Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PEAKED CORRECTIONAL CAP

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1972

Materials

FABRIC, VINYL, LEATHER

No. Pieces

1

Height

13.3

Length

28.0

Width

24.6

Description

CORRECTIONAL CAP, PEAKED. CHARCOAL WOOL CAP WITH BLACK VINYL BRIM AND A BRONZE BADGE FEATURING THE ALBERTA COAT OF ARMS WITH RIBBONS BELOW, “PROVINCE OF ALBERTA GAOLS”. JUST ABOVE THE BRIM IS A MATCHING VINYL HATBAND ATTACHED TO THE HAT WITH BLACK BUTTONS. INSIDE THE TOP OF THE HAT IS A WHITE OVAL LOGO, “CAPITAL CAPS 312 ADELAIDE ST. W. TORONTO”. OVER IT IS A CLEAR PLASTIC, DIAMOND SHAPED POCKET SEWN ON THREE SIDES. INSIDE IS LINED WITH BLACK CLOTH AND BROWN LEATHER HATBAND. BLACK VINYL LABEL STICKER ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE BRIM WITH WHITE TEXT, “H. E. CRAWFORD.” SMUDGING AND LIGHT SCRATCHES ACROSS THE VINYL BRIM. THE CLEAR PLASTIC POCKET IS CLOUDED, SCRATCHED AND HAS A C INDENTATION OVER THE LOGO.

