The catalyst behind establishing an oral history centre derives most immediately from an oral history project regarding “
The First Generation of the University of Lethbridge,” begun in 2009 by James Tagg (Professor Emeritus, History) with the assistance of the
Department of History in general and Professor
Heidi MacDonald in particular. The “First Generation” project has, to date, produced seventy-one interviews; roughly forty interviews of administration, faculty and staff, and thirty interviews of students of the era c. 1967 – 1975.
The COHT has also been supporting the
Nicholas de Grandmaison Oral History project. Started by the
U of L Art Gallery, the de Grandmaison Oral History Project aimed to learn more about the artist de Grandmasion and the many First Nation subjects in his paintings. Interviews were conducted with relatives of the people in the portraits, one man who was painted by de Grandmaison as a child, and de Grandmaison’s driver. This project provides a history of the portraits and the artist to match the U of L’s large
de Grandmaison collection.
