German Settlers in Alberta and from Galicia, Volhynia, Bukovina, Poland, and Russia

Settlers from Germany had begun arriving in Alberta during the early 1880s. The completion of the Edmonton-Calgary Railway line eased the way for large groups to settle in the areas around Edmonton, Wetaskiwin and even Camrose but, generally speaking, these German settlers set up homes throughout the province. The foothills south of Fort Calgary provided familiar scenery to the first wave of German-speaking people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And, in 1883, they established a colony at Pincher Creek.

When my great grandparents with their two sons first arrived on their homestead near Andrew, Alberta, in the late fall of 1897, my great grandfather, Elko Kalynchuk went to work for German farmers near Bruderheim, AB and brought back some wheat, flour and a pig’s head. I was told that Elko walked to the German farm, breaking tree branches along the way. When I look on Google maps, I am surprised at the distance that he had to walk through the bushes. Bruderheim was a German colony at the time and became a town in 1905.

At the recent annual conference of the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS), I was approached by some people who are researching on their German ancestors. Also, two local German genealogy societies (HSGPV and AHSGR) asked to be put on my mailing list, which I have done. I occasionally send out email updates on Ukrainian Canadian Genealogy. If you want to be added to this mailing list, you can email me at kalyna(at)outlook(dot)com

At this conference, I was happy to meet in person fellow researchers who are on my distribution mailing list or have attended the Zoom sessions which I put on. I am in the process of booking new speakers for the upcoming 7 or so months. I will post the details on this blog and through an email update.

 

Anthony and me chatting at the 2023 AGS Conference

When we are researching from the same regions as Galicia, Bukovina, Austro-Hungry, etc. then it is good to share information and resources with each other. I have visited the HSGPV/AHSGR office and am looking forward to networking with them. 

Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton Branch, German Special Interest Groups
German Heritage and Germans from Russia groups
https://www.abgenealogy.ca/special-interest-groups

Historical Society of Germans from Poland & Volhynia (HSGPV)

Library open by appointment on Thursdays, 587-454-0825
10014 – 81 Avenue, Edmonton.
https://hsgpv.org

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR)
Edmonton & District Chapter
https://www.german-russians.org/home
https://ahsgr.org/about/chapters/edmonton-and-district-chapter/

Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
Focuses on Germans from Russia, Poland and Volhynia, located in Calgary, Alberta
www.sggee.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1812539775626960 (private group)

The Volga Germans – Alberta
https://www.volgagermans.org/history/immigration/canada/alberta

Society for German American Studies
https://sgas.org/

Germans from Russia Heritage Society
Based in Bismarck, ND, USA
https://www.grhs.org/pages/home

German Genealogy – Prussia, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Swiss & More
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Germany.Prussia.AustroHungary.Denmark.Russia.Swiss (private)

Germans from Russia Societies - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germans_from_Russia_Societies

Germany Research Tips and Strategies - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Research_Tips_and_Strategies

Germany Genealogy - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Genealogy

A Profile of Alberta’s German-Speaking Communities
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/historyframetop.html

German Canadians – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Canadians

German – Canadian Association of Alberta
https://www.gcaa.ca/

Romanian Settlers in Alberta and, from Bukovina and Transylvania

Many Romanian settlements from the provinces of Bukovina and Transylvania, immigrated to Canada in the late 19th century. At that time, the northern part of Romania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1914, there were 8,301 Romanians in Canada and a second source says that in the 1911 Census of Canada there was 15,000 Romanians in Canada.

One of my second cousins married a “Petruniuk” and this surname is on the list of the Romanian families who arrived from Boian, Bucovina, prior to 1900 and who formed the nucleus of the settlement of Boian, Alberta. However, as far as I know this family branch settled in Saskatchewan and I have a name of a village in the old country but can not find it on a map. This is going to take more research time as it looks like the village name is misspelled.

I also used to work with some people with the surnames of Toma and Knapp which show up near the early Romanian settlements in Alberta on old surveyor maps.

Last summer me, my brother and a friend who has some Romanian DNA went to the Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian in Alberta. We had a good time. Some of my Baba’s extended family members from Bukovina showed up on the museum’s plaque. E.g., Tkachuk which I will have to check out further.

