The structure of the Manitoba Pool Elevators from its beginning in 1925 until its restructuring in 1968 placed importance in the principle of democracy. The company was run from the local associations, the central office acting as a hub that facilitated communication between all the locals and between the locals and the selling agencies. The central office was not powerless, but important decisions or by-laws could not be made with out the consent of the majority of the locals.
After the restructuring of MPE in 1968 the central office took on more responsibilities. It became the top of the administrative structure and instead of members belonging to their local elevator, they were now direct members of MPE. This administrative structure continued until the 1998 merger with the Alberta Wheat Pool to form Agricore.
Scope and Content
Series B consists of an artificially assembled collection of Central Office records. It has been divided into the following sub-series: (1) Central Office minute books; (2) Documents; (3) Local Association Minutes; (4) Local association finacial statements; (5) District and Sub-district records; (6) Circulars; (7) Annual reports; (8) Speeches & Addresses; (9) Correspondence; (10) Broadcasts; (11) General Reports; (12) Indexes; (13) Summary of Association Operations; (14) Acquisitions; (15) Inter-provincial Committees; (16) Historical Topics.
See fonds level description of RG 4 for history/bio of MPE
Scope and Content
This sub-series consists of financial records of the central office of MPE:
1-7 Audited Financial Statements 1968-1997
8-9 Capital Budgets 1979-1997
10. Annual Returns
11. Miscellaneous Financial
12. General Expenses 1930-1977
The Manitoba Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators kept and preserved a chronological record of the meetings of the MPE Board of Directors and annual delegate meetings. The minutes were typed and bound, then placed in the MPE reference library so that employees and members could access them.
Scope and Content
This sub-series consists of minutes of organizational meetings and later meetings held by the Central Office of the Manitoba Wheat Co-operative Producers, Ltd (later known as the Manitoba Wheat Pool) from 1923 until it went under in 1934, and of meetings held by the central office of Manitoba Pool Elevators from 1925 until 1997.
A copy of a Local Associations (later the Local Pool Committees) would be sent to the Central Office, where it was stored until a microfilm copy could be made. Records were only transferred to microfilm until 1957.
Custodial History
Local Association records recieved by the Central Office dating from 1925 to 1957 are on microfilm. Records subsequent to 1957 are hardcopies.
Scope and Content
Sub-series MPE B.3 consists of Local Association records from the formation of the association until 1993 or said association's closure. See Box level entries for B.3 for detailed contents of records.
Notes
Description by Jillian Sutherland (2009). Records contained in Series B.3 on microfilm or in hardcopy may also be contained in Series A.
Box contains bound volumes of Manitoba Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators central office meeting minutes. Volumes in this box include:
Manitoba Wheat Co-operative Producers, Ltd. July 1923 – May 1929; Manitoba Wheat Pool June 1929 – June 1934
MPE Minute Book May 1925 – July 1937
MPE Minute Book Sept 1953 – July 1959
MPE Minute Book August 1946 – July 1953
Box contains bound volumes of Manitoba Pool Elevators central office meeting minutes. Volumes in this box include:
MPE Minute Book Sept 1953 – July 1959
MPE Minute Book Oct 1959 – July 1964
MPE Minute Book Oct 1964 – Oct 1968
MPE Minute Book Oct 1968 – July 1971
Box contains unbound Manitoba Pool Elevators central office meeting minutes including MPE Board of Directors minutes January 15-16,1985 to July 17,1996.
Box contains unbound Manitoba Pool Elevators central office meeting minutes. Folders in this box include: unbound minutes of MPE Annual and Special Meetings 1976-98; Prospectus Nov 28 1997; MPE Annual Meeting Minutes 1990 and 1991; MPE Delegates Meetings 1989-1998; MPE Board of Directors Meetings July 16 1997 – May 19 1998; MPE Board of Directors Meetings August 20 1996 - June 18 1997; Agricore / AWP / MPE Board of Directors Meetings June 12 1998 – Oct 30 1998.
File consists of correspondence, pamphlets and notices for various Brandon University departments/services/events, a membership list of the Brandon University Women's Auxillary, news releases, a Department of Extension report, a draft questionnaire, a detailed account of building structures past/present/future on Brandon University campus, and the listing of artists in the "150 years of Art in Manitoba" exhibit.
Thomas Russell Wilkins was born in Toronto in 1891. He received his B.A. from McMaster University in 1912, and became the Science Master at Woodstock College the following year. In 1916, he and his wife Olive moved to Chicago, where Wilkins was an instructor of Physics at the University of Chicago. The next year he served as a master signal electrician in the U.S. Signal Corps. During World War I, Wilkins completed pioneer research for the United States Navy, which led to the development of pulse sonar devices in the 1920s. He had also been researching the possibilities of a wireless telephone.
Wilkins and his wife moved to Brandon in 1918, where he took up the position of Professor of Physics. During his time at Brandon College, Wilkins introduced the latest technology to classrooms, designed the original Science Building, and along with the Brandon Citizen's Committee, seucured building funds for the Citizen's Science Building.
Receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1921, Wilkins resigned from Brandon College in 1925 to pursue postgraduate study at Cambridge University. In 1926, he began research at the University of Rochester, where he also took up the position of Professor of Physics. From 1930 to 1938, he acted as the Director of the Institute of Optics.
