War through the eyes of the press: Canadian War Museum announces launch of important new online archives
September 23, 2003, Ottawa, Ontario — In partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage's Canadian Culture Online Program, the Canadian War Museum today announced the launch of a fully searchable online archive containing articles from the Hamilton Spectator's clippings morgue. Featuring more than 144,000 articles, Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War offers Internet surfers an incomparable look at the Second World War through the eyes of newspaper reports published at the time.
"Canadians will have access on the Internet to documents that testify to our history," said Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps. "This project to digitize a collection of newspaper clippings from the Second World War is one of a kind. It will allow all Canadians to discover how this important period shaped our values and our collective identity."
"The creation of this online archive makes many of these records accessible to scholars and researchers for the very first time," said Joe Geurts, Director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum. "Prior to this major digitization project, most newspaper archives were available only on microfilm, and only in major urban centres. We are very pleased to be able to make these important resources available to people around the world through the Canadian War Museum Web site."
During the Second World War, newspapers were often the only way to receive in-depth information about the war. Television was non-existent, movie newsreels were limited, and radio reports were all too brief. In the pages of Canadian newspapers, readers could read about overseas battles, activities on the home front, and the international backdrop against which these momentous events were taking place.
"Newspaper articles are especially communicative about the Second World War," says Canadian War Museum Deputy Director and chief historian Dr. Roger Sarty. "Among the Western powers, the Second World War was a crusade for democracy and often depended upon voluntary participation by its citizens. As a result, censorship was limited primarily to technical matters, and newspapers gave full and detailed coverage of most events, including the debate over the nature and extent of Canadian participation in the war."
The Hamilton Spectator originally donated its Second World War archive to the Government of Canada for research purposes in 1952. In 1998, the Department of National Defence transferred the collection to the Canadian War Museum. Along with articles published by the Hamilton Spectator, the archive contains clippings from other Canadian newspapers such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Toronto Telegram, Vancouver Sun, Winnipeg Tribune and Ottawa Citizen. It also contains articles from such publications as the Financial Post, Canadian Business and international newspapers such as the New York Times.
"The new Canadian War Museum, currently under construction and slated to open in May 2005, is dedicated to bringing history alive as it familiarizes visitors with the human side of war, from victim to victor, from soldier to civilian," added Mr. Geurts. "This is a story told primarily through the histories of individuals, rather than through objects and artifacts. The addition of the Hamilton Spectator's archives will help us achieve this goal."
This important new resource is expected to be of particular benefit to students and teachers, as well as to military scholars and historical researchers. Newspaper reports lend immediacy to any historical period, and new generations are sure to discover the poignancy, heroism, challenge and conflict of the Second World War through stories that have literally been "ripped from the headlines."
Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War can be accessed at http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/newspapers/index.html . Information on the Canadian Culture Online Program can be found online at http://www.pch.gc.ca/ccop-pcce/ .
Concurrently, through support from the Canadian Culture Online Program, the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) is in the process of completing two digitization projects. This initiative will allow the CMC to increase the total number of artifacts from its collections available online. These projects are slated for completion before the end of 2003.
Work is nearly complete on the shell of the CWM's new facilities, slated to open in 2005. The Passing the Torch campaign has raised $14.2 million of its $15 million objective. Funds raised by the campaign will be used for the development of exhibitions and displays in the new Canadian War Museum. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.passingthetorch.ca or call 1-800-256-6031.
Information (media):
Christina Selin
Senior Media Relations Officer
Tel. : (819) 776-8607
Fax : (819) 776-8623
christina.selin@warmuseum.ca
Pierre Leduc
Communications and Development Officer
Tel. : (819) 776-8608
Fax : (819) 776-8623
pierre.leduc@warmuseum.ca
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