we tell the stories
of the PEOPLEPLACES, THINGS,
and MOMENTS that make Edmonton our city.

Launched in 2013, the Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP) is an initiative of the Edmonton Heritage Council exploring the history of our city through story.

Writers pose in a line in a brick room, in front of a TV screen with a slide that says ECAMP Writer Orientation

Main Frames, Strikes, and More…

Want to learn about what it was like to build one of Edmonton’s skyscrapers without a safety harness, or the time police shut down an ice cream stand that dared to open on a Sunday? Then you might enjoy the ECAMP stories ahead.

Here’s a sneak peek.

Explore the stories that connect us, the stories that divide us,
and the stories that nurture an appreciation of our differences as Edmontonians.

Featured Story

Mind the Gap
Working Women in Edmonton’s history

Natalie Zacharewski | March 8, 2016

Great Western Garment Company Factory – Interior, circa 1913. Image courtesy of the City of Edmonton Archives EA-64-184

In the book Women: Her Character, Culture and Calling published in 1890 the author writes; Woman the half of humanity, and therefore equal to man—Two-thirds of humanity are labourers—Employments open to women in 1840 and the number open to-day—The number of women employed in the manufactures of Canada and the United States—Working side by side with man at the same employment, yet receiving from one-third to one-half less pay—Starvation wages paid to women and girls in the cities—Dressmaking compared with distilling and brewing, in productive value and numbers employed—School-teaching —Women do the work, and men get the pay—Average salaries paid to the two sexes in teaching—The quantity and quality of woman’s work—How can we remedy the inequality?


Collections

Browse our curated collections

ECAMP Stories explore the People, Places, Things, & Moments significant to our city from the perspectives of Edmontonians.

Delve into these curated story collections to discover more about the history of this place.

Special Exhibitions

Explore our curated exhibitions

Explore our three exhibits including Edmonton Living Rooms, Armistice, and Black Presence in Alberta. These exhibitions highlight significant people, places, things, and moments in our city’s history from unique perspectives.

Discover more about Edmonton through these rich, immersive exhibits.

Podcast

Listen to our ECAMP Podcast

Episodes of our past seasons are archived online. Stay tuned for our new season wherever you get your podcasts by subscribing!

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Music/Audible

Check out our upcoming in-person and online events
that bring our vibrant history and culture to life!

WALLBRIDGE & IMRIE ARCHITECTS
GARDENCOURT TOUR

October 19, 2024, 12:30pm – 3:30pm

Ever wondered about the people who designed your apartment building, and why they made it that way?

On October 19, join Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP) for a free public walking tour of Spruce Avenue’s Garden Court apartments, designed in the 1950s by Edmonton architects Mary Imrie and Jean Wallbridge. These two trailblazing women started Edmonton’s first all-female architectural partnership – and were romantic partners too.

We’ll learn why they added brick fins onto the patios, big shared green spaces out back, and other little features in these two-story homes. This tour will be led by local architect Greg Whistance-Smith, contributor to a new book about Imrie and Wallbridge.

After the tour, join us for free coffee and snacks at Guuto Mothers Cafeteria and learn about a new exhibit on Imrie and Wallbridge at MacEwan University’s Mitchell Art Gallery.

GLAD YOU CLOSER HOME /
NEW WHITE WHISKER MARY

September 20 – December 7, 2024

Mary Imrie (1918 – 1988) and Jean Wallbridge (1912 – 1979) operated their architecture firm—the first run by women in Canada—at Six Acres, the home they built for their work and life together overlooking the North Saskatchewan River in west Edmonton.

When Mary Imrie passed away, she bequeathed the records of their remarkable architectural practice and adventurous life, along with their home, to the province of Alberta.

With a title borrowed from a telegram in the collection, GLAD YOU CLOSER HOME / NEW WHITE WHISKER MARY is Cait McKinney and Hazel Meyer’s immersive exhibition that playfully imagines and speculates in the spaces between the correspondence, amateur super-8 recordings, and modernist buildings that Imrie and Wallbridge left behind.

*Artist Talk & Opening Reception, Thursday, September 19