UNews - Sir Alexander Galt Museum

Linking past to present

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:35:16 +0000

When the Galt School of Nursing Alumni gifted close to $150,000 in scholarship money to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge nursing program, it was a case of the past meeting the present to benefit the future.

"We're very pleased to continue in the tradition established by the Galt School of Nursing and are proud to educate the next generation of nursing professionals," says U of L president, Dr. Mike Mahon.

For nearly 70 years (1910 to 1979), the Galt School of Nursing trained more than 1,100 nurses who played a key role in providing quality health care to the residents of southern Alberta. The Galt family first established a fund in 1910 that supported nursing students and helped to purchase equipment for the school of nursing.

"It is remarkable that this fund has carried over for more than 100 years, from the pioneering Galt family to the present day," says Donna Karl, RN, and a 1963 graduate of the Galt School of Nursing.

Galt School of Nursing Alumni enjoyed connecting with today's students.

Administered by the Galt Alumni Association for the past 15 years, it provided scholarships to descendants of Galt alumni, but as applications waned in recent years, the association wanted to put the money to good use.

"When we realized that, due to our alumni's aging population, we were not receiving many applications for scholarships, we knew it was time to move this money to a place where it would be utilized and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's nursing program was an obvious choice," says Karl.

While descendants of Galt alumni are still in the terms of reference for the rewarding of scholarships, academic merit will weigh heavily. The fund will be endowed to provide scholarships to entering or continuing Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Nursing After Degree third- and fourth-year students.

"Nursing is all about caring for people and I can see that the students today are carrying on in that tradition," says Karl, who, along with other alumni, toured the new Simulation Health Centre with current students.

"The nursing students that I met today are still all about taking care of people but are far more educated than we were because of the facilities available to them. That lab we toured is wonderful!"

Karl, who works part time at Lethbridge College in the Health Services Office, says the alumni association felt a great responsibility to administer the fund.

"For years we've been managing that money like it was our own – there were about six of us who would gather around my kitchen table and make decisions about scholarships," she says. "We looked after that money very well and gave it out very carefully. I'm happy that the U of L will be able to look after that from here out."

That it will live on in perpetuity and continue a century-old tradition of supporting nursing students is gratifying to Karl.

"I absolutely love this profession, and am really pleased to still be working nearly 50 years after being in school," she says. "Much has changed since 1963 – we certainly didn't have the facilities or services today's students have – but we can continue to ensure today's students are supported throughout their education."

GET THE FACTS

· The U of L first established a School of Nursing in 1980.

· There are 698 students currently enrolled in the nursing program, which is now offered jointly by Lethbridge College and the U of L's Faculty of Health Sciences.

· To date, more than 1,500 nurses have graduated from the U of L's nursing program.

· The Galt family built and supported the original Galt Hospital, which is now the site of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives.

· The scholarship transfer agreement required a change in provincial legislation, facilitated at a government level by former nurse and healthcare provider Bridget Pastoor, MLA Lethbridge East.

Galt Alumni gift $150,000 in scholarship

trevor.kenney — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:06:53 +0000

For nearly 70 years (1910 to 1979), the Galt School of Nursing trained more than 1,100 nurses who played -- and still play -- a key role in providing quality health care to the residents of southern Alberta.

Today, Galt School of Nursing alumni and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge officials announced the transfer of nearly $150,000 in scholarship money to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in support of students enrolled in the U of L's nursing program.

"The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is pleased to continue in the tradition established by the Galt School of Nursing and is proud to educate the next generation of nursing professionals," said U of L President Dr. Mike Mahon.

"It is also quite gratifying to know that Galt nursing graduates from up to 60 years ago are sharing in this good news, and can see for themselves how the U of L is working to educate future nurses."

Mahon notes that nursing has undergone an incredible transformation since the Galt School of Nursing was established, especially in terms of educational requirements and advances in medicine and technology.

"There continues to be a need for qualified health care professionals and this gift from the Galt School of Nursing Alumni Association helps ensure that current nursing students have access to much-needed scholarship money."

The fund will be endowed to provide scholarships to entering or continuing Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Nursing After Degree third- and fourth-year students.

Donna Karl, RN, a Galt School of Nursing graduate from 1963 and spokesperson for the alumni group, said the gift to the U of L helps Galt alumni continue their support of nursing in the community.

"It is remarkable that this fund has carried over for more than 100 years, from the pioneering Galt family to the present day. The Alumni Association has looked after it for the past 15 years, and is delighted to have the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ accept it to continue supporting nurses."

Karl, who works part time at Lethbridge College in the Health Services Office, has two daughters who are also nurses.

