collection - Alberta College fonds

Dr. T.C. Buchanan, pastor of McDougall Methodist Church in Edmonton, founded the province's first post-secondary institution in 1903 on Methodist Mission land set aside for missionary and education purposes by Reverend George McDougall. Although originally named McDougall College in honour of this early missionary to the Edmonton area, the founders soon abandoned this designation in favour of Alberta College. The college's first classes assembled on October 5, 1903 in the space above the Johnstone Walker Store on Jasper Avenue. Within two months, the original 67 students, along with four teaching staff, moved to the Masonic Hall to continue their studies in Arts, Commerce and Music under the direction of the school's first principal, Reverend Dr. John H. Riddell. The Northwest Territory Council granted a charter to Alberta College in October 1904, at which time the school moved into a new building on 101st Street, on the grounds of McDougall Methodist Church. The institution continued to undergo a number of changes, including new campuses, buildings, and the transfer to the United Church in 1926. Enrollment continued to expand in the 1930s to the 1980s.

In 1991, the provincial government passed amendments to the Alberta College Act to continue college operations as a private college independent of the United Church. Work also began on a two-phase construction project for a new facility. In 2000, the Board transferred college assets to the province, and on July 1, 2002 the facility and the majority of its programming was transferred to Grant MacEwan College. The Alberta College Campus offered academic upgrading, English as a Second Language (ESL), and the Royal Conservatory of Music. It continued as a MacEwan University campus until 2020, when programming moved to Allard Hall located on City Centre Campus.