Military Lecture: From Sherbrooke with Love: Illicit Correspondence, Civilian Internment, and Canada in the Second World War
Gillian Wagenaar examines a case of illicit correspondence between a Canadian teenager and a group of civilian internees in Quebec in the early years of the Second World War. Through a micro-historical assessment, she explores context regarding the development and use of internment systems in Canada, the social dynamics within and beyond these camps, and the afterlives, expected and otherwise, of wartime stories and sources.
Doors open at 6:30 and the presentation starts at 7 p.m., followed by a question period.
The lecture premieres in-person at the Civic Museum. The recorded conversation will be available on YouTube, and our Museum Everywhere Portal. Guelph Museums’ Military Lecture series is presented in partnership with the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada.
About the Speaker
Gillian Wagenaar is a SSHRC-funded PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo. Her research looks at Canadian correspondence at both the heart and margins of the Second World War, connecting homefront and battlefront, and examining the meaning of letters and how they get from one point to another. Through this work, she aims to make the exploration of history more accessible through digital methods, storytelling, and hands-on engagement with the past.
