Free photo exhibition at Château Ramezay on Montreal during the Great War

If you plan to visit Old Montreal this summer or fall, you may want to drop by to see a new free exhibit at the historic site and museum Château Ramezay.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the Château Ramezay invited Terry Copp and Alexander Maavara to create an outdoor exhibition on Montreal during the years 1914 to 1918. Archival photographs illustrate how the population of Montreal experienced this period.

The free exhibition is being held behind the Château Ramezay Garden, from July 20 to November 18, 2018.

British tank “Britania” taking part in the Victory Loan Parade on Sherbrooke Street, Montreal. Source: Department of National Defence. Library and Archives Canada, PA-022763.

How Montreal experienced the war
Drawing from Terry Copp and Alexander Maavara’s digital book, Montreal At War 1914-1918, the exhibition features a series of archival photographs to tell the story of how Montrealers of all classes experienced the war that was supposed to “end all wars.” From Champ-de-Mars to the Lachine Canal, the public will discover some of the evocative moments in Montreal’s wartime history: an anti-conscription march, women manufacturing shells in a munitions plant in the Rosemont district, and more.

Through the lens of an expert
Terry Copp is professor emeritus as well as founder and director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS), a research centre at Wilfrid Laurier University. One of Canada’s leading military historians for the last 50 years, he is the author and co-author of over 20 books and numerous scholarly articles on the Canadian Army’s operations and experience during both world wars. Alexander Maavara is Professor Copp’s main research assistant at the LCMSDS. He is currently completing a Master of History at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Photo: Jean Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons.

The museum encourages visitors to take advantage of their visit to also admire artist Dominique Blain’s outdoor work, Fields of Memory, that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice. As part of the 10th edition of Métis-sur-Montréal, this work is presented just metres away, at Place De La Dauversière, by the Château Ramezay and Reford Gardens.

To wrap up the series of activities commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of the First World War, the Château Ramezay will present the travelling exhibition, WAR Flowers, from October 24, 2018 to March 31, 2019.

The Château Ramezay is an 18th-century residence in the heart of Old Montreal, right across the street from Montreal city hall. It was the first building in Quebec to be classified an historic monument and is the province’s oldest private historical museum.

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