Subjects

CLOTHING-HEADWEAR

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

ON MAY 21, 2020, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CAROL CLIFTON REGARDING HER DONATION OF A LETHBRIDGE CORRECTIONAL CENTRE (LCC) GUARD CAP, PREVIOUSLY THE PROPERTY OF HENRY EARL CRAWFORD. THE OBJECT WAS COLLECTED BY CAROL’S LATE HUSBAND, CHRIS CLIFTON, AND DONATED IN HIS MEMORY. ON HOW HER HUSBAND CHRIS ACQUIRED THE CAP, CAROL EXPLAINED, “WE GOT IT FROM A FELLOW BY THE NAME OF MIKE ACKERMAN…HE HAD BEEN GARAGE-SALE-ING, AND HAD, FOLLOWING THE PASSING OF EARL’S WIFE, HAD GONE TO THEIR GARAGE SALE, AND BOUGHT THIS CAP. IN THE MEANTIME, MY HUSBAND AND HIM HAD BEEN BETTING OILERS VERSUS FLAMES…MIKE OWED SOME MONEY TO MY HUSBAND, AND SO MY HUSBAND SAID, 'DON’T PAY ME; JUST GIVE ME THE CAP.' AND, SO HE RECEIVED THE CAP AS PART OF A FLAMES-OILERS BET, BUT, INSIDE OF IT, IT’S GOT EARL’S NAME, AND WE WERE WELL AWARE OF EARL, AND WE ALSO KNEW THAT EARL HAD A SPECIAL HISTORY WITHIN THE JAIL, AND MY HUSBAND LIKED TO COLLECT JAIL THINGS AS HE FOUND THEM…HE ENDED UP PUTTING IT IN HIS COLLECTION.” ON HOW THEY KNEW EARL, CAROL ADDS, “MY HUSBAND AND I BOTH STARTED AT THE JAIL IN 1983. I STARTED A FEW MONTHS BEFORE HIM, SO I ACTUALLY STARTED WORK IN THE OLD JAIL, AND HE STARTED WORK JUST A MONTH AFTER WE MOVED INTO THE NEW JAIL…” “[EARL] HAD BEEN THERE A FEW DECADES BEFORE WE STARTED, AND [THE CAP IS] THE STYLE OF, CERTAINLY PRE-1980’S WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE WORN…IT HAD A STORY ATTACHED TO, PROBABLY, ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS OFFENDERS THAT WAS EVER IN THE JAIL, AND SO IT MADE IT THAT MUCH MORE OF AN INTERESTING PIECE IN MY VIEW.” A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE PUBLISHED MARCH 15, 1983 REPORTS THAT ON FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1983, AT 8 A.M. LCC INMATE CURTIS JAMES LITTLETENT, 32, ASSAULTED CORRECTIONAL OFFICER (C.O.) EARL CRAWFORD, 58, WHILE THE OFFICER SUPERVISED CLEANING DUTY IN THE CELL BLOCK. EARL WAS TAKEN TO ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL WITH A BROKEN JAW, BROKEN RIBS AND SEVERAL CUTS AND BRUISES. CAROL RECALLS, “WHEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING THERE, AND THE STAFF WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO TAKE NEW PEOPLE AROUND…AND, OF COURSE THE MOST SCARY, AND INTIMIDATING PART OF IT ALL WAS THE SEGREGATION UNIT…I REMEMBER VIVIDLY, THERE WERE 3 INMATES IN THERE, AND ALL 3 WERE MURDERERS. AND, OF COURSE, I HAD HAD NO EXPERIENCE WITH ANY OF THIS STUFF. THE THOUGHT THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE MURDERERS, AND THEN YOU GET THE KEY HANDED TO YOU, AND SAY, 'OKAY NOW, LOOK AFTER THEM.'…[LITTLETENT] NOT LONG BEFORE HAD VERY SERIOUSLY ASSAULTED EARL CRAWFORD, AND EARL CRAWFORD ALMOST DIED. IN EVERYONE’S MEMORY THERE…THAT WAS THE BIGGEST, SCARIEST THING THAT HAD HAPPENED THERE IN THEIR MEMORIES…I REMEMBER IT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY, BECAUSE I WAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED.” LITTLETENT WAS ONE OF THE MEN IN THE SEGREGATION UNIT, CAROL EXPLAINS, “I WAS TOLD THE STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED TO EARL, AND HOW EARL HAD LET HIM OUT TO CLEAN HIS CELL, AND HE’D TAKEN A MOP AND WITHOUT PROVOCATION, ABSOLUTELY LAID-INTO EARL, AND PUT HIM IN THE HOSPITAL WITH VERY SERIOUS INJURIES- HE ALMOST DIED. AND, THEN I WAS GIVEN THE KEYS, AND SAID, 'OK, THIS IS YOUR UNIT.'