Intangible Alberta

Hatti's Harlem Chicken Inn

February 05, 2020 Royal Alberta Museum Season 1 Episode 4
Intangible Alberta
Hatti's Harlem Chicken Inn
Show Notes

A half-century ago, if you stood on the doorstep of the Royal Alberta Museum, you would have looked down what was then 98th street to Hatti’s Harlem Chicken Inn. From the outside, it may have appeared to be an unassuming restaurant. But for Edmonton’s Black community, Hatti’s was more than just a chicken joint — it was a meeting place, where culture and community flourished. 

The story of Hatti’s Harlem Chicken Inn is all around us: in local community history books, online articles, in personal testimonies, in photos and newspaper articles, in the memories of those who knew Hatti and her restaurant. Threads stretching out in space and time, and precious ones at that. In this episode of Intangible Alberta, Mat interviews Hatti’s family, community members, and local historians to try to gather these threads, to weave visible what might otherwise be subtle and hard to see. 

Listen below, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.