Each personnel file you and your students encounter presents an opportunity to ask questions and draw together big ideas and themes from Canadian history and look for connections between past and present. Sometimes, these connections may prompt difficult conversation about anti-Black racism in Canada and systems of oppression that continue to affect Black communities today. These conversations are frequently overwhelming, but we encourage you to consider the personnel files as a tool to help engage and guide your students through these necessary and important conversations.

Types of Military Service

The emphasis often placed on segregated No. 2 Construction Battalion can give the illusion that Black soldiers were no permitted to serve in infantry units and instead were only employed as labourers. While Black soldiers served in a variety of units across the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and they contributed to all types of war-related work, a large proportion did serve in non-combat roles, particularly as labourers with the Canadian Forestry Corps. Service in both labour units and infantry units offer an opportunity to consider how different types of service were perceived and how different types of service contributed to the overall effort of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

There are a couple things to keep in mind as your students investigate the ways their soldiers contributed to the war effort. First, Black volunteers were frequently rejected by Commanding Officers when they attempted to enlist in infantry battalions, often due to anti-Black racism and misconceptions about their ability to serve as soldiers. Second, despite often focusing on infantry units and front-line contributions, labour units were a critical component of Canada’s war effort as they provided the material and transportation necessary to keep infantry units operational. Both types of service contribute to our overall understanding of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and to our understanding of how Black soldiers navigated military service.

Military Conscription

Unlike Indigenous peoples in Canada who were exempt from the Military Service Act of 1917 and conscription, Black Canadians were regularly conscripted for military service. While some never left Canada, many conscripted Black Canadians served in the United Kingdom and a few even saw service in France. The question of conscription might be one of the most significant controversies to emerge from Canada’s First World War due to the division it caused between French and English Canada, but Black communities were also divided by conscription. Due to the prevalence of anti-Black racism, many Black Canadians were denied voluntary enlistment in to the CEF. With the introduction of conscription in 1917, many felt that they should not be obligated to serve because they were previously denied the opportunity to enlist voluntarily solely based on their race.

Military records unfortunately do not capture instances where individuals were denied enlistment due to anti-Black racism, nor do conscription records provide insight into an individual’s past attempts to enlist. However, we encourage you to work with your students to explore how conscription affected Black communities differently than white communities. This might also include considering why Indigenous peoples were exempt from conscription while other racialized communities were not exempt.

Personnel File Limitations

One of the key questions that emerge when working with Black soldier personnel files is how as researchers identify people of the past and what labels with ascribe to them. Personnel files do not always explicitly state a soldier’s racial or ethnic background. Sometimes it is recorded as a detail in their medical history, sometimes it is written clearly on their attestation records, but more often than not, the personnel files fail to provide evidence that speaks to a soldier’s racial or ethnic background. In those instances, one question that emerges is what records and information can we use to determine as soldier’s racial background?

The personnel files contained in the Black soldier database are already curated, having been previously identified by a researcher as Black. However, we encourage you to engage your students in this question, asking them to search for details in the personnel file that might indicate their soldier’s race, and having them explore other primary sources to verify their soldier’s identity. Clues in the personnel file can vary. For example, if the soldier was born in the British West Indies or another part of the Caribbean region, there is a chance they might be Black. But given that parts of the Caribbean were also British colonial holdings, it is possible they were white settlers in those spaces. Your students should explore records to see if their soldier’s family was from the region originally, if they settled there, and when their soldier immigrated to Canada. Another clue to consider is a soldier’s present address. In many provinces, Black communities formed around specific cities or settlements. In Nova Scotia, for example, the area of Preston is a well-known Black settlement. In Ontario, North Buxton or Oro are just two locations that have large Black settlements. Exploring this avenue is great especially if you are working with personnel files connected to your local area. Whatever your clues yours students uncover, you should encourage your students to consider how Black peoples arrived in this country, highlighting the legacies of trans-Atlantic slave trade and the African diaspora.

Telling Difficult Stories

Movement is a defining feature of Black Canadian history—peoples moving as part of the Loyalist resettlement in Atlantic Canada, peoples moving as they sought freedom prior to, during, and after the American Civil War, the northern migration of peoples fleeing the oppression of Jim Crow segregation, the (re)settlement of the Canadian prairies through land grant schemes, Carribean immigration and its relationship to the expansion of railway networks throughout the Canadian west. Much of this movement was driven by conflict, colonialism and violence that have left deep and lasting impacts on Black communities. Reflecting this, Black Canadian history is, in many ways, a global history that brings together peoples and cultures to form a history that rejects simple narratives and is difficult to document in archival collections. Capturing those stories can be difficult, especially if we do not feel we share the experiences of historical subjects. This might raise the question of if we as researchers and historians should try to capture those narratives, and how we can do so in a way that highlights our shared humanity while also recognizing the legacies, and continuation of anti-Black racism in Canada.

