JESSE ALEXANDER HISTORY
Education and Public History with energy, enthusiasm, and reflection.
My passion for history already started early through my family. My great-grandfather (pictured above) was a soldier in WW1 and also my grandfather served as a Canadian soldier in WW2 and I grew up listening to his stories.
My fascination with this topic, especially the First World War, grew from then on and I knew this is what I wanted to do. I finished my Bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Ottawa and then set off to discover the scenes where the history was written in Europe and stayed. A few years later I earned my Master’s degree in Modern History at the University of Vienna/Austria with the focus of my research being Political Cartoons in WW1. Particularly, cartoons about the late emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary.
My studies then led me into a career as a historical researcher where I got to work in different archives, government departments and museums. My job then was to dive into the archives and find that particular article/footage/document that the clients needed to create the best possible reports, books or exhibitions.
After years spent in various archives I can proudly claim to know the meat of Military History.
In addition, I also worked on presenting history to the public which was a new challenge for me to approach. I had to think about what is interesting to them, how are kids going to interact with this topic and how can we tell a story that it makes sense as a historian but also is understandable for people who are not from the field.
For me, the best way to learn about history is still traveling to the sites where it happened to follow the footsteps of those who experienced the wars. From the western to the eastern front, Italy to Middle East; I’ve been all over the place, immersing myself in the local cultures along the way to understand the war and its effects even better.
As a result of these travels I also got interested in languages. I wanted to talk to people and to be able to read the history books that are written from different perspectives.
Feel free to message me in English, French, German or Russian!
