George F. MacDowell was born in 1913, in Prince Edward Island. He studied at Dalhousie University from 1930 to 1933, but did not complete a degree. During WWII, MacDowell served in Canada and Europe as a member of the Royal Canadian Signals Corps. After the war, he returned to Dalhousie University, graduating with a B.A. in 1947. Subsequently, he graduated with a Masters Degree in Economics from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. George McDowell taught at both Mount Allison University and the University of Alberta before coming to Brandon in 1957 to teach at Brandon College. He remained as a professor in the Economic Department until his retirement in 1979.
MacDowell's work was published in the Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science. In 1971, McClelland & Stewart published his account of the Brandon Packers strike of 1960 titled "The Brandon Packer's Strike: A Tragedy of Errors." In Brandon, MacDowell maintained a relationship with the local Association of Fire Fighters, aiding them with collective bargaining procedures. He also served as Chairman for the MacKenzie Seeds Board, and was a member of the Manitoba Development Corporation Board.
MacDowell never married and had no known children. He passed away on February 26th, 1986.
Custodial History
This collection was in the possesion of George MacDowell until his death. It was then held by the Brandon University Department of Economics until 1997, at which time it was transferred to the McKee Archives at Brandon University.
Scope and Content
The bulk of this fonds falls into five main categories:
1. Records dealing with the Brandon Packers Strike of 1960 and the subsequent legal actions against the owners, including all 2215 pages of the Brandon Packers Strike Commission;
2. Records dealing with the Commission of Inquiry into The Pas Forestry and Industrial Complex, including the complete transcript of the inquiry measuring approximately 5m. This Commission dealt with the conduct of Churchill Forest Industries, a company owned by a Swiss financial firm, which, in the 1960's, was given approximately 93 million dollars by the Roblin Provincial Government to develop The Pas Forestry and Industrial Complex. Churchill Forest Industries and its parent company subsequently came under suspicion of fraud and accused of fradulently transfering The Pas Forestry funds into other foreign business interests;
3. Records dealing with business loans awarded by the Manitoba Development Corporation during the 1970's and 1980's to businesses primarily within Manitoba;
4. Records dealing with McKenzie Seeds, and McKenzie Steele-Briggs Seeds during the early 1980's when George MacDowell was a board member of McKenzie Seeds;
5. Records dealing with Professor MacDowell's career as a Professor at Brandon University, including records relating to his courses and to administrative activities.
To a lesser extent, this collection includes records dealing with the University of Saskatchewan College of Commerce, the publication the "Manitoba New Democrat," issues associated with politics, labor and union in the prairie provinces from the 1960's to the 1980's, articles from various economic periodicals including "Economica" and "Public Finance," a variety of government reports from 1941 to 1981, and records dealing with George MacDowells' relationship with the Brandon Firefighters Association.
Notes
File level inventory available. Description written by Mike White (2002).
The Brandon University Student's Union (BUSU), Local 37 of the Canadian Federation of Students, was incorporated in 1969 as the students' organization of Brandon University. Its predecessor was the Brandon College Students' Association, which was established in 1899. BUSU is a not-for-profit society that serves to represent the students of Brandon University; all regular full and part-time students at Brandon University are members of the Students’ Union.
BUSU has several broad functions: they are a service provider that offers programs and support services to students throughout the year; they act as lobbyists on behalf of the student body at the local, provincial and federal levels, working with the other member locals of the Canadian Federation of Students, Canada’s national and provincial student movement; they represent the student body within the important, decision-making bodies at BU, such as the Board of Governors and Senate; and they provide funding for student clubs and organizations. BUSU is bound legally to the Brandon University Sudents' Union Constitution and Bylaws and the Universities Act of Manitoba.
BUSU draws on collected student fees to operate. Its administrative structure consists of a board of directors consisting of 11 voting members. Students elect representatives to relay their issues and concerns to the University community, the community at large, and all levels of government. A democratically elected council, made up of members from various constituencies on campus, oversees the work of the Students’ Union. The council includes four executive officers (the President and three Vice Presidents – Academic, Finance, and Student Activities), numerous commissioners, and one liaison. The work of the Students’ Union is also powered by the efforts and dedication of countless campus and community volunteers and staff. BUSU also has a voting student representative on the Board of Governors and Senate.
BUSU holds annual and semi-annual general meetings, full council meetings, and council committee meetings throughout the year. All meetings are broadly advertised to the membership and are open to students. As BUSU members, students have full speaking rights at any meeting of the Union, as well as voting rights at general meetings.