Working with personnel files is a very rewarding experience, though it is not without its challenges. On the surface they can be difficult to read and interpret. Through a close reading, these personnel files often raise questions that connect to complex themes and big ideas. Records that speak to Indigenous experiences carry legacies of colonialism and violence that cannot be ignored, especially in light of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports. Rather than shying away from these difficult conversations, we hope to highlight several areas in which to engage your students as they work through Indigenous personnel files.

Residential Schools

One key component that emerges from some of these personnel files is the connection between military service and the residential school system. This connection intersects individuals, their military service and their families. Some soldiers were once students at residential schools, and some were recruited while still living at a residential school. In other cases, an Indigenous soldier might have siblings, or even their own children residing in a residential school. Cases where the connection with residential schools is explicit offers an opportunity to encourage your students to research further into the history of residential schools in Canada.

Some connections to residential schools are less explicit and emerge by examining other documents. For example, census records will frequently identify students in residential or day schools as “inmates.” This might lead you and your student towards investigating the census further to identify the school, and the Indigenous communities with connections to that school.

Even if personnel files and other record groups do not explicitly reveal a residential school connection, one still might exist. We encourage you to pose questions to your students prompting them to think about the broad impacts of the residential school system. For example, the Canadian Expeditionary Force considered literacy in English a valuable skill, and it was a necessity for soldiers to advance into positions of leadership. Considering where and how a Indigenous soldier at the rank of Lieutenant was educated is an important component of understanding their military experience.

If you or your students wish to pursue research into the residential school system further, whether in connection with an Indigenous personnel file or more generally, you can find additional resources SOMEWHERE to support that investigation.

Desertions and Discharges

Sometimes a personnel files indicates that a soldier either deserted his post or was discharged for a specific reason. In some situations, that represents the whole story. Soldiers did desert their post, and sometimes they were medically unfit for service. When the personnel file belongs to an Indigenous soldier, there might other explanations to consider. The most frequent explanation is that band or community leaders would petition for the release of Indigenous soldiers because the community itself decided it did not support the war effort. This occurred before and after conscription was introduced. Because of their status as wards of the Canadian state, it was broadly understood that Indigenous individuals could not be compelled to serve but when these individuals were discharged, they were often recorded as being unfit for service or as deserters. It is unclear why these soldiers were labelled as deserters or unfit for service when they were legitimately discharged from service. Unfortunately, it is hard to identify when a soldier was simply labelled a deserter versus when they did desert. Occasionally, the personnel file will indicate that a petition was made on their behalf for release, but this will not always be the case.

Similarly, a soldier discharged for being medically unfit or undesirable might also raise questions if the reason for their medical unfitness or undesirability is not listed. Perhaps the soldier was rejected for legitimate reasons, but there is always the possibility that they were rejected because of their Indigeneity. Again, there are no satisfactory ways to tell the difference between these possibilities. However, by simply pointing out that there are multiple ways to interpret the personnel file, you are encouraging your student to think critically about historical evidence and ask questions even when they do not have an answer.

Personnel File Limitations

As with any primary source, these personnel files do have limitations that are important to recognize. First, the files cannot speak to how an individual made sense of an experience. They can tell us where and when a soldier enlisted, the units they served with, and the battles they fought but they cannot tell us what compelled them to enlist, if they got along with their fellow soldiers, or how they felt during the battles. While it is tempting to make inferences along those lines, the personnel files themselves cannot support that type of historical investigation.

The Indigenous soldier personnel files found in the Minority Experiences project database have a second limitation that is important to acknowledge: the majority of personnel files belong to Indigenous persons recognized as being “Status” Indigenous peoples. The database of personnel files contains names from a variety of sources. Some names were submitted by community organizations, or family members. A significant number were identified by searching through document collections held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) including collections that contain letters from Indian Agents which tracked Indigenous soldiers under their jurisdiction. The soldiers located in the LAC collections are considered status Indigenous peoples as non-status peoples fell outside the jurisdiction of the Department of Indian Affairs. As such, our database has limited capacity to investigate the differences experienced by status versus non-status Indigenous peoples during the Great War.

The concepts of status and non-status Indigeneity are colonially constructed categories meant to divide Indigenous peoples and arbitrarily confer power to Canadian government structures to aid in solving the so-called “Indian problem.” These categories have historical and present-day implications for Indigenous peoples in Canada as we continue to undo systems and legacies of colonial violence. By noting that our database contains records primarily of individuals identified as status Indigenous peoples, we hope to challenge the continued perpetuation of these constructed categories while also recognizing the very real implications that such categorization has on Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Ownership of Records and Stories

The primary documents used to support the Minority Experiences, including the personnel files, raise questions around who owns records, who can access records, and who should tell stories about the people of the past. While organizations like Library and Archives Canada have specific legislative rules around the access and use of records, we encourage you and your students to consider your role in constructing historical narratives. Some document collections, like those compiled by the Department of Indian Affairs, were compiled without the consent of the individuals captured in those records. Other collections, like personnel files and war diaries, contain information that the individual consented to give, and perhaps some information they did not consent to give.

