Editor’s note: The banner image above, awarding of a Dominion Day track trophy at the Blairmore Bandstand, is courtesy of the Crowsnest Museum and Archives.
Written by: Ronald Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer
A well-known landmark in the Crowsnest Pass has recently been designated as a Provincial Historic resource and is now listed on the Alberta Register of Historic Places.
View of the Blairmore Bandstand from the east, showing its wooden construction and prominent position along Blairmore’s main commercial roadway, June 2021. Source: Historic Resources Management, Alberta Arts, Culture and Status of Women.
On your drive through the Crowsnest Pass, if you were to pull off Highway 3 and travel down the streets of the communities that make up the municipality you will see historic buildings that harken back to the boom periods of these coal mining towns. One structure that you may miss is a small bandstand in the community of Blairmore situated in a green space between 20th Avenue and the Canadian Pacific Railway line. It may be an unassuming structure, but the Blairmore Bandstand is one of the most significant sites in the Crowsnest Pass – a community landmark and a symbol of hard-won workers’ rights and the labour movement of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Blairmore Bandstand is typical of such structures. Built of wood, the bandstand consists of a raised, circular platform with railings and interior benches under an eight-sided, peaked roof with flagpole. Bandstands were once a common and important fixture in many Alberta communities. Associated with Victorian and Edwardian Age beliefs about the healing and restful benefits of urban green spaces, education and wholesome entertainment, bandstands were often the centrepiece of urban parks, where they were used for public events such as concerts and speeches. Being situated in publicly accessible spaces also leant their use as rallying points for social movements and protests.
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from author Adriana A. Davies’ new book, From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta’s Italian History. You can purchase this book, along with her first memoir, My Theatre of Memory: A Life in Words, at Guernicaeditions.com.
Written by: Adriana A. Davies
Restaurateurs and Chefs
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Italian food was considered alien in Alberta. While local pasta manufacturers and grocers helped to introduce Italian products to the general public, it would be pioneer restaurateurs who would build the popularity of Italian cuisine. While individuals worked as cooks in commercial kitchens likely from the earliest days of immigration, Italian restaurants would not emerge as a culinary force until the post-Second World War wave of immigration.[1] Soldiers who fought in Italy acquired a taste for Italian food and looked for it in Italian neighbourhoods back home. Historian John Gilchrist observed in a 2011 article that new immigrants settle near each other and, “Quickly, entrepreneurs open shops that sell foods and materials from the homeland. And soon, a restaurant or two opens to serve the needs of the community.” He continues:
Adventurous diners from across the city venture into the cultural enclave to sample the wares. They report back to their friends and more ‘outsiders’ arrive, bumping up business. In time, entrepreneurs may move or open a second location in the city’s business centre or ‘outsider’ community, expanding the clientele, and helping connect their community to the broader population…. In Calgary, this pattern applies to the two cultural enclaves – Chinatown and Bridgeland – that date to the early 1900s and to the development of many local Chinese and Italian restaurants.[2]
Gilchrist refers specifically to Gene Cioni whose daughter Mary authored Spaghetti Western: How My Father Brought Italian Food to the West.[3] Her claim that her father brought Italian food to the west might seem extravagant but he certainly appears to have created Calgary’s first Italian restaurant at 111 – 4th Street NE on the edges of the Italian district of Riverside/Bridgeland.
The People’s Bakery van with Curly Miglierina in front with an unknown child, Drumheller, Alberta, August 15, 1918. Source: Glenbow, Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary NA-2389-31.
Genesio Ciono was born in Antrodocco, Rieti, Lazio, the son of Sabato Cioni, a shoemaker, and his second wife, Flavia Cardellini. Sabato died in 1908 leaving his widow to care for five children. The connection to Canada occurred when 15-year-old daughter Gisa, from the first marriage, went to Calgary to marry a man she did not know – Ricardo Santopinto. Gisa’s letters painted a glowing picture of Calgary and inspired in the 37-year-old Flavia, who felt trapped in poverty, a desire to immigrate. Relatives arranged a marriage with Annibale Corradetti, a 49-year-old widower who worked for the city as a labourer. According to Mary, he was mean-spirited and stingy, and did not honour his promise to Flavia to give her money to bring her sons (Genesio and Sabatino) to Canada. A resourceful woman, she saved money from her household expenses and sent it to Italy. It was enough for only one fare and, Gene, the elder, came to Calgary in 1923. He turned 16 on shipboard. Flavia wanted Gene to become a barber and he worked at the Calgary Shoe Hospital to save money. Two years later he enrolled at the Hemphill Barber School and graduated in 1925. Tragically, his mother died of a ruptured gall bladder in 1926, and Gene blamed his stepfather for lack of attention to her health. This freed him from a trade that he had not embraced and, through his cousin and best friend Mario Grassi, he obtained a job at the Palliser Hotel as a busboy (Mario was a waiter). Soon after, he became sous-chef and learned the CPR repertoire of largely English and French specialties.
