The Rooms Provincial Museum Division. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery: Honoring All Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Who Served Overseas and on the Home Front During the First World War (1914-1918). (St. John’s, NL: 2016, The Rooms. www.therooms.ca.)

The Rooms’ presentation of the story of Newfoundland and Labrador’s role in World War I begins before one enters the building in St. John’s. Walking from the parking lot, one passes the new outdoor amphitheater dedicated to those that served in the war and on the home front. Above the entrance to the museum, visitors see a statue of a caribou, the symbol of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, framed by the shape of a house. This caribou sculpture is based on those placed at battlefield sites in Europe where the Royal Newfoundland Regiment fought and in Bowering Park (St. John’s) as a local monument to those who died. Once inside the museum, visitors walk up the grand staircase to the level where the exhibit proper is located. Looking up, they see an artist’s rendition of 2000 metallic forget-me-nots suspended from the ceiling and forming a path that leads to the doors marking the entrance of the exhibit. Facing this entrance are the visages of twenty-two men who fought with the regiment. These elements encountered prior to entering the exhibit leave no doubt of the importance of World War I in the eyes of the community and the museum. The World War I exhibit, formally titled The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery: Honoring All Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Who Served Overseas and on the Home Front During the First World War (1914-1918), officially opened on July 1, 2016, the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. If Vimy Ridge is said to have made Canada, the same is said about Beaumont-Hamel and Newfoundland, and its place in the story of Newfoundland and Labrador and World War I is made clear throughout the exhibition. The exhibit is divided into seven, more or less equal-sized sections, with a small room for quiet reflection off to the side, but still actively within the exhibit space. Walking through the doors of the exhibit is a visceral experience. Leaving the hard stone and glass environment of the open areas of the museum, visitors enter the muted world of the gallery; footsteps are softened by carpet and voices become softer. Everything is grey – the walls, floor and ten large vertical panels showing the faces of those impacted by the war. The only colour comes from a khaki uniform in the distance. Even coming in from a foggy St. John’s afternoon, the greys of the exhibit feel almost oppressive. The voices of descendants of those who fought during the war are heard on a loop telling the stories of their family members’ wartime experiences. This section, entitled “Faces of Valour,” sets the tone of the rest of the exhibit, focusing the visitor’s attention on the stories and lives of individuals who experienced the war and the long-lasting impact it has had. Moving on to the core sections of the exhibit, the story proceeds chronologically and with an emphasis on multi-sensory elements. Almost every section includes an all-ages interactive element, as well as an almost life-size video projection of a costumed actor telling the story of that part of the war. The first section, “Home Front,” primarily focuses on the early days of the war and includes an interactive element where visitors can see whether they would have been permitted to fight by measuring weight, height, eyesight and chest width. It also introduces the role of women on the home front and includes one hundred socks knitted for the exhibit by members of the community using the original Women’s Patriotic Association’s pattern. Moving forward in time, the section “Overseas” discusses the mobilization of the Newfoundland Regiment and includes a …