|
People and Places
Thanks to a generous grant from the Edmonton Community Foundation, the Glenbow Archives has approximately 12,000 images from its extensive McDermid Studio photographic collection available to researchers via the Internet. Images can be viewed by going to www.glenbow.org/lasearch/photo.htm
From now-classic images of the Great Depression to historic events in Canadian aviation, the images from the McDermid Studio offer a fascinating glimpse of western Canadian history. Established in 1913, The McDermid Studio still operates today in Edmonton. Studio photographers documented Edmonton people, events and rapid urban growth. They recorded political movements and military units during both World Wars.
How did this significant collection of Edmonton photographs come to be in an archives in Calgary? The major portion of the collection was acquired in 1957 by the Glenbow Foundation, established in 1955 by Calgary lawyer, oilman and philanthropist Eric L. Harvie. Glenbow's mission was to acquire, preserve, store and display the physical records of the development of the history and culture of western Canada.
With Edmonton's Centennial approaching in 2004, and the Province of Alberta's in 2005, the grant from the Edmonton Community Foundation has made it possible for the majority of this historical collection to be easily accessible to Edmontonians and all Albertans at a critical time in our history.
Copies of photographs by the McDermid Studio, and others that make up the Glenbow Archives database of 60,000 images, can be ordered from the Glenbow Archives in either a traditional print format or as a digital file.
For more information, contact the Glenbow Archives by phone at (403) 268-4204 or fax at (403) 232-6569.
by Doug Cass, Glenbow Archives
The Millet and District Historical Society was very pleased to receive new computers, a colour printer and a scanner from the CAIN project. This will open up a whole new field for our museum and archives in that it will enable us to scan our pictures and to store them in the computer and have them available for printing.
A visit from Sarah Lynch, contractor for CAIN project, and a demonstration of scanner use was most useful. The illustrated information booklet that she made up, with the help of our summer staff, is easily understood and user friendly. Especially useful was information on scanning resolution, watermarking and adjusting image size.
Being the first ones to try out the digitization project for the website, we helped to standardize the process. Now that a lot of the process is standardized it will be easier for anyone to complete a project.
Through our project, our photo collection of approximately 850 pictures will become more readily available to the community. As a result, everyone on the web will know the heritage of Millet and the 13 surrounding districts. Thanks again ASA!
by Tracey Leavitt, Millet and District Museum and Archives
The Provincial Archives of Alberta is pleased to announce the placement of a contract archivist in the Private Records Section. Alex Richmond obtained an MA in history from Queen's University before completing a Master of Archival Studies degree at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at UBC. Since the fall of 2001, Alex has served as Acting Community Archivist at the West Vancouver Museum and Archives, and a reference archivist at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives [NVMA].
Alex has also been employed as a CAIN contract archivist at the NVMA where he aided in the construction of a new online searchable database for the archival holdings. Last summer he completed an internship at UBC's University Archives. At the Provincial Archives, Alex is working on the Canadian National Railways Project, funded by a CCA Control of Holdings grant.
PAA is also pleased to announce the placement of Sharon Walz as CAIN Project Archivist (Government Records Division) in June 2002. After a management career in the financial services sector, Sharon obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Medieval History from the University of British Columbia in November 1999. In May 2002 she graduated from the Master of Archival Studies program at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia. During her two years in the MAS program, Sharon worked as an assistant to both the Manuscripts Curator and the Map Archivist / Librarian of the Special Collections Division, University of British Columbia Library. Her archival work experience also includes contracts for British Columbia Archives and Records Service in Victoria, BC.
The Provincial Archives' FOIP and Second Languages Archives Technician, Larissa Sawiak is away on maternity leave. Larissa and her husband Allan are happy to announce the birth of their first child, Maria Stefania, born on July 1, 2002. Maria weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and is doing very well.
With great sadness, the Provincial Archives announces the passing of Robert Plummer on July 16, 2002. Robert worked at the Provincial Archives at various times for over thirteen years. He served as an Archives Technician, specializing in photographic collections. Before his untimely passing, Robert published Landscapes : Alberta, British Columbia, a collection of his black and white photographs. Robert will be sadly missed.
by Liana Hayes, Provincial Archives of Alberta
The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is organizing a major exhibition entitled Glaciers: the Art and Science of the Vaux Family, opening in April 2003. This exhibition features the photography of Philadelphian siblings, Mary, George and William S. Vaux Jr., who explored the Canadian Rocky and Selkirk Mountains between 1887 and 1940. Drawing heavily on photographs and documents from the Vaux (family) fonds, the exhibition will also incorporate a variety of the Vaux family's cameras, glacier survey equipment and mountaineering gear.
Don Bourdon, Archivist at the Whyte Museum, recently spent six days in Philadelphia examining other parts of the Vaux fonds held by the Library Company of Philadelphia and Haverford College, as well as extensive material held by the grand-daughter of George Vaux Jr. A large quantity of textual material arising from annual trips has been borrowed for the exhibition, along with key artifacts.
The seamless inter-relationship between photographs, textual and graphic records, and
artifacts will ensure that archival materials will take a deservedly leading role in this prominent exhibition.
D. L. Cameron, Archives Assistant, is busy working on transferring nearly 700 analog audio tape recordings to CD-R format as part of the Archives & Library's grant-supported project under the CCA Preservation Management Programme.
While reels spin and CDs burn, D. L. avoids a potential state of acute boredom by merging and indexing the three component parts of the Norman Luxton correspondence and business papers previously housed at the Glenbow Museum, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation. The latter organization has contracted the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies to process and provide access to the Luxton (family) fonds.
D. L. will be arranging further series in the Luxton fonds this fall. Importantly, she brings a ready sense of humour to our already jocular Archives and Library staff contingent.
by Don Bourdon, Archives & Library, Whyte Museum
| 
