Contents

Our Mission

We inspire our communities to engage in the human history of southwestern Alberta, together, preserving and sharing collections and stories.

Our Vision

The people of southwestern Alberta have a vibrant sense of place, belonging, and understanding through connections with their past, present and future.

Our Values

Excellence

We are dedicated to, passionate about, and committed to producing work of outstanding quality.

Stewardship

We treasure, advocate, and protect the stories, objects, memories and relationships of our communities.

Integrity

We are committed to scrupulous research and presentation, that includes applying diverse skills, expertise and ways of knowing.

Inclusivity

We create workplace and visitor-focused experiences that are welcoming, accessible, respectful and collaborative.

Creativity and innovation

We thrive on challenge, ingenuity and improvement.

2020 was quite the year! I heard the word “unprecedented” many, many times. COVID-19 dominated the year. The pandemic brought virtually our whole province to a standstill, including the programs at the Galt Museum & Archives and Fort Whoop-Up. We are optimistic about what 2021 will bring.

Some important events occurred at the Galt. Our long-time CEO, Susan Burrows-Johnson, retired from her position at the Galt at the end of April. Susan worked tirelessly to ensure excellent programming with our professional and creative staff. The Galt Museum & Archives and Fort Whoop-Up extended their reputation across the province under her direction. At the end of 2020, we were able to thank Susan in a meaningful way.

The Board spent the beginning of the year searching for a replacement CEO. An intense process culminated in hiring Darrin Martens just before the shutdown. 

The Board is grateful that Darrin was able to begin at that time. He was introduced to the Galt in a dramatic way and has dealt with many significant issues facing the Galt. Remarkably, Darrin was rapidly able to get a handle on the operations, get to know the staff and plan for the unprecedented. Having staff work from home and incorporating stringent public health procedures is not something we ever anticipated. Darrin walked the Galt through this process, and we are well-positioned for when we reopen in 2021.

Our staff are incredible! They have been strong and willing to do what needed to be done, despite significant changes in responsibilities, relationships and methodologies. The hope of returning to a degree of normalcy has been a thread running through each day. The Board appreciates the commitment of our staff to planning and providing a safe venue with innovative programs when we can reopen. Our online presence has grown significantly, and we are encouraged by community support. 

Yes, we are living in unprecedented times. However, we will continue to tell the story of Lethbridge and southern Alberta.

Vic Mensch, Board Chair

“Truly enjoyed and appreciated the experience offered at the Galt. Lots of interactive exhibits featuring the diversity of cultures that contributed to the area with a significant portion devoted not only to Indigenous Canadians but also those of Chinese and Japanese ancestry.”

C. Smith, 2020

2020 was a year none of us will soon forget, nor should we. Our community faced tumultuous social, cultural, political and professional challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic brought us together in ways we never imagined and kept us apart like never before. The Galt Museum & Archives and Fort Whoop-Up continued to serve our members and visitors throughout the year, albeit through reduced and protected in-person engagements and enhanced opportunities online.

There was a ray of light that shone continually at the museum: the commitment of the Galt team of staff and volunteers to provide mandate-driven, safe, innovative and quality community-based projects and programs. No obstacles were too big, no technology too difficult; the team refused to be hampered by the pandemic. The result has been an unprecedented engagement with our online community. We released a host of digital content, including virtual exhibits, video presentations, history articles, and archival photos and videos. Our content reached people across the world in the safety of their living rooms, home offices and home schools. We demonstrated that our content is relevant, meaningful and useful to people of all ages, across all geographies, and to those of many different nationalities. 

2020 was also the year that I began my tenure as the institution’s CEO/Executive Director. My take away from 2020 is a simple word: resiliency. I have been fortunate to witness resiliency in work undertaken by the Board of Directors; the staff teams at the museum and fort; our volunteers, members and Friends organization; and those who were able to physically visit us and participate in our programs. I feel very fortunate to be part of this great organization and to work with such dedicated and incredibly talented individuals every day. 2021 will undoubtedly bring with it new challenges and opportunities. Looking forward, the Galt will continue to adjust to the realities of a COVID world, create new engagements, provide our community with the services it has come to value and trust, and develop a new strategic plan with our stakeholders.

Our story will continue to unfold at the Galt Museum & Archives.