Courtesy of GoEastOfEdmonton.com

Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian
https://www.facebook.com/boianalbertamuseum

Romanians of Boian Alberta and Bucovina
https://www.facebook.com/groups/316497192226

St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church of Boian
https://boianchurch.ca/

Canadian Romanian Society of Alberta (Edmonton-Boian)
https://www.facebook.com/crsoa/
https://canadianromaniansocietyofalberta.org/
https://canadianromaniansocietyofalberta.org/their-arrival-in-alberta/

Romanian Genealogy Society
A branch group of the non-profit Minnesota Genealogical Society
https://romaniangenealogy.com/

Romania Genealogy – Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Romania_Genealogy

FamilySearch Romania
https://community.familysearch.org/en/group/96-familysearch-romania

Romania Resources – FEEFHS
https://feefhs.org/resource/romania

Romanian Genealogy
https://www.facebook.com/groups/romaniangenealogyhelp

Romanian Genealogy Society Research
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RGSconversations

Romanian National Archives
http://arhivelenationale.ro/site/

Romanians in Alberta 1898 - 1998, Canadian Romanian Society of Alberta, 1998

Romanians in Canada, Eleanor Bujea, The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, 2009

Articles:

Romanian Settlement in Alberta
https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2016/01/13/romanian-settlement-in-alberta/

Romanians in Kalyna (Country)
https://www.kalynacountry.com/romanians-in-kalyna/

The story of the Romanian community of Boian in Alberta
https://thebunget.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/the-story-of-the-romanian-community-of-boian-in-alberta/

Romanian Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/romanians

BOIAN – the oldest Romanian settlement in Canada -125 years of history
https://www.mrtv.ca/2023-07-15-16-boian-the-oldest-romanian-settlement-in-canada-125-years/

Romanian Canadians - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Canadians

The Romanians of Saskatchewan: Four Generations of Adaptation, George James Patterson, 1977
https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Romanians_of_Saskatchewan.html

Romanian Settlements (in Saskatchewan) - Facebook post
https://www.facebook.com/MeanwhileInSask/posts/romanian-settlementsbuilt-in-1902-st-nicholas-romanian-orthodox-church-is-the-se/717866978346317/

Polish Settlers in Alberta and from Galicia

An immigration movement from Poland to Alberta was initiated in 1895. The Polish people were mainly Roman Catholic and came mostly from Galicia. According to the 1911 Census of Canada, there were 2,243 and in 1921 there were 7,172 Polish people in Alberta. The first two significant waves of Polish immigration to Canada were from 1854-1901 and 1902-1915.

When I started my genealogy and family research on the Kalynchuk family branch over 30 years ago I was told that my great grandparents, Elko and Anastasia Kalynchuk’s first son Wasyl, married a Polish girl from Vermilion, Alberta. When I traveled to the Ukrainian Catholic cemetery at Northern Valley with my Father, he pointed to a spot next to her husband, Wasyl’s grave and said that Anilia was buried there. She had no gravestone nor marker. A black cross has since been added.

Anilia Zaraska was born in 1895 in Mostys'ka, L'vivs'ka and came to Canada in 1913 with her father, Ivan (John), stepmother, Mary and two brothers, Wolodymir (Walter) and Michael (Mike). Mostyska is still in the Lviv Oblast (province) and close to the Polish border.

Screen Shot from Google.ca/maps

In 2002, I took on a big project with assisting my friend, Anne V. (Thoms) Lummerding with her Thoms Family History book. Her father’s family village is Stare Selo (Siolo) which is in the Przemysl Oblast and now in Poland. Stare Selo means Old Village. I made a trip to Salt Lake City to attend a FEEFHS Conference and in my spare time, researched in the Polish microfilms for Anne. I learned so much during this process. The records were in Latin which is easy to read (at least for me). Here is an example of what I found at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City. Now, a lot of this information is available online and has been digitalized.

The Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS)
https://feefhs.org/
https://feefhs.org/index.php/resource/poland



One of the issues in genealogical researching in the northwestern part of Galicia is that there was a population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine. Ethnic Ukrainians were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR and ethnic Poles and Jews were transferred to Poland. The population transfer took place between 1944 to 1946.

