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.
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.
Velva Hueston moved to Edmonton with her mother in the early 1920s, after her father died in the 1918 flu…
My journey towards becoming an educator started in my childhood with time spent under a mango tree at my home…
The flights touched down at a Canadian International Airport bringing scores of eager Caribbean nationals, their suitcases packed with their…
In the years before John Reid launched his career as owner of Flashback, Edmonton’s first gay disco, he worked cleaning…
As of this writing, Michael is one of the few men charged as a “found-in” to speak publicly on the…
Henri Toupin was born in Legal, Alberta, on March 15, 1923. He acquired his B.Sc. in 1947 from the University…
Paul Chisholm’s first contact with another gay man occurred as he hitchhiked out of Saskatchewan in the late 1960s. Legend…
After the Pisces Health Spa opened in Edmonton in 1978, word spread quickly that it was the best-kept gay bathhouse…
The Canadian National Railway Pullman train bustled through the Rocky Mountains on the way from Vancouver headed for a stop…
Advertisements promoting the “Last Best West”—a frontier open to all pioneers—have become an ingrained part of the Canadian national mythology. Like…
