Through the Lens of the Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Herald has been in publication for 115 years. During that time, it has served as the eyes, ears and voice of Lethbridge. Through photographs and articles, it has shared every facet of Lethbridge life: the exceptional and the mundane, triumphs and tragedies. The collection of Lethbridge Herald photographs stored at the Galt Museum & Archives are a visual record of the city.

Many talented photographers and photojournalists contributed their talents to the Lethbridge Herald over the years. Among the most prolific are Orville Brunelle, Lloyd Knight, David Rossiter and Ian Martens. The technology used to capture these images has changed greatly over the last century, from early 35 mm film to digital sensors. Even though the technology has changed, the most important parts of being a photojournalist haven’t changed: skill, presence and timing.

The images taken by these professionals are a wonderful historical resource and record. Several of the images have won awards and been featured in media around the world. In 1953, Orville Brunelle captured an iconic photo of Mayor Shackleford being electrocuted when he grabbed two ungrounded microphones at a Valentine’s Dance. Brunelle’s photo was featured in around 1,300 publications across the world and earned him accolades from the Canadian Press. Ian Martens won two National Newspaper Awards from the Canadian Press for his photojournalism, one for an impressive shot of a bride silhouetted against a full moon in 2008, and another for his capture of a CF-18 pilot as he ejected to safety moments before his jet crashed into the tarmac.

Extra! Extra! exhibit logo

Extra! Extra! exhibit logo

Discover more about the photojournalists who contributed to the Lethbridge Herald and the phenomenal reservoir of their photographs available at the Galt Museum & Archives in our new exhibit, Extra! Extra! Through the Lens of the Lethbridge Herald. Visit the online portion at www.galtmuseum.com/exhibit/extra-exhibit, and check out the in-person portion of the exhibit when we reopen to public visitors. The exhibit will be available on site until June 3, 2021. You can browse the collection of documents and objects related to the Lethbridge Herald available in our database at https://collections.galtmuseum.com.

Learn more in our recent articles and videos
Dr. Frank Hamilton Mewburn
Dr. Frank Hamilton Mewburn

Dr. Frank Hamilton Mewburn was a wiry and fiery surgeon, politician, army officer, and university professor who greatly contributed to the development of Lethbridge. Mewburn came from a long ling of medical professionals, graduating from McGill University in Montreal in 1881.

Claudia Tennant
Claudia Tennant

Although Claudia Tennant was not a graduate of the Galt School of Nursing, it was a key part of her life. Tennant spent twenty years at both the Galt Hospital and the Lethbridge Municipal Hospital as the Director of Nursing for the Galt School of Nursing. Her original decision to become a nurse was influenced by Lucy Hatch McInnis, a graduate from the Galt School of Nursing’s first ever class in 1913.

Opening the New Galt Hospital
Opening the New Galt Hospital

In 1907, just one year after miners went on a nine-month strike, Eliott T Galt donated $30,000 for the construction of a larger hospital in Lethbridge. The city matched this amount, and a new hospital was built to replace the 1891 hospital building which was no longer large enough to serve the community. The new Galt Hospital, which we know today as the Galt Museum & Archives, opened in 1910. With this addition, the hospital could now accommodate 65 patients.

Canadian Senior Men’s National Basketball Champions from Southern Alberta
Canadian Senior Men’s National Basketball Champions from Southern Alberta

Many of us will at least have vague memories of Senior Men’s basketball here in Southern Alberta. True Senior men’s basketball.  It began being played in Southern Alberta not long after the game made its way here in 1904. I’ve been able to find records of Senior Men’s ball being played for Provincial Championships as early as 1908. The earliest reference to an Alberta team was in 1915, and the first Southern Alberta team was in 1918 and it was just called “Lethbridge”.

Raymond's Rich Basketball Legacy: A Century-Old Tradition
Raymond's Rich Basketball Legacy: A Century-Old Tradition

It all started 120 years ago, on July 1. The town of Raymond, with its population of under 5000 people, has perhaps one of Alberta's longest and most notable histories of any basketball program. In 1904, the Raymond Exhibition sponsored what has become known as the first official game of basketball in, what was then, the Alberta region of Canada’s Northwest Territories. Alberta became a province in 1905.

Coal Miners on Strike
Coal Miners on Strike

Construction of the original Galt Hospital in 1891 was financed by Sir Alexander Galt, owner of the Northwest Coal and Navigation Company. Coal miners in the Oldman River Valley desperately required health care due to unsafe working conditions. Frequent exposure to dust and toxins often led to illnesses such as pneumoconiosis (black lung disease), pulmonary disease, asbestosis, and cancer.

Home Court Chronicles: The History of Southern Alberta Basketball
Home Court Chronicles: The History of Southern Alberta Basketball

Prairie short grasses, rolling foothills, the Rocky Mountains, and the Chinook winds. These words, spoken to a Southern Albertan whether they still live here or not, evoke a myriad of memories, each unique to the individual, yet all rooted in the concept of home. Family names like Tollestrup, Hicken, Gibb, McMurray, Molcak, Rice, Karren, West, Bourne, Heggie, Stevenson Rollingson, Mirkovich, and many others evoke another set of memories of “home”. Home on the basketball court.

A Busy Quilter
A Busy Quilter

We might all have that one family member who can magically repurpose old fabrics into warm quilts. Some assume that making a quilt is simple, but the process is quite lengthy. Quilters must plan out their design, pin cloth together, and sew through many layers of fabric. The Galt Museum & Archives has a large collection of quilts. Within this collection are five quilts by Katherina Betts that were donated by her son Ed and daughter-in-law Gloria Betts.

Uncovering the Untold Stories of the Blackfoot People
Uncovering the Untold Stories of the Blackfoot People

Past issues of the Lethbridge Herald have long served as an encyclopedia of community life, a Who’s Who of Southwest Alberta. However, not everyone was fairly represented. In the Galt Museum’s archives are images of Blackfoot people once featured in the newspaper without identification, leaving their stories untold. The 1,000 Faces Project was designed to bridge this gap by recovering and preserving their names in archival records.

Oh, Miladi! History of the Women's Section in the Lethbridge Herald
Oh, Miladi! History of the Women's Section in the Lethbridge Herald

Beginning as two humble columns in 1910, “Miladi” was a women’s section in the Lethbridge Herald, which quickly grew to a whole page later in the year. “Miladi” included everything from personal happenings to sewing patterns to Aunt Sal’s Handy Hints, which was an advice and information column written by Sara Nelson.

ArticleBobbie FoxGalt Museum & ArchivesLethbridge Herald, Photojournalism, Photographer, Photography, Archives, Exhibit, Extra! Extra!, Orville Brunette, Lloyd Knight, David Rossiter, Ian Martens, Newspaper, Media, Lethbridge, Southern AlbertaComment