Material Traces of War - (Mercury) by Stacey Barker & Krista Cooke & Molly McCullough (Paperback)

About the Book

Material Traces of War draws attention to the untold stories of women and war. It features women who served in the military, volunteered their time, worked as civilians and grieved lost loved ones, through objects, images and archival documents.

Book Synopsis

Material Traces of War: Stories of Canadian Women and Conflict, 1914-1945 looks at Canadian women's experiences of, and contributions to, the world wars through objects, images, and archival documents.

The book tells the stories of women who served in the military, volunteered their time, worked as civilians, and grieved lost loved ones, through thematically organized vignettes. The authors place these personal narratives of individual women, and their related material, in the wider context of the world wars, while demonstrating that the experience of living through global conflict was as individual as a woman's particular circumstances.

Drawing from the collections of the Canadian War Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, and other public and private collections in Canada, Material Traces of War brings largely unknown material to public view and draws attention to the untold stories of women and war.

Co-published by the Canadian Museum of History and the University of Ottawa Press.

Review Quotes

This publication explores what it is like for an entire society, women as well as men, to engage in total war effort. It is gratifying to see the work of three dedicated authors, which originally gave rise to an exhibition, come to fruition as a book.

About the Author

Krista Cooke (Author)
Krista Cooke is a public historian with more than 20 years of experience in Canadian museums and archives. Cooke investigates how museums represent women's history through their exhibitions, collections and programs.

Molly McCullough (Author)
Molly McCullough is the assistant curator of agriculture, food and textiles at Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation.