Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CITY POLICE BOW TIE

Date

1968

Materials

POLYESTER, STEEL

No. Pieces

1

Length

12.0

Width

3.5

Description

BLACK.LETHBRIDGE CITY POLICE DRESS UNIFORM. CLIP-TYPE BOW TIE.

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

"ORMOND RUSTRESIST" *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A CITY OF LETHBRIDGE POLICE UNIFORM DONATED BY JAMES H. CARPENTER. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. JAMES HAROLD CARPENTER WAS BORN IN OSAGE, SK IN OCTOBER 1911 TO HAROLD AND HELENA LEE (MAIDEN NAME UNKNOWN) CARPENTER. HAROLD AND HELENA HAD MOVED TO SASKATCHEWAN FROM NOVA SCOTIA IN 1909. AFTER STOPS IN MOOSE JAW, SK AND CRANBROOK, BC, THE CARPENTER FAMILY SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1920. HAROLD WORKED FOR SWIFT’S, WHICH BROUGHT THE FAMILY TO LETHBRIDGE. JAMES GRADUATED FROM LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE WITH THE HOPES OF BECOMING A SURGEON, BUT MONEY WAS TIGHT IN THE 1930S AND HE WORKED AS A BUTCHER AT HIS FATHER’S SHOP FOR A TIME. WHEN THIS STORE CLOSED, JAMES TOOK A POSITION IN VULCAN AT “JENKINS GROCETERIA”. HE RETURNED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1940 AND JOINED THE POLICE FORCE. IN AN OCTOBER 1971 ARTICLE ABOUT HIS CAREER, JAMES EXPLAINED THAT “I’D BEEN RAISED IN SCOUTING YOU SEE, AND PRACTICALLY GREW UP IN THE RCMP K DIVISION BARRACKS.” A FEBRUARY 1986 ARTICLE INDICATED THAT ONE OF JAMES’S FRIENDS FROM SCHOOL WAS THE SON OF AN RCMP INSPECTOR, WHICH HELPED GET JAMES INTERESTED IN THE POLICE. JAMES INITIALLY TRIED TO JOIN THE FORCE AT THE AGE OF 18, BUT WAS REJECTED DUE TO HIS YOUNG AGE. IN 1939 JAMES ENLISTED IN THE ARMY, BUT WAS REJECTED FOR MEDICAL REASONS – TWO OF HIS VERTEBRAE WERE FUSED TOGETHER. JAMES EXPLAINED IN FEBRUARY 1986 THAT “IT MUST HAVE BEEN FATE, BUT I RECEIVED MY DISCHARGE PAPERS THE SAME DAY I GOT A LETTER FROM THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE ASKING ME TO REAPPLY.” JAMES EXPLAINED IN OCTOBER 1971 THAT WHEN HE STARTED IN 1940 AT THE RANK OF CONSTABLE, HE WAS MAKING $118.78 PER MONTH, WHILE THE CHIEF AT THE TIME WAS MAKING $255. JAMES WAS PROMOTED STEADILY THROUGH THE YEARS, WHICH HE RECOUNTED IN OCTOBER 1971: IN 1944 JAMES WAS MADE SERGEANT. IN 1955 HE BECAME LETHBRIDGE’S FIRST STAFF SERGEANT, WHICH WAS THE CLOSEST RANK TO CHIEF AT THE TIME. IN JANUARY 1957 HE WAS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF INSPECTOR. A SHORT TIME LATER, POLICE CHIEF GEORGE HARVEY WAS TAKEN ILL AND JAMES BECAME ACTING CHIEF. FOLLOWING HARVEY’S DEATH, JAMES WAS APPOINTED AS CHIEF CONSTABLE IN OCTOBER 1957, A POSITION HE HELD UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1971. IN 1932 JAMES MARRIED JOAN “JUNE” WINNIFRED (NEE GLANVILLE), HAVING MET HER IN HIGH SCHOOL. JUNE WAS BORN IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1915. ACCORDING TO A FEBRUARY 1986 ARTICLE, HER PARENTS (NAMES NOT KNOWN) WERE FROM CORNWALL, ENGLAND AND MOVED TO NORTH AMERICA ABOUT 1910. HER FATHER HAD WORKED AS AN ENGINEER IN A SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD MINE AND WAS OFFERED A SIMILAR JOB IN BUTTE, MT AT A COPPER MINE. AFTER WITNESSING A GUN BATTLE OUTSIDE HIS HOTEL, JUNE’S FATHER ELECTED TO MOVE NORTH TO CANADA AND SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE. FOLLOWING HER HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, JUNE ENROLLED IN SECRETARIAL SCHOOL AND TOOK A JOB WITH CJOC RADIO WHILE THEY WERE BROADCASTING FROM THE MARQUIS HOTEL. IN 1939 SHE WAS ADMITTED AS A LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC IN LONDON AS A MUSIC TEACHER AND BEGAN TEACHING PIANO LESSONS. SHE ALSO PLAYED THE ORGAN AT THE FIRST UNITED AND MCKILLOP UNITED CHURCHES. IN THEIR SPARE TIME, JAMES AND JUNE HELPED TO ESTABLISH THE LETHBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY IN 1964. THEIR WORK IN THIS CAPACITY HELPED TO ESTABLISH STRICT HERITAGE LEGISLATION AND LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ALBERTA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. JAMES WAS AN AVID STAMP COLLECTOR AND WAS INVITED TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS HOBBY. HE WAS ALSO ACTIVE IN THE CHURCH, SERVING ON THE COMMITTEE OF STEWARDS OF THE FIRST UNITED FOR 19 YEARS AND LATER AT MCKILLOP UNITED. BOTH JUNE AND JIM RECEIVED A NUMBER OF AWARDS THROUGH THE YEARS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: JAMES: 1953 QUEEN’S CORONATION MEDAL; 1967 CONFEDERATION MEDAL AND THE CANADIAN CHIEFS OF POLICE EXEMPLARY SERVICE MEDAL AND BAR; 1995 INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME OF LETHBRIDGE JUNIOR COLLEGE FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN ESTABLISHING THE PROVINCE’S FIRST POLICE TRAINING PROGRAM AT LETHBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN 1968. JUNE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ALBERTA DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD; ALBERTA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO HISTORICAL PRESERVATION; THE ALEX JOHNSTON AWARD OF MERIT FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. JAMES PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 87 ON MARCH 1, 1999. JUNE PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 10, 2005 AT THE AGE OF 89. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD.

Catalogue Number

P19870045005

Acquisition Date

1987-07

Collection

Museum

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