A new exhibit in St. Albert explores the city’s history through the uniforms of various groups that helped shape it. “It’s a diverse exhibit from youth organizations to health care to religion to sports … (and) military,” said Martin Bierens, curator of the Musée Héritage Museum. Called “St. Albert in Uniform,” the exhibit consists mostly of uniforms that were donated to the museum’s collection. One of the most remarkable is the Canadian Women’s Army Corps uniform worn by St. Albert-born Dorothy Chartrand (nee Bellerose) in the 1940s. A Métis woman, Chartrand was one of few Indigenous women to serve in the Second World War. “She wrote extensively about her military service, so we have a really good understanding of what the military meant to her, and also what it meant to be a Métis woman in the military during the Second World War. So we are very honoured to be able to display it,” Bierens told CTV News Edmonton. Also part of the collection are a 1970s RCMP dress uniform, 1970s Girl Guides and Boy Scouts uniforms and badges, and the multi-coloured, hand-woven sash that was the unofficial uniform of the fur trade, which was worn by someone who worked as a voyageur. “A lot of people will see either maybe a family member or themselves reflected in some way in this exhibit. Maybe they played on a sports team here in St. Albert, maybe their grandmother or great-grandmother was a nurse, maybe they were part of the Girl Guides or the Boy Scouts,” Bierens said. The exhibit is open until Oct. 31 and will host a grand opening on Saturday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Klippenstein
