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Missionaries among Miners, Migrants, and Blackfoot
The Van Tighem Brothers Diaries, Alberta 1876-1917
by Eggermont-Molenaar, Mary, and Callen, Paul, editors
This volume contains the transcribed diaries of brothers Leonard and Victor Van Tighem, Flemish Roman Catholic missionaries in Alberta between 1874 and 1917. Leonard, an Oblate priest, served in a number of parishes in southern Alberta, some of which he helped establish. Victor, a member of the Belgian Van Dale congregation, served on the Peigan and Blood reserves in the southern part of the province. Their diaries are interspersed with letters from family and friends and letters and articles by contemporary bishops, fellow priests and lay brothers. The Van Tighems’ diaries offer a fascinating glimpse of life during Alberta’s early settlement and growth – the immigration boom, the development of Lethbridge as a regional centre and town and the Peigan reserve, railroads, the mining industry, and the impact of World War I are all part of the historical backdrop of the brothers’ diaries, which includes a glimpse as well of the sometimes dramatic family and political situation back in Belgium. The book contains valuable primary source material, most of which has been previously unpublished, and some of which has been translated from the Flemish-Dutch and French.
Paperback, 424 pages, Van Tighem family tree, bibliography, notes, and index.
USD 44.95 / CAD 35.95