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  • Margaret Littlewood, wearing aviation gear, steps out of a small prop plane. She is looking at the camera and grasping the hand of an air force officer dressed in a military coat and hat and wearing thick gloves.

    “Queen of the Link”: Margaret Littlewood, Canada’s Only Woman Flight Instructor during WWII

    Bruce Cinnamon

    In 1943, skilled pilot Margaret Littlewood, rejected by the RCAF for being a woman, became the only woman Link Trainer instructor in Canada. Hired by aviation pioneer Wop May at Edmonton’s Air Observer School, she trained 150 pilots, overcame sexism, and later earned Canada’s highest pilot licence—helping pave the way for future women in aviation.

  • Four women sit at workstations in an office setting entering data on key punch machines. One worker, bent forward, appears to be resting with her head in her hand.

    Alberta’s Government, the Mainframe Computer, and Women’s Work

    Cathy Roy

    In the 1960s, Bill Rogers convinced the Alberta government to invest both computers and the training needed for their workers to program these machines, launching a data revolution. Women dominated these data entry roles under strict, often discriminatory conditions. Despite long hours and limited advancement, they powered early digital governance, pioneering computer use in western Canada and forging lasting professional bonds.

  • Teachable Moments

    Bruce Cinnamon

    Velva Hueston moved to Edmonton with her mother in the early 1920s, after her father died in the 1918 flu…

  • Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher

    Jeannette Austin-Odina

    My journey towards becoming an educator started in my childhood with time spent under a mango tree at my home…

  • Edmonton’s Caribbean Journey

    Donna Coombs-Montrose

    The flights touched down at a Canadian International Airport bringing scores of eager Caribbean nationals, their suitcases packed with their…

  • After the Pisces Bathhouse Raid: John Kerr – Dance for Gramma

    Darrin Hagen

    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

    Darrin Hagen

    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

    Darrin Hagen

    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

    Darrin Hagen

    Paul Chisholm’s first contact with another gay man occurred as he hitchhiked out of Saskatchewan in the late 1960s. Legend…

  • The Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Igniting Four Decades of Activism

    Darrin Hagen

    After the Pisces Health Spa opened in Edmonton in 1978, word spread quickly that it was the best-kept gay bathhouse…

  • The Porter: Building a Better Canada for All

    Donna Coombs-Montrose

    The Canadian National Railway Pullman train bustled through the Rocky Mountains on the way from Vancouver headed for a stop…

  • The Last Black West: Oklahoma Freedmen Seek Refuge in Alberta, Part 1

    Dr. Russell Cobb

    Advertisements promoting the “Last Best West”—a frontier open to all pioneers—have become an ingrained part of the Canadian national mythology.  Like…