A Prairie Schooner?

Kelti Boissonneault, who worked here at the Galt last summer, sent me an interesting email this week. While doing research for a paper she is writing, Kelti found an article from the 1911 Lethbridge Daily Herald. In 1911, this statement was presented to the American Statistical Association: "There will be no children in the United States under 5 years of age in the year 2020. Babies, accordingly, will have disappeared from this country by 2015. " Professor Walter F Wilcox, of Cornell University, went on to say that the United States should import children from France as France would continue to have babies 80 years after the United States had quit. It should be noted that Professor Wilcox did suggest paying families an income because, in his view, families who took care of children were public servants. He said this "would make the mother the ruler of the household." How will our predictions about the future be viewed 100 years from now?

I have been doing some research this past week (following on work done by Irma Dogterom) about a house in Lethbridge that was built in 1909 and, apparently, built without the use of any nails. The builder had been a ship-wright prior to moving to Canada and used his ship building skills in the construction of the home. Some of us here at the museum have nicknamed it Lethbridge's Prairie Schooner. More research certainly needs to be done but if it can all be confirmed, what a find this will be. This house is on the north side.