Darrin J Martens, CEO/Executive Director

2019 was a record year for both the Galt Museum & Archives and Fort Whoop-Up. More people held annual passes than any previous year, and in-person attendance was the highest in our history. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced our numbers for 2020. 

Our team focused on ensuring the health and safety of staff and visitors and creating a welcoming environment for everyone passing through our doors. Our visitation numbers were down compared to previous years, but they were similar to the Alberta Tourism Market Monitor trends, which recorded a 74.3% decrease in visitation across the sector in 2020.

Facility Rentals

The Galt continues to be a vibrant gathering place for community members and visitors. Staffing, venue setup, and coordination of the available spaces between museum-run programs and external bookings were crucial to ensuring that each occasion ran smoothly. Before COVID-19 forced the museum to close and reschedule or cancel bookings, the Galt had already been booked almost every Saturday throughout the year, a higher rate of bookings than even in 2019. These trends demonstrate that our rentals and bookings were on track for another record setting year. In the end, a total of 34 events were booked and hosted in the four rentable spaces at the museum

The Galt Museum & Archives remains one of the most popular venues in Lethbridge for weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties and business events. One of the most common reasons that renters reported booking the Galt was because our facility has “the best view in Lethbridge.”

Stores

The stores at the museum and fort add significant value to the visitor experience, and sales contribute to the organization’s operations.

Objects sold at both stores are selected because they may have a historical or cultural link to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, or to our exhibits. The fort store includes a large selection of Indigenous product and powwow regalia related objects. The stores continue to be among the few places to purchase Lethbridge-themed memorabilia and souvenirs. We expanded the selection of products available for visitors to order online from both locations through a contract with Inspire Marketing & Media. The focus on e-commerce resulted in sales of products through our websites increasing about 700%. 

This season was considerably different than past seasons, given the changes required by COVID-19 restrictions. Instead of opening in early May, as usual, the fort opened on June 29 and closed on September 6. The fort was a popular venue for visitors throughout the summer and well into what is usually our shoulder season because of the outdoor aspects of the visitor experience. At the end of the regular season, the fort decided to welcome visitors on the weekends through September. We held events in the fall and winter until the provincial government required heritage sites and museums to close in mid-December. 

Staff focused on welcoming guests safely while providing meaningful experiences. We made sure that all guests were part of guided tours with a limit of ten guests per tour. Because of the limit on the number of visitors per hour, we implemented a booking system to manage visitor volume. The hours the fort was open to the public were reduced to Tuesday through Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. The fort saw a large increase in the purchase of annual memberships in 2020. Experiences and Events

We launched the Ii’ethawaahkaa: Fort Whoop-Up Picnic Lunch Basket in partnership with Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens and Mocha Cabana. The fort’s chef designed the menu, and the culinary staff at Mocha Cabana prepared the food throughout the season. We also launched our Niitsitapi experience, led by our Blackfoot and Indigenous staff. 

During the season, we held several special events. Canada Day was a great start to the season. We partnered with New West Theatre to deliver two fundraisers during the summer called Trader Tales that featured a meal with locally sourced ingredients prepared by our chef. Our two-day Hallowe’en celebration sold out days in advance. Andrew Legg and Belinda Crowson entertained visitors with historical skits and local ghost stories. The fort’s gift shop hosted a special shopping event in November for early holiday shopping. In December, the fort opened for a limited Christmas-themed event.

Fort Whoop-Up

The curatorial team supported the ongoing development of Fort Whoop-Up visitor experiences by enhancing exhibits and content:

• Published Fort Whoop-Up Remembered: From Niitsitapi Voices, edited by Rob Charger and Aimee Benoit with contributions by George Kush and twelve Niitsitapi Elders

• Coordinated collaboration with Sik-Ooh-Kotoki Friendship Society, Geomatic Attic, Friends of the Galt, Lastar Radio, and Piikani Traditional Knowledge Services re. Fort 150 Indigenous music event (postponed to 2021)

• Created COVID cleaning protocols and installed signage

• Developed new Interpretation Framework to train visitor services staff with the Museum Educator and Fort Whoop-Up Site Coordinator

• Assisted in sourcing historical costumes and installing decorations for holiday events

• Coordinated transportation and installation of replica freight wagon and Red River cart donated by Glenbow Museum

• Sourced and prepared new tipi poles 

• Acquired, inventoried and labelled fifteen new objects for displays

Michael Briggs supported Fort Whoop-Up curatorial projects through regular maintenance of displays. Mike left the organization in November and was not replaced.

