Canadian War Museum Announces Winners of 2014 Gunter History Awards

OTTAWA, July 10, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian War Museum and the Friends of the Canadian War Museum are pleased to announce they have awarded the prestigious Colonel Douglas H. Gunter History Award to five high school seniors from across Canada for their outstanding works of art and scholarship on the theme of Canada and the First World War.

"Through their songs, poems, etchings and essays, these students have demonstrated an impressive understanding of this historical conflict," said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. "I congratulate the winners and hope that this award will help them to continue their studies, adding to our knowledge of Canadian military history."

Judged by a multi-disciplinary committee, the annual Colonel Douglas H. Gunter History Awards are open to all graduating high school seniors and carry a $1,000 cash prize for each of the five winners. This year's laureates are:

• Jaclyn Salter of Grand Forks Secondary School in Grand Forks, Saskatchewan for her poem What It Was For: A poem on Canadian enlistment in World War One;
• Kate Smith of Springhill Junior Senior High School in Spring Hill, Nova Scotia for her poem The Call;
• Gregory Youmans of Goderich District Collegiate in Goderich, Ontario for his essay The Entrance of Canada to World War One: Factors Affecting the Reactions of Canadians to the Declaration of War;
• Ben Kmiech of John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford, Saskatchewan for his bilingual audio visual presentation on the subject of Canada's involvement in the First World War;
• Kathleen Rossiter of Belleisle Regional High in Springfield, New Brunswick for her audio visual presentation The Life of John J. Ross.

To see the winning entries, visit http://www.warmuseum.ca/education/programs/the-colonel-douglas-h-gunter-award/.

The Colonel Douglas H. Gunter History Awards are financially supported by the Friends of the Canadian War Museum. The award is named for a former member of the Friends who left a bequest for educational purposes when he passed away in 2005. Colonel Gunter served with the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery for 32 years, including the Second World War, the Korean War and peacekeeping duties in Cyprus.

This year's theme was chosen to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War. Beginning in August 1914, it would last more than four years, and claim the lives of approximately 9 million people in uniform. During the same period, the war and related conflicts would kill an estimated 20 million civilians.

The call for submissions for the 2015 Colonel Douglas H. Gunter History Awards will begin in September, 2014. The criteria and categories for the 2015 Awards will be posted online at that time.

The Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada's military history in its personal, national and international dimensions.

The Friends of the Canadian War Museum

The Friends of the Canadian War Museum is a charitable organization that contributes volunteer expertise, knowledge and financial assistance to promote and support the Museum, its programs and its activities. Find out more at www.friends-amis.org.

SOURCE: Canadian Museum of History

Media Contacts: Yasmine Mingay, Manager, Public Affairs, Canadian War Museum, Telephone: [phone], [email protected]; Avra Gibbs Lamey, Communications and Media Relations Officer Canadian War Museum, Telephone: [phone], [email protected]; For the Friends of the Canadian War Museum, Michael Braham, Chair, Communications Committee, Friends of the Canadian War Museum, Telephone: [phone], [email protected]; www.friends-amis.org; For more information visit www.warmuseum.ca. Follow us on twitter.com/CanWarMuseum