A collection of some very old pictures is getting decidedly modern treatment, all thanks to the federal government.
The MusĂ©e HĂ©ritage Museum recently completed a nearly yearlong project to produce high-resolution digitized images of approximately 1,000 photographs that were donated almost a decade ago by the St. Albert Historical Society. The images were originally collected by that organization during its prolonged research effort before publishing The Black Robe’s Vision, the definitive history of St. Albert that was published in 1985.
“It’s a good collection of photographs because it covers a wide span of content,” explained museum archivist Rene Georgopalis.
The double volume set of Black Robe’s Vision extends from the 1880s to the 1970s. Some of the images include scenes of Main Street from a century ago, a portrait of a seated Bishop Vital Grandin around 1880, the beer room in the Bruin Inn in 1930, plus the George Hodgson family in 1900, Clara Brenneis and a friend wearing baseball uniforms circa 1919, and the archway of Mission Park on Sept. 21, 1929.
The work was completed thanks to a grant of $7,500 from Library and Archives Canada and the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation through the Archives Society of Alberta.
Georgopalis explained that there is a lot of value in not only preserving these old photographs but also in making them accessible to all.
“We are here to serve the public. This just opens the doors to that more. Instead of having me as the person you have to go to for a photo of Perron General Store, anybody can browse it,” she began. “So instead of always coming to me and asking about something specific that we might have, now anybody can look at them online.”
“That’s our goal: to have as much available as we can.”
There, the photographs can be downloaded for whatever purpose the public wants. Usually they are for school reports or personal research but the sky’s the limit.
“If you want to make wallpaper out of it, you can,” she joked. “You never know what someone’s going to use it for.”
That website is located at http://asalive.archivesalberta.org:8080/access/asa/photo although the photos won’t be available until April 30.
The museum has a collection of thousands of other historical photographs, along with an extensive selection of maps, letters and other civic and personal records and documents. These archives play an important role in protecting and preserving the heritage of St. Albert and area.
The Musée Héritage Museum is a member of the Canadian Council of Archives, a nationwide network of more than 800 similar archival institutions. These all focus on preserving archival resources including documents, maps, photographs and audio-visual materials, and making them available to all Canadians.
For additional information on this project or to learn how to donate materials to the museum’s archives, contact Georgopalis at 780-459-1528 or visit www.museeheritage.com.
