Teachers Learn How P.A.'s Historical Society Can Help With Treaty Education

Submitted on February 10, 2012 - 10:09am

The Prince Albert Historical Society has finished its first day of First Nations/ Metis Education workshop for teachers in the area.

There are teachers representing Sask. Rivers, P. A. Catholic and Living Sky School Divisions as well as 4th year students from SUNTEP.

This two day workshop is meant to show teachers what resources we have at the Historical Museum, and to develop lessons that they can use in the classrooms. The lessons the teachers will develop will be made into a booklet and given to the schools to use as a reference and starting point.

Friday Feb. 10 will be the work day for the participants, they will learn how to use the archives and search for relevant material to teach in the classrooms. They will then start to put their lessons together and finish them up on their own time.

This is a very exciting initiative because Treaty Education is now mandated to be taught in the classrooms, and many people are not familiar with how to teach this subject. The Society hopes to bridge the gap in knowledge and resources, by showing teachers what is locally available to them.

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Prince Albert Historical Society

The Prince Albert Historical Society is one of the oldest historical societies in Western Canada, first established in 1886 by residents who realized that the previous generation and they themselves were making history by developing Prince Albert and the surrounding region. A fire in 1890 at the Nisbet Academy destroyed the artifacts and records that the Society had collected, which also put an end to the Society for a time. In 1923 Professor Arthur Morton, the City of Prince Albert and citizens interested in local history reorganized the Historical Society. The Society established a museum in the Nisbet church located in Kinsmen (then Bryant) park and an archive in 1932. The museum was moved to the Prince Albert Court House on Central Avenue in 1946. The Nisbet Church was again established as a museum in 1972 and operated until 1975. When the Fire Department vacated the original fire hall in 1975 the City of Prince Albert invited the Society to establish a permanent museum in that building. Since 1977 when the permanent museum opened to the public the Prince Albert Historical Society has been based at the appropriately historic original fire hall at 10 River Street East. The Bill Smiley Archives are named in honour of the man who has done more to preserve Prince Albert history than any other, having spent years collecting and organizing important historical items. Today over 15,000 photographs. 300,000 negatives and 15,000 documents are kept at the Historical Museum. These records are a significant source for information on Prince Albert, the surrounding region and all of Canada. Access to the archives is available to the public and if you are interested in acquiring information please check our archives page. As of 2009 our Society is made up of 55 members and 14 member volunteer board of directors. Membership fees are $ 10.00 per year. We hold many annual events including the spring Crocus Tea, participate in the downtown Street Fair and host a Christmas Party. During the summer season a staff of 13 tour guides keeps the museums open while during the rest of the year the museums can visited accompanied with one of our dedicated volunteer members. The Prince Albert Historical Society is committed to preserving local history and being able to showcase it to local residents and visitors alike.

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