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Alberta Labour History Institute: Historic Edmonton Week

Working Class Edmonton Built Heritage Tour

July 8, 10 and 12, 2024, 10 a.m. – Meet at the General Hospital

Receive a free copy of ALHI’s booklet Edmonton Working Class Heritage Buildings and join the walk in the area of the General Hospital. The 60-90  minute tour will start at Jasper Avenue and 111 Street, ending at the east end of the Legislature Grounds and covers approximately 1.5 km.

The buildings that Edmontonians see every day embody the stories of working people – people whose lives and contributions are often not remembered. 

This tour features buildings and major infrastructure projects that reveal the issues of the day affecting working families in the ever-changing economy of Edmonton.

We will hear about attitudes towards women’s work, early workforces and unions, the General Strike of 1919, and relief work provided by governments in the 1930s. 

The General Hospital, Holy Child School (formerly Grandin School), the High Level Bridge, the Alberta Legislature, and the baseball park are the sites of these stories.

The Alberta Labour History Institute collects, preserves , and disseminates the stories of Alberta’s working people and their organizations. 

Visit albertalabourhistory.org to hear worker interviews, read transcripts, and view photos and videos of workers experiences.

Each tour participant will receive a copy of ALHI’s booklet Edmonton Working Class Heritage Buildings. The booklet covers many more sites of significance that participants can explore on their own.

The tour will be led by Cathy Roy, a retired museum curator and fourth generation settler in central Edmonton.


FORUM COMPARING CANADIAN AND AMERICAN LABOUR POLITICAL STRATEGIES IN 20TH CENTURY

Here is a link to a recording of a labour history forum on “How Labour Can Change North American Politics: An Historical Perspective.” The sponsoring organization is a fledgling group of provincial, state, and national labour historical societies in Canada and the US. The speakers are ALHI President Alvin Finkel and Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. It has a passcode: du1?HR39