Experts on Our Own Lives: Commemorating Canada at the Beginning of the 21st Century

• Published in: The Public Historian
• Main Author: Strong-Boag, Veronica
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of California Press 2009
• Subjects: Museology; History; Conservation; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/tph.2009.31.1.46; http://online.ucpress.edu/tph/article-pdf/31/1/46/256374/tph_2009_31_1_46.pdf

Abstract This article highlights the contested nature of public commemoration in Canada. Vigorous grassroots enthusiasm for commemoration is compared with the evolving commitment of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, one of Canada's senior players in national commemoration. The article begins by pointing to the ongoing attention to history that pervades contemporary movement politics among the First Nations, ethno-cultural groups, women, and workers. It next considers recent popular efforts at commemoration, with a particular focus on those targeting ethnic and racial injustice, violence against women, and the invisibility of workers. It then considers the role of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada from its founding in 1919 to the present. Ultimately, it asks what grassroots and official actors in historical commemoration contribute to the maintenance of public memory.