…I THINK, AT THE TIME, PART OF IT WAS A TEST, BECAUSE…THERE ARE VERY FEW WOMEN THERE AT THE TIME, AND I WAS VERY YOUNG, AND SO IT’S A TEST TO SEE HOW SCARED YOU GET, AND IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THE JOB…BUT, BEYOND THAT, [EARL] WAS WELL-RESPECTED BY THE SEASONED OFFICER’S, AND THE LESSON OF IT IS, 'ALWAYS BE CAREFUL; ALWAYS BE AWARE; ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RULES; NEVER DO ANYTHING ON YOUR OWN; THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.' AND, FRANKLY, EVERYBODY THERE WAS VERY AFFECTED BY WHAT HAPPENED TO EARL. IT WAS THE MOST SERIOUS THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO A PRISON GUARD THERE, IN THEIR MEMORY. AND, CERTAINLY SINCE, THERE HAS NOT BEEN A MORE SERIOUS INCIDENT.” ON HER ATTACHMENT TO THE CAP, CAROL EXPLAINS, “I REMEMBER [EARL] REALLY WELL. HE WAS THE KIND OF GUY THAT ALWAYS – HE WAS A VERY HAPPY PERSON, AND ALWAYS HAD A JOKE. HE NEVER TOOK HIMSELF SERIOUSLY, AND IT WAS JUST HARD TO BELIEVE THAT HE WOULD BE, OF EVERYONE, THE ONE [LITTLETENT] CHOSE TO GO AFTER…HE JUST WAS, I THINK, IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME, OR MAYBE HIS GOOD-NATURE WAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF OR WHO KNOWS? BUT HE WORKED THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AFTER, ALL THROUGH THE 80’S, AND MAYBE INTO THE EARLY 90’S, AND THEN HE RETIRED…HE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT IT. I WORKED WITH HIM LOTS. I TALKED TO HIM LOTS. HE NEVER TALKED ABOUT IT. IT WAS LIKE TALKED ABOUT…BY THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN THERE BUT ALMOST IN WHISPERS. ALMOST LIKE MAYBE IT’S UNLUCKY TO TALK ABOUT IT, OR DON’T WANT TO BRING IT UP, BUT…I TALKED WITH EARL ON MANY OCCASIONS, AND NEVER ONCE DID HE MENTION IT. AND, I NEVER MENTIONED IT TO HIM. IT WAS JUST AN UNSPOKEN THING THAT EVERYBODY KNEW.” “I LEFT IN THE EARLY 90’S, BUT I REMEMBER THE STORY...YOU KNOW, YOU WERE NEW- YOU WERE STARTING, AND IT WAS JUST SUCH AN AWFUL THING, AND SUCH AN AWFUL STORY. SO WHEN THIS HAT HAD [EARL’S] NAME ON IT TO ME, IT HAD MORE SIGNIFICANCE, BECAUSE IT TOLD THE STORY OF THE DARK SIDE. OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED ALL THE DAYS WHEN NOTHING HAPPENED.” SUMMARIZED FROM SEVERAL LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES. IN 1975, THE THEN 24-YEAR-OLD LITTLETENT, A SASKATCHEWAN BEET WORKER, WAS CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF MARGARET CYR, 16, HIS COWORKER ON A VAUXHILL DISTRICT FARM. HE WOULD SERVE 7 YEARS FOR MANSLAUGHTER AND BE RELEASED ON JULY 21, 1982. THREE DAYS LATER, ON JULY 24, HE WOULD ASSAULT HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW AT A PARTY AND BE BROUGHT BACK INTO CUSTODY. DURING THIS CUSTODY, HE WOULD BE CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING AN LCC PEACE OFFICER WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED AT THE JAIL ON DEC. 3, 1982; ASSAULTING AN RCMP OFFICER WHILE BEING TRANSPORTED FROM THE COURTHOUSE TO THE LCC ON DECEMBER 17, 1982; AND ASSAULTING C.O. EARL. EARL’S ASSAULT ON MARCH 11 WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY REPORTED TO THE MEDIA BUT FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON MARCH 15, 1983. THE ARTICLE STATES, “THE HERALD LEARNED OF THE ATTACK AT 1:30 P.M. MONDAY IN A PHONE CALL FROM THE ALBERTA UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (AUPE) WHEN VERIFYING THE BEATING WITH STAFF SGT BOB HUBBER OF THE LETHBRIDGE RCMP DETACHMENT, HUBBER SAID THE REASON THERE HAD BEEN NO OFFICIAL RCMP RELEASE ABOUT THE INCIDENT WAS