Widely known for his work in the fields of cosmic rays and atomic disintegration, in April 1939, Wilkins announced the perfection of a camera that was able to record the "footprints" of invisible atoms after they collide. In October 1939, he received a medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain recognizing his work regarding the use of photographic emulsions in the study of radium. The following year, Wilkins perfected a camera that could determine the energy levels inside the nuclei of stable chemical elements. He received a grant from Sigma Xi, the National Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research, in November of 1940.
Wilkins married twice. The first marriage, to Olive Anges Cross took place on June 17, 1913. Olive Wilkins died suddenly on May 13, 1937, at the age of 45. Wilkins married Susan Gwendolyn Whidden, the daughter of former Brandon College president Dr. H.P. Whidden, in 1938.
Thomas Russell Wilkins died suddenly of a heart attack on December 10, 1940, on his way back to his laboratory after a faculty meeting. He was 49 years old.
Custodial History
Records were accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
T. Russell Wilkins’ reocrds contain correspondence between himself and Mrs. Wilkins and Dr. Whidden concerning their employment with Brandon College. There are letters between the two men regarding the building of the Science Building in 1920. There is also a copy of the Canadian Baptist. Besides programmes and a picture, there is also correspondence between various people. Dr. Wilkins kept the papers he had written for various classes at McMaster University in the years 1911 and 1912. There is a "toast to the ladies" that he delivered at a banquet of some sort, that gives an interesting view on how Wilkins, and possibly other men of his time, viewed women. There are numerous newspapers clippings, and several pages taken from journals such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Electricity and others. Dr. Wilkins was at the top of his field of study. He was an extremely bright man who managed to create some very useful tools of science. His papers are interesting and informative to read.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from Campus News May 1990
Esther Moore was born in Norfolk, Nebraska and moved to Canada at age 3. There is a vague reference to her being related to the composer Dvorak in The Quill of 1913. She registered as a music student at Brandon College in 1909. In 1910, Miss Moore received a medal for sight-reading and accompanying in Edmonton. She took her examinations of the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1910, and her Senior examinations in 1911. She completed her theory work in 1913, as well as finishing the academic requirements. In 1913, Esther Moore became the first graduate of the Music department at Brandon College. After graduation, Miss Moore taught music in Unity, as well as being the choirleader and organist. She returned to her home in Olds, Alberta for a rest from teaching. However, she was not idle for long. She took up teaching again, and she was the organist and choirleader at church. She also began a Glee Club. Between these responsibilities Miss Moore finished a course in the Household Science Department at the Olds Agricultural College. She returned to Brandon College to take postgraduate work, becoming the first Brandon College student to receive her L.T.C.M. in 1916. In 1922 Miss Moore began to teach piano at Brandon College. She received her Bachelor of Music in 1925, and her Master of Music in 1926.
Custodial History
Records were accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Esther Moore’s records consist of newspaper clippings, recital programmes, concert programmes, and commencement programmes. As well, there are dance cards, invitations, tickets, and the programme for the annual Graduation Banquet for several years. There are Track and Field programmes and a ribbon. There are also Alumni Luncheon programmes for a few years. There is an issue of The Western Baptist from 1926, and the programmes for the installation of Dr. Robbins as President and the opening of the Arts and Library building and the J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre in 1960. There is also a letter from William L. Wright, director of the music department at Brandon College.
The idea of the Keystone Centre was first mentioned in 1958, at a meeting of the board of directors of the Manitoba Winter Fair. The Manitoba Winter Fair wanted a new facility because the old Wheat City Arena had a leaking roof and a deteriorating west wall. The old facility also had limited space and the Winter Fair felt it needed more space for expansion. The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba also had problems with their facilities, such as old barns and poor display areas. The idea of the Keystone Centre was put on hold until 1969, when the boards of the Provincial Exhibition and the Manitoba Winter Fair joined together as the Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba and the Wheat City Arena was sold and demolished. The original estimate for the cost of the Keystone Centre facilities was $4.5 million and funding would be proportioned so that the federal and provincial governments would each put in one-third of the money, with the rest coming from local donations. The financial campaign for the Keystone Centre began in 1970, and construction began in November 1970. The grand opening of the Centre was in March 1973, and coincided with the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair of that year.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains many folders full of correspondence, financial statements, meeting minutes and other documents relating to the development and construction of the Keystone Centre from 1970-1974, including those from the Keystone Executive Committee, as well as the Building Committee. Fonds also contains one folder that pertains to the Brandon Area Agricultural Development Survey from 1959. This folder contains the names and locations of all farmers in the Brandon area in 1959. The Brandon Area Agricultural Development Survey was created in 1959, in order to make farming in the Brandon area more profitable. The survey was aided by Doane Agricultural Service from St. Louis, Missouri, who had success creating agricultural development programs in the United States. Fonds also contains folders from the Provincial Exhibition with correspondence, pamphlets, estimates, and studies from the 1960's. There is also one folder belonging to the Manitoba Winter Fair, which contains correspondence and financial statements relating to the Wheat City Arena. Fonds also contains information pertaining to the proposals made in the 1960's, for the building of the Keystone Centre, as well as one folder about the Keystone campaign from 1970-73. There is also one folder about the opening of the Keystone Centre, which contains newspaper clippings and guest lists. Finally, the fonds contains information about a court case involving Albert Bobyk and Robert Stewart. Stewart was the project manager for the Building Committee and Bobyk worked on the Keystone Center. The fonds includes a report about the trial of the two men who were charged with fraud involving their work on the Keystone Centre.