Written by: Sara King, Government Records Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta
In 1915, Alberta embarked on a social experiment that would impact the lives of everyone in the province: prohibition. A century after the repeal of prohibition in 1923, the Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) is pleased to present Dried Out: Prohibition in Alberta, on display until February 2024.
Alexander Bourassa, Frederick Plamondon, Arthur Bourassa and Benoit Plamondon drinking and smoking inside the Plamondon store owned by the Chevigny Bros., M. Corbière, manager, c. 1920. Source: PAA, PR1982.0157 (A7781).
The exhibit explores how the temperance movement took root in Alberta. The moral and political crusade to ban alcohol would have unintended consequences, both good and bad. It spurred the push for women’s suffrage, led to the creation of the Alberta Provincial Police and prompted experiments in direct democracy. But it would also lead to people flouting the law at all levels of society, which would shape politics, policies and communities for years to come.
Editor’s note: The article below was originally published on the RAM Blog maintained by staff at the Royal Alberta Museum.
Written by: Matthias Buck, Assistant Curator, Invertebrate Zoology
As an entomologist and biologist, I get very excited about the arrival of spring. Finally, the long, dreary winter months are over and nature bursts back to life. Spring flowers, tender green leaves and of course all kinds of insects! It was the same for me this year, but the season started with a string of exciting scientific discoveries that I never anticipated.
One of my favorite aspects of my job as Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Zoology is going on field trips to explore Alberta’s diverse ecosystems: the prairies, mountains and the boreal forest. But this spring I was reminded like never before that we are surrounded by biodiversity wherever we are, including in a big city like Edmonton—a diversity that still has a lot of unknowns and is always changing.
Grote’s Sallow (Copivaleria grotei) from Edmonton, Westmount, April 24, 2023. Source Matthias Buck.
The mission of the Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) is to acquire, preserve and make records available to the people of Alberta. This includes material created by the provincial government, but also records from individuals, families and organizations in the province. In our Indigenous-related holdings, we hold records from as early as the 1700s and 1800s, with some record holdings spanning more than five decades—some even a century. This week’s post is an update to work that has been carried out at the PAA on access to its Indigenous-related holdings.
The PAA holds a wide variety of records that were created by and about Indigenous people and communities. Although there are many useful and interesting records, it could be difficult to know where to begin and to find connections. Archival research can be daunting, as records are organized by creator rather than subject and are arranged as they were originally maintained, not necessarily in a chronological way. Our goal has been to identify the wide variety of Indigenous content, either created by or about the Indigenous people of the province, and to present a comprehensive and easy to use subject guide to these holdings.
The first half of a letter from Jenny Margetts (President of IRIW) to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR2013.0313/114.1.
The PAA first released an “Aboriginal Resource Guide” document in 2006, and it listed the records identified as relevant to Indigenous communities in Alberta. This guide provided the building blocks for archival research to become more user-friendly.
Editor’s note: The banner image above is courtesy of Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site.
Written by: Alison Thomas
Stephen Rusnack—also known as Rusnak, or Russnack or Rousnack—was a homesteader, a soldier and a thief. He came to Pakan, Alberta in 1899, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916 and was arrested for robbery in 1921.
Rusnack’s colourful history may be just the story of one man, but it is also a part of the larger experience of immigrants to Alberta at the beginning of the 20th century. Although Rusnack’s choices (and mistakes) were uniquely his own, the situations and social pressures he faced would have been familiar to immigrants throughout the province.
The Rusnacks came to Canada from Toporvitsi, Bukovina as part of the first wave of immigration to Canada from Austrian Ukraine. Stephen was only a toddler, and wouldn’t have remembered their melancholic goodbyes, the cramped train ride to Hamburg, or getting sick on the third-class voyage to Halifax. He might have remembered those early summers, when he and his family lived together with the Poniches and Nykolaychuks while the men were off working the railways. Although they built their house early, the Rusnacks do not seem to have become part of the emerging Ukrainian middle class. The older Rusnack children did not attend much school, although by 1916 the younger ones were probably enrolled.The family was finally naturalized in 1913, after applying sometime before 1901. They were also assimilating to Anglo-Canadian culture in one major way: they had converted from Orthodoxy to Methodism.
Pakan Victoria boys off to enlist for service in first World War. Photo donated to Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site by Metro Ponich.
Editor’s note: Banner image of Dene Tha’ First Nation drummers at M’behcholia courtesy of Laura Golebiowski.
Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Heritage Section) in collaboration with Dene Tha’ First Nation and Matt Munson (Yves Claus Didzena)
It was known as The Place of Frozen Smoke. Where, on cold winter days, the smoke from countless campfires could be seen rising high above the lakeshore. A landscape that has sustained Dene Tha’ First Nation since time immemorial. It’s name is M’behcholia, translating to Big Knife, or Bistcho Lake. The name of the lake itself is M’behcho. Multiple English spellings and translation attempts exist for these names.
For many, it is an ancestral place where all living Dene Tha’ First Nation members have a connection. Elders and knowledge-keepers tell us there are trails all around, extending from the lake. The Dene Tha’ used horses, canoe and dog teams to travel the vast expanse of shoreline, pitching tents and tipis to camp and make dry fish and meat along the way. The lakeshore was dotted with permanent settlements, seasonal camps, fishing spots, gravesites and sacred places. Each place had a Dene name, inspired by the activities that occurred there.
M’behcholia in the fall. Source: Laura Golebiowski.
It was the birthplace of several Ndátin—dreamers or prophets—including Gochee (Brother), Mbek’ádhi (He is Recovered) and Nógha (Wolverine). These spiritual leaders were trained by listening to the stories of animals and powerful ancestors, and would relay visions of the future to the Dene Tha’.
Written by: Allan Rowe, Historic Places Research Officer
On March 25, 1910, a party of emigrants embarked from Great Britain to settle on 24 “ready-made farms” in the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Irrigation Block in Alberta. The farms were clustered together in a colony located approximately 50 kilometres east of Calgary, in an area that came to be known informally as the “English Colony” (officially named Nightingale in 1911). While the English Colony was not a long-term success—the majority of the original immigrants had moved on by 1912—the history of the colony offers a fascinating window into different aspects of early agricultural settlement in Alberta.
The story of the English Colony begins in 1904 with the CPR’s acquisition of nearly three million acres of land in Treaty 7 territory between Calgary and Medicine Hat (south of the Red Deer River and north of the Bow River). While this area had generally been viewed by settlers as too dry for farming, the CPR believed that irrigation would transform the land and make it suitable for agriculture. In the language of the time, irrigation would, “make the desert bloom.” The company began construction on the irrigation system in 1904, which diverted water from the Bow River just east of Calgary and delivered it to a reservoir (now Chestermere Lake). From there water was distributed through a series of secondary canals and ditches to farms throughout the western third of the Irrigation Block. By 1910, the CPR had already sold nearly 70,000 acres of irrigated land in the western section.
a. House and Trees of F. Newell, Nightingale, 1925. Source: (CU144999) by Western Irrigation District. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.Farming at the Nightingale Colony, ca. 1912. Source: (CU1173544) by Pollard, Henry. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.Read more →
The banner image above is of Oliver School in Edmonton, which served as one of the headquarters for neighbourly help. The blackboard here listed names of women who were willing to take in children whose parents were ill, and the kitchens in the home economics department cooked soup to send out by automobile to households with the flu. Image courtesy of Prairie Postcards Collection, Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
Written by: Suzanna Wagner
March is Women’s History Month. What does that mean? What’s unique about women’s history? Isn’t it just regular history, but about women? Well, sort of. Studying the experiences of women in the past has some specific challenges: the ordinary parts of historical women’s lives have a tendency to get ignored, glossed over or just plain forgotten. Why? Often, it is because there are few records that preserved the everyday realities of women’s work and lives. Other times it’s because the everyday substance of historical women’s lives was considered unimportant, uninteresting or inconsequential and not worth examining closely.
And yet, when we dive deeply into the history of the 1918 influenza epidemic in Edmonton, we see not just how desperately important “women’s work” was, but how, in a rare historical moment, the details of women’s work were carefully recorded and published in the newspaper.
Written By: Colleen Haukaas, Archaeological Survey
This week’s post highlights archaeological sites recorded in 2021 under archaeological permits issued by the Archaeological Survey.Part One of this post discussed archaeological permits, archaeologists, and archaeological field activities from 2021.
More than 40,000 archaeological sites have been recorded in Alberta, and archaeologists record 500-700 new sites per year. Sites can include a few artifacts or complex, multi-site areas like Áísínai’pi/Writing-on-Stone. Most sites in recent decades are recorded by archaeologists working in the cultural resources management (CRM) industry. CRM archaeologists work with developers to avoid potential impacts to known or potential archaeological resources in Historic Resources Impact Assessments. Sites are also recorded by researchers at universities, museums, and other institutions, who tend to conduct detailed research at the same sites year-to-year. Site records are managed and archived at the Archaeological Survey’s Alberta Archaeological Sites Inventory.
You can explore previous Survey in Numbers to compare statistics year over year.
RETROactive 