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- Source of title proper: Title based on the provenance of the records.
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1946-1992 (Creation)
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1.05 m of textual records and other material
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Administrative history
The Charles Camsell Provincial General Hospital, commonly known as ‘The Camsell’, operated in Edmonton, Alberta between 1946 and 1996. From its opening in 1946 until 1980, the hospital was owned and operated by Indian Health Services, a branch of the Canadian Department of National Health and Welfare. In addition to providing tuberculosis treatment for First Nations and Inuit patients from Alberta, northern British Columbia, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, the Camsell also admitted patients for general care in its maternity, pediatric, and medical wards.
The original building that housed the hospital was built by the Jesuit order for their boys’ college, Francis Xavier Academy, in 1914. In 1942, the building and lands were purchased by the Canadian military and leased to the American military for use as a holding and forwarding centre for army personnel and civilian engineers employed in the construction of the Alaska Highway. In 1944, the Americans terminated their lease, at which time the Canadian military converted the property for use as a military hospital. The following year, in 1945, the facilities were transferred over to the newly constituted Indian Health Services (IHS) branch of the Department of National Health and Welfare for use as a tuberculosis sanatorium for First Nations and Inuit patients. Local protest and petition quickly arose in response to this decision. Veterans, politicians, and nearby residents wished for the hospital to remain reserved for veteran use, and that the redwood outbuildings (built by the American military) be used to relieve the local housing shortage.
The first non-veteran First Nations patients under IHS care in the facility were admitted as early as December 1945, transferred from area hospitals. The facilities of the hospital spanned nearly three city blocks, and consisted of a large central three-story brick building (the old Jesuit college), with a maze of detached redwood barracks behind it connected by a long hallway nicknamed the ‘Burma Road’.
The Charles Camsell Indian Hospital officially opened in August 1946, named after Dr. Charles Camsell, a former Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources. The Camsell was the largest of IHS’ facilities, with 500 beds by 1950, compared to the second largest facility in Nanaimo, British Columbia, with 210 beds.
By the mid-1960s, poor quarantine control provided by the dormitory-style wards of the original buildings prompted the approval of a new hospital to be built, and the original facilities be torn down. On October 10, 1967 the new hospital was officially opened, and renamed as The Charles Camsell Hospital.
In 1973, due to the slowing of tuberculosis infections and more healthcare facilities opening in the Canadian north, the Camsell transitioned to become a general treatment hospital. On December 1, 1980, the hospital and its staff of 585 were transferred to provincial jurisdiction, forming part of the newly-established Metro-Edmonton Hospital District No. 106. It served the general population until January 1 1993, when it merged with the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The last emergency room patient was treated on March 9, 1994. Two years later, the Charles Camsell Provincial General Hospital officially closed on March 31, 1996.
Custodial history
The records in this fonds were deposited in the Provincial Archives of Alberta in several accessions between 1969 and 1997. In 1969 the Provincial Archives of Alberta made microfilm copies of the newsletter The Camsell Arrow created by the patients and staff of the Charles Camsell Hospital. In 1987, former head nurse at the Camsell and member of the Charles Camsell History Committee Elva Taylor donated records to the fonds. The History Committee had formed in the early 1980s to write a history book on the Camsell (The Camsell Mosaic, published 1985). Many of the members of the History Committee would go on to join the Charles Camsell Historical Society, including Taylor.
In 1991, three accessions were added to the fonds, transferred from the Provincial Museum of Alberta to the Provincial Archives of Alberta. These three accessions were part of a donation originally given to the Provincial Museum by the newly formed Charles Camsell Historical Society (CCHS). The CCHS was founded by current and former Camsell Hospital staff members in 1989 to preserve the craftwork and documentary heritage of the Camsell Hospital. In 1992, another transfer of materials from the CCHS by way of the Provincial Museum was added to the fonds. Later in 1992, records from a former patient at the Camsell were transferred from the Provincial Museum and added to the fonds.
Also in 1992, records donated directly from the CCHS by Elva Taylor were added to the fonds. Elva Taylor donated records on behalf of the CCHS again to the PAA in 1996. In 1997, a donation of records from former Camsell nurse and CCHS member Emma Nemetz were added. In 2018, a donation of records from another former Camsell nurse, Sandra Dehnke, were added. In 2023, a donation of photos that were collected from the hospital was received.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of records created and maintained by the staff of the Charles Camsell Hospital between 1946 and 1996. Records include inspection reports, annual reports, correspondence, newsletters, photographs of former staff and patients, long service award recipient photographs, newspaper clippings, articles, and drawings. The fonds has been divided into the following series:
- Charles Camsell History Committee records from 1910 to 1988
- Camsell Arrow records from [196-?]
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Access Conditions: None
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Use Conditions: Permission for use required. Subject to the Copyright Act.
Finding aids
File list is available.
Associated materials
Records of the Charles Camsell Hospital Historical Society are also located at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. A number of discrete items pertaining to the Charles Camsell Hospital that are not part of this fonds are also located in the following accessions: PR1984.0425, PR1991.0384, PR1993.0243, PR2010.0197.
For further records created by the Charles Camsell Hospital staff, see the City of Edmonton Archives Charles Camsell Hospital fonds (edm-1518). Library and Archives Canada also holds records on the Camsell from its time as a Federal Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which can be accessed through Record Group 10 (RG-10) as well as under the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital series in Record Group 29 (RG29, R227-240-4-E).
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
General note
Information for the administrative history was taken from the following sources: Fonds description of the City of Edmonton Archives Charles Camsell fonds; Maureen K. Lux’s article in the Canadian Historical Review, “Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” (2010, pp.407-434); Laurie Meijer Drees’ Healing Histories: Stories from Canada's Indian Hospitals (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2013), and the Charles Camsell Hospital History Committee’s The Camsell Mosaic (1985).
General note
Includes the following accessions:
PR1969.0073, PR1987.0128, PR1991.0383, PR1991.0443, PR1991.0530, PR1992.048, PR1992.0116, PR1992.0178, PR1996.0002, PR1997.0127, PR2018.0174, PR2023.0216.
Physical description
Also includes ca. 561 photographs, 7 audiotapes, 4 cinefilms, 2 maps, 2 videocassettes, 1 microfilm reel, and 1 pastel drawing.