History
The Federal Government’s confederation Memorial Centennial Program and the Government of Alberta began planning in 1950, but guided help was hired in 1962. Raymond O. Harrison was given 5 million dollars to find a site, hire staff and build collections in all of three years. It opened to the public December 6, 1967 as the Provincial Museum of Alberta, following a ceremony. The galleries presented opening day were fur trade, native peoples of Alberta, early photographs of aboriginals taken by Ernest Brown and Harry Pollard, agriculture, pioneer life, industry, commerce. The museum expanded through the 1960s and 1970s with more exhibits, curatorial programs and staff. The museum created many fine presentations, including: Australian Aboriginal Art, Japanese Kites, Log Cabin Construction, Highlights in the Search for Ancient Life, Bird Flight, Mammals of Alberta and Reefs.
Paid admission began in 1990, and to increase its audience the ground floor Indian Gallery was removed and the space used for feature exhibition space. Between 1989 and 2001 175 travelling exhibitions were displayed in this area. Some of which include: Prehistorics Gigantics (1990), Whales! Bigger than Dinosaurs (1992), Sharks: Facts and Fantasy (1993), Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats (1994), Camosaurs! (1995), Bugsworld (1996), Genghis Khan (1997), Syria-Land of Civilizations (2001) and International Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2003).
Read more about this topic: Royal Alberta Museum
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—G.M. (George Macaulay)