Hilton "Hilt" Friesen was born on September 19, 1932 in Steinbach, MB. He owned an independent furniture business in Winnipeg before opening a hobby store in Elmwood. He was an active member of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and an amateur photographer who documented historic buildings, especially those relating to railways, around the province. Hilt Friesen died on July 23, 2008 in Winnipeg, MB.
Custodial History
The 35 mm slides in the collection were taken by Hilt Friesen. His widow gave them to Morgan Turney who then passed them on to Gordon Goldsborough of the Manitoba Historical Society. Goldsborough gave them to the McKee Archives in January 2019.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 735 colour slides. The slides primarily depict railway subdivision stations along the Canadian National Railway (CNR) lines in Manitoba, but there are also stations from Saskatchewan. Additional subject matter includes grain elevators, steel through truss bridges, railway bridges, brickworks, signs, trains and buildings (the Prince Edward Hotel, Cumming & Dobie Coal). The images were taken by Friesen as a result of his hobby interests in railways and photography.
Notes
History/bio information taken from the Manitoba Historical Society website.