Permanent Exhibitions

Discovery Hall

The Galt was closed to the public between March and June 2020, allowing an opportunity for in-depth cleaning and maintenance in Discovery Hall, as well as COVID-related changes to ensure the safety of museum visitors. 

The following upgrades were completed:

• Ranching case redesigned with panelling; labels revised and reprinted

• Japanese Canadian artifacts rotated; new labels researched and installed

• First World War Internment Camp panel produced and installed

• New Paige’s Newsroom kiosk installed in Lethbridge Herald display 

The following COVID-related changes were made:

• Hands-on interactives removed from gallery

• Directional signage installed throughout

• Push buttons replaced with wave sensors; audio wands replaced with QR codes

• New labels created for all audiovisual kiosks

Online Exhibits

To increase access to exhibition content during COVID-related closures, curatorial staff worked with communications to create eight online exhibits: 

• Swing! Music of the Home Front

• Escape (First World War Internment)

• It Pays to Shop at Eaton’s

• On Guard, Lethbridge!

• Bruce Bairnsfather: Voice of the Soldiers

• Pandemic at Home: The 1918–19 Flu

• Cinescapes

• Soar: A History of Gliding in Southwestern Alberta

Temporary Exhibitions

Spring–Summer Season

Spring attendance: 3,795; Summer attendance: 2,110

JAN 24–SEP 07.20 A Painter’s Paradise: Michael Pisko, Ernest Riethman 

Temporary gallery; in-house exhibit guest curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette

A Painter’s Paradise focused on the life and art of local artists Michael Pisko and Ernest Riethman. Early members of the Lethbridge Sketch Club beginning in the 1930s, their enthusiasm for their home left a legacy of wonderful paintings. Pisko and Riethman’s subject was generally landscape but depicted in two very different styles. They created vivid impressions about Lethbridge, southwestern Alberta and the Rockies. The exhibition explored the relationship each artist had with the Lethbridge community and their connections to prominent Canadian painters in cultivating a strong landscape tradition for the region.

FEB 08–JUL 2.20 Enemy Aliens: Internment in Canada, 1914–1920

Main hallway; travelling exhibit circulated by the Canadian War Museum in partnership with the Canadian Ukrainian Civil Liberties Foundation; Escape! Lethbridge component, guest curated by Benjamin Weistra

During the First World War, Canada interned 8,579 people identified as “enemy aliens,” mainly Ukrainian and German immigrants, across a network of 24 camps. This exhibit used archival photographs to explore internment operations and the internees’ experiences: who they were, the conditions they endured and the legacy they left behind. 

FEB 15–OCT 12.20 Swing! Music of the Home Front

Lower Hall; in-house exhibit curated by Grace Wilson and Aimee Benoit

Between 1939 and 1945, Lethbridge was absorbed into the “home front” culture of the Second World War. Despite wartime restrictions and visible reminders of the war in the city, live music brought people together for some welcome entertainment and a lively social dance scene. This exhibition highlights collections and stories from some of the region’s big names in big band during the early 1940s.

Fall Season

Attendance: 863

SEP 26.20–JAN 10.21 Refuge Canada

Temporary gallery; travelling exhibition created by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and supported by TD Bank Group and Canadian Heritage Exhibition Circulation Fund

Refuge Canada explored Canada’s place in the global refugee crisis. Through images, soundscapes, first-person accounts and artifacts, this powerful exhibition offered an opportunity to gain historical context. 

Refuge Canada drew visitors through interactive opportunities (reworked to be COVID-conscious), moving from the Second World War era to the present day. It challenged and inspired as it brought visitors on a journey from darkness to hope, always calling into question preconceptions about what it means to be a refugee.

JUL 10.20–FEB 14.21 Piikanikoan: Living Under a Blackfoot Sky
A Modern Winter Count

Main Hall; in-house exhibit guest curated by Ira Provost

Through the lens of his musical journey, guest curator Ira Provost delved into the significance of Blackfoot music, its origin and its influence on his life story. This exhibition explored the winter count of Ira’s music, biocultural heritage, education, career, culture and its place within the southern Alberta landscape.

