EDHS Doors Open 2021: School Namesakes & Histories

Namesakes hold pieces of history and speak to the values of the society that bestowed those names at that particular time.  Learn about Dr. Anne Anderson and her mission to preserve the Cree language, Hilwie Hamdon and her efforts to establish the first mosque in Canada in 1938, Thelma Chalifoux who was the first Métis woman appointed to the Senate, and more. 
Explore a map of these stories here.

Dr. Lila Fahlman: The First Muslim Woman Awarded the Order of Canada

Bruce Cinnamon

Lila Fahlman’s career as an activist began with a riot. It was Canada Day 1935, and the 11-year-old Lila was…

Committed to Community: Hilwie Hamdon and The Muslim Ladies’ Association of Edmonton

Dr. Nadia Kurd

Edmontonian Hilwie Hamdon (née Taha Johma, 1905-1988) was a community leader and founding member of the historic Al Rashid Mosque, the…

The “Grand Lady of the Métis:” Dr. Anne Anderson’s mission to preserve the Cree language

Bruce Cinnamon

When Dr. Anne Anderson was born on a river lot farm east of St. Albert in 1906, she was so…

Rev. Robert Rundle: The Missionary and his Cat

Neil Cramer

The history of missionaries as they relate to the development of post-contact Canada is long, complicated, and often very emotional,…

Nellie Carlson and the Indian Rights for Indian Women movement

Bruce Cinnamon

Disclaimer: Due to the importance around the legal designation of Indian status, this article sometimes uses the term “Indian” to…

Richard Henry Secord and Métis Scrip Speculation

Rob Houle

When history is told, it largely reflects events, understandings and individuals who best serve the desires of the recorder. In…

Metis Matriarch – Thelma Chalifoux

Jenna Chalifoux

Our mothers are more than just a physical person, just as our houses are more than just a structure to…

Frank Oliver and Infantile Edmonton

Rob Houle

Traversing across the North Saskatchewan River on the Groat Road Bridge and climbing the Valley Road has little significance other…

Westmount School

Lawrence Herzog

Built on land that was part of the old Norris farm and purchased from the family for $3,200 in July…

The Spruce of Mill Creek School

Christina Hardie

Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have lived with the land upon which Mill Woods is built. Words like Sakaw, Meyokumin…

Donnan Family and Queen Alexandra Dairy 1911- 1932

Dawn Saunders-Dahl

John Donnan was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1892 and immigrated to Canada in March 1902 as a young…

Wilfrid “Wop” May: An Old-School Hero for a New Generation

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

Dime novelists and reporters from the days of the earliest flights were only too happy to feed that appetite with…