A.E. CROSS STUDIO MAKES OVER $1 MILLION DONATION
A.E. Cross Studio donates 300,000 images to the Galt Museum & Archives
ADVISORY: The images will be moved from A.E. Cross Studio to the Galt Museum & Archives on Friday, August 5. There will be a photo opportunity at approximately 9:45 am at A.E. Cross Studio [710 - 3rd Avenue South] of the 150 boxes with Peter Etches, Susan Burrows-Johnson and Andrew Chernevych in attendance.
Lethbridge - Peter Etches, owner of A.E. Cross Studio, has a keen interest in local history, and is donating three decades of negatives and prints covering 1972-1999 to the Galt Archives – adding to the existing A.E. Cross Studio Fonds containing some 700 of the earliest photographs produced by the studio.
“I know that the expertise of the Galt Museum will ensure that these records will be preserved for the people of Southern Alberta,” says Peter Etches. “Although the material value of the donation is over one million dollars at today's prices, the true value of the history they contain is priceless.”
The A.E. Cross Studio is one of the oldest photographic studios in the city and the region. In the 1970s the Galt Archives received approximately 700 of the earliest photographs produced by the studio.
“This one of the most valuable photographic collections we have in our archival holdings,” says Andrew Chernevych, the new Archivist at the Galt Museum & Archives. “Many iconic images of the city and the community come from this collection. We are pleased to add this significant new donation to our holdings.”
“As part of this donation we collect all the images that the studio produced from 1972 to 1999. Most are routine studio photographs – portraits, graduation pictures, wedding sessions; but there are also images of the city, businesses, industrial projects and much more. As a whole this collection provides an overview of the community in these decades.”
Alfred Ernest Cross, circa 1890 -1951, emigrated from England to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and settled in Lethbridge in 1920. By 1924 he had opened A.E. Cross Studio, a photography business which offered portraits and commercial photography, photo finishing and picture framing. The studio was located at 906 - 3rd Avenue South; it moved to 614 - 3rd Avenue in 1927, and finally to 710 - 3rd Avenue South in 1952, its current location. Cross retired circa 1948 and his son, Reginald A. Cross became manager. The company was renamed A. E. Cross Photography Limited in 1967. By 1973 A.E. Cross Studios was re-established at the same location with Reginald as manager. Ed Keeling became manager circa 1976 (source Glenbow Archives: A Guide To The Holdings Volume 1, 1992).
Peter Etches began working in photography in 1974. He is Chair Person of Professional Photographers of Canada South Branch. Peter and his wife Michelle moved with their seven children from England in 2005. Peter is a member of Rotary and serves on the boards of the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame and the Business Revitalization Zone. He is a committee member of Southwest Alberta Community Loan Fund and Business Networking International. His interests include reading and using his road bike to raise money for charity.
For more information on the Galt Museum & Archives details visit www.galtmuseum.com, call 403.320-3954, or email info@galtmuseum.com.