Hugh Dempsey received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary and was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Blackfoot in 1967.
15 Facts About Hugh Dempsey
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Hugh Dempsey worked as a journalist for the Edmonton Bulletin newspaper from 1948 to 1951 and then, when the newspaper folded, became a publicity writer for the Alberta Government from 1951 to 1956.
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In 1956, Hugh Dempsey was vice-president of the Edmonton-based Historical Society of Alberta and associate editor of the Alberta Historical Review, when he moved to Calgary to become archivist of the recently established Glenbow Museum.
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Hugh Dempsey authored numerous articles and books, such as Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfeet, The Gentle Persuader: A Biography of James Gladstone, Indian Senator, and Red Crow: Warrior Chief, which focus on the culture and history of the First Nation peoples of Alberta.
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Hugh Dempsey's writing benefited not only from his work as an archivist but from his access to the Blackfoot community through his marriage.
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Hugh Dempsey is credited with combining the oral history of native peoples with scholarly records to produce historical writing with a broad popular appeal.
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Hugh Dempsey became editor of the Alberta Historical Review in 1958.
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From 1963 to 1967, Hugh Dempsey was editor of the newsletter The Canadian Archivist which later became the journal of the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association.
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Hugh Dempsey lectured on native studies and Alberta history at the University of Calgary.
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Hugh Dempsey was the honorary secretary of the Indian Association of Alberta from 1959 to 1964 and was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Nation in 1967.
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Hugh Dempsey was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary on May 30,1974, after he gave the convocation address.
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In 2019, Hugh Dempsey received an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge.
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Hugh Dempsey's parents were English war bride Lily Louise Sharp and farmer Otto Lionel Dempsey.
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In 1951 Hugh Dempsey began more than 40 years of correspondence and friendship with American ethnohistorian John Canfield Ewers when the two met while doing field research on the Blackfoot reservation in Montana.
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Hugh Dempsey passed away in Calgary, Alberta on May 24,2022, at the age of 92.