Alberta Archives and Libraries

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Alberta

Archives and Libraries

Archives and Libraries

The International Institute of Genealogical Studies has contributed extensive content from its Alberta Course on Alberta Archives and Libraries as follows:

• International Institute Glenbow Archives and Library - International Institute
• International Institute Alberta Provincial Archives - International Institute

Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N3
CANADA
Telephone: 613-996-7458
Website
Genealogy and Family History
Provincial Archives of Alberta
12845-102 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5N 0M6
CANADA
Telephone: 403-427-1750
Fax: 403-427-4646
Website

• 1870-1942 Alberta Marriage Record Indexes, 1870-1942 at Alberta Provincial Archives
• 1870-1967 Alberta Stillbirth Record Indexes, 1870-1967 at Alberta Provincial Archives
• 1877-1896 Alberta Birth Record Indexes, 1877-1896 at Alberta Provincial Archives
• 1914-1944 Alberta Death Record Indexes, 1914-1944 at Alberta Provincial Archives

Hudson’s Bay Company
Records of this fur trading company are some of Canada’s most important. Until 1870, the company controlled almost four-fifths of the territory of present-day Canada, including northern Quebec and Ontario and most of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Hudson’s Bay Company Archives (HBCA), home to the archival records of Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), is part of the Archives of Manitoba operating under The Archives and Recordkeeping Act and 1994 gift agreement between HBC and the Government of Manitoba. HBCA operations are supported in part through the ongoing financial support of the Hudson's Bay Company History Foundation.

• A very helpful source is:
  
• Hudson's Bay Company Archives
  • Resources
  • Name Indexes
  • Biographical Sheets
• Finding Aid to the Hudson Bay Company Archives. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat.

City of Edmonton Archives
10440-102 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5H 3Z9
CANADA
Telephone: 403-496-8710
Fax: 403-496-8732
Website
United Church Archives
St. Stephen's College
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8
CANADA
Telephone: 403-439-7311
Fax: 403-433-8875
Website

Museums

Many smaller community museums and/or historical societies possess information on early settlers and residents. Check local telephone directories or Directory of Alberta Museums and Related Institutions, published by Alberta Museums Association (Museums Alberta). Some museums are listed below and their collections illustrate information which may be available at other institutions.
Basilian Fathers Museum
5335 Sawchuck
Box 386
Mundare, Alberta T0B 3H0
Telephone: (780) 764-3887
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 am-4:00 pm and summer weekends; appointment required
Website

• Contains archival materials representing the Ukrainian, religious and cultural life, historically and culturally significant to the Basilian Fathers and/or Mundare and surrounding area. Collection dates from 1903 to the present. Guide is available for photographs, documents and Liturgical books.

Claresholm and District Museum
5126 #2 Highway
Claresholm, Alberta Mailing address:
P.O. Box 1000
Claresholm, Alberta T0L 0T0
Telephone: (403) 625-3131
Email: claresholmmuseum@gmail.com
Website
Hours

• The holdings consists of records documenting the history of Claresholm and area, from 1880 to 1930, including minutes of the Town of Claresholm; records of local school districts and societies; correspondence of private individuals; farm and airport periodicals; and over 1,000 photographs. Also of interest are lists of pilots trained nearby during WWII and through NATO.
  
• The staff will give 15 minutes of research free: there is a charge thereafter, prepaid. A listing is available for the catalogued records at the Museum and holdings are also described in the Archives Network of Alberta Database.

Fort Saskatchewan Museum
10006 - 100 Avenue
Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta T8L 1V9
Telephone: (780) 998-1783
Email: museum@fortsask.ca

• Holdings include:
  
  • local histories
  • school
  • local newspapers (1903-1915 with some gaps)
  • North West Mounted Police journals and history

Glenbow-Alberta Institute
130 9th Avenue S.E.
Calgary, AB T2G 0P3
Telephone: 403-263-9552
Website

• The Glenbow Museum has scanned images of diaries, letters, minute books, scrapbooks, and other unpublished archival records for over 3,000 individuals, families, clubs, businesses, schools, and organizations in Calgary, southern Alberta and Western Canada. For example, there are Will Parker's letters to his father in England, in which he tells of getting typhoid fever and joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  

Galt Museum in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Website

• Areas available to Search are Audio Recordings; Films, Negatives, Photographs, Slides and Videos; Government and Government Agency Records; and Maps and Technical Drawings.

Millet and District Museum, Archives and Visitors Information Centre
5120 - 50 Street
Millet, Alberta
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 178
Millet, Alberta T0C 1Z0
Telephone: (780) 387-5558
Website
Hours

• Holdings consist of the photos from the Town of Millet and from the thirteen surrounding school districts that were covered in the history book Tales & Trails of Millet. Held as well are town minute books, business records, posters and manuscripts from many organizations, businesses and residents from the above described area (1880-1970).

