Lisa:

I've heard of a 2 volume set by Velma Carter called "The Windows of our Memories," which is a biographical history of blacks in Athabasca Co., Alberta (just north of Edmonton, I believe). Maybe one of your relatives would have (or know someone who has) copies and would be willing to be a look up resource. The books are very difficult to find and the few libraries that have copies (like the National Library of Canada) won't make them available by inter-library loan. I found out about the books only because one of my relatives settled in this County in the early 1900s. I also ran across a reference to a Master's Thesis written by Judith S. Hill which is called "Alberta's Black Settlers: A Study of Canadian Immigration Policy and Practice." As far as I can tell this is only available at the University of Alberta.

If you get to the Provincial Archives, would you be willing to look up a homestead claim for me? I have the info on the claim from the Western Land Grants database but I'm not certain how the homestead claims are actually indexed at the Alberta Provincial Archives -- their web page refers to a name index and indicates that there's a pamphlet describing research in the homestead files at the Archives but I couldn't find any further information on how to get the pamphlet!

Let me know if you think you'd be able to lookup any info and otherwise have a great time at your family reunion!

Janice