Mel Hurtig: A Legacy at the Intersection of Publishing and Politics
Hurtig’s Firsts Mel Hurtig didn’t start in the book business, but once there, he fell in love. In his 1996…
Stories categorized: People
Sons of Norway
One hundred years ago, Edmonton’s small community of Norwegian newcomers gathered together to start the Nordpolen (North Pole) Lodge No….
Edmonton’s South Asian Community
Today, Edmonton is home to more than 60,000 people of South Asian heritage. Speaking Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam,…
François Lucier and the Fight Against Horse Thieves
Horses were a vital resource at Fort Edmonton and hundreds were kept by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in the…
Edmonton’s Merchant Prince: James Ramsey
Echoes of one of Edmonton’s earliest successful retail enterprises can be found in the new Kelly Ramsey Tower now being…
There Were No Safety Nets, Part 3: Edmonton’s Italian Community, 1949 to the Present
The end of the Second World War in 1945 signalled an economic boom for Canada with primary and secondary industries…
There Were No Safety Nets, Part 2: Edmonton’s Italian Community, 1921 to 1945
With the ending of the First World War, the Government of Canada amended the 1910 Immigration Act.[1] The 1919 amendment…
There Were No Safety Nets, Part 1: Edmonton’s Italian Community, 1900 to 1920
In an age in which Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees fundamental rights and immigrants, whether economic migrants or…
The Cowboys in the Sky: The Story of Edmonton’s Ironworkers
High above the rooftops, the iron giants balance and shimmy along beams, attaching one piece of strategically placed steel after…
The Weather Woman of the West: Eda Owen and the Highlands Dominion Meteorological Station
Edmonton’s history is full of remarkable women. From Beatrice Carmichael to Thelma Chalifoux, from Betty Stanhope-Cole to Felicia Graham, from…
Richard Henry Secord and Métis Scrip Speculation
When history is told, it largely reflects events, understandings and individuals who best serve the desires of the recorder. In…
Peter Erasmus & Storytelling
There’s something about a good story and a good storyteller. Stories and facts aren’t exclusive, thank goodness. We all connect…