When deciding how to spend my summer between my second and my final third year of university, I wanted to be challenged, to try something new, and to enjoy myself. At the same time, I couldn’t ignore the looming specter of my approaching graduation and the inevitable tumble into the so-called “real world” of the work force that was daunting me. Thus after some reflection, I came to the conclusion that doing an internship would fulfill my criteria for a rewarding summer while also allowing me to gain some insight into the possible paths I might find myself wandering down after I leave McGill. I am currently two-thirds of the way through a BA degree in History, and after taking classes in on an assortment of historical topics, I have discovered that I am most interested in Canadian history. What’s more, because I am a descendant of three generations of veterans, I have always had an eager interest in the study of Canadian military history. For these reasons, I knew I wanted to intern with the 78th Fraser’s Highlanders as soon as I learned of the opportunity.
The Fraser’s Highlanders is a historical association that conducts research on the 78th Regiment of Foot, a Scottish Highland regiment that fought for the British in Canada during the Seven Year’s War. The modern Fraser’s were initially created to raise a historical re-enactment regiment for the 1967 World Expo in Montreal. The regiment continues to drill at Île Sainte-Hélène to this day, and the Fraser’s continue their historical research into the men of the 78th and their impact on Canada.
The Fraser’s have been doing research into the regiment and the lives and descendants of individual members for decades. As an intern, I was specifically working on the Descendancy Project, which does research into the members of the Fraser’s Highlanders who remained in North America at the end of the war, or who came back to North America after disbanding in Scotland. The guiding hypothesis behind the research is that these veterans from the 78th were the first people to truly found the Scottish-Canadian community. My contribution to the project was the creation of a database to organize research on the members of the Old 78th, as the regiment is also known. I was set the task to create a database which could be accessed remotely, as opposed to just on the Montreal location’s local network, so that the multiple contributors to the Descendancy Project could bring all their research together in one place while working across the country. Once I had created the framework of the database, I began adding existing research from the past fifty years, tweaking and refining the database as I gained a greater understanding of the kind of information available. Along the way, I was also tasked with finding a way to facilitate the storing of attachments in the database, so that they were also web-accessible. While consolidating existing research, I also pursued various channels of my own research into the members of the Old 78th, and added my findings to the database as well.
I had an amazing time learning about this regiment and the soldiers who had such an important impact on my country. I especially appreciated working with and learning from the members of the Descendancy Project, who were enthusiastic amateur and professional historians, and real experts on the subject. Besides learning about the history of the 78th regiment and Canada, I also gained valuable skills that I will be able to take with me into my future career goals. For example, I became familiar with various platforms and services during the process of creating the database, including Airtable, Filemaker Pro, and Dropbox. My twelve weeks with the Fraser’s was deeply rewarding and has provided me with lots of food for thought.
I was thrilled when I learned that I would be getting to intern with the Fraser’s. I particularly looked forward to conducting research into early Canadian history and to try my hand at the kind of work that I could do if I continue with history after my undergrad degree. I also knew that getting work experience in a professional environment like the Fraser’s would help once I begin my forays into the job market when I graduate next spring. I went into the internship intending to learn as much as possible and to make the most of the connections and contacts that I would make while working with the Fraser’s. As an added benefit, the funding I received for my internship allowed me to concentrate on my work with the Fraser’s instead of having to find part-time work to support myself, for which I am extremely grateful.
