Video
Edmonton’s Francophone Heritage
Narrated by France Levasseur-Ouimet
Professor Emeritus, Campus Saint-Jean
Campus Saint-Jean, Edmonton, Alberta
This wonderful old clock is the first thing that people saw when they walked into Collège Saint-Jean. We called it Collège Saint-Jean at the time. And it’s the first thing that I saw when I was a student here in 1961. I remember walking into the main hall and there was this wonderful clock.
Saint-Jean was created in Pincher Creek in 1908. In 1911, it moved to the present site and, in 1921, they added to this building. They added the two side wings.
St. Joachim’s Catholic Church, Edmonton, Alberta
The beginnings of this church date back to 1854 when Father Albert Lacombe, an Oblate father built a house-chapel inside Fort Edmonton. In 1899, the actual church was built.
Edmonton’s Francophone Heritage
Narrated by France Levasseur-Ouimet
Professor Emeritus, Campus Saint-Jean
The beginnings of this church date back to 1854 when Father Albert Lacombe, an Oblate father, built a house-chapel inside Fort Edmonton. In 1859, the Hudson’s Bay Company constructed a chapel next to it and, in 1877, that company requested that the building be removed, and hence, another church was erected on Groat’s estate on 121 Street and 103 Avenue. And in 1883, a third one was started and this time, just northwest of the present site. And finally, in 1899, under the guidance of Father Leduc, an Oblate father, the actual church was built.
This organ was built by the Casavant brothers in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It was bought by the parish in 1914 and it cost $4,500.
Interview with Louis Desrochers
This interview with Louis Desrochers, conducted by Adriana Davies, was carried out as part of the Maclab fiftieth anniversary commemorative project.