OCT 17.20–FEB 07.21 Pockets of Possibilities

Lower hall; in-house exhibit guest curated by Kirstan Schamuhn

For women, finding a good set of pockets in clothing is similar to finding a needle in a haystack—but this pocket dilemma is not new. Pockets of Possibilities traced issues of gender and fashion through to the mid-twentieth century, exploring how pockets became symbols of independence for women.

The programming department has continued to fulfill our mission in new and innovative ways to keep connected with our patrons and the public through this challenging and unprecedented year. We have developed and enhanced relationships with local partners and contractors. We contracted Coalbanks Creative to develop online content. That partnership has yielded favourable results. Our educators have offered support to outside events like National Child Day and organizations, including Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society and Helen Schuler Nature Center. We continue to nurture close connections with the University of Lethbridge by working with Applied Studies students and interns and hosting in-person and online presentations from subject experts from University staff and faculty.

The Galt’s staff received the Spirit of Reconciliation Award from the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce for our ongoing work to teach and showcase Niitsitapi language, culture and history. Staff also received a GLAMi Award from MuseWeb for our fully-automated booking process for school programs. Local, regional and national media outlets covered our adaptive strategies to deliver our programs online, outdoors and to at-home learning cohorts. 

Janae Redgrave departed on leave in April, and LaRae Smith returned as our summer program assistant. Carolyn Ben joined our team as Program Assistant in November. Rebecca Wilde and Blanche Bruisedhead continue in their roles in education in modified and responsive ways. Blanche has continued to engage in outreach opportunities within the broader Lethbridge community by providing guidance and consultation for Truth and Reconciliation events, teacher professional development training and at-home learning cohorts.

School Programs

The focus of the Museum Educator is to share stories of the human history of southern Alberta with student groups. The programs offered at the Galt and the fort support specific Alberta Education curricular outcomes.

The year started with a large number of program bookings and projects completed. Staff enhanced programs by increasing opportunities for student interaction. Our student enhanced the Memory Box program with picture inventories and archival images. The Friends of the Galt provided crucial funding that helped staff provide more accurate replicas of archaeological objects for the Uncovering Secrets of Archaeology and the Memory Boxes programs. We participated in Southwest Alberta Teachers Convention and connected with regional educators.

When the COVID-19 restrictions closed the museum to in-person visitation, we focused on online content delivery. Our annual regional Heritage Fair changed into a Virtual Heritage Fair hosted by Historical Canada. We began to produce educational videos for the Building Bridges and Blackfoot People’s Voices programs for educators to use in their classrooms or share with students learning online. 

We successfully started remote programming, created custom programs to meet the changing needs of teachers, and supported teacher professional development with a program for them at the Mountain View cemetery. We collaborated with a group of teachers to create Fort Whoop-Up video content to share with their students. Even with restrictions, we were able to conduct 90 in-person programs for over 2000 participants in 2020. 

Public Programs

The Galt facilitates programs that invite the community to interact with local history through activities themed around the content of our permanent and temporary exhibits.

We were happy to experience above-average attendance to program offerings in the beginning months of 2020. In later months we have navigated a responsive approach to the pandemic environment. One of our first responses was to create distancing and directional floor stickers with historical images and messages as a small way to focus on notable local history vignettes. We modified our popular Discovery Hall treasure hunt into an activity booklet to guide our visitors and help them follow physical distancing guidelines as they looked for clues during their visit.

We were able to offer a total of 62 in-person programs with over 3100 participants. These programs included The Galt Presents, Hands-On History, History Makers, Creative Community, Blackfoot Language, and Blackfoot History programs. Much of our community programming focus has shifted post-COVID to online offerings as a way to stay connected to our visitors when in-person gatherings have been ill-advised or prohibited.

Rebecca Many Grey Horses continued to facilitate the Blackfoot History series throughout 2020, both in-person and online. These videos were among the most engaging content released by the Galt in 2020. Many videos incorporated archival images and increased traffic to our online database.

