Calgary & Southern Alberta

The post-war oil boom hastened southern Alberta’s, and particularly Calgary’s, social development. Calgary, in the 1950s and 1960s, became affluent and its citizens embraced consumerism. The population’s wealth was reflected to some degree in its enthusiastic support for professional sports. The Calgary Stampeder's Grey Cup victory in 1948 generated excitement and civic spirit.

Post-secondary education in Calgary also benefited from oil and gas prosperity. The industry required a young, business-orientated and technically advanced workforce. While many individuals migrated to the city in the hopes of acquiring high-paying jobs in the industry, Calgary’s local population required a university in order to prepare its citizens for the job market. In the 1950s and 1960s the University of Calgary slowly developed to meet these needs. First established in 1945 when Calgary’s Normal School became a branch of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education, the University of Calgary evolved throughout the next twenty years as the institution added new and expanded programmes to its curriculum. The University of Calgary gained autonomy in 1966.

The discovery of oil in Alberta also proved to be a huge impetus to the development of art and culture in Calgary. In 1955, Eric L. Harvie, self-made oilman, used his wealth to establish the Glenbow Foundation, an offshoot of which evolved into the Glenbow-Alberta Institute. Another of Harvie’s donations developed into Heritage Park on the banks of the Elbow River.

Heritage Park

In the post-World War II period Alexandre Calhoun also promoted interest in the arts when he brought together a small group of Calgarians and called the organisation the Civic Centre Committee. Calhoun’s group rented Coste House, which eventually evolved into the Allied Arts Council. Opening in 1946, Coste House became a meeting place for many art groups. A few members of the Council – namely John Snow, Maxwell Bates, and Calhoun – initiated the Calgary Film Society to show foreign films.

Theatre in post-World War II Calgary evolved from two directions: the Allied Arts Council and Alberta Theatre Projects. The latter had its beginnings at Heritage Park under the direction of Douglas Riske and his wife Paddy Campbell, an author of children’s literature. The couple produced plays by local playwrights such as John Murrell’s Waiting for the Parade, Sharon Pollock’s Wreck of the National Line Car, and W. O. Mitchell’s The Devil’s Instrument. Live theatre expanded when the University of Alberta at Calgary gained autonomy in 1966. Forming the first Faculty of Fine Arts in Canada, the University of Calgary influenced the arts in the city.

Calgary’s relations with peoples of the First Nations changed in this period as Aboriginal peoples began to migrate into the city from reservations. The Department of Indian Affairs started the trend when it encouraged Aboriginal teenagers to move to Calgary to attend high school and university. In 1964 the Calgary Indian Friendship Centre was established to meet their needs. Other organisations followed: Native Outreach, Calgary Urban Treaty Indian Alliance, Native Counselling Service of Alberta, Native Employment Transitional Services, and various alcohol and drug rehabilitation programmes. Native organisation and protest benefited from the women’s and civil rights protest movements in the 1960s.