South Peace Regional Archives

ABOUT

South Peace Regional Archives began operating in January 2000 as a project of the Grande Prairie Museum. On July 30, 2007, the South Peace Regional Archives Society was formed. The Archives is funded by the City of Grande Prairie, County of Grande Prairie, Municipal District of Greenview, and Municipal District of Spirit River. The Archives is an active member of the Archives Society of Alberta.

Our purpose is to promote and encourage the appreciation and study of the history of the south Peace River District of Alberta. This is accomplished by acquiring, preserving and making accessible to the public records in any format which reflect the cultural, political, social and economic life of the area, and by engaging the public interest in this history through displays, events and publications.

Descriptions of records, as well as a selection of digitized documents, photographs, audio recordings, and film and video recordings from our holdings, are available through Alberta On Record (http://www.albertaonrecord.ca/), the provincial archival database, and our YouTube channel, (https://www.youtube.com/user/sprarchives).

SPRA has published numerous publications related to local history, including A Grande Education: One Hundred Schools in the County of Grande Prairie, 1910-1960, “Grande Prairie City” A Pictorial History from 1906-1958, Flying High: The City of Grande Prairie 1958-2008, War-Brides in the South Peace, and Remembering Grande Prairie 1958-2008. Details on how to obtain copies can be found on our website, www.southpeacearchives.org. SPRA publishes a quarterly newsletter, Telling Our Stories, which contains reader-submitted stories, photographs, maps and tours, descriptions of featured collections, and archives information and news. SPRA also curates displays of material from our holdings, including documents and photographs, at the Grande Prairie Museum.

SPRA hosts and participates in a variety of events throughout the year. Our own major events include Family History Day (February) and Cemetery Walking Tours (Summer), and Friends of the Archives fundraiser. Please check our website or Facebook page or call for more details.