Population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange_between_Poland_and_Soviet_Ukraine

World War II and Its Aftermath: Western Ukraine under Soviet and Nazi Rule
https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Ukraine/World-War-II-and-its-aftermath

Organizations:

Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society
https://kpkalberta.com/

Canadian Polish Historical Society
https://www.cphsalberta.org/

https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/

Canadian Polish Research Institute
http://www.canadianpolishinstitute.org/

Polish Genealogical Society of America
https://pgsa.org/

Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Association)
https://genealodzy.pl/index.php


Resources:

Polish Settlers in Alberta, Joanna Matejko (ed), 1979

Polonia in Alberta 1895-1995: The Polish Centennial in Alberta, Andrzej M. Kobos and Jolanta T. Pekacz (eds), 1995

The Polish Community in Canada, R.K. Kogler, 1979

History and Integration of Poles in Canada, W.B. Makowski, 1967

A Member of a Distinguished Family: The Polish Group in Canada, H. Radecki and B. Heydenkorn, 1976

The Poles in Canada, L.K. Zubkowski, 1968

In Their Words, A Genealogist’s Translation Guide. Vol. 1: Polish, Vol. 2: Russian, Vol. 3: Latin, Vol.4: German, J. Shea & W. Hoffman

A Translation Guide to 19th Cent. Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents, Judith R. Frazin

Polish Parish Records of the Roman Cath. Church, G. Ortell

A History of Poland, Oskar Halecki, 1992

Poland: The First Thousand Years, P.M. Dabrowski, 2016

Jewish Roots in Poland (book), Miriam Weiner, 1997
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Roots_in_Poland

Polish Pioneer Settlements
https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/the-beginning-of-a-community.html

Polish Immigration to Alberta before the Second World War
https://www.cphsalberta.org/publications/polish-immigration-to-alberta-before-the-second-world-war/

Poles in Kalyna Country - From Krakow, Poland, to Krakow, Alberta: Kalyna Country’s Polish Connections
https://www.kalynacountry.com/poles-kalyna-country/

Polish Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/poles

Polish Canadians – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Canadians

Poland Genealogy
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Genealogy

Poland Online Genealogy Records
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Online_Genealogy_Records

Association of Polish Professional Genealogists
http://progenealogia.org/en/main-page/

Geneteka Genealodzy
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php

Metryki.Genealodzy.pl
http://metryki.genealodzy.pl/

Polish Roots
www.polishroots.org/Home/Index

Polish Origins
https://polishorigins.com/

Researchers in Poland and Translation Services
Polish Genealogical Society of New York State
https://pgsnys.online/research/polish-researchers-translators/

Facebook Polish Genealogy Group (private group)

https://sites.google.com/view/polishgenealogygroup/home

Monument honouring Polish immigrants erected at
Pier 21 in Halifax, Copyright of Globalnews.ca

Jewish Settlers in Alberta and, from Galicia and Bukovina

From the 1880s to 1919, was a start of the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews to Alberta.

The Alberta Ukraine Genealogical Project has information on the religious affiliation and primary language of conversation in the villages. If you go to their website at https://sites.ualberta.ca/~ukrville/Family_History_Portal/fhp.htm then click on “Maps”, then click on your District, then click on your village, it gives you the stat’s for the year of 1900.

In my Baba’s family village of Maliatyntsi, District of Kitsman there was 21 Catholic, 1274 Greek Orthodox, 45 Jewish and one “other”. Also, interesting to note that 49 listed German as their primary language of conversation. The majority spoke Ukrainian (Ruthenian).

In 2019, when I was in Ukraine I took a city tour of the city of Chernivtsi, and my tour guide Vasyl Kuzyk showed me the Palace of Culture and Jewish History Museum. We then went to the Turkish Square, and he pointed straight ahead and said that the Jewish Quarters is that direction pass the Turkish Square. I was too tired to walk that far but on my next trip to Chernivtsi, I will be checking it out. Vasyl does genealogical research for clients, has a car, is a driver and translator. He also can pick you up at the Chernivtsi Airport and translate documents for you. https://www.ace-interpreter.com/

Note that at its peak in 1941, more than 45,000 Jews lived in Chernivtsi. Today the Palace of Culture (also known as the Jewish National House) houses a museum dedicated to the history of Bukovina’s Jews.

