A Fireside Chat with Ted Hart

In 1972 Ted Hart began working at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies as an archivist. Recently graduated from the University of Alberta with a Master's Degree in history, he would spend the next 38 years at the Whyte Museum, most of that time as the Executive Director. During these years, Ted authored about a dozen books on local history, including volumes about the early guides and outfitters in the region, a history of the famous Brewster family, biographies of Jim Simpson, Bill Peyto, and J. B. Harkin (the founder of the Canadian national parks system) and a two-volume history of the town of Banff itself. Ted also served from 1995 to 1998 as the mayor of the town of Banff. During this Fireside Chat, Ted tells stories of Catharine Whyte and the founding and evolution of the Whyte Museum, the life of a historian and writer, and how Banff came to be an incorporated municipality in 1990. He also shares some stories on the challenges of running an institution like the Whyte Museum and being mayor of Canada’s premier mountain town in the country’s most popular national park.