Item N-2003-014: 0011B - [Interview with Helen Parker]

• Sound recording

1 audio cassette (51 min. 35 sec.) : 0.4 cm, 10 x 6.5 x 1.2 cm

This audio recording features an interview with Helen Parker, a social worker and the Head of Special Services with the Yellowknife School District No. 1. She reminisces about the early days of Yellowknife, and mentions the various hotels in town, the Red Cross Hospital, and the William McDonald School. She also discusses the telephone services, beginning with the Yellowknife Telephone Company, and later the radio phone owned by Jack Glick. She discusses the establishment of the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) in Yellowknife, and the introduction of television services to the town. She also discusses the Overture Concert Association, rivalries between hockey teams in the area, and social work in Yellowknife in the 1950s.

Over the second segment of this audio recording, Helen Parker speaks about the Children’s Aid Society, municipal care for seniors and the Mary Murphy home. She also discusses her role in the development of the Yellowknife United Church, and the first United baptism, which took place in 1956. She reports on changes in the Yellowknife education system over the years, and shares her visions of the future in Yellowknife.