Palace of Culture - Jewish People’s House (Chernivtsi) - 2021,
Copyright of Tripadvisor.co.uk

History of the Jews in Chernivtsi - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Chernivtsi

With doing more family research I am learning the importance of broaden my scope on local history. The Priest’s Grotto is near my Kalynchuk family village of Strilkivtsi, in the former district of Borshchiv (it is now in the district/raion of Chortkiv).

Borschiv was occupied by the Axis troops in July 1941 and several mass executions of Jews were carried out in the town. In April 1942 a Borshchiv Jewish ghetto was established here. Between spring and summer of 1943, approximately 400 Jews were sent to the Ivanovka camp and more than 2,300 Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery. On the eve of the war there were about 3000 Jews living in the town.

Borshchiv Ghetto - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borshchiv_Ghetto

The Jewish Ghetto, Borshchiv, Ukraine (then Borszczow, Poland)
Museum of Family History
https://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/ghetto/borszczow.htm

When I was at the Borshchiv Museum in the town square, I purchased a book on the Priest’s Grotto Caves. One of my nephew’s was interested in caves, so at the time I was thinking more of him. However later I learned more about these caves and about the stories of the several Jewish families who lived in the caves during the WWII, with some up to 511 days.

Priest’s Grotto – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest%27s_Grotto

The Cave - the Secret of Priest's Grotto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9UypyhdbHg

The Portal of Life Entrance to Priests Grotto Cave in Western Ukraine

Copyright of the "Europe Between East and West"

Reference:

Jewish Federation of Edmonton

https://www.jewishedmonton.org/

Jewish in Alberta, Canada
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/alberta

History of the Jews in Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Canada

Jewish Canadians
https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/ethno-cultural/pages/jewish-canadians.aspx

Jewish Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jewish-canadians

Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova; Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories, Miriam Weiner, 1999, out of print, used copies of this book can be purchased online. It can be viewed at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/jewishrootsinukr0000wein and a summary on the book is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Roots_in_Ukraine_and_Moldova

The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation Inc.
https://www.rtrfoundation.org/index.shtml
Ukraine section - https://www.rtrfoundation.org/archps3.shtml

Ukraine Jewish Records – Family Search Wiki
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ukraine_Jewish_Records

JewishGen
https://www.jewishgen.org/

M. Rubin, "Alberta's Jews: The Long Journey," in: H. and T. Palmer (eds.), Peoples of Alberta: Portraits of Cultural Diversity (1985), 329–47

H.M. Sanders, "Jews of Alberta," in: Alberta History, 47 (1999), 20–26

Irving M. Abella, A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada (1990)

Howard Adelman and John Simpson, eds, Multiculturalism, Jews, and Identities in Canada (1995)

Gerald Tulchinsky, Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community (1992)

Day of Knowledge and Lifelong Learning

Learn Ukrainian, LinkedIn, Public Domain

On September 01, 2023, was the “Day of Knowledge” and the first day of school in Ukraine. I was lucky enough to experience this in 2002, in my Baba’s family village on former Bukovina lands. Everyone from the village went to the village school and each student gave a speech on what kind of student they would be for the upcoming year. There were special interactions between the oldest students and the first graders. The school bell was officially rung, and community leaders spoke. I really like how much positive energy the Ukrainians place on education.

They say that “knowledge is power” (in Latin: “scientia potentia est”) = Знання - це сила

The beginning of September, my calendar starts to really fill up with Zoom sessions, workshops, conferences etc. so this article is perfect timing. I have always believed in lifelong learning.

