Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SET OF CURTAINS?

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1970

Materials

LINEN

No. Pieces

2

Height

0.1

Length

75.5

Width

45.0

Description

2 IDENTICAL RECTANGLES OF WHITE LINEN. TOP AND BOTTOM HAVE HEMS THAT ARE STITCHED WITH BLUE EMBROIDERY THREAD; STITCHES ARE X SHAPED. ALONG BOTTOM EDGE ARE 6 BLUE CROSS STITCHED SAILBOATS. SIDES ARE FACTORY EDGES.

Subjects

WINDOW OR DOOR COVERING

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

POSSIBLY USED AS CURTAINS? TOWELS? TABLE RUNNERS? ITEMS BELONGED TO DONOR'S (WALT) MOTHER & FATHER, ADA MAY HOLT AND HERBERT HOLT. SOME ITEMS ALSO BELONGED TO HOLT CHILDREN: GORD, RALPH AND WALT. ADA PRODUCED MUCH OF THE HANDIWORK IN COLLECTION. ALL ITEMS WERE USED IN LETHBRIDGE. HERBERT HOLT, WAS BORN IN NORTH WALES AND SERVED IN THE KING'S LIVERPOOL REGIMENT DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR. HE CAME TO CANADA IN 1922 AND IN JANUARY 1923 JOINED THE STAFF OF THE FORT SASKATCHEWAN PROVINCIAL JAIL AS A GUARD. HE BECAME DEPUTY WARDEN THERE IN NOVEMBER 1936, AND SERVED IN THAT CAPACITY UNTIL HIS PROMOTION TO WARDEN AT THE LETHBRIDGE JAIL IN 1940. HERB'S VISION OF REHABILITATION INCLUDED "MEANINGFUL" WORK FOR PRISONERS, RESULTING IN FIELD WORK GROWING VEGETABLE CROPS AND WHEAT, RAISING CATTLE AND HOGS, AS WELL AS WORKING IN THE PRISON BUTCHER SHOP, BAKERY, CANNERY, AND CREAMERY. IN ADDITION, PRISONERS BEAUTIFIED THE GROUNDS BY WORKING ON FLOWER BEDS AND BUILDING STONE FENCES, CREATING AN ATTRACTIVE PARK IN THE "FRONT YARD" OF THE JAIL. HERB WAS MADE AN HONOURARY CHIEF BY THE PEIGAN NATION IN 1949 FOR HIS EFFORTS TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL WORK TO NATIVE INMATES. HERB WAS APPOINTED MAGISTRATE IN AND FOR THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA IN AUGUST 1950, AND HELD THIS POST UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1959. ADA HOLT (NEE MOYER) WAS BORN IN ONTARIO IN 1907; HER PARENTS MOVED OUTSIDE FORT SASKATCHEWAN IN 1909 WHERE THEY HOMESTEADED ON A FARM. AS A YOUNG WOMAN ADA WORKED FOR FIVE YEARS AT THE GENERAL STORE. ADA MET HERB IN FORT SASKATCHEWAN, AND THEY MARRIED IN 1935. ADA CONTINUED TO CALL LETHBRIDGE HER HOME AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH UNTIL 1998 WHEN SHE SUFFERED A STROKE. SHE PASSED AWAY AT THE BEVERLY CENTRE IN JANUARY OF 2000. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY ON FAMILY AND LETHBRIDGE GAOL.

*UPDATE* IN 2021 TWO COLLECTIONS ASSISTANTS, RYLEY GELINAS AND O. E. CONDUCTED AN AUDIT OF THE ROLLED TEXTILE COLLECTION, INCLUDING SEVERAL TEXTILES DONATED BY WALTER AND FAYE HOLT. GELINAS ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT THE DONORS AND, ALTHOUGH UNABLE TO BRING THEM IN FOR AN INTERVIEW, WAS ABLE TO SEND IMAGES OF THE TEXTILE OBJECTS IN THE COLLECTION TO GATHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2021, GELINAS RECEIVED AN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE FROM ONE OF THE DONORS, FAYE HOLT, PROVIDING SOME INFORMATION ON THE OBJECTS IN QUESTION, INCLUDING THIS OBJECT. HOLT EXPLAINED THAT THEY “BELIEVE THESE WERE TEA TOWELS” WHICH WERE LIKELY EMBROIDERED BY WALTER’S MOTHER. SHE FURTHER EXPLAINED THAT “WALT’S MOM, ADA, DID A LOT OF NEEDLEWORK, AND I BELIEVE THESE WERE NEEDLEPOINT.” HOLT ADDED THAT SHE DID NOT “THINK THEY WERE EVERY USED.”

Catalogue Number

P20000038013

Acquisition Date

2002-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail