A little over three months ago, the Calgary Heritage Authority appointed me as the Calgary Heritage Authority 2012 Historian Laureate. The context is Calgary's status as one of two Cultural Capitals of Canada this year; the other is the Niagara region in Ontario.
Calgary has been enjoying a yearlong celebration that also marks a century since its phenomenal pre-First World War boom. The city had grown more than tenfold in a decade, and lasting institutions that include the Calgary Public Library and the Calgary Stampede had their origins that year.
Among other duties, I've been doing media appearances and tweeting daily (@harry_historian) about my activities and about events in the city exactly 100 years ago. I'm now going to start blogging about my experiences as a public historian and ambassador for the Calgary Heritage Authority. I'll also post my thoughts on the city's past and what it means for the city and its inhabitants today.
The coming week is full of centennials, including the opening of the first University of Calgary in early October 1912. Denied degree-conferring power by a provincial government protective of the University of Alberta, the new institution took a the humbler identity as Calgary College. (Since that name was taken, another institution of higher learning formed around the same time had to choose a different name, becoming Mount Royal College—today's Mount Royal University.)
No comments:
Post a Comment