50th Anniversary Annual Conference - Alberta Genealogical Society
Saturday, September 23, 2023, the Edmonton Inn Conference Centre
An excellent slate of guest speakers including Dave Obee, Liannne Kruger, Jars Balan, along with many others. I will have a display table there, in the Courtyard.
https://www.abgenealogy.ca/ags-celebrates-it-s-50th-anniversary

East European Genealogical Society (EEGS) - Winnipeg

The next meeting of EEGS will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 at 7 pm CDT for a virtual meeting using Zoom on "Beginning Genealogy - It Starts with You!' by Marni Domolewski. https://www.eegsociety.org/MonthlyEvents.aspx

Ukrainian Genealogical Group (UGG) – National Capital Region (NCR) - Ottawa
The next meeting of the UGG – NCR will take place on: Tuesday, September 26th, 2023 - 1930h (7:30pm) Eastern. The topic of their presentation: Ukrainian Iconography in Canada by Sterling (Slavco) Demchinsky. http://ukrainiangenealogygroup-ncr.org/

Nashi Predky/Our Ancestors - Ukrainian genealogy outreach program
The Ukrainian History and Education Center, New Jersey, USA
In the past they have had some online Ukrainian genealogy workshops with Michelle Chubenko as the guest speaker. I have a membership and they are a great team of experts.
https://ukrhec.org/collections-research/family-history-group
https://ukrhec.org/events and https://www.facebook.com/groups/NashiPredky

Facebook (FB) Events - In-person and online
For me events on “Ukraine, Ukrainian, East European, genealogy, history”, etc. which match to the keywords that the organizers enter. You can also search by the words for which events you want to see. One of the great things about FB Events is that I can join Zoom sessions from the USA like the American Ancestors in MA, The Genealogy Center in IN (at the Allen County Public Library), Mid-Continent Public Library in MO, Family Search in UT, etc. https://www.facebook.com/events

RootsTech Conference and videos online
I watch the live events online during the annual conference and also check out the previous years’ videos on their website. You can subscribe for updates. I have written a list on different topics then binge watched. With the really good speakers, I seek out their website/blog and/or YouTube channel. RootsTech 2024 will be held February 29 - March 2, 2024, virtual and an in-person event. https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/

Legacy Family Tree Webinars
I also get the yearly membership so that I can download the syllabus. You can check out the Upcoming Live Webinars and their Webinar Library. Again, I have my favorite speakers and also enjoy finding out about new speakers. For example, there are a couple experts on DNA who I watch often lately! https://familytreewebinars.com/

Ancestry Academy
This is a collection of free video tutorials containing research tips, genealogy insights and DNA tools. They also have a YouTube channel and sometimes I like to watch their YouTube videos on my TV!  https://www.ancestryacademy.com/browse

The Family History Guide
They also have a YouTube channel. A free learning, research, and activities center for family history. This blog has been added to the Ukraine section. If you go under the tab at the top: Countries/East Europe/Ukraine or go directly to https://www.thefhguide.com/project-9-ukraine.html and https://www.thefhguide.com

Image by Jagrit Parajuli from Pixabay,
Copyright Free

Local History Books

Another good resource for someone who is researching on ancestors from Alberta and especially from rural communities are the local history books. They provide information on individual parishes, school districts, organizations, and villages/towns (including ones which no longer exist). They contain a large section on the biographies of local families which is a gold mine to family researchers.

These two books may assist you in finding out about the earlier publications:

• Peel’s Bibliography of the Canadian Prairies to 1953 by Ernest Ingles, Edmonton Public Library, 016.9712 ING

• Alberta, 1954-1979 A Provincial Bibliography compiled by Gloria M. Strathern, Edmonton Public Library, 013.97123 ALB

(Update: I have taken these two books out from the EPL and both are excellent resources.)

One location for these local history books is at the Alberta Genealogical Society library. However, note that they do not have a public index for their collection, so you have to scan the shelves.

When I checked online at the Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton Branch, Alberta Name Index (ANI) … https://www.edmontongenealogy.ca/alberta-name-index-ani

I got no results under my Kalynchuk family branch however when I checked under my Baba’s family, I got 3 results including my great grandfather, Partemy Pawliuk. I also got some results on my great grandmother’s family, the Tkachuk’s.

However, when I went to the Provincial Archives of Alberta, I found the largest collection of local history books in Edmonton. And what is really impressive is that they have a Local History Catalogue (two index binders).

