4.2 m textual records; 5 cassette tapes; 2 cd roms, 110 photographs (colour and b/w) various sizes
History / Biographical
Errol Black was born on September 8, 1939 in Brandon, Manitoba. He was the son of Thomas Alexander Black, who immigrated to Canada from Limerick, Ireland in 1929, and Roberta Jean (nee Groat) Black, a native of Chatham, New Brunswick. Black attended King George Elementary, Earl Haig Junior High, Brandon Collegiate Institute for Grade 10, and completed high school through correspondence courses for Grandes 11 and 12. He left school in 1956 to work a variety of jobs in Brandon, Calgary and on the west coast. He spent a short time in the Royal Canadian Navy. Errol Black undertook post-secondary education at Brandon College (1963-1965, graduated with a B.A.), the University of Alberta (1965-1967, graduated 1973 with an M.A. in economics) and Warwick University (1975-1977). Black taught economics at Brandon University from 1970 until his retirement in 2002. Following retirement he was granted Professor Emeritus status in 2003.
Errol Black has published three books, as well as many articles and reports in leading academic journals. He has a longstanding interest in the history of organized labour and working-class politics in Brandon. These remain important themes in his research and writing. He served on the Executive of the Brandon University Faculty Association for many years, and was President of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations for two years. Black is also a member of the Brandon District Labour Council, a founding member of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian centre for Policy Alternatives, and a board member of the Brandon Regional Health Authority (2000-2006). He was elected to Brandon City Council in 1998, and for a second term in 2001. In 1999 he was the federal NDP candidate for Brandon-Souris.
Black married Margaret Millard from Waskada, MB in 1961, with whom he had three sons: Sean, Dennis and Tom.
Custodial History
Accession 17-1997 was originally owned by Jim Davis, brother to Communist activist Stanley Forkin. Taimi Davis, Jim Davis' wife, mailed the collection from her residence in Ontario to Errol Black in 1994. Professor Black donated the collection to the McKee Archives. Accession 02-2003 was donated to the Archives in November 2002 by Errol Black. Accession 15-2003 was donated to the Archives on April 30, 2003 by Errol Black. Accession 17-2003 was donated to the Archives on July 15, 2003 by Errol Black.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of a number of accessions. Accession 17-1997, dating from 1935-1936, consists of twelve of the thirteen issues of the "Unemployed Worker," published in Brandon in the 1930s. The "Unemployed Worker" was the organ of the Brandon Unemployed Workers' Council. This Council, like its counterparts in other communities, was created by Canadian Communist Party militants. The "Unemployed Worker" covered the activities of the Unemployed Workers' Council, the plight of Brandon's unemployed, efforts by the city's unemployed to improve their lives, and City Council decisions, specifically those regarding relief policy.
Accession 02-2003, dating 1917, 1936-1939, 1970-2002 (predominant 1970-2002), contains extensive correspondence from former Brandon University Economic Professor Don Wheeler to Errol Black. In addition, the accession contains an important body of correspondence received by Professor Black from Taimi Davis written by Pat Forkin and his wife Pheobe Forkin to family members in Canada during the years 1936-1939, while Pat was a Moscow based corespondent for the Canadian Communist Party Clarion. The accession also contains personal correspondence of Errol Black dating from ca. 1970, drafts of papers, newspaper clippings, pamphlets related to labour and labour political matters. Two publications of note include: "Labour in Brandon" published by the Brandon and District Labour Council and a student guide to labour law written by George MacDowell. The accession also contains several documents related to Black's involvement in the provincial Industrial Adjustment Committee.
Accession 15-2003, dating 1930-2002 (predominant 1930-1939; 1971-2002), contains extensive clippings from the Canadian Communist Party publications "The Worker" and the "Daily Clarion" from the years 1930-1939; twenty-one personal and family photographs (b/w 3x5) of the Forkin family of Brandon, many of whom were active in the Canadian Communist Party; various historical photographs (b/w 8x10) related to the history of labour in Brandon, Manitoba; personal files containing correspondence, letters and opinion pieces to various newspapers, course outlines, research materials and draft publications, arbitration awards and documents related to Black's involvement with the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations (MOFA).
Accession 17-2003, dating 1970-2002, contains correspondence, a manuscript of an autobiography written by Black's father Tom Black, research files, letters to the editor and draft publications by Errol Black.
