Dear folks,
Just a quick note of update on the ALHI project about commemorating the 1926 recall election that preserved publicly provided textbooks for Calgary students.
We are nearing the printing stage of 10 pop-up banners (small sneak peak image below) that tell the story of how the working people of Calgary were able to organize to overturn the decision of the school board to charge for textbooks for kids in grades 4 to 8 by organizing the first recall campaign in Alberta history and winning. As one of the standard bearers for labour, Amelia Turner put it later, “What my labor colleagues and I tried to do was, briefly, to put the welfare of our children ahead of any concern about taxes.” Thanks to the design work of Karen Mills and the research of Stephanie Weber, Tom Langford and myself, I think it is going to be a really effective display.
The banners are going to have their debut at the Calgary Public Library 27 July at a talk I’m giving on this subject for Historic Calgary Week on this subject. It would be great to see some friendly faces there and I would appreciate you sharing the below link with anyone you think might be interested:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/recall-1926-democracy-and-public-education-in-calgary-tickets-1991999778962?aff=oddtdtcreator
I hope to get the banners into libraries, high schools, and universities over the course of the autumn — any suggestions or contacts about possible venues for display would be most welcome.
Hope this finds each of you well and all best,
Kirk