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The Aspenland Journal was first published in 1998 by the Central Alberta Regional Museums Network, with the assistance of the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the Red Deer and District Museum.

The Aspenland series aims to present new knowledge on the cultural and social history of central Alberta. Aspenland I (1998) featured thematic essays on education at denominational colleges that are currently or were historically present in central Alberta.

Aspenland II: On Women's Lives and Work in Central Alberta (2003) presents articles related to the lives and work of women in the region. The collection brings together writing on diverse topics from rodeo to religious orders and from oilfields to the arts.

Aspenland 1998 — Local Knowledge and Sense of Place
Edited by: David J. Goa and David Ridley
Published by: The Central Alberta Regional Museums Network (CARMN) with the assistance of the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the Red Deer and District Museum.

• Armand Trochu and the Ninetieth Anniversary of the Founding of Trochu: A Speech
  by Jacques Bence

The nephew of Armand Trochu, Jacques Bence received a letter from Lorene Anne Frere as she retraced the lives of the men and woman from France who established Sainte Anne’s Ranch and the community of Trochu. In this address given on July 26th, 1995 by Monsieur Bence on the occasion of the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of Trochu, he brings a family perspective to the life of Trochu and the relationship between a small prairie settlement and the young French aristocrats from Brittany.

• The Aspen Parkland: A Biological Perspective
  by W. Bruce McGillivray

The Aspen Parkland is a transition zone between grassland and boreal forest. W. Bruce McGillivray provides a defining article on the natural history of the region. Notably, the Aspen Parkland has always been a place of competing interests, whether between grass and trees, or various human used of the zone.

• Brown of Red Deer
  by James Ernest Nix

The union of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada resulted in vigorous debate. Walter Brown was a forceful voice opposing the union of the churches, fearing that this would only result in an ‘ecclesiastical machine’ rather than develop ‘national righteousness.’ Ernest Nix’s study of Brown and the debate provides a historical perspective on the politics of Christian unity.

• An Education for "Character" in Alberta Schools, 1905-45
  by Amy von Heyking

In the first part of the 20th century, Alberta public schools recognized their obligation to help shape good character in their students. Public schools concentrated on the language of secular virtue to avoid language and issues that might provoke sectarian conflict. In this essay, Amy von Heyking looks at what students were taught about citizenship and the nature of society and how these ‘secular virtues’ changed over the space of forty years and through the course of two world wars. This focus provides insight into the nature of Alberta society itself and how it has responded to the challenges of the modern world.

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