Two index binders at PAA

With my Kalynchuk family branch, there is the Reflections: A History of Elk Point and District book, 1977 and the Supplement book in 1978. Then there is the Land of Red and White: 1875 – 1975 or alternate title is the Frog Lake and Districts to 1978 which includes the district of Primula which my earliest ancestors in Alberta, last settled at. For example, there are school pictures with my father, his sisters and cousins.

With this I realized that I need to locate the local history book(s) for the Wostok and Andrew areas which they initially settled at, next. As you can see with some more investigation, I was available to figure out what local history books to review.

This is a lesson on not to take the easy, quick route with one look-up on an online database or two. And that sometimes it is worth going to a library and looking through an index binder or scanning the shelves to find possible new resources. At some of the festivals which I had a display table at, I am having some people tell me that they are “hitting brick walls”, and over and over I am reminded not to limit my research scope. Just because my family did not participate much in the local history book projects, I still can find valuable information on the counties which they lived in and about their neighbours and extended family members.

Local history books at PAA

Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) - Reference Library
8555 Roper Road, Edmonton
The Reference Library holds approximately 1,500 published local and community histories from across the province. https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/search-your-genealogy

Alberta Genealogical Society – AGS Library Research Centre
https://www.abgenealogy.ca/alberta-records-name-index (180,000+ local history book records)
https://www.abgenealogy.ca/ags-library-research-centre then go to the “Alberta Local Histories tab and download the PDF https://www.abgenealogy.ca/uploads/files/Resources/AlbertaHistories.pdf

Edmonton Public Library - North of 52 Collection
The Stanley A. Milner Library (downtown) has a genealogy room and many local history books.
Digital Content/Genealogy & History - https://www.epl.ca/resources/genealogy/
North of 52 Collection - https://www.epl.ca/genealogy/
You can also search under the “North of 52 Collection”.

Other Resources:

Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project - Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village
Other Useful Links/Family History Index* (431 pages long). This is excellent resource to check on whether your family has a family story in one of the local history books in their collection.
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~ukrville/Family_History_Portal/fhp.htm

*I found my great grandparents, Elko and Anastasia Kalynchuk here stating that they are mentioned in the “Ukrainian Canadian Biography” book on page 117. The surname is spelt, Kalinchuk and Kalanczuk. The full title of this book is, “Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta 1891-1900”.

Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta
Scanned copies of their three books and the Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta 1891 - 1900. A really good website to check on whether your family has a story in one of these four books. (Update: the first blue book for 1970 has not been scanned and only shows the table of contents.)
https://ukrainianpioneers.wordpress.com/resources/publications/

Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries, Find Books
http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/

University of Calgary, Digital Collections, Local Histories
https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/archive/Local-Histories-2R3BF1F0GWNK0.html

University of Calgary, Glenbow Western Research Centre 

Glenbow Library and Archives
https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/

Your Guide to Western Canadian History with Alberta Books
http://bookpublishers.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/history_cat_2014.pdf


Used Bookstores in Edmonton:

Alberta Local Histories at
Alhambra Books

Alhambra Books, 

10115 – 81 Avenue, Edmonton

When I searched online, I got 55 results for “Ukrainian” including a “really good find” which I picked up when I went to check out this store. I also got 18 results for “genealogy” and later plan on returning to pick up some books on Irish and Scottish genealogy. Their section on local history books is at the front of the store and nearby are the Ukrainian Canadian history books.
https://www.abebooks.com/alhambra-books-edmonton-ab-canada/3054340/sf

Geological History of Western Canada
 at The Edmonton Book Store

The Edmonton Book Store, 

10533 – 82 Avenue, Edmonton
This is the bookstore which I have purchased many Ukrainian Canadian history books over the years. You go downstairs and it is the full wall of books to the right. I found a couple “good books” when I visited them today. The Western Canada local history books are on the main floor, on two shelves in a corner. https://edmontonbookstore.com/


Purchase Used Local History Books Online:

AbeBooks (Advanced Book Exchange)
https://www.abebooks.com/

Alibris
https://www.alibris.com/

Amazon.ca
https://www.amazon.ca/

Biblio
https://www.biblio.com/