History is worth paying for, say heritage advocates

When the institutions that preserve a place's history lose funding, much is at risk, say the heads of two historical societies whose budgets have been cut.

"Learning about the place you live gives you so much context and so much more appreciation for why things are the way they are in your city," said Kelsey Kendrick, the president of the Edmonton and District Historical Society. "When you're visiting another city, you'll go to whatever landmark and check it out, and you'll learn all these things, but people forget to do it where they actually live."

The latest provincial budget cut $76,000 from the Historical Society of Alberta, which has five chapters, including Edmonton's. The Alberta Genealogical Society also suffered a $29,000 cut. The volunteer-run organizations made that money go far in the service of a noble cause, said Karen Wilson, president of the Alberta Genealogical Society – Edmonton.

"You lose so much," Wilson said of the consequences of diminished attention to history. "You lose your sense of empathy for other people. You lose your sense of understanding. You lose your concept of learning from history."

Alberta also stands to lose tourism revenue from the cut, Kendrick and Wilson told Taproot, echoing an argument articulated by Lorien Johansen, president of the Historical Society of Alberta. She said the funding cuts are incongruous in a province that wants to increase tourism revenue to $25 billion by 2035.

"Here is the inconvenient truth for the Treasury Board: Authenticity is not a renewable resource if you stop tending to the source," Johansen wrote in an op-ed. "Tourists do not fly from London or Tokyo to look at generic hotel rooms or car rental agencies."

The province's intention is to fund "organizations delivering extensive services to the entire sector — not individual non-profits," Tanya Fir, the minister of arts, culture, and status of women, said in a statement to Postmedia, adding that heritage groups can still apply for grant funding.

The cuts to these societies are part of a trend in Canada's public funding landscape, wrote arts and culture strategist Erin McDonald. "Put bluntly, when we cut heritage funding, we cut economic development," they said, noting that competing for grants is no replacement for stable operating funds.

"Heritage organizations operate as knowledge institutions, tourism anchors, community conveners, and custodians of collective memory," McDonald's piece went on to say. "Yet they are funded, when they are funded at all, as if they were small volunteer hobbies."

Historical societies preserve the stories that make for meaningful experiences for visitors and residents alike, Kendrick said, as the Historical Society of Alberta has done since it was founded in 1907 by Alexander Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta. Her organization and Wilson's are figuring out how to go on without the funding, and they're looking to collaboration to ease the pain.

"(We're) going to work together to figure out a solution to this problem," Wilson said. "I think because we were so disparate, we were so separated, the government underestimated our willingness to collaborate and partner up. I think that's going to be our strength."

The show will go on for this year's Historic Festival & Doors Open Edmonton, which is coordinated by the Edmonton and District Historical Society. The festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, with events planned from July 5 to 12.

The society's next event is Peggy & Balmer: Alberta at the Edge of History on March 31 at Bison Lodge. Tom Radford will discuss his book and documentary about his grandparents, who were pioneering journalists in Alberta's early days.

This story is based on a larger conversation with Kelsey Kendrick and Karen Wilson on the March 20 edition of Taproot Exchange, a members-only livestream conversation that goes deep on issues of interest to Edmontonians. Become a member for access to future livestreams, as well as recordings and transcripts.