Lethbridge –Want to find a media press kit for a movie opening at the Paramount theatre in 1960? Want to find an iron and steel silent film projector built in 1906? The Galt’s new public collections database makes it easier than ever before to discover the treasures preserved inside.

The array of items in the collections and archives at the Galt includes well over 20,000 objects and 900,000 archival items.

“At the archives we preserve historical documents, photos, maps and other records related to Lethbridge and area. What’s equally important,” says Andrew Chernevych, Archivist at the Galt Museum & Archives, “is we want these treasures to be seen and used by people. Our archives is not just for academic researchers: it’s also for journalists doing a story on Lethbridge’s past, for kids preparing a heritage fair project, for people looking for vintage prints for home décor and so much more. The new online database makes it so easy to find exactly what our patrons are looking for.”

Hardworking staff and dedicated volunteers at the Galt are continuously scanning and photographing items that have been donated to the Galt, and uploading those items to the database. It is a painstaking project that includes recording the provenance of the items, their size and condition, as well as the historical relevance of the items to the museum’s collection and to the history of the region.

“We make a special effort to research the history of the objects that we accept into our collections,” says Kevin MacLean, Collections Technician at the Galt. “We conduct oral history interviews with our donors about their relationship to the objects they are donating to us. Visitors who look at the database will find extensive historical information for many of the artifacts.”

The new database can be found at https://collections.galtmuseum.com or www.galtmuseum.com/research.

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This media release can be found at www.galtmuseum.com/news.

Media Contact:

Graham Ruttan (he/him)
Marketing and Communications Officer
Galt Museum & Archives | Fort Whoop-Up
graham.ruttan@galtmuseum.com
403.320.4009