Hugh Dempsey

Hugh Aylmer Dempsey, (November 7, 1929 - May 24, 2022) was a Canadian historian, an author and the Chief Curator Emeritus of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta. For his contributions to the study of the Plains Indians, Dempsey was awarded membership in the Order of Canada in 1975.

Career Dempsey left school in 1947 after completing Grade 11. In 1956, 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. From 1956 until 1967, he served as archivist, becoming curator/director from 1967 to 1991. Dempsey's writing benefited not only from his work as an archivist but also from his access to the Blackfoot community through his marriage. He also lectured on native studies and Alberta history at the University of Calgary.

Honors 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. On October 2, 2000, the Archives Society of Alberta paid tribute to Dempsey "for his lasting contributions" to the preservation of Alberta's heritage. In 2019, Dempsey received an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge.

Personal life Dempsey was born in Edgerton, Alberta in 1929. His parents were English war bride Lily Louise Sharp and farmer (former Canadian soldier) Otto Lionel Dempsey. Forced off the land by the Depression, they moved to Edmonton when Hugh was five. In 1953 he married Pauline Gladstone, the daughter of Canadian Senator James Gladstone of the Kainai Blackfoot, with whom he had five children.

Dempsey died in Calgary, Alberta, on May 24, 2022, at the age of 92.