Empire Day and Patriotic Education for Canadian Baptist Children, 1899-1957

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I am currently at the International Conference of Baptist Studies at Cambridge UK. We are meeting in Westminster College (see image above). My paper was entitled: “Empire Day and Patriotic Education for Canadian Baptist Children, 1899-1957.”
 
Here is a brief summary of the paper. I hope to see this published as a book chapter in the upcoming volume coming out of the conference.

“For many Baptists, Empire Day provided a fortuitous opportunity to reinforce the ideals that animated the church. It was a symbiotic partnership, an event where the educational aims of the church in regard to patriotism and character were seemingly in sync with the state’s desire to forge a stronger nation and firmer imperial bonds. Baptists had long history of education, often quite independent of the state (not surprising for dissenters), but at this stage in Canada’s development and on this particular issue Baptist education was in many ways a fusion of church and state educational curriculum, a distinctly late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century amalgam of imperial, national, and Christian civic virtues. With that synergy in mind, Baptists provided its own Empire Day curriculum and activities to bolster that of the province. 
 
However, an element of the education of Empire was to impart in young Baptists a sense of the responsibilities of Empire. It was a call for what can be coined “true imperialism” – an imperialism shaped by a sense of providence and trusteeship rather than mere vain glory and exploitative expansionism. In that sense the education had a prophetic edge, teaching the students to be discerning imperialists and not fall sway to crass popular distortions of the ideals of Empire such as militarism. In other words, the church’s message of Empire Day acted as a counter narrative that appealed to the ideals of Empire rather than a jingoistic type of imperialism. As this study also shows, as Canada’s relationship with the Empire evolved over time so did the commentary on Empire Day. What is noteworthy are the glimpses of support for the evolution of discourse from Empire to Commonwealth, with that support being a factor in aiding youth to adapt to the new realities of a rapidly changing post-World War Two Canadian national identity.”
 
The following images are (1) me in action (2) the Canadian contingent in the chapel at the conference (3-4) some items in the Baptist press that make reference to Empire Day. (click on images to enlarge)