Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library

Welcome to the Calgary Public Library’s Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library. The images in the digital library come from three different collections which CPL has digitized and made available online. The Alison Jackson Photograph Collection, Postcards from the Past, and the Judith Umbach Photography Collection contain a wide variety of images of Calgary and Alberta. Along with the pictures, many of these images include Calgary Herald articles that give in-depth architectural and historic information about the locale. For more information, contact the Humanities department of the Castell Central Library at hum1@calgarypubliclibrary.com or (403) 260-2785.

Alison Jackson Photography Collection
In 1988, the estate of former Calgary Public Library librarian Alison Jackson donated an extensive collection of slides and photographs to the Local History Collection. These images, primarily of Calgary's historic buildings and residences, were taken between 1953 and 1977.

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Postcards from the Past
This extensive collection contains almost 2000 postcards. From the early days of the Calgary Stampede to streets in Mount Royal, these postcards offer a fascinating glimpse into more than 100 years of Alberta history. Any writing found on the back of the postcards has also been included.

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Judith Umbach Photography Collection
Over 800 photographs were donated to the Local History Collection in 2005 by Judith Umbach, who gained her appreciation of contemporary history while serving on the Board of Trustees for Calgary Public Library. Most of the pictures document the construction or renovation of well-known facilities in the downtown core and document Calgary's construction, architecture and development. This collection, which continues to grow, is grouped into searchable themes as follows

16th Avenue 2005 Alberta Centennial 2006 Calgary Olympic Athletes Buena Vista Calgary Courts Centre Street Bridge Chinatown Parking Lot Colonel Belcher Care Centre Connaught Demolition of the General Hospital Downtown East Village Edmonton Trail Lougheed Building Midtown Market Coop and Vantage Pointe Condominiums	Miscellaneous North Hill Centre Penny Lane Renaissance at North Hill Condominiums Riverfront Pointe Sam Livingston Place Sheldon M Chumir Health Centre Stairway at Rotary Park Stoney Trail Bridge Telus Convention Centre The Bow, EnCana Building The Bridges Warehouse District Wing Kei Care Centre
To search by these themes: go to "Advanced Search" click "selected fields" select "description" from the drop-down menu make sure only the "Judith Umbach" collection is checked (along the bottom) enter terms such as "Centre Street Bridge" or "Lougheed Building"
Find them on a map.

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