Remembrance Day commemorations today will end around the Cenotaph at the corner of Woolwich and Eramosa, which it always does, but what does that list of names really mean? We remember their sacrifice, but who were they when they went to war? What did they want out of life? Faces to Names aims to answer those and other questions, and their planning an event later this month meant to encourage Guelphites to help them fill in the gaps.

The Guelph Cenotaph was first unveiled in July 1927 and was the end of six years of organizing and effort by a group that included at least two Guelph mayors, former Mayor Harry Westoby and future Mayor George Drew. The cenotaph highlights the names of Guelphites who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, but only their names. It doesn’t tell us who they were.

Faces to Names is a project that aims to build a story behind the names on the memorial thanks to the hard scholarly work of local high school students who are building verified historical profiles for every person on the Cenotaph. These were living, breathing people, with their own unique stories, and Face to Names hopes that the community will be able to help them fill in the blanks with their Remembrance Discovery Day on November 22. So what they hoping to find?

Karen Hunter, the founder and executive director of Faces to Names, joins us to talk about the origin of Faces to Names, and how it’s an example of “contemporary remembrance”. She will also talk about the difficulty researching the various names on the Cenotaph, and how students will examine the artifacts brought to Remembrance Discovery Day. Plus, she will talk about how many names on the Cenotaph still don’t have a story, and where all this information will be accessed when it’s completed.

So let’s talk about the people we remember on Remembrance Day on this week’s Guelph Politicast!

Remembrance Discovery Day is Sunday November 22 from 1 to 3 pm at the Guelph Civic Museum. To register in advance, send an email to hello [at] facestonames.ca, and you can check out the work of Faces to Names at their website. If you’re listening to this early on Wednesday, Remembrance Day ceremonies start at 8:55 am at McCrae House, and continues with the parade downtown starting on Farquhar Street at 9:45 am before services begin at Sleeman Centre at 10:10 am. Guelph Transit buses will stop for two minutes of silence at or around 11 am.

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