Custodial History
The records in accession 25-2003 were stored by the Brandon University Students' Union until they were donated to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Series consists of records of Executive meetings, correspondence and financial records of the Brandon University Students' Union, as well as club records and copies of "The Sickle," "The Quill," and Student Handbooks. It has been divided into five sub-series, including: (1) BUSU Executive and Council; (3) Correspondence; (4) Clubs; and (5) Publications.
Notes
BUSU is a separately incorporated organization from Brandon University's Board of Governors, but for administrative purposes it has been incorporated int RG 6 Brandon University fonds. Administrative information in the History/Bio field was taken from the BUSU website at http://www.busu.ca/aboutus.asp (December 2005).
See RG 6, series 9 (Department of Extension) for biographical information on R.B. Inch.
Custodial History
R.B. Inch's records were passed on to the McKee Archives following his death. It is presumed that the executer of his estate donated the collection after his passing in 1983.
Scope and Content
This collection is heavily influenced by Inch's professional and organizational life. Most heavily represented is literature associated with Inch's involvement with the League of Nations Society in Canada during the 1930s. It also appears that Inch paid close attention to United Nations' policy following World War II, from ca. 1945-1970. There are numerous items devoted to both Canadian and international political and diplomatic issues, with particular emphasis on British politics in the immediate post-war period. As one would expect from his involvement in the National Research Council and League of Nations Society, the core of the fonds is a study in two major themes. The first theme is of the post-WWII policy pursued by Canada and Britain and, secondly, the growth and development of United Nations' policy following the collapse of the League of Nations. There is some periphery material of general interest to Canadian history and Canadian university publications, but for the most part the material can be classified into one of the two preceding themes.
The collection includes a manuscript prepared by R.B. Inch entitled "Parliament Will Decide: A Chronicle of the Drift to War and of an Effort to Help Avert it" (1947). The manuscipt is edited but out of order.
The balance of the collection consists of accumulated documents gathered over the course of Inch's lifetime from outside sources. These include: newspaper clippings and whole newspapers from publications in Winnipeg, Brandon, Toronto, Calgary and London; United Nations' pamphlets conerning a broad range of issues, ranging from the question of East Indian independence to annual policy directives of the organization; various magazines including copies of "Interdependence," which Inch once edited; articles taken from the publication "Life" concerning important figures of the time period; numerous books and textbooks concerning the political formation of post-war Europe; quarterlies from academic institutions, such as the University of Toronto; some material, primarily pamphlets, concerning R.B. Inch's involvement in Amnesty International after his retirement; and documents relating to post-war reconstruction in Britain.
Notes
Finding aid for the R.B. Inch fonds was prepared for the McKee Archives by Matthew Palmer (2003). The majority of the boxes in the collection contain a typewritten inventory detailing the contents of each container. As well, the preponderance of the files within the boxes are further subdivided by either a typwritten inventory itemizing the material contained within each dossier or a handwritten note on the outside of the folder describing the contents.
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.10 R.B. Inch
Related Material
Additional materials related to R.B. Inch may be found in RG 6, Series 9 (Department of Extension). There is also a related group of records from R.B. Inch that can be found in the Library and Archives of Canada under the heading Rober Boyer Inch fonds. This fonds consists of 4.05 m of textual records dating from ca. 1923-1981.
The Brandon Allied Arts Council was established in the fall of 1959 and spring of 1960. At that time a Foundation was set up, consisting of six men 'of affairs' in Brandon, who were to act as Trustees and administer gifts, bequests and all capital expenditures. The men asked to serve were: Judge Buckingham, Roy Armstrong (Manager of the Royal Bank), Lasby Lowes, R.A. Clement, Victor Sharpe and D.R. Doig.
From the beginning A.E. McKenzie was a great supporter of the Allied Arts Council. Shortly before his death in 1964 McKenzie proposed leaving his home at 436 Victoria Ave. to the Arts Council to be used as an art gallery. Following a great deal of debate it was finally decided, sometime after McKenzie's death, to decline the offer.
Custodial History
See fonds level description of custodial history of A.E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series has been divided into two periods, the first dealing with A.E. McKenzie and the Arts Council and the second concerning Lasby Lowes and the Arts Council.
Included within the sub-series is correspondence to McKenzie from Marion Doig of the Arts Council relating the progress of the establishment of the Council through the fall of 1959 to the summer of 1960. It also includes correspondence between McKenzie and R.A. Clement regarding the gift of McKenzie's home to the Brandon Allied Arts Council, and correspondence between McKenzie and the Chairman of Nominations, Brandon Allied Arts Council.