BECAUSE THIS IS NOT THE TYPE OF THING THEY WANT TO MAKE PUBLIC.” THE AUPE BLAMED THE ATTACK ON STAFF SHORTAGES, ASSERTING THAT EARL WAS LEFT ALONE WITH A PRISONER WITH A KNOWN HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. THE AUPE ALSO USED THIS MOMENT TO BRING FORTH THEIR CONCERN THAT THE NEW LETHBRIDGE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE (LCI), TO OPEN IN MAY THAT YEAR, WAS PLANNED TO SEE A DECREASE IN STAFF. ON WORKING AS A WOMAN IN THE LCC AND LCI, CAROL ADDED, “I WASN’T THE FIRST. THERE WAS MAYBE TEN WOMEN BEFORE ME, BUT THEY HAD NEVER HAD FEMALE INMATES, AND SO…WE WERE PROBABLY ALL HIRED WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO…IT WAS A BIG HIRING THING BECAUSE THEY WERE OPENING THE NEW JAIL SHORTLY, AND THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A CO-ED JAIL…MAYBE, A DOZEN TOPS, [WOMEN] EVER WORKED IN THE OLD JAIL, AND THEN, LATER ON, IN THE NEW JAIL…WOMEN HAD A MUCH HIGHER TURN-OVER…I REMEMBER I WAS THE FIRST WOMAN THAT EVER WORKED WHILE PREGNANT, OR EVER HAD A BABY AS A C.O. AND WORKED IT. SO, IT WAS PRETTY NEW TO BE A WOMAN, AND A YOUNG WOMAN, AND TO DO THE THINGS THAT WOMEN DO IN THE WORKPLACE.” IN A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE DATED NOV. 24, 1979, THE NEW LCI ADVERTISED A FEMALE UNIT. PREVIOUSLY WOMEN IN CUSTODY AWAITING TRIALS IN LETHBRIDGE HAD TO BE FERRIED BETWEEN LETHBRIDGE AND CALGARY AFTER EVERY COURTROOM APPEARANCE. ACCORDING TO THE APPEAL RECORD, R. V. LITTLETENT, 1985 ABCA 22 AT THE CANADIAN LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE, LITTLETENT WAS CHARGED “THAT HE ON OR ABOUT THE 11TH DAY OF MARCH, A.D. 1983, AT OR NEAR LETHBRIDGE, IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, DID COMMIT AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT ON HARRY EARL CRAWFORD, BY WOUNDING THE SAID HARRY EARL CRAWFORD.” LITTLETENT WAS SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT FOR 10 YEARS, WHICH WAS SUBSTITUTED ON APPEAL FOR 6 YEARS. HENRY EARL CRAWFORD PASSED ON SEPT. 26, 2013, AT 88 YEARS. HIS WIFE, MARY ANN CRAWFORD, PASSED ON APRIL 25, 2008, AT 79 YEARS. ON MARCH 28, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CAROL AND BRETT CLIFTON REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF VARIOUS LETHBRIDGE AND MILITARY MEMORABILIA. LIKE THESE PREVIOUS COLLECTIONS THE LCC GUARD CAP WAS DONATED IN MEMORY OF CHRIS CLIFTON, HUSBAND AND FATHER. ON THEIR MOTIVES FOR DONATING THE COLLECTIONS, CAROL CLIFTON NOTED, “THE FIRST REASON THAT WE DECIDED TO DONATE AT THIS TIME…IS THAT WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A NICE WAY TO HONOUR [CHRIS] TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COLLECTION ALWAYS STAYED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND THAT IT’S AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS. [THE DONATION] WOULD BE SOMETHING IN HIS MEMORY THAT WOULD KEEP HIS MEMORY ALIVE.” ON HER HUSBAND’S INTEREST IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA HISTORY, CAROL CLIFTON ELABORATED, “CHRIS PASSED AWAY…[HE] REALLY MADE US INTERESTED IN HISTORY. FOR HIM IT WAS ALL ABOUT LOCAL HISTORY, SO ANYTHING THAT HE COLLECTED HAD A LETHBRIDGE OR SOUTHERN ALBERTA CONNECTION OR HE DIDN’T COLLECT IT. HE LIKED TO RESEARCH THEM.” “[CHRIS] WAS VERY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN RAISED MORMON FROM A MORMON FAMILY THAT HAD DEEP PIONEER ROOTS INTO UTAH, AND WERE ORIGINALS TO UTAH AND ORIGINALS TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA. ALONG WITH THAT MORMONS…REALLY