The Galt's collection began in 1962, when the local Historical Society solicited the community for donations and loans. Two years later, a civic museum was opened and the collection was displayed in the former Bowman School. The collection quickly outgrew the school and, within a couple years, the institution was relocated to the old Galt Hospital. The civic museum reopened as the Sir Alexander Galt Museum in 1967.
The Collections Management operation of the Museum has evolved since 1962. Early acquisitions criteria idealized an object's physical qualities, making aesthetics the primary factor by which an object was, or was not, collected. In recent decades, however, the Galt's criteria have grown. Today, the Museum values the story behind an artifact as much as the physical artifact itself. The artifacts and stories collected provide a sense of where we live and who we are as residents of Lethbridge and southern Alberta.