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.
Starting this fall, we’ll be publishing stories like these about the history of work in Edmonton. Our writers will be exploring the work that Edmontonians have done in television, construction, making food, and so much more. I had the pleasure of meeting many of these writers for a little orientation night last week. It was fascinating to hear what brings them to heritage writing, from the thrill of hunting down old diaries to an urge to connect with family and culture.
Some of this year’s ECAMP writers. Left to right: Pamela Young, John Vandenbeld, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips, Shayne Giles, Katherine Koller, Renée Englot, Cathy Roy, Harma-Mae Smith, and Soni Dasmohapatra.
One story I can’t wait to read is John Vandenbeld’s account of working at A-Channel Edmonton during the strike there 20 years ago. The station upended Edmonton’s media marketplace when it launched, and the six-month strike made its own major waves. Enough time has passed now for him to reflect on joining the strike at first – and his regrets about going back to work.
Cathy Roy will be taking us back to the 1960s, when the Government of Alberta brought in the first main frame computer for business use in Canada, over in Edmonton’s Terrace Building. She spoke to women who worked as key punch operators about the noisy, difficult conditions and long hours.
Shayne Giles, meanwhile, will be writing about homemakers’ clubs that supported women doing often-unseen domestic work in the 1950s. Their story will investigate how these clubs helped Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in Edmonton and Saddle Lake pass down knowledge, make handicrafts together, and plan for seasons ahead.
Kicking off this series will be an article from Alvin Finkel about the Metis ironworkers who built the CN Tower (the one by City Hall, not the one in Toronto). We hope these stories will start some important conversations about the hidden work that’s built our cities, the fulfilling and brutal roles that workers have taken on, and how people here have organized to fight for their rights and dignity.
There will be more than just labour stories in the mix. We’ll also be giving the stage to new voices from our ECAMP Youth Writing Workshop this summer, and other folks doing important heritage work here.
We hope you’ll enjoy reading them, and we’d love to hear your thoughts as they drop.
– ECAMP Coordinator Chris Chang-Yen Phillips