Hot off the press: Galt Museum explores evolution of local media

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on August 12, 2022.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke Cass Williamson and Devon Smither welcome guests to the newly revamped History of Local News exhibit Thursday at the Galt Museum and Archives in the Discovery Hall.

The Galt Museum and Archives has added an update to its History of Local Media exhibit on display in the Discovery Hall in partnership with the University of Lethbridge’s Museum Studies Program.

Cass Williamson conducted research into the history of media in Lethbridge during her spring 2022 academic term through the University’s program. Expanding on the exhibit with new panels, photographs, and objects including a hand-made radio transmitter built by John “Jock” Palmer, the founder of CJOC radio.

“When I started my internship there was a few different things that I was tasked with, most of them setups that centered around updating bits and pieces of the permanent exhibits, as a lot of it has been here since 2013. This space in particular was set up as The Lethbridge Herald, the facade is based off the newspaper, but what was in there was not necessarily relevant to the Herald,” said Williamson. “We already had all of this research and the artifacts had already been displayed. So it made sense to pull from that, as well as conduct original research on media and language.”

Devon Smither, professor of Art History at the University and supervisor to Williamson’s internship, notes the program is unique because it gets the students involved in the community, working with groups partnered through the University, and getting students out into the field within the city.

“These internships give students hands-on practical work experience, doing wonders in terms of getting employment after graduation. Cass just completed her Museum Studies internships here at the Galt, and was responsible for overhauling this permanent exhibit,” said Smither. “The Museum Studies side of the Art History Museum Studies program gets students to do internships in arts and cultural institutions here in Lethbridge, including the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Galt, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, and the City of Lethbridge.”

Seeing the exhibit with renewed life gives Williamson pride and joy to see her efforts come to fruition, excited for the public to see all its new features.

“It feels great to see the space renewed with more information, new things to read about, and artifacts to look at. I hope when people visit, they get a chance to think back on how media has changed. One of the key ideas that I found was, in a newspaper all of the staff had to learn and relearn many different technologies throughout the years as it rapidly changed. That’s why I did a feature on the steps of the printing process, because folks used to have to individually place each line of text,” said Williamson.

Tyler Stewart, curator for the Galt Museum, suggested the space to Williamson during her internship while pushing her to expand on what was already in place and giving her access to revamping and exploring how it could grow.

“The exhibit development process usually takes anywhere from three to six months for something like this. Having Cass as a student during this internship made this project possible. We really wouldn’t have had the extra capacity to take on this kind of exhibit redevelopment. It’s really awesome that we’re fortunate to have her help with this project,” said Stewart, noting permanent exhibits shouldn’t remain static and need to be updated to continue to tell new stories. “Being able to change things over time is really important to continue to convey new and different perspectives of people in the area.”