Location: 130-9 Avenue S.E., Calgary, Alberta, T2G 0P3 (Main Building); Second Floor, 150 9 Ave SW, Calgary, AB, T2P 3H9 (Satellite gallery)
Contact:
- Glenbow has transferred most of its physical Library and Archive collection to the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary. Contact the Glenbow Western Research Centre at asc@ucalgary.libanswers.com
- For archival material for art, artists, as well as for some First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, contact Daryl Betenia, Director, Collections & Curatorial, dbetenia@glenbow.org
- Review the Department Directory for other contact information
Access: Admission is free. Timed tickets can be booked in advance.
Website Address: http://www.glenbow.org/
The Glenbow Museum was founded in 1966 when petroleum entrepreneur and philanthropist Eric Lafferty Harvie donated his extensive collection of Western Canadian and international art, artifacts, and historical documents to the people of Alberta.
The Glenbow Museum’s archival collections consist of 5,000 linear metres of records including textual records, photographs, films, and sound recordings from over 3,000 individuals, businesses, and organizations which document the social, political, and economic history of Calgary, southern Alberta, and Western Canada from the 1860s to the 1990s. Some areas of strength of the archival collections include First Nations, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, pioneer life, ranching and agriculture, the petroleum industry, politics, labour and unions, women, the arts, and business. The Museum’s library collections consist of over 100,000 books, pamphlets, and journals, including 5,000 maps, 6,000 trade catalogues, thousands of newspaper clippings, and hundreds of school books.
The Museum’s library and archival collections contain a wealth of material related to the history of medicine. Significant collections related to the history of nursing include the Victorian Order of Nurses (Calgary) (1909-ca. 1995) fonds which consists of 6 linear metres of textual records; the Calgary General Hospital School of Nursing (1867-2007) fonds which consists of 6 linear metres of textual records and other materials; the Holy Cross School of Nursing (1910-2011) fonds which consists of 1.7 linear metres of textual records and 1,735 photographs; and the records of Joy Duncan’s Frontier Nursing Project (1911-1978) which consists of 67 linear centimetres of textual records and recordings of 29 interviews Duncan conducted with former frontier nurses from the northern parts of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories.
Collections related to women, gender, and sexuality include the Sexual Health Access Alberta (1973-2010) fonds, the Alberta Provincial Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1893-1981) fonds, the Young Women’s Christian Association Calgary (1907-2000) fonds, the Young Women’s Christian Association Women’s Resource Centre Calgary (1882-1977) fonds, the Alberta Council on Child and Family Welfare (1918-1982) fonds, the Calgary Birth Control Association (1960-1996) fonds, the Calgary Local Council of Women (1919-2001) fonds, the Calgary Status of Women Action Committee (1974-ca. 2011) fonds, the Family Life Education Council of Calgary (1942-1980) fonds, and the Children’s Hospital Aid Society (1914-2010) fonds.
Other collections related to the history of medicine include the Rehabilitation Society of Calgary for the Handicapped (1953-1987) fonds, the Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre (1952-2005) fonds, the Alberta Registered Dieticians Association (1950-2002) fonds, the Calgary Medical Society (1927-1991) fonds, the Calgary Hospitals Board (1905-1970) fonds, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta and NWT (1957-1988) fonds.
The Glenbow Museum’s archives also contains two significant collections documenting the history of policing in Alberta. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1873-1964) fonds consists of 4 linear metres of textual records and 10 microfilm reels containing orders-in-council of the government of Canada relating to the RCMP and its predecessors, as well as diaries, accounts, wanted lists, and criminal records for the RCMP’s southern Alberta detachments. The Alberta Provincial Police (1917-ca. 1940) fonds consists of 63 centimetres of textual records containing accused persons files, criminal identification forms, diaries, and a case evidence notebook.
