The Wayne State University Library System is proud to present 1812, a traveling exhibition produced by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and arranged through the Consulate General of Canada in Detroit. 1812 explores the War of 1812 through the perspectives of the four central participants: the Canadians (including Canadian First Peoples), Americans, British and Native Americans. The exhibition will be on display in the atrium of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library through February 28, 2014.

For Americans, the war was a successful defense against the British Empire-- one that forced Britain to respect American sovereignty and power. For Canadians, the War of 1812 was a successful fight for survival against American invasions. For the British, the conflict was a successful but almost irrelevant, scarcely remembered sideshow, set against the far greater generation-long war against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. For Native Americans, the war was a desperate fight for freedom and independence as they struggled to defend their homelands, and its conclusion was a catastrophic defeat.

"This exhibition brings together four different interpretations and outcomes surrounding the major players in the War of 1812," said Librarian Cindy Krolikowski, coordinator of Special Collections at Wayne State Libraries. "The War of 1812 is part of the history of Detroit, and we thank the Government of Canada for loaning us this multi-faceted view of the conflict."

 The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. The Consulate General of Canada in Detroit advances Canada's relationship with the United States in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

The Wayne State University Library System consists of the university's six libraries: The David Adamany Undergraduate Library, the Purdy/Kresge Library, the Shiffman Medical Library, the Arthur Neef Law Library, the Science and Engineering Library, and the Reuther Library and the School for Library and Information Science.

Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students.