A Vancouver Island University professor has received provincial recognition for more than 25 years of work to preserve the voices of soldiers who fought in Canada香蕉视频直播檚 wars through the letters they sent home.
Stephen Davies, director of the Canadian Letters and Images Project, has been honoured with a provincial award of recognition from the British Columbia Historical Federation for the creation of the project which has scanned and digitized more than 40,000 letters sent home by Canadian soldiers.
Awards of recognition are given by the BCHF to individuals in honour of exceptional service through projects that preserve of B.C. history, noted a press release.
The award was presented at the federation香蕉视频直播檚 annual awards gala May 3 in Williams Lake.
香蕉视频直播淚香蕉视频直播檓 a Canadian historian with an interest in World War I, which I teach, and I was teaching it at that time when I created the project,香蕉视频直播� Davies said. 香蕉视频直播淚 really believe the letters are one of the best ways to teach about history and teach about war and for the students to understand what war really means, and the cost of war, and the individuals in war, but at that time there was very little Canadian material available.香蕉视频直播�
Davies began the project to collect about 200 letters that could be put online for his students to access, but as word got out, more people started making submissions and the collection has never stopped growing. Any letters submitted are only borrowed long enough to digitize and file them before they香蕉视频直播檙e returned to families.
香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e borrowing materials from across the country,香蕉视频直播� the professor said. 香蕉视频直播淲hat香蕉视频直播檚 happening is the families want to share them, but they also want to hold on to them.香蕉视频直播�
The project scope includes letters from soldiers involved in all of Canada香蕉视频直播檚 wars.
香蕉视频直播淔or example, we do have a number of collections from the South African War. We have the Riel Rebellion. We have World War I, World War II, Korea, some peacekeeping香蕉视频直播ο憬妒悠抵辈 Davies said. 香蕉视频直播淭he materials we香蕉视频直播檙e getting are generally not found anywhere else, for the most part. They香蕉视频直播檙e not in museums. They香蕉视频直播檙e not in archives. We香蕉视频直播檙e the only source for most of these collections.香蕉视频直播�
He said the important thing for him is to make the past accessible, so the site is free to use, and to ensure the past is presented as it was, the material is also not edited or censored. Davies refers to it as 香蕉视频直播渉istory in the raw香蕉视频直播� that reflects the personal aspects of soldiers' experiences, without interpretation.
He said he never expected the project to grow as it has.
香蕉视频直播淥bviously we tapped into something that was really close to the Canadian public that they want these stories to be shared,香蕉视频直播� he said.
One aspect that makes the project special is it shares the experiences of ordinary people who weren香蕉视频直播檛 famous.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 exactly the stories that don香蕉视频直播檛 normally get told 香蕉视频直播� These are people who have been forgotten, but their stories are equally important," Davies said. "The generals always get attention.香蕉视频直播�
Turning the letters into Word documents makes them more legible and searchable, but it takes people and resources to transcribe letters 香蕉视频直播� most often from cursive script, which younger generations tend to find harder to decipher 香蕉视频直播� and to digitize and catalogue the material, put it online and return letters to their owners.
Davies pointed to a thick binder, one of eight volumes of letters from just one soldier during the First World War. He admitted the project is falling behind trying to keep up with the workload, but he also doesn香蕉视频直播檛 want to turn submissions away for fear there may not be a second chance to receive them. Often collections of old documents simply get thrown out by people who don香蕉视频直播檛 want them or don香蕉视频直播檛 have the space to keep them. Some collections received were found in a dumpster.
Letters sometimes come in a shoebox, Davies said, but every one goes into an archival plastic sleeve and then into a binder and the letters are returned to the family in that manner. The process is laborious, time-consuming and relies on the professor, student assistants and donations, and does not receive government funding. So far the project has digitized about 40,000 letters out of about 500,000 files in its collection.
But the work has its rewards 香蕉视频直播� Davies said it香蕉视频直播檚 interesting to see the range of users accessing the letters project's website.
香蕉视频直播淭o be able to create something that is used by both Grade 5 students and professional historians has been for me one of the greatest achievements of it,香蕉视频直播� he said.
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