ENCOURAGE HISTORY IN TERMS OF COLLECTING THEIR ARTIFACTS OR RELIGIOUS ARTIFACTS, AND GENEALOGY. [CHRIS DID] ALL OF HIS OWN GENEALOGY AND HE WOULD DO GENEALOGY FOR ANYONE HE KNEW. WE JUST LITERALLY HAVE REAMS OF PERSONAL HISTORY AND GENEALOGY IN THAT FORM. IT GREW FROM THERE. [CHRIS] WAS A COLLECTOR AT HEART, HE BEGAN COIN COLLECTING AND DID A LOT OF WORK FOUNDING A NUMISMATICS SOCIETY IN TOWN AND BELONGED TO SEVERAL, AND DISPLAYED ON A NATIONAL LEVEL.” “IN TERMS OF THE MILITARY ITEMS, I WOULD SAY [HIS INTEREST BEGAN] WITH HIS DAD BEING FROM THE CALGARY TANK REGIMENT IN DIEPPE AND A PRISONER OF WAR. HIS DAD’S MOTHER HAD SAVED A BUNCH OF ITEMS AND BEFORE CHRIS’ DAD PASSED AWAY, HE GAVE EVERYTHING TO CHRIS…THAT KIND OF FOSTERED [HIS INTEREST IN MILITARY COLLECTIONS] AND THEN IT JUST GREW INTO INTERESTING LOCAL THINGS.” “CHRIS LOVED SOUTHERN ALBERTA, AND NO MATTER WHAT, HE NEVER WOULD HAVE LEFT SOUTHERN ALBERTA. HE LOVED TO TRAVEL BUT HE NEVER WOULD HAVE MOVED. HE LIVED IN MAGRATH AND LETHBRIDGE HIS WHOLE LIFE AND HAD NO INTEREST IN ANY OTHER PLACE BUT HERE.” ON CHRIS’ RESEARCH EFFORTS, CAROL CLIFTON RECALLED, “CHRIS WAS METICULOUS. ANYTHING CHRIS DID, HE DID IT TEN TIMES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE WOULD. HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP…WHEN [HIS SON] BRETT DID THE CENOTAPH WORK, CHRIS WOULD HELP HIM IDENTIFY [THE NAMES] AND IT WOULD BE A DEAD END AFTER ANOTHER DEAD END, AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNEW WAS CHRIS HAD FOUND A RELATIVE IN ENGLAND WHO WAS A GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER’S NEIGHBOR. HE WOULD LITERALLY SPEND YEARS RESEARCHING ONE THING. IT WAS JUST HIS PERSONALITY AND HIS LEVEL OF INTEREST AND HE DIDN’T STOP THERE, HE WOULD DO IT FOR ANYONE…HE WAS A VERY GIVING PERSON AND HE WAS SO FANTASTICALLY GOOD AT THAT TYPE OF RESEARCH.” “[CHRIS] AND BRETT TOGETHER WOULD DO [THE RESEARCH] AND I WOULD DO IT OUT OF INTEREST…I DON’T KNOW OF ANYONE WHO DID IT TO THE LEVEL HE DID. HE WOULD BE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FOLLOWING A LEAD IN EUROPE ON SOMEONE HE DIDN’T KNOW FOR SOMEONE HE BARELY KNEW…[CHRIS WAS] TOTALLY SELF-TAUGHT…OF COURSE WITH THE INTERNET IT BECAME MUCH EASIER FOR EVERYONE TO [SEARCH]. THE GENEALOGY HE DID BEFORE WAS PRE-INTERNET SO THAT INVOLVED A LOT OF ARCHIVAL THINGS…HE BEGAN RESEARCH WORK VERY EARLY IN THE INTERNET AND WE GOT OUR FIRST COMPUTER IN 1995, AND HE PRETTY MUCH DID RESEARCH FROM THEN ON. HE WAS INTERESTING IN THAT NO MATTER WHAT RESEARCH HE DID HE DIDN’T WANT CREDIT FOR IT. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BELONG TO THINGS…IN ADDITION, HE DIDN’T LIKE TO DO THE WRITING, ALTHOUGH HE COULD WRITE, BUT HE WAS THE BEST PROOF READER BECAUSE HE WAS SO METICULOUS, AND HE WOULD PROOF READ FOR ANYONE. [IF] SOMEBODY WROTE AN ARTICLE HE WOULD BE A PROOF READER OR A FACT CHECKER. IT WAS JUST HIS NATURE…[HE WAS] STUBBORN, AND COMPETITIVE, AND INTERESTED, AND METICULOUS, AND IF HE DID IT IT’S CORRECT. IF THERE’S A MISTAKE IN IT HE SURE DIDN’T KNOW IT. HE WOULD HAVE NEVER PUT ANYTHING DOWN HE WASN’T PRETTY DARN SURE OF.” FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190007001-GA. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, COPIES OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, AND REFERENCED DOCUMENTS PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20200014001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20200014001

Acquisition Date

2020-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail