This volume 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 worked as civilians, served in the military, volunteered their time, and grieved lost loved ones, through thematically organized vignettes.

The authors place these personal narratives of individual woman, and their related material culture, 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 culture collections to public view and draws attention to the untold stories of women and war.

Stacey Barker is a historian at the Canadian War Museum. She holds a doctorate in history from the University of Ottawa and has worked as a public historian for over a decade.

Stacey Barker's profile page

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.

Krista Cooke's profile page

Molly McCullough is the assistant curator of agriculture, food and textiles at Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation.

Molly McCullough's profile page

“Material Traces of War: Stories of Canadian Women and Conflict, 1914–1945 promises to help provide a better understanding of what a war effort is all about when an entire society is engaged, as was the case first in 1914–1918 and again for the Second World War, from 1939–1945. This book originated as an exhibition at the Canadian War Museum in 2015–2016. It is the result of a fruitful collaboration between three dedicated authors who bring a wealth of museum experience to the subject. It is really gratifying to see their research come to fruition.”

—John Willis, retired from the Canadian Museum of History in 2019, where he served as editor of the Mercury Series.

“Material Traces of War: Stories of Canadian Women and Conflict, 1914—1945 promet de fournir une meilleure compréhension de ce que signifie l’effort de guerre quand une société entière s’y implique, comme ce fut le cas d’abord de 1914-1918 et à nouveau durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale de 1939-1945. Ce livre est issu d’une exposition qui a été présentée au Musée canadien de la guerre en 2015-2016. Il s’agit du résultat d’une collaboration fructueuse entre trois autrices dévouées qui apportent une riche expérience muséale au sujet. Il est très gratifiant de voir leur recherche se réaliser ainsi. » – John Willis, retraité, ayant travaillé au Musée Canadien de l'histoire jusqu'en 2019 où il agissait en tant que directeur de la collection Mercure.