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  • : A three-storey brick cell block is connected to a workshop and another large industrial building with two tall chimneys. There is a large hole in the side of one of the buildings suggesting it had started to be dismantled and/or suffered structural damage. A tilled farm field that would have been worked by prisoners is in the foreground.

    Hard Times in the Alberta Penitentiary, 1906-1920

    Matt Ormandy

    The Alberta Penitentiary operated on Edmonton’s River Lot 20 from 1906 – 1920, where Clarke Stadium is today. It was the first federal prison in Alberta. One constant in prisoners’ lives was unpaid hard labour, from mining coal to farming potatoes.

  • Early Market Gardens in Edmonton

    Katherine Koller

    Surrounded by rows of towering tomato, cucumber and pepper plants in a greenhouse near Edmonton, I marvelled at tapas from…

  • The Tamale & Pupusa – A Culinary Journey To Canada

    Amrita Gill

    I remember the first time I met Elba, mother of my close friend Yazmin (or Yaz as friends and family…

  • 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…

  • “It’s in our veins,” Part 2: Edmonton Dance Schools and Latin American Identity

    Miguel A. Priolo Marín & Nieva W. Srayko

    Read “It’s in our veins,” Part 1 Immigration to a new community involves a dramatic change that can affect nearly…

  • “It’s in our veins,” Part 1: Edmonton Dance Schools and Latin American Identity

    Miguel A. Priolo Marín & Nieva W. Srayko

    Alejandro (Alex) Rojas, the founder of ETOWN SALSA Latin Dance Studios, moved from Chile to Edmonton with his parents in…

  • There Were No Safety Nets, Part 3: Edmonton’s Italian Community, 1949 to the Present

    Adriana A. Davies

    The end of the Second World War in 1945 signalled an economic boom for Canada with primary and secondary industries…

  • Yearbook Ads – Douglas Printing

    Curio Studio

    Over the course of Curio’s working relationship with the Royal Alexandra Hospital, we discovered a tucked-away archive of old yearbooks…

  • St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral

    Lawrence Herzog

    Built partly by parishioners and volunteers during the dark days of World War II, St. Josaphat Ukranian Catholic Cathedral is…

  • Vintage Royal Alexandra Hospital Nursing program

    Milestones – Vintage Yearbook Ads

    Curio Studio

      Over the course of Curio’s working relationship with the hospital, we discovered a tucked-away archive of early 20th century…

  • When Trolleys Came to Edmonton

    Lawrence Herzog

    For 70 years, electric trolleybuses travelled the streets of Edmonton. Between 1939 and 2009, they provided the city with an…

  • Gyro Playgrounds Live On

    PearlAnn Reichwein & Paulina Retamales

    Sally Stewart and Peggy Brown met at Kitchener Park playground in 1936. Sally had just moved into a new house,…