Beyond Laura Secord: Representations of Women at the 2013 Living History Symposium

Most people are familiar with Laura Secord’s role in the War of 1812, but her exceptional contribution says little about how the war impacted the lives of most women.

By highlighting female war experiences, the 2013 Living History Symposium, “Walking the Razor’s Edge: A Continent in Play,” provided insight into both the ordinary and extraordinary lives of women in the Regency period.

Jennifer Papak and Melissa Vuk delivered a presentation titled “An Army Marches on its Stomach” based both on culinary habits during the War of 1812 as well as their own experience cooking during re-enactments. After living history sparked their interest, Papak and Vuk discovered that in many cases history overlooked women’s roles in the war and decided to make this oversight their focus. The heavy workload that goes into planning a re-enactment meal mirrors the difficulties and obstacles associated with preparing an actual wartime meal. Whether the army was at a fort or on the march, their proximity to water, the time of year, and nationality of the soldiers: all of these factors influenced, and continue to influence, what would be cooked and the tools available to prepare it.

A period fashion display was given by Betsy Bashore, who has been constructing early 19th century reproduction garments for over 25 years. Bashore began creating reproduction clothing early in life after completing a project in the seventh grade. The clothing she presented covered a wide range of classes and positions of the Regency period, but emphasized the all-around importance of keeping the underpinnings true to the outfit if the dresses were to be authentic. Bashore described the difficulties that many modern women have adjusting to the constrictive nature of Regency clothing in contrast to the more loose fitting undergarments worn today.

Miyoko Twist spoke animatedly about Regency etiquette and deportment supported by sketches, paintings, and colourful anecdotes. Although she admits her real passion lies in period fashion, Twist enjoyed reading into a variety of sources in order to shape an accurate profile of Regency etiquette. Ironically, while modern day ideals for the behaviour of gentlemen and ladies are largely founded in Regency expectations, many of the behaviours widely accepted then would be heavily frowned up today, such as the tendency of husbands to take mistresses outside of their marriages.

Esteemed author Diane Graves spoke about women’s experiences in the Western Theatre of the War of 1812. She felt it important to focus on the often overlooked bravery of many of these women and to bring them into the forefront of historical consciousness. While battles have been studied extensively, the impact of these events on the lives of women has not been given enough scholarly attention. Graves found “much to admire when you put…what they achieved in the context of the times.” In order to illustrate her point, Graves provided several inspiring anecdotes, such as the exploits of Maria Muir: “She was the wife of Major Adam Muir of the 41st Foot. When the British army was defeated by the Americans at the Battle of the Thames, a lot of men were either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, her husband included. She was among a number of other army wives who had to fend for themselves really, and she decided to try and get her and her young children back to the Upper Canadian capital of York. That was a distance of some 120 to 150 miles. She did so without any escort. She found a wagon, she had to drive that up- and down-hill across wild country with the danger of animals, possible Aboriginal attack, and so on. All by herself, and she made it. I think that’s a pretty incredible achievement.”

All of these presenters emphasized the many opportunities there are for women and girls to get involved in living history. As Papak pointed out, “one of the key things that supported the British army…honestly, was the women. [They] were keeping these men fed, keeping them happy, keeping them civilized.” Bashore acknowledged that while people participate in living history for a variety of reasons, the idea of creating and wearing different styles of period clothing is “dress-up, it’s play; it’s fun, it’s creativity….There’s little bit of escapism; you’re a different person.”

The presentations given by Twist and Graves show the strong presence of women both in everyday life of the period as well as in extraordinary situations. If living history is truly to give a full and rich representation of the world during the War of 1812, there needs to be more attention paid to the actions of women, whether those actions involved cooking a delicious meal over a campfire or a hundred mile trek through treacherous conditions.