News Archives: Official Alberta History Book Launched at GPRC
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006
Dr. Jaroslav Petryshyn has authored and contributed to a number of historical books and publications during the years he has been teaching history at Grande Prairie Regional College. As President of the 2005 Alberta History Centennial Society, he is now proud to launch the two-volume work Alberta Formed - Alberta Transformed, which is being released this month. Alberta Formed - Alberta Transformed features articles by more than 30 prominent scholars, covering a period of 12,000 years. “We took a rather innovative approach to this work,” says Petryshyn, who has been involved with the project since 1987. “Rather than a straight narrative each writer was assigned a particular pivotal year in the Province’s history from which a portrait could be woven. He describes the two-volume set as “an engaging, lively account which is academically sound, but which will also capture the interest of the general public.” Work on the project began in the early 1990s with an initial grant from the Centennial Legacies program. “We narrowed down a huge list of potential contributors in the selection of people who would write particular segments of Alberta’s history,” Petryshyn says. Four of the contributors will be in Grande Prairie on March 17 to help celebrate the launch of the “official history of Alberta” and to speak in a mini-conference discussing their individual contributions and the writing challenges they faced. Editor-in-chief Dr. Michael Payne is one of the writers participating in the mini-conference, bringing his perspective on the combined works. Dr. Payne is head of the research and publication program for the Historic Sites and Cultural Facilities Branch of Alberta Community Development. He has previously published a number of books on early western Canadian history including The Fur Trade in Canada: An Illustrated History. Other speakers in the mini-conference will be Brian Calliou, an alumnus of GPRC who is an expert on Aboriginal and treaty rights; Patricia Myers, author of Sky Riders: An Illustrated History of Aviation in Alberta, 1906-1945; and Dr. Duff Crerar, instructor of history at GPRC and author of the book Padres in No Man’s Land. “It is a great privilege to hold the first launch of this book here in Grande Prairie,” says Petryshyn. “One of the exciting aspects of this project is that the book has been pre-paid for presentation to all schools, public libraries, and post-secondary institutions in the province. It is good to know that it will be available for everyone.” Personal copies of Alberta Formed - Alberta Transformed may be ordered from the University of Alberta Press for $100 per set. -30- For further information please contact: Dr. Jaroslav (Jerry) Petryshyn Chair, Arts and Education, Grande Prairie Regional College President, 2005 Alberta History Centennial Society 780-539-2006 jpetryshyn@gprc.ab.ca