Other online presenters included Guest Curator Ira Provost speaking about his Piikanikoan exhibit, Dr. Julie Young sharing her knowledge about the Refuge Canada exhibit from Pier 21, and Julia Wasilewski delivering information related to the Pockets of Possibilities exhibit. Each of these videos released after August was filmed and edited by Coalbanks Creative. Our online approach has expanded our reach beyond our enthusiastic southern Alberta audience.

Early in the year, our Blackfoot language series with Julius Delaney was again well-attended and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. Our team worked hard behind the scenes to develop a Blackfoot language learning resource to support future language classes.

During the summer, we began offering a mix of online and in-person programming options. Our indoor offerings had low attendance, but our outdoor programs were very popular. These included frequent tours of the Mountain View and St. Patrick’s cemeteries led by our summer programs assistant, LaRae Smith, a Blackfoot Plant Walk and a Historic Galt Canal Tour. These outdoor programs often reached capacity.

The collections department’s main job is to collect and preserve both items and information about those items, which have special significance in the human history of Lethbridge and southern Alberta. Collections staff and volunteers are always looking for community treasures that are especially important to current events to bring into the museum’s collection. Staff conducts ongoing research into those items and into other items that were not well documented when they were initially offered to the Galt decades ago.

Donations

We received 130 offers of donations in 2020, the highest number since staff began tracking all registered and unregistered offers in 2014. The Acquisitions Committee met twice in 2020 and accepted 117 new objects from 30 offers into the Galt’s permanent collection.

Highlights

Handmade mask from Greta Many Bears, P20200023000

In April 2020, Greta Many Bears began making and giving away free non-medical face masks. Many Bears explained, “We wanted to do it because we wanted to help out others…by giving them away for free. We just asked them to pray for us.” 

Greta bought a sewing machine and taught herself and others how to make the masks. She soon began customizing the masks to make them more functional and comfortable. “I told my daughter what we wanted to do... I told her I wanted to make the masks once we got the elastics, and then we had all the material that we needed… she sent me some different things from YouTube… the only thing different that I did was I put this [nose piece]...in there. Everybody just loves [the nose piece]. You can put it on and pinch it on your nose, so your glasses don’t steam up.”

Comic from Eric Dyck, P20200015001

Local cartoonist and educator Eric Dyck donated nine of his COVID-19 related artworks to the Galt. This illustration, called “Meet Josie,” describes Josie Mason’s decision to create and display encouraging posters in the front window of her house while she was sheltering at home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dyck explained, “Josie chose to produce uplifting messages but also messages asking everyone to stay safe or messages asking people to ‘keep the peace’ as [was] on the poster she gave to her neighbour. She produced these posters and put them up in her windows. She made too many ‘cause they were having fun and getting excited and ended up giving some to their neighbours to the east.”

“I reached out to her – I wanted to talk to her about why she made them... My focus in talking to her was about her own behaviour in relation to the posters facing outwards of her home, and it became very clear that a big part of her day was watching out the windows and watching people see the posters—taking pictures, doing selfies with her artwork, and seeing her come to terms with the idea that, ‘Oh, I made these to make other people feel better.’ ... The consumption of them, the experience of being with the artworks is having an impact on me and how I’m seeing the community around me, and that’s a lot for a fourteen-year-old to take in.”

Portrait of George Floyd from Attalia Fikre, P20200018000

George Floyd was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis in May 2020. His death led to protests in countries across the world against police brutality, and protesting in support of Black Lives Matter and defunding the police. Attalia Fikre painted a portrait of George Floyd and brought the painting with her to a Black Lives Matter Rally in Lethbridge on June 4, 2020. “The past few weeks have been incredibly challenging… anytime you look anywhere online, people that look like you or your family members being brutalized and you can’t hide from it.... I wanted to see George. I wanted to see his face, and because I think, especially in society, with Facebook and everything, you can see anything from everywhere, and I think people forget that these are real humans with lives and families, so for me to actually have something legible in front of me…that has his face…was huge… I am shocked at how therapeutic it was for me to paint this.”

Black Lives Matter Rally Sign, P20200022003

Jordyn Ledyit organized the Black Lives Matter Rally on June 4, 2020 through the Group United Against Racial Discrimination (GUARD). Ledyit and her husband collected protest signs that were left behind after the event. Ledyit said, “I would have never thought that this city would have so much of a positive reception to a Black Lives Matter or an Indigenous Lives Matter movement. [I think that] speaks to how Lethbridge is, a little bit, because there is a lot of diversity here but you don’t see it. I think there is a lot of quiet ignorance and a lot of microaggressions that people don’t realize they’re being racist.” 