The records generated during the Lasby Lowes period revolve primarily around the estate of A.E. McKenzie. Included is correspondence between The National Trust, Sutherland Agencies Limited, Kathleen Roberts (nee McKenzie), Canadian Diebold Safe Co., G.R. Rowe (President of Arts Council), Green Blankenstein Russell Associates, Income Tax Department, Winnipeg, Monarch Life Assurance Company and Lasby Lowes. Other correspondence deals with Lowes' role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brandon Allied Arts Council.
Also included within the sub-series is a photocopy of the Memorandum of Agreement that established the "Brandon Allied Arts Foundation" (1960).
The sub-series has been divided into two sub sub series, including: (1) 1.3.1 A.E. McKenzie and the Brandon Allied Arts Council (1959-64); and (2) 1.3.2 Lasby Lowes and the Brandon Allied Arts Council (1964-68).
Additional Information on the Brandon Allied Arts Council is located in the
Brandon Art Club fonds 03-2001 in the S.J. McKee Archives.
Series 5 (Photographs) contains newspaper clippings concerning the gift of McKenzie's house to the Brandon Allied Arts Council in oversized drawer #4.
The United Farmers of Manitoba was founded in 1920. It was an inclusive farmers' organization established to replace the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association. The UFM supported farmer candidates in the 1920 provincial election. In 1922, it helped elect the UFM government of John Bracken (1922-42). The UFM also participated in federal politics, supporting twelve successful candidates in the 1921 federal election. The UFM was financed by its members. Its membership varied from 15,700 in 1923, to 3700 in 1931. In 1939, the UFM became the Manitoba Federation of Agriculture.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes documents relating to the membership, both male and female, of the Wingham branch of the United Farmers of Manitoba and the United Farm Women of Manitoba. Documents dealing with the position of the branch on prohibition c. 1922, discussion within the branch of the "wheat pool" movement, annual reports for the organization, newsletters, correspondence on matters political and agrarian, and records relating to the activities of the branch as a cooperative buying agency are also included. Fonds also contains minutes of the provincial convention of the UFM and correspondence from the central office of the UFM.
See sub sub series level (RG 6, 8.4.1) for history/bio information.
Custodial History
See sub sub series level (RG 6, 8.4.1) for custodial history.
Scope and Content
File consists of grant application materials including a project proposal, budget template, bios for participating authors, and minutes for the April 20, 2007 meeting of the Aboriginal Literary Festival Committee.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 8: Library Services
8.4 Library special events
8.4.1 Brandon Aboriginal Literary Festival
The Canadian Federation of University Women was founded in 1919 under the leadership of Margaret McWilliams of Winnipeg to promote the interests of women with higher education at local, national and international levels. It is a voluntary, non-profit, self-funded organization with a membership of over 10,000 university-educated women and 122 local clubs. The CFUW promotes high standards of public education; encourages advanced study and research by women university graduates; encourages active participation in public affairs by qualified women; works to safeguard and improve human rights and the economic, legal and professional status of women in Canada; and participates in the work of the International Federation of University Women. The Brandon University chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women was established in 1948. It continues to be active.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains correspondence with other branches of the CFUW, minutes and programs from meetings and seminars held throughout Canada, as well as administrative records and minutes of the Brandon branch. Most administrative records concern the problems of maintaining membership levels and recruiting younger members. Fonds also contains various issues of the "Chronicle," a CFUW publication. Fonds also includes CFUW Brandon minutes, miscellaneous projects, annual reports and member lists, as well as a number of documents relating to the provincial, national and international activities of the CFUW.
The Toal Commission was a Commission of Inquiry conducted by James Toal at the Prince Edward Hotel in Brandon,MB from 1971-1972. The purpose of this inquiry was to investigage a report published by the Brandon Police Department entitled, "Problem Metis Families, City of Brandon," as well as allegations of police harassment in the City of Brandon from January 1, 1970, onward. The report was prepared by the Brandon Police Department following a petition submitted to Mayor Wilton. The petition, signed by approximately thirty residents of Brandon's East End, requested that the city prohibit the sale of homes in their neighborhood to Native families. A copy of the report was obtained by the Brandon Sun, which generated a considerable public response that resulted in the investigation in question.
Custodial History
Records were ordered from the Archives of Manitoba by Brandon University Archivist Tom Mitchell and Brandon University history professor Jim Naylor in 2013.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created over the course of the Toal Commission. It includes copies of verbatim transcripts of the Toal Commission hearings, as well as a commission of inquiry, a report on the commission, and indexes, which list the witnesses and evidence presented for each day of the hearings.
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
File consists of Arts Faculty Salaries and Promotions Committee form sheet with instructions, memos, correspondence, minutes, Faculty of Arts newsletter, agendas, and new course proposals.
Notes
File was artificially created July 11/06 (CMH).
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series XV: BUFA
Box 3
