I am entering my final year at McGill, working towards completing my degree in Honours History, with minors in English Literature and Anthropology. I have always been fascinated by Scottish history, so when I saw the listing for the internship with the Fraser Highlanders, I knew that it was the right one for me to further my interests in historical research. My goals for this internship were to learn about the process of historical research, as well as about myself as a worker and if a career in this field would suit me.
The 78th Fraser Highlanders is an organization with chapters across Canada and the United States, committed to education about the Seven Years’ War, and the impact Scottish immigration had on the development of the communities where these former soldiers settled. Their Montreal headquarters resides in the Maison Forget, and they have staged “living history” demonstrations, featuring old equipment and drills.
The primary project on which I worked during my internship revolved around compiling a list of descendants of the Fraser soldiers, particularly those who settled in Canada and the United States. Using multiple sources, including family histories and vital records, I added their names and details to AirTable. Part of my focus revolved around the families resulting from those marriages made between Scottish soldiers and French-Canadian women, from which many descendants still live in Canada, as mentioned in a genealogical study by M. Marcel Fournier. As a native upstate New Yorker, I was also ideally placed to visit the New York State Archives in Albany and retrieve documents to assist Fraser researchers in tracking their land holdings and movements in the United States.
During my internship, I was lucky enough to make connections with researchers who work in this field and learn from them about the process of historical research. This experience was undoubtedly a highlight of the summer, as well as my university experience so far. In addition, my aforementioned New York roots (and my family’s location relatively close to Albany) allowed me to visit the New York State Archives to retrieve documents relating to the Frasers’ presence in the upstate New York area. Although I was unable to retrieve all the documents in the available time frame, I examined and recorded notes from the journal of William Cockburn, a land surveyor, who set aside land for many former Fraser Highlanders. The care required to use this delicate historical document series made it a fascinating experience. I also learned, assisted by the experienced and helpful archivists at Albany, how to use a microfilm and convert those images to a saveable and shareable PDF document. It was a truly enlightening and invaluable experience which has reinforced my desire to continue on a similar career path.
The challenges I faced during this internship were primarily technological. When it came to the Canadian side of descendancy, one particular database, the Programme de recherche en dĂ©mographie historique (PRDH), was extraordinarily helpful. Unfortunately, access- originally provided by Ď㽶ĘÓƵ through the library- was limited and, when that access ran out, I attempted several avenues to restore it, primarily through the university itself. However, when none proved successful, I found alternate (if less directly helpful) databases to continue filling in descendancy data. Along with this technological issue, my supervisor was in the process of retiring. This resulted in my work being largely self-directed. Although I do work best on my own, the lack of feedback did occasionally make me wonder if I was doing satisfactory work.
A final challenge was the difficulty of working remotely. Although I knew from the beginning that it would require effort to keep myself motivated while setting my own hours, I still struggled with avoiding distractions and setting boundaries with those around me regarding my availability during what I had hoped to be my “work hours.” However, although it presented its own challenges, the remote nature of the internship also provided me the opportunity to be home for my younger brother’s high school graduation and reunite with family who I have not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, for which I am extraordinarily grateful.
As I enter my final year of university, although I chose not to convert it into academic credit, this internship experience will influence the opportunities I take advantage of, as well as the projects I do during my final semesters. In addition, having this experience gave me a greater understanding of Montreal history specifically, as well as Canadian history at large, allowing me to connect to the city on a deeper level. It will influence the path I take following my graduation, and I am grateful to everyone at the 78th and the AIO organization for making this possible.
During my internship, I was assisted financially by the Andrew Buntain Internship Award. The generous sum provided by this award assisted me in counteracting the living costs of remaining in Montreal for the summer to complete my internship, as well as the cost of fuel and parking on my trip to Albany. With my younger brother beginning university in the autumn, my family found ourselves in a tighter spot financially this summer, and the generous funding was essential in easing that burden on not only myself but my parents, and I would like to thank Mr. Buntain for his kind generosity.
