Community Heritage and Family History
With Barack Obama poised to make history as the first African American to be president of the United States, our thoughts here have turned to all things political. In particular we are looking at Alberta's interesting history. Did you know that Alberta has had only four different political parties in power since it became a province in 1905? Can you name them? (See below)
The photograph in this entry is of a display in front of the Local History Room in the Central Library. It highlights some of the interesting items we have in the Local History room including election brochures, party publications (check out The Little Book of Reform and The Social Credit Challenge) as well as memoirs and histories.
Pop in to check out the display and have a look at the collection of materials relating to Alberta politics. We're on the fourth floor of the Central Library.
(The four political parties are the Liberal Party, 1905-1921; United Farmers of Alberta, 1921-1935; Social Credit, 1935-1971; and Conservative, 1971 to present)
On January 2nd, 1912 Calgarians celebrated the official opening of Calgary Public Library in Central Park. The building still stands and houses the Memorial Park Library.
This was Alberta's first public library and was the first Carnegie library in the province, so called because it was partially financed by wealthy American steel industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. The library opened with 5000 volumes on its shelves; 1000 fiction titles, 1000 in biography and history, 1000 in travel, 1000 children's books and 1000 reference books. T.A.P. Frost was the first of over seventy citizens to register as borrowers that first day which was remarkable considering that though the books were on the shelves, they were not available for borrowing.
This postcard, from our Postcards From the Past database, shows the bandstand and the South African War memorial statue by Louis Hebert.
For more information on this beautiful library visit our Virtual Tours of Historic Calgary .
There are a number of books which discuss the history of the library and the people behind it. Esther Gorosh's Calgary's Temple of Knowledge: A History of Calgary Public Library (027.47123 GOR) outlines the early history of the library system. Alexander Calhoun by Donna Lohnes and Barbara Nicholson (020.924 CAL L) is a brief biography of the fascinating man who became the Chief Librarian of the new library and whose vision gave shape to the library for generations to come.
The Grand Union Hotel, designed by noted architect William Dodd, was built in 1905 on Atlantic 
Avenue (or Whisky Row, as it was affectionately known). It was operated by A. Moodie, who also owned the Royal Hotel. The horse-drawn bus, seen in the picture, ferried travellers to and from the train station, four blocks away. The balconies could be seen from the station and offered views of the activity along Atlantic Avenue as well as views of the mountains. In 1906, just a year after it opened, it offered a sumptuous menu for Christmas dinner. The menu included familiar favourites such as creamed potatoes, corn on the cob, mince pie and French fries. It also included the more sophisticated fare:
Canape of Caviar, Clear Green Turtle Soup, Cream of Oysters
Planked White Fish de Hanover Sauce
Sweet Breads Braized [sic] a la Rothchild
Domestic Duck with Boston Clam Dressing
Saddle of Venison, Black Currant Jelly
Lobster Salad au Cresson
For dessert you could choose between Plum Pudding with Brandy sauce, three kinds of pie and pineapple trifle, ice cream, Oka cheese and jelly.
The Local History Collection in the Central Library includes many menus from Calgary establishments. You can find them in the library catalogue by typing the name of the establishment and the word 'menu' in the search box on the Calgary Public Library homepage (http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/)
The library is a great place to do research. We have loads of resources to help with even the most difficult questions. And that is great if you have the time and the skills needed to do your own research. But what if you don't? Did you know that we have a service that can, for a fee, do your research for you? ResearchPlus provides customized, comprehensive fee-based research for individuals and businesses, as well as book loans, document delivery, photocopying, faxing and more.
If you are a member of an organization who may use the library and ResearchPlus, a Calgary Public Library organizational card is only $60 per year and gives you access to this service as well as many other Library resources!
For more information about how ResearchPlus can help you or your organization, contact us at 403-260-2712 or by email at researchplus@calgarypubliclibrary.com
Anyone who has read this blog knows about the very cool postcard collection that we have here in the Local History room. Many images on the blog are pulled from that collection, which can be viewed from the Community Heritage and Family History site by clicking on the link Postcards from the Past on the left side of the page. In that collection are quite a number of Christmas postcards – generally consisting of a vignette of a building or a scene from Calgary in an embossed card with a Christmas greeting in red around the picture. The card in this entry is a view of what is now Memorial Park Library.
