At the turn of the twentieth century, Winnipeg was the fastest-growing city in North America. But its days as a diverse and culturally rich metropolis did not end when the boom collapsed. Prairie Metropolis brings together some of the best new graduate research on the history of Winnipeg and makes a groundbreaking contribution to the history of the city between 1900 and the 1980s. The essays in this collection explore the development of social institutions such as the city’s police force, juvenile court, health care institutions, volunteer organizations, and cultural centres. They offer critical analyses on ethnic, gender, and class inequality and conflict, while placing Winnipeg’s experiences in national and international contexts.

Table of Contents:

Minnie J. B. Campbell, Reform, and Empire by Kurt Korneski

Empty-handed Constables and Notorious Offenders: Policing an Early Prairie City “According to Order” by Megan Kozminski

Protecting and Policing Children: The Origins and Nature of Juvenile Justice in Winnipeg by Cassandra Woloschuk

“All our friends and patients know us”: The Margaret Scott Nursing Mission by Tamara Miller

“The Tubercular Cow Must Go”: Business, Politics, and Winnipeg’s Milk Supply, 1894-1922 by Marion McKay

Brigden’s and the Eaton’s Catalogue: Business and Art in Winnipeg, 1914-1940 by Angela E. Davis

“Gloaming” to Growing: The Experience of the Institutionalized Elderly at Winnipeg’s Middlechurch Home, 1907-1984 by Crista Bradley

The Spirit of Service: Winnipeg’s Voluntary War Services During the Second World War by Jody Perrun

Drinking Together: The Role of Gender in Changing Manitoba’s Liquor Laws in the 1950s by Dale Barbour

Winnipeg’s Palliser Furniture in the Context of Mennonite Views on Industrial Relations, 1974-1996 by Janis Thiessen

The Early History of the Winnipeg Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, 1951-1968 by Leslie Hall

Epilogue: Prairie Metropolis, A Personal View by Ed Rea

Books on Manitoba History

Posted: 14 September 2009, updated 11 October 2009