Accession 3-2011, dating 1909-2010, contains an extensive record of newspaper clippings often of Professor Black's correspondence with the Brandon Sun from the early 1970s through to 2011. Clippings relate to civic issues, labour relations, social justice, economic questions. Documents (membership cards, cards of thanks, stamps) of various kinds, and photographs of Professor Black, family members, and various labour related events including parades and rallies, appear throughout these clippings. Collection includes miscellaneous files relating to the 75th Anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike including the Brandon Sympathetic Strike of 1919, the Brandon Greys Baseball team, the Assiniboine College BMHC lobby campaign, Brandon and Area Environmental Council, the Brandon East NDP Contituency Association. Editions (1925-31) of the Sons of England - Official Organ of the Sons of England Benefit Society - published in Oshawa, Ontario, and copies of documents related to the Commission of Inquiry (1928) into labour issues at the Brandon Mental Hospital are included.Collection also contains extensive correspondence associated with Professor Black's activities as a department member, scholar, and activist in the Department of Economics at Brandon University. Collection contains as well research materials related to the Brandon labour movement, strikes at A.E. Mckenzie Seed Company 1940s, cd roms containg research materials - clippings and images - for Labour Council Anniversary book ( 2006), and civic politics in Brandon. Records also contain research materials on various members of the Forkin family - in particular the Pat Forkin, Tom Forkin, and Stephen Forkin (aka Jim Davis) - who were active members of the Canadian Communist Party during their adult lives. A collection of family photographs and six tape cassettes containing accounts of the experiences of single unemployed men during the Great Depression and the funeral of Stephen Forkin ( Jim Davis) and correspondence from Taimi Davis the widow of Stephen Forkin (Jim Davis) supplement the sources on the Forkin family.
Notes
Photographs of Joe Forkin, Pat Forkin, Stan Forkin, Jim Davis and other members of the Forkin family are contained in Box 3 (15-2003) and Box 10 (3-2011).
Some restrictions. Consult the University Archivist for access.
Repro Restriction
Researchers are responsible for observing Canadian copyright restrictions.
Storage Location
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.1 Errol Black
Related Material
MG 3 1.12 contains additional records related to George MacDowell; RG 6, Series 15 (BUFA) contains additional records on the Brandon University Faculty Association; RG 6, Series 7, Sub sub series 7.1.5 (Department of Economics) contains additional records related to the Department of Economics at Brandon University; RG 6, Series 7, Sub-series 7.1 (Dean of Arts) contains files on Don Wheeler and George MacDowell.
File consists of correspondence and recommendations of the Social Science Research Council of Canada on the proposed granting council for the social sciences and humanities.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 2: Board of Governors
2.4 Correspondence and subject files
Box 6
VICE-PRESIDENTS (ACADEMIC & RESEARCH):
MEIR SERFATY (1986-1992)
Meir Serfaty was born on January 13, 1946 in Melilla, Spain (see note below*). He obtained his B.A. (Hons.) in Politics and Economics from Manchester University in 1967, his M.A. in Political Science from the University of Calgary in 1969 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Carleton University in 1976.
Prior to coming to Brandon University in 1973, Serfaty worked as an Academic Advisor of Foreign Public Administration Students (1970-1973), the Co-ordiator of Teaching Assistants (1970-1972) and a sessional lecturer at Carelton Univeristy. He is currently a professor in the Department of Political Science. Since 1973, he has been a professor in the Department of Political Science and Department of Modern Languages (Spanish). In the winter of 1993 he was a Visiting Professor, Department of International Relations at the Universidad de las Americas, Peubla, Mexico.
Serfaty's administrative positions and appointments at Brandon Unviersity have included the following: Chair, Brandon University Tenure Appeals Committee (2005); Director, Office of International Activities (1998-2002); Chair, Department of Political Science (1995-1998, 2005); Vice-Chair, Arts Faculty Council, and occasional Acting Dean (1994 - ); member of the Executive, Board of Governors (1999 - ); Senate representative, Board of Directors (1999 - ); member of the Executive, Senate (1999 - ); member of Senate, representing professors (1995-1998, 1999 - ); Vice-President, Academic and Research (1986-1992); Director, Canadian Studies Program (1979-1985); President, BUFA (1980-81, 1983-84, 1984-85); Director of various national, regional and provincial conference; Chair of various campus committees; and a member of numerous Arts Faculty and University-wide committees.
His external positions, appoinments and professional activities have included the following: member, City of Brandon Strategic Plan Steering Committee (2004 - ); Chair, City of Brandon Electoral Review Commission (2001 - ); National Executive member, Canadian Jewish Congress (1993-1998); Chair, Consumer Conciliation Panel, Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (South-Western Region) (1989); Executive member, Manitoba Task Force on Multiculturalism (1987-1988); Senior Acting Chair, The Manitoba Municipal Board (1982-1988); President, Western Manitoba Multicultural Council (1981-1983); has assisted the City of Brandon, the towns of Powerview and Pine Falls and Churchill, Manitoba on issues of local governance; a political commentator and analyst on election night (various radio stations) (1979-2004), as well as numerous guest appearances on local radio and television, and local and Canadian press commentaries discussing political events.
As of January 2006, Meir Serfaty continues to teach at Brandon University.
*Melilla is a town located geographically in Moroccan territory, but it is an autonomous Spanish province. (Meir Serfaty email, January 12, 2006).
