Most of the photos are in peel and stick albums and the albums have a number of condition issues
History / Biographical
Valleyview Leisure Club (VLC) began in April 1978 as a senior's activity group in conjunction with Valleyview Community Centre. The impetus for the creation of the group was a meeting between John Svenson, Regional Director for Westman Seniors, and seniors in the Valleyview area who met to discuss the organization of a seniors club. At the time the club was established, space was limited at the Community Centre because some school classes were held there during the construction of Riverheights School. However, a New Horizons grant enabled the VLC to remodel and furnish the basement area of the Valleyview Community Centre for the Leisure Club. A Grand Opening of the space was held in May of 1980; there was a special luncheon and the offical ribbon was cut by Hon. Ed McGill.
The Valleyview Leisure Club was run by a board and its associated committees and governed by a constitution. Members were charged an annual membership fee, as well as user fees for the various activities. In the early years, the CLub had monthly membership business meetings in conjunction with an evening meal and entertainment. The use of the basement area was varied and included: cards; shuffleboard and other games; craft activities; fundraisers; raffles; dances; and luncheons, dinners and potlucks. The space was also rented out for private functions, particularly special birthdays and anniversary's of community members. The Club made annual contibutions to the parent Community Centre, as well as helping the Community Centre functions (winter carnival etc.)
In the course of time, the activities of the VLC became more focused on cribbage and bridge, with several regular groups scheduled at regular weekly time slots. At the time of the organization's disbanding, the following groups were active: Friday afternoon contract bridge - the "original" bridge group at the Centre; Tuesday afternoon cribbage; Thursday afternoon "Retired Educators" contract bridge - this group had played in vacant space at Neelin School up until around 1989. Its membership was eventually opened up to anyone who wanted to play in that time slot; Wheat City Duplicate Bridge Club - formed in the City as a sanctioned club and had a number of locations around town. When it moved to the Leisure Club, it came as a renter only, but chose in 2012 to join as VLC members; and Monday afternoon duplicate bridge - in an effort to increase the number of duplicate bridge plays, a "beginners" duplicate group was established with lessons, which proved to be a popular decision. The group thrived and most of the Thursday evening playser began to paly at this time also/or instead.
The VLC hosted a Spring and a Fall Bridge Tournament each year, open to anyone, with invitations going to surrounding areas. As well as cash prizes, a cash donation was given to a local charity. In latter years these donations were $500 per tournament. An annual Christmas Dinner was another popular event. It was a catered event, at least in the later years, and was offered at a subsidized price to members. The club also made a donation to Christmas Cheer at this time.
At some point in the organization's history the VLC came to be seen as a tenant of the Valleyview Community Centre, paying a rent of $3000 per year for its use of the basement space, as well as some maintenance expenses. When the Valleyview Community Centre voted to raise the rent to $12,000 per year within two years, the VLC sought other options.
The VLC settled on Prairie Oasis Senior Centre for a nubmer of reasons. First, it offered to provide space for each of the club's existing card groups at the same time slots with no membership fees. Second, the move would also eliminate the increasingly difficult task of fielding a board of directors to run the club. Finally, the Prairie Oasis location offered the advantage of level access; the basement location of the VLC had excluded several of the club's former members with mobility issues.
Effective September 1, 2014, the Valleyview Leisure Club was dissolved. The club disposed of equipment either by donating it to Prairie Oasis or to Valleyview Community Centre. Once all debts were cleared the Board voted to distribute the cash assets to the following local charities: Big Brothers and Sisters; Food For Thought; Humane Society; Prairie Oasis Senior Centre/Meals on Wheels; Salvation Army; Samaritan House; Seniors For Seniors Co-op Inc.; The Soup Kitchen; Westman Regional Hospital; Westman Hospice; and Y Kids.
Custodial History
Records were created and collected by Valleyview Leisure Club and donated to the S.J. McKee Archives by Barry Reilly following the disbandment of the club in 2015.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and maintained by the Valleyview Leisure Club to document their activities and membership. The records detail club events, finances, insurance and meetings.
Records include meeting minutes, agendas, posters, correspondence, budget plans, grants, constitutions, newspaper clippings, membership lists, phone directories, membership rosters, financial statements, secretarial records, photo albums and other miscelleanous records.
Notes
History/Bio information was provided by the Valleyview Leisure Club. Description by Amanda Gramchuk (October 2016) and Christy Henry.
Many pages within the scrapbook are in fragile condition and some have come loose from the bindings. Several individual photographs have also become loose.
History / Biographical
Born Daniel Milton Kaufman in the Chicago area and a veteran of the Second World War, Kingsley completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and later his M. Sc. from Northwestern University before coming to Brandon College for the 1928-1929 academic year. Hired on a temporary basis to teach chemistry to replace a Mr Elsey, Kingsley came with good recommendations from Northwestern University in both teaching and laboratory management (The Quill, Sept. 27th, 1928).
In May 1929, Kingsley returned to the University of Chicago to continue his graduate studies (Brandon Daily Sun, May 21st, 1929). Following the completion of his M.D., Kingsley taught at LSU Medical School, Tulane University Medical School and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Centre, New York City.