“We took a stand, we did something, we didn’t just sit here idly while this whole big movement was going on, doing nothing and being in our own little racism bubble. No, we all stood up and we took a stand and we have a voice and we told people, enough is enough.”

“I left my donation knowing it would be taken care of in the most appropriate way.” 

Sharon A., 2019

Cataloguing

For the first time in decades, the Galt was unsuccessful in obtaining annual grant funding from the Alberta Museums Association to hire a term Collections Assistant position. In late 2020, the Galt received generous funding for two term collections assistant positions from the Government of Canada via the Canadian Museum Association (CMA) and its Young Canada Works Building Careers in Heritage Internship Program. The three term assistants, Kirstan Schamuhn, Oolee Eegeesiak and Nicole Wilkinson, were able to catalogue a total of 174 objects with over 250 component parts. Student volunteers and interns Tess McNaughton and Ryley Gelanis from the University of Lethbridge also contributed to the ongoing cataloguing project by generating three catalogue records. 

Research

The Collections Department continues to focus on the importance of recording interviews with donors to capture the “voice” of their objects. Staff conducted thirty-eight interviews in 2020. The interviews amounted to 26 hours or nearly 200,000 transcribed words of new documentation and researchable content. A team of dedicated volunteers transcribe these interviews. The contributions of these volunteers to the heritage work at the museum are remarkable.

Outreach

Collections staff delivered multiple presentations in a video series called the “Galt’s Vaults.” These presentations used the stories of objects to explain museum processes to our audience and stakeholders. Objects featured in the series included Lethbridge Pride buttons, Punkinhead stuffed animals, a handmade model aircraft created by a local prisoner of war, a length of rope used as a noose, and an LCI Rams football jacket with a mysterious story. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the operations at the Galt Archives in 2020. The health concerns and public safety measures have reduced the number of requests, particularly in-person visits. The pandemic also led to a disruption of operations that resulted in suspending the volunteer program and public events, furloughing the Archives Assistant from May to August and not hiring for the usual summer student position. The safety protocols led to reduced public hours and the introduction of an appointment system that required on-site researchers to register and book time slots in advance. Despite the reduced resources and logistical challenges, the archives continued to provide services throughout the year. 

Simultaneously, the COVID-19 disruption brought to light some opportunities that we had not previously considered. The emphasis on remote work to reduce physical contact during the pandemic resulted in new flexible arrangements. Archives staff worked on projects from home with secure remote access to the server and the necessary software. Archives Assistant Bobbie Fox re-packaged the content meant for in-person visitors and delivered it in videos streamed live on Facebook and made available on the Galt’s website. The archives substantially increased its outreach activity through more frequent submissions on the Facebook page and in the Lethbridge Herald.

The archives benefited from the expanded Young Canada Works Internship program by securing funding for a 6-month internship position. Hannah Yuzwa, a young archival professional, was hired to work that term position. Thanks to her work, the archives were able to reduce the backlog by over 20 metres. As a result, many valuable recent donations now have accurate descriptions for researchers to search and use in our online database. 

Projects focusing on digitization and description of audiovisual holdings made significant progress this year. The Global Television magnetic tapes remained the program’s primary focus because of the recordings’ significance and vulnerability in their current format. In 2020, all the previously digitized recordings—over 300 in total—have been indexed and posted on the online database. The programs document a wide range of community events, organizations and personalities in the early 2000s. Another significant digitization project is the Sommerville fonds. These 123 film reels include Second World War-era aviation training, aerial footage of Lethbridge and the irrigation works, and much more. 

The archives became more proactive in seeking and participating in collaborative projects with local First Nations. In 2020, the Galt introduced fee exemption for members of Treaty 7 Nations, carried out a series of consultations and a book exchange project with Red Crow Community College, and initiated a discussion on shared control over Indigenous records. These participation and collaboration efforts were inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call for Action and the recently developed Reconciliation Framework for Archives.

