Sam the Shoemaker: Cobbling Together Community
It was the turbulent sixties. In the United States and Canada, teenage unrest was making headlines. Even in the small…
Stories categorized: People
Louise Umphreville: Edmonton’s Forgotten First Lady
History is how we understand the past and that understanding is based on records made and kept by biased hands….
The Last Best West: Hattie’s Place, Part 3
Disclaimer: Please note that this piece references anti-Black violence, brutality, and white supremacy. A reference to a specific act of…
The Day Bill Coull Disappeared from the Airwaves
For David Ward, the memory of Bill Coull and his sudden departure from CKUA has left a strange taste in…
Dr. Lila Fahlman: The First Muslim Woman Awarded the Order of Canada
Lila Fahlman’s career as an activist began with a riot. It was Canada Day 1935, and the 11-year-old Lila was…
After the Pisces Bathhouse Raid: John Kerr – Dance for Gramma
In the years before John Reid launched his career as owner of Flashback, Edmonton’s first gay disco, he worked cleaning…
After the Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Michael Phair – LGBTQ2S+ Activist and Community Leader
As of this writing, Michael is one of the few men charged as a “found-in” to speak publicly on the…
After the Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Dr. Henri Toupin – Dignity in the Eye of the Storm
Henri Toupin was born in Legal, Alberta, on March 15, 1923. He acquired his B.Sc. in 1947 from the University…
After the Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Millie – I’m Number One
Paul Chisholm’s first contact with another gay man occurred as he hitchhiked out of Saskatchewan in the late 1960s. Legend…
Committed to Community: Hilwie Hamdon and The Muslim Ladies’ Association of Edmonton
Edmontonian Hilwie Hamdon (née Taha Johma, 1905-1988) was a community leader and founding member of the historic Al Rashid Mosque, the…
Alfred Carrothers: Early Edmonton’s Crooked Confidence Man
The owner of any historic home will wonder about the generations that have lived within its walls. When I recently…
Architect Doris Tanner: What did she do? Work and life in fine balance
It’s 2003, early in the new millennium but regrettably late in the story I’m aiming to tell. Doris Tanner died…