This year’s Remembrance day marks the 100th Anniversary of Armistice, the end of World War One. For the past four years, the Revelstoke Museum and Archives (RMA) has had an exhibit dedicated to Revelstoke’s participation in WW1. After Sunday, November 11, the exhibit will be closed.
“I think it is important to remember our history,” says Curator Cathy English. “People may go to the cenotaph in an act of remembrance, but they don’t necessarily think about the list of names written on it. It’s important to realize those were real people like you or me, who lived in this community, who left to fight and didn’t get to come back.”
It’s easy to forget history. The further removed it is the more surreal it feel. This goes for WW1; most everyone involved has since died.
“Over the last several years, the museum has tried to bring the names on the cenotaph to life,” says English. This has been achieved by creating a profile for each name and researching their lives. “We know something about every person who died in WW1. There are over a 100 of them.”
English has been uploading the profiles onto the museum’s website, http://www.revelstokemuseum.ca. “Though the WW1 exhibit is closing, by next month every soldier will be on the site, permanently available for people to see,” says English. Family members from around the world have contacted English after finding their relative’s profile.
“There are 33 soldiers from Revelstoke who died in WW2,” says English. “We are currently working on their profiles, learning who they were, and we will be uploading them as well.”
The Revelstoke Museum and Archives regularly hosts some kind of historical event come Remembrance day, and this year is no exception. Between 3:00-4:30 pm on November 11, Revelstokians are welcome to visit the museum at no cost to learn about the role Revelstoke played in WW1.
Remembrance day talk at the Revelstoke Museum and Archives
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