When I heard the forecast for today, I immediately thought of the veterans who will be attending ceremonies in Ottawa and Montreal. It will be sunny and mild — unusually beautiful for November 11.
McGill University will again play host this morning to Montreal’s Remembrance Day ceremonies in its downtown campus. Chancellor Michael Meighen will address the crowd to commemorate the significant contribution McGill made to the war effort 100 years ago.
Afterward, the McGill University Library and Archives will display the illuminated Book of Remembrance, which contains nearly 700 names of McGill students, staff and faculty who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
The illuminated Book of Remembrance was officially unveiled on Nov. 26, 1950. Lori Podolsky wrote in the university’s newspaper, McGill Reporter, “For more than sixty years, the Book of Remembrance was displayed in a marble and brass case. Over time, signs of deterioration were observed and the book was removed for cleaning and restoration.
“It will now find a permanent home in the McGill University Archives collection in the McLennan Library Building and a facsimile will remain on public display in the passage between the McLennan and Redpath Library Buildings so that all who pass can pause to remember the sacrifices made by those who came before.”
You can read more about the book in the McGill Reporter. A digitized version of the book will be launched later today on the McGill Remembers website where you can now see the honour rolls for the First and Second World Wars. You can also search McGill’s war records about faculty, students, alumni, and staff there.
