Want to see images of the 1912 cyclone in Regina that's part of your family lore? Or find out what your great-grandfather's job was in 1932? Check out the Peel's Prairie Provinces website, curated by U of A Libraries. The online collection holds tens of thousands of old newspapers, books, postcards and maps that have been digitized - right down to messages on the backs of some postcards.
The resource is a gold mine for genealogists, historians, researchers, students and the plain old curious, says Peel's bibliographer, Bob Cole, '98 PhD, '99 MLIS. Here are some of the resources you can find.
Henderson's Directories
This is the crown jewel for genealogists, says Cole. Peel's has directories from Prairie cities from as far back as the early 1900s. Searchable by keyword, the directories list name, address and sometimes vocation. (If you were curious, Barney Groves is listed in 1915 as working as a theatrical manager on Rose Street in Regina.)
Images
You'll find photos and 15,000 postcards dating back to the 1860s. In 1912, Flo sent a postcard of Edmonton's rooftops to Miss Cozy Baber in Ollie, Iowa: "Having a nice time but will soon be back to dear old Ollie. Have about decided to take a Homestead for I think we are living to[o] swift a life at Ollie. As Ever, Flo."
Newspapers
From the Didsbury Pioneer to the Prince Albert Times to Le Patriote de l'Ouest, you can find issues of more than 100 newspapers, including The Gateway.
Books
More than 7,500 books and pamphlets about the Prairies have been digitized, including books in French, Ukrainian and other languages. Maybe you'd like to see the "Prize list of the … annual fair of the Milestone Agricultural Society"?
Other Resources
You can find more than 1,000 maps on the website plus special collections, including Edmonton Folk Music Festival programs going back to 1980 and the weekly Illustrated War News from 1885.
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