A few hundred people were all that consisted of the modest village of St. Albert in the years immediately preceding 1900. It had only gained the status as a village in 1899 but township would arrive only a few years later, thanks in no small part to the beginning of its first population boom. Western and Eastern Europeans were courted from their homelands, to pick up their things, pack up their bags and make the long trek to Western Canada.
About 1896, a change in this country's immigration policy brought nearly 300,000 Ukrainians and Polish immigrants across the Atlantic to start their new lives in North America. The government encouraged as many as possible to settle in the Prairies. Once the Canadian National Rail line reached the top of what is now called Mission Hill, there was a big increase in the influx of new citizens to St. Albert.
Most citizens are familiar with French names like Boudreau, Levasseur and Perron, but what about Banack, Bondarevich, Douziech, Hauptman, Klak, Luszczewski, Martyna, Meleshko, Muszczynski, Poloway, Popow, Pudlowski, Romanko, Sernowski, Skrobot, Soloduk, Wachowicz, Wolniewicz and Zyha?
Last year, University of Alberta historian Michal Mlynarz conducted a research project for the Musée Héritage Museum, trying to build up its knowledge base of the city's early Ukrainian, Polish and Russian settlers who helped to develop the area.
"It went great, better than expected," he said of the reams of interviews that he conducted and the memoirs, photographs and other documents that were collected.
The project went well. The museum now has enough resources to fill its main exhibit space and that show is now on display. The exhibit is mostly based on Mlynarz's research, but is backed up by what the museum already had in its archives.
"Most of this exhibit is stuff that we found from people. We found a lot of families that were really enthusiastic once they learned about the project. We were really happy to have all of this new information … a good base to build on for the future."
Slavic St. Albert
Slavic St. Albert is the long-overdue tribute to those hard-working men and women who travelled long and far to get here, to make their names and sow the seeds of their families' heritage in the fertile land surrounding the Sturgeon River.
"(Mlynarz) gave us the general context of what was going on in Europe during the different periods when the immigrants came," explained curator Joanne White, adding that his work fleshed out a lot of details on specific family histories and what those families did to establish themselves here, including market gardening or businesses.
"Any time we can add a story – particularly if we've already got collections of photos and things to fill in the blanks – it's extremely useful. He covered a lot of information."
Many of the immigrants came from Galicia, an historical region that now straddles the border of Poland and Ukraine. A promotional poster printed in Cyrillic letters demonstrates how enticing emigration to Canada must have seemed. Close by, a photo of Galician immigrants shows what so many of these people looked like, wearing traditional garb.
The show is a minor cornucopia of personal and historic artifacts, some of a very obtuse nature. The Ukrainian Easter eggs, painted dolls, Christmas decorations, the wheat bouquet, the finely detailed bench and the hand-embroidered handkerchief case all have fairly obvious personal significance with regards to tradition, culture and family heritage. There's no denying the intricacy and gorgeousness of the attention to detail found in the ethnic woodwork or stitching.
In the glass display near the 1980s era Polish Solidarnosc poster and is a small cross that Edmonton artist Bruno Stasiak made using an unusual medium and tools: he chewed it with bread. It was the only way he could fashion religious symbols during his imprisonment during the Solidarity social movement. Also there is the letter he sent through the underground post to his wife, Alicia. He wrote her a secret message on the envelope using milk.
The Slavs themselves
Attendees to the exhibit will get to learn so much about some of the more prominent and recognizable names in St. Albert's eastern European ancestors: Mary Sernowski, Marie Wolniewicz, Hauptman, and Romanko.
White was thankful to learn about local connections to larger world events. Maria-Alina Lukaszewicz was 14 when her family was accosted in the middle of the night and sent to a Siberian work camp on a cattle train. There, she met her future husband, (Olek) Aleksander Romanko.
"Several of us here were unaware of the Polish Siberian experience during the Second World War," said White. "You hear about the Siberian work camps but to put a face on that and to bring it right home, for a number of staff, that was really educational."
Maria Romanko wrote about her experiences in a book called Polish Heritage in Alberta. She said that having her and her husband's story told at the exhibit has been a positive experience.
"I'd like people to know what the life under Russian rule was like, how they treated the people, and the suffering that people went through and what many people still go through even now," she stated. "It was a tragedy. It changed my whole life."
After the gulag, she and Olek eventually got married and lived in England. They had two children before they moved to Canada.
"Canada is our true home. For the first time, the sky was blue. I was able to go to university and I became a teacher. It's a paradise. We love Canada very, very much."
Slavic St. Albert would be far from complete without the inclusion of Brother Anthony Kowalczyk, OMI, the Polish Oblate who first arrived in St. Albert in 1896 when he was about 30. He didn't serve the immigrants like the other Polish priests, however. He worked at missions that served Métis and First Nations communities.
He was only on the scene for a few months before he suffered a sawmill accident. His suffering didn't stop there as it took four days to travel to Edmonton. Unfortunately, infection took hold and he had to have his forearm amputated. The only thing that he could hold to ease the pain was his Oblate cross. His leather and metal prosthetic arm is on display.
Many people have reported stories about how Kowalczyk's faith and prayers resulted in miracles. The process of beatification was started in 1982 after Pope John Paul II named him a Servant of God just a few years earlier. The missionary hasn't yet been made a saint.
The show
Slavic St. Albert runs until May 19. The opening reception will be held next Thursday. Mlynarz will be in attendance and is scheduled to speak. Everyone is welcome to attend, but all are requested to RSVP by calling the museum at 780-459-1528 or by email to [email protected] first.
For more information, visit www.museeheritage.com.
The museum is located in the east wing on the main floor of St. Albert Place, 5 St. Anne Street.
