Unsung heroes focus of Lindsay service
LINDSAY – More than two dozen heroic women from what is now known as the City of Kawartha Lakes who served as nurses during the First World War will be celebrated as part of an evening ecumenical service taking place next week in Lindsay.
The Victoria County Historical Society and St. Paul’s Anglican Church have partnered to host Unsung Heroes: Remembering Our Great War Nursing Sisters Through Song and Story on Nov. 12 at the church at 45 Russell St. W.
Organizers felt it important to tell the story now, given the upcoming 100th anniversary of nursing sisters casting ballots in the historic federal election of Dec. 17, 1917 and that the four-year period of First World War commemorations draw to a close next year.
The historical society is also focusing on highlighting the lesser-told stories of history, and the nursing sisters are a perfect example, curatorial assistant Ian McKechnie said.
The service will remind everyone that military history is about more than the guns, flags, khaki uniforms, helmets and trench models associated with the “masculinity” of warfare that one sees displayed in legion halls and halls like the Olde Gaol Museum in Lindsay.
The contributions of many women often go untold because local historians tended to direct most of the energies into telling the stories of “big names” like Sir Sam Hughes and Leslie Frost, two of Lindsay’s most notable historical figures.
However, you won’t find names like Alma Finnie (who lived for a time at Anson House in Peterborough) on legion halls or elementary schools, or historic plaques on their homes or final resting places, even though many nursing sisters lived into the 1970s and ‘80s.
“We feel it is important to make sure this story was told before it sort of goes back into the closet again,” McKechnie said. “When we are focusing our energy on (those like Hughes and Frost), we sort of forget there are other stories, too.”
It doesn’t help that history can be selective, said McKechnie, explaining how the unsung nature of the nursing sisters made research, which continues, a challenge. The upcoming service is the culmination of more than two years of investigation.
The obituaries of nursing sisters, who often didn’t get married, frequently omitted information about their wartime service. Many of them are buried in Lindsay, but without grave markers.
Known as “Angels of Mercy” by their patients, Canada’s Nursing Sisters – with a holistic approach to patient care – exercised a considerable degree of leadership in their work, long before many women were able to do the same, McKechnie said.
The research first led to the museum’s now-defunct First World War Comes To Life exhibit, which highlighted how more than 3,000 Canadian women ranging in age from their early 20s to their mid-40s volunteered for service overseas between 1914 and 1918.
The service will be universal because the nursing sisters represented a variety of Christian denominations – Rev. Warren Leibovitch of the church will preside, while Rev. Bob Quick of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church will deliver a brief meditation.
The service, which will include choral music from the St. Paul’s choir, congregational singing, readings and reflections, will include drama students’ dramatic readings of letters written by three of the nurses – Winnifred Hardy, Katherine McKinnon and Maude Dayton.
It will be followed by a reception in the church hall featuring wartime-inspired goodies and historical artifacts, organizers stated.
The service will also emphasize the power of collaboration in the field of cultural heritage, McKechnie added, highlighting the collaboration between Lindsay’s Anglican and Presbyterian churches as well as The Salvation Army. Even Ross Memorial Hospital has helped indirectly, by providing archival material, he said.
NOTE: For more information, call the Victoria County Historical Society at 705-324-3404, email info@oldegaolmuseum.ca or visit www.oldegaolmuseum.ca.