Wrestling with what this means for us as we construct narratives is an important part of understanding the power we hold as historians and researchers. You may come across information about individuals that is potentially traumatic, to both you as a researcher and to members of Indigenous communities. You may also find out something completely new about an individual, something that no other records capture or a detail that has been lost to time. While the urge is often to make note of every detail and piece of information about a soldier, it is sometimes necessary to pause to consider the implications of that information, and the best way to disseminate the information. When questions arise from working with records concerning Indigenous peoples, we recommend that you speak to Indigenous peoples from that community to seek guidance on how to proceed with your students. You can find further information about the importance of fostering community connections HERE

Working with personnel files is a very rewarding experience, though it is not without its challenges. On the surface they can be difficult to read and interpret. Through a close reading, these personnel files often raise questions that connect to complex themes and big ideas, such as, when working with the Nursing Sister personnel files, gender, health, race, class, and the ethics of working with these files. These concepts are applicable to other personnel files used in the Minority Experiences project as well. Each file you and your students encounter presents an opportunity to look for connections between past and present and to think more deeply about the importance of considering gender in our study of the Canadian First World War experience and in the Canadian military of the past, present, and future.

Personnel File Limitations

As with any primary source, these personnel files have limitations that are important to recognize. First, the files cannot speak to how an individual made sense of an experience. They can tell us where and when a Nursing Sister enlisted, the hospitals they served with, and the periods they nursed through, but they cannot tell us what compelled them to enlist, if they got along with their fellow Nursing Sisters, or how they felt during those periods. While it is tempting to make inferences along those lines, the personnel files themselves cannot support that type of historical investigation.

The Nursing Sister personnel files found in the Minority Experiences project database have a second limitation that is important to acknowledge: the majority of personnel files belong to women of a certain class and racial background. Research shows that most Nursing Sisters came from a middle to upper-class background, and none were women of color. There are a few factors that help explain why this was the case. Nursing schools could prove prohibitive due to the financial costs associated with attending them. The vast majority were in large cities so women would often have to move to attend school, and then focus on sustaining themselves while paying fees and other living costs. This meant that, for the most part, only women of a certain class had the financial means to access a professional nursing education.

Another factor is the extreme selectiveness of nursing schools in Canada. To be eligible for enlistment as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), you had to have graduated from a three-year nurse training program, whether in Canada or in the United States. The nursing programs in Canada were highly selective on who they accepted into their programs, only admitting white women as it was believed admitting women of colour would not produce nurses who embodied the values associated with white womanhood: gentility, compassion, purity and civility. Women of colour who wished to attend a nursing program often had to travel to the United States to find a school that would grant them admission.

Intersections of Power and Gender

As women working within traditional male spheres, and as an organization that prized and protected white womanhood, the Nursing Sisters sit at a fascinating intersection that brings together questions of power, gender and race as themes to consider. As an organization, and as individuals, the Nursing Sisters simulations faced inequalities due to their gender while also contributing to the oppression of women of colour by enforcing strict racial boundaries.

This tension only grew when the Nursing Sisters eventually introduced a rank structure that included rank of Lieutenant/Nursing Sister, Captain/Matron, and Major/Matron-in-Chief. Women of these ranks oversaw the work of general Nursing Sister and formed a command structure within the Nursing Sisters. These ranks carried with them status as officers within the CAMC, placing the Nursing Sisters in an interesting position as both women and officers. Their authority extended over the wards and hospitals in which they worked, and any male patients or orderlies found within, but the Nursing Sisters and Matrons were unable to make military decisions, unlike the male medical officers. They were also only to be referred to as “Sister” or “Matron” and never as “Lieutenant” or “Captain” in keeping with British nursing tradition and contemporary ideas on gender and nursing work.

Ethics of Working with Medical Records

While all the medical records contained within the personnel files are publicly available and are not subject to any privacy restrictions, questions concerning the ethics surrounding the use of such files that contain private and sensitive information for research purposes are entirely valid and should be discussed. The subjects of these medical files did not give their consent for these files to be made public decades after they were first written. In the case of Nursing Sisters, they were the ones who would note some of this information in the patients’ files, thus being the creators of some of this information. They, too, however, would become the subjects of their own medical files, which you and your students may examine as you work through these personnel files.

The questions then become who did give permission for this information to be released, and if the subject of the information did not give their consent, how should researchers approach these files? Medical files provide a great resource when studying the health and care of soldiers and Nursing Sisters alike, offering information not just on the treatment of illness and injury, but can also grant historians insight into other concepts related to health and wellbeing, such as the role of gender, race, and class played in a doctor’s view and treatment of their patients. Despite the value of these records, great care should be taken when using this material for research purposes as the information being used is someone’s private and personal information. As your student encounter these files, encourage them to question how historical records are created, and who has a voice in deciding to release those records to the public.