People discover and explore billions of photos online and in our own personal collections. The process of capturing and preserving our history is never complete, nor is the history itself “written in stone”. Bringing these memories back to life is one of the great joys of photographic images. The Flashback photo series is a trip back in time that gets people talking about Lethbridge’s history and the experiences we’ve shared.

On April 17, 1957 Lethbridge Herald published a photo by Orville Brunelle. The image evokes memories of Easter celebrations of yesteryear. On his Facebook post for this Easter, Galt Museum Archivist, Andrew Chernevych, posts “Certainly the Easter Bunny will not forget this engaging young miss. And she has not forgotten him as she concentrates on last-minute strokes of the brush giving a group of Easter eggs her own imaginative touch. She is Leslie Hall, five-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Hall of 421 26 St. South”. The Lethbridge community has built a great archive of images that includes this portrait and tens of thousands of others.

So many memories are have been captured by families and community organizations that touch our lives each day. Sometimes finding that perfect image is like looking for a needle in an online haystack. There are useful tricks of the trade to mine the vast archives and discover useful and interesting information to help you learn more about a historical figure, or find out where in nature you can see that stunning landscape or architecture.

Galt Archives programs will help you learn how to find old photographs of Lethbridge and southwestern Alberta using an online search. For more information on how to make an appointment to get expert advice on navigating the Galt Archives visit www.galtmuseum.com.