George Shepherd Library
The George Shepherd Library of the Western Development Museum is named
after George Shepherd, a pioneer homesteader who was also the curator of the
museum for more than 20 years.
Our main focus is to provide research services to the four Western
Development Museum (WDM) branches: Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, North Battleford,
and Yorkton. Our department also answers public inquiries.
The George Shepherd Library was created because there was a growing need to
preserve the rapidly disappearing historical materials that focus on
Saskatchewan agricultural and pioneer history. When artifacts were donated
to the Museum, they were often accompanied by an operator’s manual or a
handbook; these resources eventually began to accumulate. The collected
materials were then organized, catalogued and placed in the library.
Today, the library contains over 3,200 reference books, more than 300
journal titles with 27 active subscriptions, 6,000 photographs, slides and
negatives, over 20,000 agricultural manuals, parts lists, promotional
materials, and mail order catalogues as well as other print material of
research value. The collection is non-circulating, but is open to the public
for research purposes.
We have a large collection of catalogues--Eaton's, Marshall-Wells, and
Ashdowns - full of information on clothes, toys, tools and equipment. We
also have brochures on Saskatchewan tourist attractions and literature
extolling the province's possibilities. These are only a few of the
resources in our Library. Contact us with your question; we may have the
answer.
Online Photographs
Saskatchewan
History Online is a project of the
The
Read more about the WDM's involvement with Saskatchewan History Online -->
Visit the Saskatchewan History Online website -->
Research
Click here to browse a collection of WDM articles, papers, and online exhibits.
About George Shepherd
George Shepherd was made curator of the
fledgling Western Development Museum, housed in a re-assembled Second World
War hangar on 11th Street West in 1953. “I was offered the post
of Curator of the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon. ...I think I
would probably have paid my new employers to let me work there” he wrote in
West of Yesterday (page 144).
As curator of the Western Development Museum for more than 20 years, Dr.
George Shepherd safeguarded the history he lived and helped to create and
share the stories of Saskatchewan’s past with visitors from around the
world.
Read more about George Shepherd -->
