Print, Photographic
Vegreville Regional Museum
Tous droits réservés.
| Nom de l'objet : | Print, Photographic |
| Catégorie de l'objet : | Category 8 - Communication Artifacts |
| Sous-catégorie de l'objet : | Documentary Artifact 209 |
| Matériaux : | wood paper glass |
| Numéro d'accession : | 2001.51.1. |
| Province d'utilisation : | Alberta |
| Pays d'utilisation : | Canada |
| Culture : | Canadian |
| Description : | Black and white photograph of Father Valentine Vegreville with a dark brown wooden frame. |
| Fonctions : | Vegreville was named in honour of Father Valentin Végréville (1829-1903), a Roman Catholic Oblate missionary who served with dedication and distinction for fifty years. Ordained a priest in Marseille, France, 1852, Father Végréville began his work in Canada in the Northwest Territories, proceeded to the area later known as Saskatchewan and then to Alberta in 1865. A learned man, he was the author of several books in Cri and a French/Assiniboine dictionary. Father Végréville never served in the Vegreville area, but the Oblate Fathers of St. Albert west of Vegreville had often helped the new settlement founded in April 1894, so it was fitting that the name of the man who is credited with encouraging settlement in Western Canada was chosen to name the area. In order to have a post office, the community needed to have a name registered at the Government of Regina, so the name "Vegreville" was chosen by the settlement's founders, Joseph Benoit Tetreau and Joseph Poulin. Vegreville's first post office opened on December 5, 1895. The first wave of immigration, prior to World War I, accounted for most settlers in the Vegreville area. People emigrated from the U.S.A., Eastern Canada, the British Isles, Eastern and Central Europe. The four largest ethnic groups of Vegreville were English, French, German, Ukrainian. The first settlers of the area (this area later became known as "Old Vegreville") were a group of French Canadians from Kansas, U.S.A.. They arrived on April 21, 1894. In August 1894 the North West Mounted Police census recorded 88 people living in the area, including English settlers which had also arrived by that time. The original hamlet, "Old Vegreville," was located 4 ½ miles southwest of the present location of the town of Vegreville. By 1905, the hamlet had grown to twenty buildings including one livery barn, one blacksmith shop, two restaurants, one hotel, three machine shops, one jail, one police barracks, one doctor's offiice, one barber shop, four stores and two banks. The Canadian Northern Railway, 4 ½ miles northeast meant progress and development, so by the end of 1905 most of the buildings were moved to the new site. Hence, "Old Vegreville" and "Vegreville." For the move most of the buildings were put on skids. The Merchant's Bank and the Bank of Commerce had a race to see who would reach the new Vegreville first. The Merchant's Bank won by five minutes. However the Bank of Commerce building stayed intact much longer than the Merchant's Bank. Today , the bank enjoys a new life as a teahouse and restaurant in Sherwood Park, east of Edmonton. Upon its move to its new location Vegreville became a key stopping place along the rail route for immigrants to disembark and begin their new lives in their new land. Newspapers of the day took great interest in chronicling where families came from, how many rail cars were filled with belongings, and where families were planning to settle. The town's immigration building functioned under the auspices of the Board of Trade. It served as an immigration and publicity office, rendering a worthwhile service to the early immigrants and settlers. The Board of Trade published and distributed a handbook informing prospective settlers about "this splendid mixed farming district." Advertisements encouraging people to settle in the Vegreville area were distributed to places such as Chicago and Portland, Oregon. The northeast part of Vegreville was known for decades as "French Town." Here, centered around the church, hospital, school and convent established by the Daughters of Providence and Sisters of Charity, lived mainly Francophone families. A local community history book cites the recollections of an early Francophone resident of Vegreville: "Here was a truly bi-lingual community. Many of the inhabitants from tots to grandparents, went blithely about their daily living, speaking French or English at will-often a mixture of both-unconscious of the fact that it was unusual. The church sermons were delivered in English as will as in French. Father Bazin spoke English with a French accent; Father Rowland spoke French with an English accent. Both were loved and respected by all." Vegreville grew and was characterized by the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual attributes of its town residents and surrounding farm families. There were Jewish-owned businesses such as "Adler's", "Klein's", "Klimoff's"; the Irish/Scottish "Clement and Sons"; the English men's wear store; French-owned blacksmith shop; German-owned farm machinery dealership and barber shop; joint-owned English/Ukrainian real estate and insurance office. Old-timers recollect churches conducting services in various languages including Romanian, French, Ukrainian, German, English. Others recollect the Ukrainian barber who spoke German to his German customers; the German farmer who conversed fluently in seven languages; the multi-lingual Jewish proprietor. Vegreville retained its Francophone and Anglo-Saxon character into the 1950s upon which time more people of Ukrainian descent moved to Vegreville. With the increased number of people of Ukrainian descent and particularly with the huge weather-vane Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg) built in 1975 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in western Canada, Vegreville became known for its people of Ukrainian heritage. The caption beneath the Pysanka, written in the languages of Vegreville's four largest ethnic groups (English, French, German, Ukrainian), cites the harmony of how so many people came together to build a community and call Vegreville "home." |
| Hauteur : | 59,7 |
| Unité de mesure linéaire : | cm |
| Nombre de parties composantes : | 2 |
| Nom des parties composantes : | photo frame |
| Établissement : | Vegreville Regional Museum |
| Ville de l'établissement : | Vegreville |
| Province de l'établissement : | Alberta |
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