Morinville Museum
10010-101 Street
Morinville,Alberta
Mailing address: P.O. Box 3252
Morinville, Alberta T8R 1S2
Telephone: (780) 801-3290
Website
Hours

• Housed in the old convent of the early 1900s.
• Has thousands of negatives from photographs printed in three local publications.
• Has minutes of the Thibeault School District
• Has early French newspapers (1910-1911)
• Has minutes of the M.D. Sturgeon

Musée Héritage Museum
St. Albert Place
5 St. Anne Street
St. Albert, Alberta T8N 3Z9
Telephone: (780) 459-1528
Email: museum@artsheritage.ca
Website
Hours

• The Musée Héritage Museum provides for the preservation and understanding of St. Albert’s history. Holdings consist of the municipal records of the City of St. Albert; drawings and plans of historic buildings and structures; records of local organizations and clubs; personal papers, including photograph collections of St. Albert residents; local business records and records of school districts and residential schools.
• A subject index to the holdings is available on an in-house database. Some holdings are also described on the Archives Network of Alberta Database.
• Of Genealogical Interest:
  • computer database of the museum’s entire collection
  • biography file of St. Albert people
  • reference books
  • newspapers local businesses materia
  • a few family genealogies
  • extensive genealogy of the Callihoo families

Red Brick Common (formerly known as Stony Plain Multicultural Centre)
5411 - 51 Street
Stony Plain, Alberta
Mailing address: :P.O. Box 2188
Stony Plain, Alberta T7Z 1X7
Telephone: (780) 963-2777
Website
Hours

• Combined with displays in an early high school building, an archives section (in the attic) has information and photographs about Stony Plain and its early pioneer families.
• Resources
  • oral histories
  • written family histories—cross referenced to subject areas
  • photograph collection (over 2,000) catalogued and cross referenced
  • historical calendars/greeting cards
  • historic site inventory
  • newspapers
  • on microfilm from about 1907 to 1940s
  • bound copies from 1930s to 1980s
  • local history books (cross referenced)
  • reference books
  • some business papers (i.e. Oppertshauser Family Hardware Store)

Taber Irrigation Impact Museum - Taber District Museum Society
4702 - 50th Street
Taber, Alberta T1G 2B6
Telephone: (403) 223-5708
Email: timchin@telusplanet.net
Website

• The holdings of the Taber and District Museum Society pertain to and promote irrigation, crops grown in irrigation and related processing industries. The Museum also specializes in the history of the Town of Taber (originally Tank 77 on the Canadian Pacific Railroad line) and the surrounding district. The holdings date from 1904 and include business histories, agricultural records, information about local residents, maps and photographs, including those of local photographers Stan Keeling and Johnny Evanson. A completely indexed set of the Taber Times newspaper is also available.

Dr. Woods House Museum - Leduc and District Historical Society
4801 - 49 Avenue
Leduc, Alberta T9E 7G6
Telephone: (780) 986-1517
Hours: July and August Tuesday-Sunday 11:00 am-5:00 pm; Winter (September-June): Tuesday-Friday 11:00 am-5:00 pm

• The Society operates the “Woods House,” the home of Dr. Robert Woods. The displays are mainly of the Woods family life. A small archival collection features:
  • photographs
  • The Representative (1907-1976)
  • The Enterprise (1904-1906)
  • some information of local homes and families
  • Memorabilia

Record Offices

Civil Registration at the Provincial Archives of Alberta

Birth, marriage, and death records are available beginning in 1870, although reliable coverage began more in 1898.

The Provincial Archives of Alberta provides access to:

*birth records that are 120 years or older (from the date of birth)

*marriage records that are 75 years or older (from the date of marriage)

*death records that are 50 years or older (from the date of death)

;*stillbirth records that are 75 years or older (from the date of stillbirth)

Indexes

Before requesting a record, find your ancestor in the index and copy down the reference number:

• Birth Indexes'
• Marriage Indexes
• Death Indexes
• Stillbirth Indexes

Requesting and Purchasing a Record

• Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records at the Provincial Archives of Alberta--instructions for online requests.
• When requesting the record for genealogical purposes, be sure to request a certified photocopy of a registration of birth (long form).

Registry Offices

Records too recent to be obtained from the Archives have privacy restrictions. These can still be obtained if you are able to show that the individual is deceased and that you are an eligible next of kin (parent, sibling, children or spouse).

• Instructions, forms, and fees