SUSAN HUNTER-HARVEY (1992-1995)
Susan Hunter-Harvey was born and raised in Wisonsin, graduating with a B.A. in History from Carrol College in Wisconsin in 1964. She completed an M.A. (1967) and a Ph.D. (1968) in Political Science at the University of Hawaii. She was a Post Doctoral Fellow and lecturer at the University of Alberta and then was an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Hunter-Harvey came to Brandon University from the Department of Sociology at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1992, where she had been teaching since 1975. In 1995, Hunter-Harvey was appointed the President of Douglas College in New Westminster, BC.
T. PATRICK CARRABRE (1995 - 2001)
* Additional biographical information on Patrick Carrabre is located under RG 6, sub sub series 7.4.1 (Director of the School of Music).
T. Patrick Carrabre was born in 1958. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1980 from the University of Manitoba. He went on to study at the Banff Centre of Fine Arts and the University of Western Ontario before working closely with Pulitzer and MacArthur Award winning composer George Perle. Carrabre obtained his Ph.D. from the City University of New York.
Prior to coming to Brandon University in 1992, as the Dean of Music, Carrabre was the Performing Arts Officer with the Manitoba Arts Council, where he managed the granting programs in Dance, Music and Theatre. After more than a year as Acting Vice-President (Academic & Research), the Board of Governors approved his appointment at its December 19, 1996 meeting.
Carrabre has worked closely with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra since 1992. He is currently (March 2006) the orchestra's Composer-in-Residence, a position he assumed in 2001, after five year's in the role of "Associate Composer." In addition to his work writing music, he is also a co-curator of the WSO's wildly successful New Music Festival.
At present (March 2006), Patrick Carrabre continues to teach in the School of Music.
JEFFERY GEORGE WILLIAMS (2001 - June 30, 2007)
Jeff Williams was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, 3 May 1945. He is a graduate of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a Bachelor of Science degree (1966) and a Ph.D. (1969), both in Mathematical Physics. Subsequently, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta and Solvay Fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.
Williams worked as hospital statistician at the Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre in the United Kingdom before moving to Canada. After serving as a faculty member at Okanagan University College and Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, Dr. Williams and his wife, Edith-Mary Smith, came to Brandon in 1986 where Dr. Williams took up a faculty appointment in the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science at Brandon University.
Williams has taught a wide range of mathematics courses, from elementary statistics to advanced calculus and, in 1992, he received the Brandon University Senate Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was Chair of the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science for seven years.
In 1991, Williams was elected to membership in the province-wide Winnipeg Institute for Theoretical Physics and served a term as Institute Director. His major research interests are in theoretical/mathematical physics and specifically in “general relativity” – the geometric theory of gravitation. Dr. Williams has published over forty articles in learned journals, has edited two books, and is an active member of the general relativity community, both in Canada and internationally. His hobbies include mountain walking and creative writing. For a number of years, Dr. Williams was President of the Brandon Writers Club and edited a number of issues of Brandon University’s electronic magazine, Ecclectica.
Jeff Williams became Acting Vice-President (Academic & Research) on 1 September 2001, and was appointed Vice-President (Academic & Research) on February 28, 2002.
SCOTT GRILLS (July 1, 2007 - present)
See RG 6, Series 7 (Faculties and Schools), 7.1 (Faculty of Arts), 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts) for biographical information on Scott Grills.
Notes
A partial inventory for the sub-series exists as a Word document. Biographical information on Meir Serfaty was taken from the curriculum vitae he made available to the Archives (January 2006) - see biography files "Meir Serfaty". Biographical information on Susan Hunter-Harvey was taken from her personnel file (Dean of Arts). Carrabre and Williams provided their own biographical information.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 4: Office of the Vice-President
Records were held in the Faculty of Education prior to their transfer to the McKee Archives in 2000.
Scope and Content
Fonds deals with Brandon University projects in the education systems of Swaziland and Malawi. The fonds is a product of project activities and contins records including correspondence, project summaries and reports in relation to the CIDA/BU project in Swaziland/Malawi. Within this, orientation materials for new employees and preparation materials for overseas travel, outlines of goals within the project and staff development and workshop summaries can be found. Fonds includes recommendations and project proposals, along with correspondence regarding student and teacher grading, graduations and development assessments.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
7.3 Faculty of Education
See fonds level description (MG 3 1.14 W. Leland Clark) for history/bio information on W. Leland Clark.
Custodial History
See fonds level description (MG 3 1.14. W. Leland Clark) for custodial history.
Scope and Content
Sub sub series consists of primary sources related to Canadian agriculure in Western Canada from the Great War to the Great Depression drawn from the National Archives of Canada and the Provincial Archives of Manitoba; primary sources including interviews conducted by Dr. Clark for his PhD thesis and subsequent book titled Brandon Politics and Politicians; and various papers - published and unpublished by Dr. Clark, a few of his students, and other academics. Sub sub series also contains seven copies of Brandon Politics and Politicians.
Notes
A PDF version of this book is available. PDF courtesy Gordon Goldsborough, webmaster Manitoba History..
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.14 W. Leland Clark