Acquisitions

• The Archives received 87 donations of records. Some of the notable donations of the year include:

• Lethbridge Herald microfilm collection 1904–2019

• Mike Jensen COVID-19 project—1,620 digital photographs

• City of Lethbridge COVID-19 signage

• Birck Family videos—16mm reels of community events in Vauxhall

• Don Brestler fonds—personal papers of a rancher and an artist

• Dr. William H. Sharp—field research photographs of natural and human-made environments

• Pride Fest Society—a collection of promotional materials

• Lethbridge Musical Theatre—programs, photographs, scrapbooks

• Lethbridge Terry Fox Run—photographs, posters, administrative records

• Michael Pisko fonds and City Sign Company records

• Demolition of the Molson Brewery—photographic documentation project

• Social Credit League, Lethbridge Constituency Association minute book (1938–1955)

• Southern Alberta Group for the Environment (SAGE)—administrative files

• Back-to-School Portraits—700 digital photographs of school groups and student portraits visiting the Galt Museum & Archives

Long-term Processing Projects

Long-term processing projects are large-scale donations that require the dedication of volunteers and equipment to complete. These projects typically span multiple years from start to finish and would not be possible to achieve without dedicated volunteers. The project to digitize the Lethbridge Herald fonds was 77% complete at the end of 2020. The project to catalogue and rehouse the A. E. Cross Studio fonds was 65% complete at the end of 2020.

Outreach

Media

• Supplied over 260 historical photos for the Lethbridge Herald’s Flashback Series.  

• Posted over 170 archival posts on Galt’s Facebook page.

• Wrote 14 History This Week articles that ran in the Lethbridge Herald and were posted on the Galt’s website and social media accounts.

Events

• Research Your House with Kevin MacLean

• Family Day at the Galt Archives

• Adventures in Archives School Program

Exhibitions

• 40 Years of Terry Fox Community Run, curated by Bobbie Fox

• Inn Purple, curated by Bobbie Fox

• Wonders of Southern Alberta, curated by Bobbie Fox

Communication and marketing are crucial to fulfilling the mission of the Galt Museum & Archives and Fort Whoop-Up. The shift in March to serving the community online rather than in-person due to COVID-19 increased the importance of the organization’s marketing and communications functions. Communications from the Galt shifted from focusing primarily on upcoming programs and events to providing access to new and refreshed content on social media and websites. 

The Galt prioritized the release of renewed versions of the bilingual virtual exhibits Nikkei Tapestry: Japanese Canadians in Southern Alberta and North-West Mounted Police: A Tradition in Scarlet. We released online versions of 10 exhibitions that Galt staff or applied studies students had previously curated and displayed. These included the Pandemic at Home: The 1918–19 Flu and Swing! Music of the Home Front exhibits. Hundreds of visitors accessed these resources online, providing the content to a new audience after their planned lifecycle. 

During the initial transition to online engagement in March, staff focused on creating video content sharing their expertise and knowledge of local history. A popular series was “Galt’s Vaults.” Collections staff used powerful stories associated with objects in our permanent collection to explain museum collection processes and historical context to viewers. 

Over the year, the role of the Marketing and Communications Officer changed substantially. The role’s focus changed from primarily designing and creating content to include managing online tools, training staff and volunteers, and overseeing projects and contractors. 

From May through August, the Marketing and Communications Officer transitioned to launching and managing an online ticketing tool and inviting visitors to safely and responsibly visit the Galt and the fort. The online ticketing tool used the same system that the Galt won an award for earlier in the year from MuseWeb, an international conference of museums, archives, galleries and libraries professionals focused on digital services. The international panel of judges awarded the Galt a prestigious GLAMi Award for our implementation of a fully automated booking software for school programs. “[The] Galt did a great job doing what many other institutions (many much larger) have not achieved… creating a system to actually give teachers a way to self-book their group visits to the museum [which] truly automated the process, keeping ease of use for the teacher at the core,” said the panel.

While the Communications and Marketing Officer focused on processes, tools and marketing during the summer, other staff continued to prepare and release a steady stream of posts, articles and videos. Blackfoot history, culture and language were prominently featured in the summer and fall content. Blanche Bruisedhead and Rebecca Many Grey Horses delivered presentations on roughly a monthly basis. 

