Remembering War in Imperial Canada: David Ross McCord and the McCord National Museum

Abstract

David Ross McCord (1844-1930) was a man obsessed. Between the 1880s and 1920 the drive to build a national museum constituted an all-consuming obsession. The end result of his efforts is today the internationally renowned McCord Museum of Canadian History/Le Muste McCord d 'histoire canadienne. Although he amassed a collection of considerable breadth and depth, this paper focuses on one aspect of his collection: objects relating to the history of war. An ardent imperialist, McCord believed that war served a noble function in that it strengthened both individual manliness and national character. Early museum displays likewise emphasized war as a heroic and gallant affair and adhered very closely to what John Keegan terms the rhetoric of battle history. More significantly, David Ross McCord and the McCord National Museum perpetuated the Myth of the War Experience: to die for one's country is noble and right.