(Supplied by MacIntyre Purcell Publishing)

By David Opinko

“Lethbridge: A History in Pictures” now available in local book stores

Oct 20, 2021 | 2:28 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – There is a new way to take in the history of Lethbridge.

Lethbridge Historical Society (LHS) member Belinda Crowson says she and three of her colleagues were approached by MacIntyre Purcell Publishing about a year ago for a unique project.

The company enjoys the work that the LHS does, so they asked if Crowson, Bobbie Fox, Lorien Johansen, and George Kuhl would put together a “stunning portrait of this one-of-a-kind Alberta city and the country around it.”

Crowson says Lethbridge: A History in Pictures includes about 130 photographs, documenting about 50 events throughout Lethbridge’s history.

In addition to their own archives, they collaborated with numerous organizations such as the Galt Museum, the City of Calgary, and the Jewish Society of Southern Alberta.

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“You’ll find, right from the 1870s and 1880s, photographs in those dates. We talk about things before photography, but the photographs themselves are the main part of the book so it is the history that we can cover through a photographic record.”

“We tried to find pictures that people may not have seen before and then we had really good conversations about which photograph was the best to represent this issue. There were some that we love that we had to take out, but yeah, it was difficult. Hopefully, people will find that we picked the best ones.”

Each photo has a brief caption, detailing what the image is of and the significance of it.

According to Crowson, it took about a full year to put the book together.

She is known as one of Lethbridge’s big history buffs and says getting to work on these kinds of projects is a major passion of hers.

Crowson often jokes to children that learning about the history of a city is like seeing the origin story of a superhero.

“If you know the background of a town, you understand how and why it is the town it is today. Whenever you study history, it’s actually about the future – you know how we got here and you can figure out the best way to move us forward. I’ve always loved understanding why, why anything is the way it is and history is one of the greatest ways to understand the future.”

Lethbridge: A History in Pictures is now available at Analog Books, Club Cigar Store, Galt Museum & Archives, Stubbs Pharmacy, Lethbridge Chapters, and the University of Lethbridge Book Store.

Crowson says it will also be available at Lethbridge College and Tourism Lethbridge soon.

As well, the book can be ordered online here.