These cards mostly date from the ‘teens, a time when the craze for picture postcards was at its highest. All kinds of innovative cards were produced, such as “diamond dust” cards on which the picture was outlined in a kind of sparkle. These cards wreaked havoc with the electric stamping machines and were, for a short time, banned.
Though Christmas cards were invented in 1843, the postcard craze at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century reduced their popularity. Postcards were less expensive to send and were a quick and easy way of sending greetings to family back home.
To see more examples of Christmas postcards from the Calgary Public Library collection, visit Postcards from the Past and search the site using the term “Christmas”.
One of the greatest perks in this job is the opportunity it provides to peruse some of the strangest and most interesting books you can imagine. I occasionally wander through the stacks to find interesting items to use in displays or when we are giving tours. I especially have my eye open for unusual sources for genealogists. Imagine my delight when I tripped over York Factory Medical Journals 1846-1849. This fascinating book is exactly what its title promises – the journals of the physician, Dr. William Smellie, who was assigned to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the denizens of York Factory, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post. The journals record the names, professions ages and genders of the patients as well as the symptoms of their illnesses and the treatment for them. Which raises the question, which was worse, the illness or the cure? For example, take the case of Baptiste Potvin, a labourer who visited the doctor on the 24th of March, 1847:
Complains of headache & lassitude: pulse full & moderate tongue of natural appearance: man of a stout habit of body. Habeat Calomelanos gr viii in pillula *** mica panis. (Take 8 grains of Mercurous Chloride in a pill with a crumb of bread)
Now, mercurous chloride is a purgative. Hardly a common treatment for headache today. Dr. Smellie continues:
Pill operated Copiously: headache unrelieved but the symptoms no wise more urgent. Habeat Vin. Antim 3 i pro em. (Have 1 ounce of Antimony wine for an emetic.) acknowledges himself much relieved by the emetic: subsequently: went to work.
I would have shut my mouth about the headache and gone back to work, too!
If you would like to read more of these journals, the book is available to view in the Local History Room on the 4th floor of the Central Library. It includes lots of interesting background information about the doctor himself, York Factory and the medical practices of the day. The book was edited by Colin and Elizabeth Briggs. The call number is 610.97127 BRI.
I love old newspapers. I could sit reading them for days on end (or at least until I get a microfilm headache). Most genealogists know that newspaper announcements can be a fabulous source for obituaries and other event announcements. They often include details that can’t easily be found in other sources. My problem, when I am looking for these announcements, is that I’m distracted by all the other stuff that newspapers offer. There is nothing better for gauging the tenor of the times in which our ancestors lived than a read through the daily (or weekly) paper. For example, I found this in The Eye Opener as I was researching popular response to Alberta becoming a province:
“Parting with the Territories is not sweet sorrow. It is a joy that has been adulterated with too much Edmonton.” Plus ça change…
And on the bottom of the same page:
“The N.W.M.P. authorities have finally closed all the maisons de diablerie a travers le pont de Langevin. C’est dommage, as the feller says.” (The Eye Opener 2 Sept. 1905: 1)
Calgary Public Library has lots of old newspapers in its collection. In addition to a complete run of the Calgary Herald, CPL holds microfilm copies of the Strathmore Standard, The Edmonton Bulletin, The Fort Macleod Gazette, The Calgary News Telegram and The Cardston News, just to name a few. The Alberta Heritage Digitization Project has made many Alberta newspapers available online. I visit their site at www.ourfutureourpast.ca regularly to get my newspaper fix. We can also request newspapers that we don’t have in our collection through our interlibrary loan service. Ask us if you are looking for a local newspaper for your ancestor’s hometown.
He was a Mountie, a surveyor and a soldier. Join us as Barb Brydges discusses her research on this fascinating man, her ancestor Thomas Chalmers who was involved in key events in Alberta history and the Boer War. Find out how her genealogical and historical research led to an article being published in Alberta History magazine and was used in Fred Stenson’s novel, The Great Karoo.
In Search of an Albertan Ancestor will be held in the meeting room on the 4th floor of the Central Library on Saturday November 29 from 1:00 to 2:30 PM. Register online or by calling 403-260-2620
Calgary's historic hotels are in the news again. This time it is the Cecil Hotel, built in 1912 to cater to the needs of the working man. It was described in a 1914 Albertan publication as "a cosy resort permeated with fellowship." A hotel down the street, the King Edward, catering to the same clientele, was called "the ideal home of the working man."