The Galt awarded a contract for video production services to Coalbanks Creative Inc., who assumed responsibility for recording and processing pieces intended for online consumption starting in September. This project significantly increased the production value of the video content. The fall videos featured local experts sharing their knowledge related to the exhibits on display. The Galt awarded another contract to Inspire Marketing & Media in September to expand and market the inventory of items available for purchase on the Fort Whoop-Up and Galt websites. This project resulted in selling a record-setting number of objects online in November and December.

Without the help from our volunteers, the Galt Museum & Archives could not run the programs and events at our high standards.

After a typical start to the year with volunteers helping with projects, programs and events on a near-daily basis, COVID-19 forced a significant change in how people were volunteering for the Galt. After mid-March, the volunteer program shifted to working on remotely accessible initiatives. Volunteers who were comfortable coming in person began to do that as restrictions started to lift in late spring. Our numbers are lower from previous years, but we were still able to maintain a healthy and vibrant volunteer core.

The Galt and Fort continue to invest in our inter-organizational partnerships to boost our volunteer program. These agencies include Volunteer Lethbridge, Lethbridge Family Services, Da Capo, Ability Resources and other wonderful groups in the city. We also work closely with Lethbridge College students who need volunteer hours to fulfil course requirements. Our staff also supply students from the University of Lethbridge with applied study and internship opportunities, supervision, and mentorship.

There are always perks for the volunteers. Once volunteers have 40 hours in, they receive a family pass for their immediate family. In 2020, we gave out 30 passes! Congratulations to all our wonderful volunteers for their hard work. 

We will be looking at how to improve our volunteer program In 2021 to ensure that we have the best program in place for all of our volunteers. We will continue to strengthen our volunteer program’s diversity by working with other community groups and not-for-profit organizations. We also continue to value the efforts of all of our volunteers by seeking out acknowledgements and awards. This past year, we had two volunteers nominated for Volunteer Lethbridge’s Leaders of Tomorrow awards. Thank you and congratulations to all of our hard-working and dedicated volunteers.

I want to thank all our volunteers for everything they did in 2020. I look forward to a successful 2021.

2020 was the twentieth year that the Friends Society of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum & Archives served the Galt. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the Galt and Fort Whoop-Up, the Friends, and the Friends’ work in support of the Galt.

The 2020 “Friends Winter Barn Dance” and silent auction was held on March 7. It was well attended; the Great Canadian Barn Dance Band was a hit; the silent auction kept bidders involved; and overall, the event was a success. This was the only significant fundraiser the Friends were able to hold in 2020. We are looking forward to hosting the next Winter Barn Dance.

We postponed several other events planned for 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic, including our new speaker series called the “Friends of the Galt Present…” The Friends had also allocated funding to support a planned Indigenous Music Festival as part of the Fort Whoop-Up 150 commemorations. Both initiatives have been postponed until in-person gatherings can be held safely again. 

The Friends were able to support the museum and the fort by providing funding to replace 30 tipi poles at Fort Whoop-Up. The Friends also participated in a Canada Helps fundraising event, contributing the proceeds to the “Friends of the Galt Endowment Fund” held within the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.

The Friends are also very pleased to announce that they now have their own website at friends.galtmuseum.com. Check out our website, purchase or renew your Friends membership, or apply to participate as a member of the Friends Board of Directors.

During the past year, President Glenn Coulter again had the pleasure of representing the Friends as an ex officio member on the board of directors of the Galt. The Friends would like to thank the many volunteers, staff, management and board of directors of the Galt for their assistance in helping the Friends achieve their objectives.

There are always perks for our volunteers. Once volunteers have given 40 hours, they receive a family pass for their immediate family. In 2019, we gave out 47 passes! We also invite volunteers to an appreciation dinner during national volunteer week, and we nominate them for awards and recognition in the community where possible. We nominated two volunteers for Volunteer Lethbridge’s Leaders of Tomorrow awards. Congratulations to all of our hard-working volunteers!

In 2020, we will work with other community groups and not-for-profit organizations to strengthen the diversity of our volunteer program.

We look forward to another successful year with our volunteer sector.

The Galt is grateful for the support it receives for our programs, events, exhibits and operations by the community. We would like to recognize individuals, corporations and organizations for their sponsorship, donations and in-kind support in 2020.