Thursday, March 26, 2009
Edmonton People Vs Edmonton Places
Whilst preparing for my essay for this class (originally planned to be written about the Charles Camsell Hospital) I realized that a large amount of Edmonton places are completely unrelated to the people. For example, we learnt about how Frank Oliver was (pretty much) a racist, and that has nothing to do with the square that is now named after him. Charles Camsell was a geologist and a mineralogist, and he got a hospital. In terms of honouring people, I just think Edmonton has had some weird methods of doing it. Then again, Laura Secord got chocolates, so maybe it's normal... just a thought!
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So true, Captain Awesome. This makes me think about the recent debate about whether to name Edmonton arenas after local people, and why that was such a big deal. We don't seem to care about who we name squares or hospitals after, so why would we care about who arenas are named after? Of course it's nice if the person is related to ice sports in some way, but it doesn't really make a difference.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Your example about the geologist having a hospital named after him, I think points to some of society's 'curious' decisions. How on earth do these things connect? I can't help but wonder if we are missing some key link... was his wife a nurse? His mother a doctor? Did he always want to be a doctor but his parents forced him to be a geologist (this also would admittedly seem strange)? Is there a way to find out more information about him?
ReplyDeleteI'm particularly interesting in the fact that Anthony Henday was one of the first people to "discover" the west. Yet it's taken us THIS LONG to name something after him (Anthony Heanday--which is quite new compared to other places that were named decades ago).
ReplyDeleteDo you think Edmonton actually has some sort of system for naming places? Or is it just a random draw?
You raise some pretty interesting points. I have often wondered why certain places (not just in Edmonton) are named the way they are. Especially if they are named after a famous person that I know nothing about. And who decides what name is given to a place? City planners? Architects? Do people vote on it?
ReplyDeleteAnd who decides when to give new names to places? I remember that in the years after the wall came down in Germany, they (dunno who “they” are exactly) decided to change the names of many streets and places in my hometown (part of the former Eastern Germany), because the names were too “communist” (I’m only guessing that that was the reason, I don’t actually know). No one in my hometown wanted the names change, because it created nothing but confusion (especially if you don’t have a grid system). So who decides these things?
To counterpoint Laryssa's assertion, Henday is also the name of a 40-year-old tower in Lister Residence, which is likely why it took so long to name another public work after him. Expect to see Mackenzie and Kelsey superhighways in the near future. But, and this is just off the cuff theorizing, I think part of the process is waiting until a hometown hero passes away and then immediately name the next available venue after them. Honoring them and capitalizing on the political rewards of immortalizing a local legend while their still ingrained in the public consciousness are unfortunately synonymous. But, with that logic, I suppose that means Wayne Gretzky's moving to Phoenix counted as him dying...
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for not answering and engaging earlier, hectic week as you all should know. Either way I would LOVE to continue this conversation. Beer gardens, Tuesday, 12:30 - 5ish or Wednesday 11-... :)
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