museum@peaceriver.net.

Uniformity: The Uniforms of Peace River

"Uniformity: The Uniforms of Peace River" will be running until December 15, 2009

A uniform often conjures up images of conformity, authority or identity. The early history of the European settlement of Canada is often characterized by those who were seeking to cast off the conformity and rules of the culture they were living in. They sought the adventure and freedom in the wilds of a new land and sacrificed many comforts in order to have that freedom.

All of these groups wore particular clothing in order to identify their authority or even just their state of belonging to a particular group. In this exhibit, the Museum is seeking not only to simply show those uniforms but to inspire us to consider our own viewpoints on authority, conformity, and identity. We invite visitors to examine their personal reactions to the way in which our society has enforced order, promoted identity and a sense of belonging using what is, in its basic state, a piece of cloth. As settlement marched westward and more and more people arrived on the land, the types and personalities of those settlers became more varied. The human inclination to organize and form social structure began to rise once again. This tendency plays out in various ways, from the moral values brought in by the missionaries, to the legal order established by the North West Mounted Police. It can be found on a national level, such as military authorities, or on a smaller scale, such as the social groups which were formed in order to build a sense of community or to teach children about their culture.

The Peace River Museum announces...

...our very first Virtual Exhibit on the Virtual Museum of Canada's website, entitled: "Peace River, 1780-1914: From Athabasca to the Last Great West". Dallas Wood has worked very hard on this exhibit and we are proud to launch it. The exhibit tells the story of Peace River in it's very early days! Starting from Aboriginal Peoples of the area and moving through the explorers and fur traders and ends with the formation of the village of Peace River Crossing in 1914. We encourage all Peace Riverites to check it out at the Community Memories Website

and use the search bar to find our exhibit. (Just a note, the results are listed alphabetically, so you will have to skip ahead a few pages to the "P" section.) We also encourage you to check out many of the exhibits on this site. There are many fascinating contributions from Museums all over Canada.

The Peace River Museum and Archives would also like to put a callout to our community. This Remembrance Day, we have really been searching for information about out local veterans. We would like to encourage everyone in Peace River to bring in any stories and information you may have about your ancestors being involved in any military conflicts. The Museum will be compiling this information and make it available to those researching the military history of Peace River. We welcome any donations related to the veterans of the Peace River area and currently have an exhibit with some of the artifacts and stories that have been collected over the years at the Museum. We will be open from 12-4 pm on Remembrance Day and resume normal hours on Wednesday, Nov.12.

World War I soldier, James Mitchell (PRMA73.550.F.2)