The Museum’s extensive archival collections related to Canada’s First Nations people include the records of Indian Agencies located in Western Canada such as the Battleford Indian Agency (1884-1944), the Blackfoot Indian Agency (1894-1941), Hobbema Indian Agency (1884-1949), Peigan Indian Agency (1883-1923), Sarcee Indian Agency (1877-1944), and the Blood Indian Agency (1885-1944). These records include monthly reports, medical reports, employee and school correspondence, agents’ diaries, farm instructors’ diaries, reserve ledgers, registers of births and deaths, ration lists, annuity pay lists, and farming records. Other records related to Canada’s First Nations people include the Metis Association of Alberta (1892-1979) fonds, Warren Sinclair’s Metis Genealogy (1997-1999) collection, Calgary Indian Missions (1892-1921) fonds, the St. Joseph’s Industrial School (1884-1909) fonds, Fran Fraser’s Blackfoot Culture (1930s-1973) collection, the Indian Association of Alberta (1931-1975) fonds, the Joe Little Chief fonds, the Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (1911-1933) fonds, the Louis Riel (1869-1946) collection, and the John Lee Laurie (1940-1959) fonds.
Records relating to the petroleum industry of Western Canada are a particular strength of the Glenbow Museum’s archival collections. These collections contain material on subjects pertaining to the history of medicine such as health and welfare, safety, and the environment. The Imperial Oil Limited fonds (1860-2014) consists of 320 linear metres of textual records plus other materials documenting all aspects of the company’s operations. Other collections related to the petroleum industry include the Royalite Oil Company Ltd. (1911-1981) fonds, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (1953-2014) fonds, the Canadian Oil and Refinery Company Ltd. (1922-1926) fonds, the Highland Oil Company Ltd. (1925-1932) fonds, the Home Oil Company Ltd. (1936-1972) fonds, the Oil Wives of Calgary (1952-1911) fonds, the Pacific Oil and Refinery of Alberta Ltd. (1943-1945) fonds, the Brock Petroleums Limited (1929-1962) fonds, the Arctic Petroleum Operators’ Association and Eastcoast Petroleum Operators’ Association (1967-1987) fonds, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen (1948-1998) fonds, the Oil Sands Oral History Project (2011-2013) fonds, and the Turner Valley Oilfield Society Oral History Project (1990-1992) collection.
The Museum also contains numerous archival collections from religious institutions and organizations such as the Beth Tzedec Congregation (1948-1986) fonds, the Beth Israel Players (1970-1990) fonds, the Calgary Inter-Faith Community Action Association (1968-2006) fonds, the Calgary Jewish Academy (1928-1984) fonds, the Calgary Jewish Community Council (1942-1985) fonds, the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute (1927-1969) fonds, the Catholic Women’s League of Canada Alberta Mackenzie Council (1914-1985) fonds, the Central United Church (1883-1985) fonds, the Christ Church (1895-1994) fonds, the Foothills Christian College (1927-1986) fonds, the Free Methodist Church Alberta Conference (1875-1970) fonds, the Hillhurst Baptist Church (1910-1968) fonds, the Jewish Family Service Calgary (1960-1981) fonds, the Jewish Historical Committee of Calgary (ca. 1902-1990) collection, the Mormon Pioneers Genealogical Project (1957-1986) collection, the National Council of Jewish Women Calgary Section (1945-1965) fonds, and the Unitarian Church of Calgary (1916-2008) fonds.
The Museum’s website contains detailed online catalogues of its 850 most popular archival fonds and 100,000 pages of digitized archival documents. Most of these digitized documents pertain to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the First Nations people of Western Canada, immigration and settlement, agriculture, and politics. Click here to access the detailed catalogues and digitized documents.
The Glenbow Museum has also begun digitizing its art and artifact collections. Currently, images and descriptions from a sample of the Museum’s art, community history, military history, minerals, world culture, and native North American collections are available to be viewed online. More items are being added regularly. Click here to search the online collections.
The Glenbow Museum has created a series of online exhibits using artifacts from the Museum’s collections documenting a variety of themes in the history of Western Canada such as immigration and settlement, the history of Calgary, and the First Nations people of the West. Some exhibits also available in French.