"I absolutely love this profession, and am really pleased to be working nearly 50 years after being in school. Much has changed since 1963 -- we certainly didn't have the facilities or services today's students have – but we can continue to ensure today's students are supported throughout their education."

The fund was first established in 1910 by the Galt family, who also built and supported the original Galt Hospital (now the site of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives). The fund is being gifted to the U of L to manage in perpetuity on behalf of the Galt School of Nursing Alumni Association, which has been responsible for the fund since inheriting it from the former Lethbridge Municipal Hospital more than 15 years ago.

The transfer agreement required a change in provincial legislation, which was handled at a government level by former nurse and healthcare provider Bridget Pastoor, MLA Lethbridge East.

The U of L first established a School of Nursing in 1980. Now part of the Faculty of Health Sciences, there are 698 students currently enrolled in the nursing program, which is offered in conjunction with Lethbridge College. To date, more than 1,500 nurses have graduated from the program.

Museum studies interns bring back the 40s

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:49:02 +0000

The 1940s are here again, thanks to a new exhibition set to debut in the Helen Christou Gallery.

"Through my museum studies courses, I have come to realize that the artwork on the walls of a gallery doesn't get magically selected and placed there by elves," says Jarrett Duncan, who along with fellow museum studies intern Kasia Sosnowski, have just curated the exhibition going into the Helen Christou Gallery on Apr. 16, thereby obtaining first-hand experience about what goes into selecting and hanging an exhibition.

"Curating this exhibition was the best opportunity to put the knowledge I've gained in class into practice before graduating and finding myself in the real world," he says.

According to Dr. Josephine Mills, "the internships give students an in-depth sense of the range of work and career possibilities in the museum field, while also helping them develop a résumé of hands-on experience beyond the classroom."

The 1940s exhibition builds connections between the cultural collections in Lethbridge and gives the student interns the experience of curating an exhibition. Both senior students working on their bachelor of fine arts in art history/museum studies degrees, Duncan and Sosnowski drew from artworks in the U of L Collection, as well as objects and archival material from the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives to explore themes from the 1940s.

"Although the Second World War was a key part of the period, we felt that this subject would be familiar to audiences, and other than referring to Bart Pragnell's military service, we focused on the major developments in artistic practice and on the local connections," explains Sosnowski.

They focus partly on imagery of agriculture, complimented with ordinary objects from everyday life throughout that decade, as well as on the transformation in artistic styles and imagery that occurred during those years.

The curators include work by major international artists including Jean Arp (Switzerland), Andre Derain (France), and Henry Moore (Britain), as well as Alberta artists Bart Pragnell, Roloff Beny and Clifford Robinson.

The exhibition complements Historic Lethbridge Week, May 1-9.

Museum studies interns bring back the 40s

trevor.kenney — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:58:44 +0000

The 1940s are here again, thanks to a new exhibition set to debut in the Helen Christou Gallery.

"Curating this exhibition was the best opportunity to put the knowledge I've gained in class into practice before graduating and finding myself in the real world," he says.

The exhibition complements Historic Lethbridge Week, May 1-9.

Archaeologist probing the history of mega fauna

trevor.kenney — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:27:52 +0000

Archaeologist Christine (Chrissy) Foreman (BA '08) is used to digging up bison bones and artifacts from more than 2,500 years of human habitation on the prairies. The big picture story she's trying to write is just what happened to the ancestors of the plains bison, and other so-called 'mega fauna', which included mammoths and, among other species, camels.

"At the end of the last Ice Age, some 15,000 years ago, the Great Plains of North America was home to herds of mega fauna including the mammoth, steppe bison, wild horse and camel," Foreman says.

"The ancient people of the Plains hunted these animals for thousands of years until their eventual extinction. There exists a debate on whether many species died out because of human agency or environmental factors."

In presenting evidence from various angles, Foreman and other archaeologists believe human hunters were able to take down these large animals and that the human species may have altered the ecosystem of the entire continent.

Foreman recently presented her work at a community event hosted by the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives, where she reviewed the archaeological, paleontological and geological evidence for both the human and environmental sides of the argument in "Mega Extinction: factors that lead to the disappearance of the Ice Age Mega Fauna".

Foreman is presently on campus working on her Master of Arts (Archaeology) degree. Her thesis work relates to the 2,500-year old Fincastle Bison Kill Site located near Purple Springs, Alta.

Originally from Calgary, Foreman has lived in southern Alberta all her life. Her interests are in Plains history and archaeology, as well as the geography, geology and paleontology of the region. She is a long-time volunteer with the Galt Museum & Archives.

UNews - Sir Alexander Galt Museum

Linking past to present

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Museum studies interns bring back the 40s

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Archaeologist probing the history of mega fauna

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