Hotels played an important part in the early history of this city. To see more pictures, visit our Postcards from the Past database. If you are interested in the history of hotels in Calgary, come down to the local history room of the Central Library and have a look at The Role of Hotels in Early Calgary by Harry Sanders and Bed and Breakfast by William M McLennan.
Most of us are familiar with the battalion numbers on Signal Hill but did you know that the young men who created those numbers were trained for battle on the land below the hill? This area was known as Camp Sarcee and beside it grew a small "town" of shops catering to the needs of these servicemen. The city, known as Sarcee City, had a tailor, an ice-cream parlor, a photo studio, a jeweller and watch repair, a pool hall, a cafe - everything a soldier may have needed.
If you have ancestors who gave their lives in the Second World War, Library and Archives Canada has a new database Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead. This database will allow researchers to more easily access these records.
![From Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-B2-1234]](http://10.4.20.43/photos/history/images/2063/thumb.aspx "Megantic")
Genealogists searching for that elusive link to the old country have a new tool at their command. The Canadian passenger lists from 1865-1935 have been indexed and are available on Ancestry LE. These lists contain more than 7 million names and record the arrivals of more than 4,000 ships. This is the first complete index of these records to be made available online. The site also links to the digitized images of the records, made available by Library and Archives Canada back in 2006.
You can access Ancestry LE at any of the branches of the Calgary Public Library. All you need is your library card.
Pat Burns was named Alberta's Greatest Citizen on Thursday October 16 at a gala event at the Wainwright Hotel at Heritage Park. As part of the Calgary Herald's Greatest Citizen project, which was launched to coincide with the paper's 125th anniversary, readers were asked to nominate and then vote for their choice for our Greatest Citizen. Over 18,000 votes were cast.
Pat Burns is known for many things. Born Patrick O'Byrne in Kirkfield Ontario he was the son of Irish Catholic immigrants. He said he "wrassled in his nightshirt" with William (later to be Sir William) McKenzie. This connection would serve him well. When McKenzie was building his railway west and needed beef in great amounts to feed his workers, he turned to his old Kirkfield buddy, Patrick. By the time he hit Calgary in 1889 Patrick had changed his name to Burns and was well on his way to becoming the millionaire owner of Burns and Co.
Burns built a beautiful home in the Beltline district as a gift to his wife. He was one of the Big Four who established the original Calgary Stampede. He bought the Bow Valley Ranch from William Roper Hull in 1902. He was made a Senator, the appointment announced at a huge city-wide birthday party given for him in 1931, complete with a 3000 pound cake. But Pat Burns is remembered as our greatest citizen not just for his wealth and possessions, but for his philanthropic efforts. As a thank you for the massive birthday celebration, Burns gave a roast to every family who had an unemployed breadwinner. He donated to many causes, believing that success was meaningless unless shared. In his will, Pat Burns set up the Burns Memorial Fund to provide financial support for widows and orphans of police and firefighters and for poor children. The fund continues to provide help and support to families of firefighters and police and to low income children.
Hurray for Pat Burns, our Greatest Citizen!
Do you know about the Calgary Heritage Triangle?
The Calgary Heritage Triangle is a partnership among the Calgary Public Library, the Glenbow Library and Archives and the City of Calgary Archives. All are located within easy walking distance of each other. These organizations collect and preserve Calgary's heritage to ensure it is accessible to Calgarians. Download the Brochure to find more information and maps to these locations. What amazing resources in the heart of downtown Calgary!
Johanna Lane, of Calgary Ghost Tours, will offer up some spine-tingling stories of the darker side of Calgary's history. The program is at 6:00 on Wednesday October 29th at the Central Library in the 4th floor program room.
To register, or to find out about other great library programs, visit our website at
http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/Programs.aspx
Library and Archives Canada has digitized documents from the personnel files of the NWMP from 1873-1904. These files contain a wealth of information for historians, genealogists and those interested in the NWMP and the role they played in the evolution and development of Western Canada and the Yukon. The files contain all kinds of documents sometimes including personal correspondence and newspaper clippings. Check it out at
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/nwmp-pcno/index-e.html
Also check out the great collection of items relating to the history of the NWMP in our Local History room. We have annual reports, periodicals, lists of personnel, histories, and postcards, just to name a few.
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