Everyone loves a good story, and The Whyte’s Archives are full of them. From Mary Schäffer’s lantern slides and Norquay’s ski history to mountaineering books shaped by decades of research, discover how filmmakers, writers, and historians are using archival collections to bring Canadian Rockies stories back to life. Explore how photographs, letters, film, and field notes continue to inspire new ways of understanding the people, places, and adventures that shaped these mountain
From delicate studio portraits to sweeping mountain panoramas, the Luxton Family Collection reveals how photographs reflect the lives, values, and curiosities of those who framed them. Spanning 1860 to 1960, the images trace evolving photographic practices, personal stories, and a changing Rockies landscape, from ornate Victorian portraits to early panoramic views of Banff, offering a vivid window into a century of memory, craft, and place.
Fourteen years later, the Fireside Chats at The Whyte remained a warm, community gathering. As Director of Archives and Special Collections Elizabeth Kundert-Cameron observed at the final event, familiar faces returned year after year, and Chic’s stories “evoked… the feeling of being at a family party.” What began as an open house in the Abegweit became a recorded oral history, preserved in The Whyte's Archives and Special Collections Library for future generations.
