From archival research to national commemorative design — including the National Memorial to the Fallen, unveiled in Kingston, Ontario in 2025 — we bring the past into sharp focus for institutions, legal teams, and clients who need history done right.
Lead historian and interpretive planner, from inception, for the National Wall of Remembrance Association's National Memorial to the Fallen — unveiled in Kingston's Macdonald Park in November 2025 after fifteen years of planning, fundraising, and construction. The memorial honours, in a single location, the over 120,000 Canadian service members who have died in wars and conflicts since the War of 1812.
Developed the interpretive strategy and narrative framework, conducted the majority of the historical research, selected imagery, and wrote the text for the laser-etched granite panels and digital components.
I am a historian, curator, interpretive planner, researcher, writer, and leader, with over twenty years' experience translating scholarly research into accessible exhibitions and memorial narratives rooted in Canada's wartime experience and identity. My work draws on extensive primary research at Library and Archives Canada and the Directorate of History and Heritage.
My career spans the Canadian War Museum, the City of Ottawa, Parks Canada, and the National Wall of Remembrance Association, where I served as lead historian and interpretive planner for the National Memorial to the Fallen — unveiled in Kingston in November 2025 after fifteen years of planning, fundraising, and construction.
Rich teams make rich products — that's one of my mottos. I believe in empathetic management and servant leadership. Another motto? The healthier the team, the better the work.
PlannerInterpretive strategy for museums, memorials & commemorative sites
LeaderEmpathetic management & servant leadership
AllyIndigenous history, reconciliation & community engagement
From presenting primary-source research on the gallery floor to reviewing fabrication and models in the shop — every exhibition is built on both scholarship and craft.
Reconciliation & Indigenous History
I work with Indigenous individuals and communities. I have changed museum mandates to include Indigenous history, liaised with the executive council of the Pikwakanagans of Ontario, and met with the elders of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.
I sat on the City of Ottawa's Algonquin Anishinabe Nation Civic Cultural Protocol Committee, and the City's Aboriginal Working Committee — working to take action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.
Photo: Algonquins of Pikwakagan First Nation
Contact
Get in Touch
Let's talk about your project.
Whether you have a clear brief or just a question, reach out. We're happy to discuss your needs before any commitment is made.
Emailmakerhistory@proton.me
Phone613-864-9738
Response TimeWithin 2 business days
"Creating museum exhibitions is not only research in books and archives. We bring in the human angle. We use interactives and artifacts. These are not abstractions, they are things people used and through them we tell stories."
— John Maker
Media
Media & Publications
Interviews, writing, and public history.
Selected media appearances and publications — bringing historical research and exhibition work to broader audiences.
Video
Inside the Exhibition: Deadly Skies
An interview on how the Canadian War Museum developed Deadly Skies — Air War 1914–1918: the research process, the collaborative team, and how history is brought to life for public audiences.
Coverage of the November 2025 unveiling in Kingston's Macdonald Park, honouring the over 120,000 Canadian service members who have died in wars and conflicts since the War of 1812.
A look at the redeveloped permanent gallery at the Nepean Museum — gallery space, graphic design, research, text, and artifact curation, developed for the City of Ottawa.
Global News Morning Toronto and Global News Radio (980 CKNW), marking 80 years since D-Day, 6 June 2024. Part of over two dozen television, radio, and print interviews given across Canada throughout the course of my career.
Publications
Selected Writing & Editing
Book Series
2009–2014
Germany's Western Front: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War
Co-edited with Mark Osborne Humphries. A multi-volume series — the first English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War. Published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Canadian Military History, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 (2016). Examines the research and interpretive approach behind the Deadly Skies – Air War, 1914–1918 exhibition at the Canadian War Museum, presented through life-sized graphic novels and primary-source artifacts.
"Canadians for Canadians Only… It's Like a Paradise": Sport, Leisure, and the Canadian YMCA in England during the Second World War
Chapter 10 in The YMCA at War (Lexington Books, 2018). Examines how the YMCA shaped the recreational and social lives of Canadian soldiers stationed in wartime England.
By John Maker. Canadian War Museum, 2016. 112 pages, fully illustrated. Goes beyond the dogfights to follow six people from both sides of the conflict — including Marjorie Stinson, James Moses, and Manfred von Richthofen — through the first air war.
Historical, Spatial & Risk Assessment Reports — Government of Canada
Researched and wrote historical, spatial, and risk assessment reports for the federal government of Canada.
Museum Research
Various
History in the Making: C.P. Stacey and Canadian Military Headquarters
Historical research and writing examining C.P. Stacey's foundational role in documenting Canadian military history during and after the Second World War.
Book Review
2024
"Religion and the Rise of Sport in England"
Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, Vol. 93, No. 1 (March 2024), pp. 217–219.
