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Exhibit brings war close to home

Visitors strolling through Okotoks’ historical house will find themselves surrounded by facts and stories about the most tragic event in Alberta’s history one century ago.
The Okotoks Museum and Archives will be hosting an exhibit detailing Okotoks’ ties to World War I.
The Okotoks Museum and Archives will be hosting an exhibit detailing Okotoks’ ties to World War I.

Visitors strolling through Okotoks’ historical house will find themselves surrounded by facts and stories about the most tragic event in Alberta’s history one century ago.

Okotoks Museum and Archives is bringing the Provincial Archives of Alberta’s traveling exhibit Alberta and the Great War to its facility next month.

The exhibit shows how the First World War affected and changed the province. It will be available for viewing April 1 and will remain on site until June 30.

“It exposes the local community to artifacts and photographs that exist in other museums and archives,” said Kathy Coutts, Okotoks Museum and Archives specialist. “The one in December was from Ontario so unless you have a chance to visit the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) you wouldn’t get a chance to see those artifacts. It brings artifacts and from other museums closer.”

Coutts said the museum doesn’t often have the opportunity to showcase traveling exhibits.

“We look at traveling exhibits occasionally and we get them if they will fit in our space,” she said. “When we hear of one that’s suitable for small spaces and is economical we jump at the chance to bring it to the community.”

Albertans played a significant role in the First World War because thousands of the province’s men and women volunteered to serve with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and thousands more supported the effort on the homefront.

The 18-panel exhibit contains information about the western front, women in the war, the home front, opposition and oppression, the aftermath of the war and survivors.

It also features historical memorabilia such as photographs, letters and newspaper articles and local stories.

It reveals the conditions and circumstances Albertans experienced during the war years.

“I’m quite looking forward to seeing the photographs in the exhibit,” Coutts said. “I could look at a photograph several times and still pick out something new, whether it’s an expression on a face or something that they’re wearing.

“It’s hard for us to understand what soldiers of World War I went though and pictures help when you see them in the trenches and walking in the battlefield.”

The film The Lone Eagle, about an American pilot who joins the Royal Flying Corps, is also part of the exhibit. The Provincial Archives of Alberta has five of the film’s original six reels – which is believed to be the only remaining copies in the world.

Coutts said the travelling exhibit complements World War I, the museum’s cumulative exhibit that began in 2014 and ends November 2018 featuring new information specific to Okotoks each month.

“Every month I add the news that took place in that month 100 years ago in a particular month effecting Okotoks and the First World War, whether there were people who were volunteering, whether there was a drive for the Belgian Relief Fund or whether there was a casualty in the war or a letter received from the war,” he said. “I’ve had people come back just to see what’s new.”

A reception for Alberta and the Great War will be held on April 9 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with refreshments available for visitors.

“I selected April 9 to open the exhibit because that is also Birth of a Nation Day, reflecting on the Battle of Vimy Ridge which was a key event for Canada in World War I,” said Coutts. “This exhibit doesn’t really specify Vimy Ridge, but it ties in.”

Coutts said some panels from World War I will be brought to the Elks Hall for the Birth of a Nation Day event on April 9.

The Okotoks Museum and Archives is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Beginning the Victoria Day weekend, the museum will be open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays and statutory holidays from noon to 5 p.m.

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