Moving to Alexandria, Louisiana in 1939, Kingsley's practice thrived as he was the only bone doctor in Central Louisiana at the time. Kingsley was known for operating free clinics at Huey P. Long Hospital and served as the orthopaedist for 35 years for the Louisiana Special Education Centre. For almost 50 years, Kingsley operated on children without charging for his services.
Kingsley helped found a non-profit rehabilitation centre for post-operative therapy for children with disabilities, called the Rapides Rehabilitation Centre, and served on its board for several years. He also served as president of the Rapides Parish Medical Society, chairman of the Rapides Parish Medical Society Medico-Legal Committee for 30 years, second vice-president of the Louisiana State Medical Society and president of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association. Other organizations Kingsley was involved with include the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Clinical Orthopaedic Society, American Association of Anatomists, American Academy for Cerebral Palsy, American Medical Association, Louisiana Orthopaedic Association, Rapides Parish Medical Society, the Southern Medical Association and as a founding member of the International Arthroscopy Association.
Dr. Daniel Kingsley passed away in June 1992 in Alexandria, Louisiana, and was survived by his wife, Mrs. Helen Wilson Kingsley, their two daughters Ann Lange and Katherine Kingsley, and their son Lawrence Kingsley.
Custodial History
Records were created and collected by Dr. Daniel Kingsley during his time at Brandon University and then later during his travels, and subsequently stored by him after their completion. Following his death, the records were stored by his daughter Ann Lange at her home near Dallas until their donation to the McKee Archives in 2017.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one scrapbook which contains photographs of Dr. Daniel Kingsley's time as a temporary faculty member during the 1928-1929 academic year at Brandon College. Many of the photos are labelled; They depict many events at Brandon College, including activities at the Brandon College Rink (outdoor) and a faculty hike. Others records show images of the City of Brandon at this time, including various street images, Dr. Kingsley's accommodations, the Brandon Mental Hospital and the Assiniboine River. The photographs provide insight into the life of a temporary faculty member at Brandon College during this period.
The scrapbook also contains many assorted photographs and clippings from his travels and life following his departure from the College. The majority of the fonds contains photographs and clippings from 1928-1932, with others being undated.
Notes
History information provided by Ann Lange, daughter of Dr. Daniel Kingsley. Supplementary information provided by The Brandon Daily Sun and The Quill. Description by William Grant Jackson (September 2018).
Music in the Brandon Community was created by Brandon University student Richard Bee for the course Advanced Topics in Oral History. The project was conducted under advisement from Dr. Rhonda Hinther, BU History Department. Interviews were conducted by Bee with members of the Brandon community - Bill Campbell, Elizabeth Grant, Bill and Sue-On Hillman, Ian Robinson and Bill Turner - between June 9-July 7, 2015, about their experences in the local musical community.
Following the completion of the interviews, Bee created a transcript of the Hillman interview, at their request. Interview logs were created for all other interviews. Bee used the interviews to write an essay titled "Oral History and Community Music: A Case Study of Brandon, MB," which he submitted to Hinther to meet course requirements.
Custodial History
As part of the ethics approval for the project, records created were slated for donation to the SJ McKee Archives. Bee donated the materials to the McKee Archives in July 2015.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of consent forms, interview logs, one interview transcript, a copy of Bee's case study and the six audio recordings of interviews conducted with community members.
All of the interviews detail the interviewee's experiences in and around Brandon regarding music in the community: Brent Campbell’s interview discusses his life as a music teacher in Brandon, his life, and his participation in Brandon Jazz; Dr. Elizabeth Grant’s interview discusses her life, her teaching career at Brandon University and her musical career, including the Brandon Conservatory Chorale, which she founded; Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s interview discusses their lives individually and together, their careers, and how music influenced their lives; Ian Robinson’s interview discuses the operation of Ted Good Music, his life and performances in Brandon; and Bill Turner’s interview discusses his life, radio career, and the Brandon community.
Bee's case study primarily covers first-person accounts of people in the Brandon Community involved in music. It includes topics such as faculty at BU's School of Music, performance experiences, and personal experiences of interviewees in and around Brandon and Canada.
Notes
Description by Hope Penner (September 2018) and Christy Henry
Finding Aid
The interviews and interview logs are available in Branond University's institutional repository, IRBU at: https://irbu.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/irbu%3ARBeeC
32.5 cm of textual records
21 photographs, various sizes
Material Details
Includes 5 audiocassettes, 1 scrapbook, 2 maps, 2 theatre programs, ca. 40 postcards, ca. 25 brochures and programs, ca. 20 posters
Physical Condition
Very good
History / Biographical
Stephen Adolph Magnacca was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 12 October 1902. He joined the Winnipeg Highland Cadets at the age of twelve. In 1940 he was posted to Brandon, Manitoba, where he opened the A4 Training Camp. After the Second World War, Magnacca was transferred to the militia from active service and became a hospital manager with the Department of Veteran Affairs. He resigned in 1947.
Although he left the service, Magnacca remained interested in military matters. For the next three decades, he attended functions at CFB Rivers and CFB Shilo. He also collected clippings about the activities of the Canadian militia. As well, Magnacca was interested in civic affairs. In 1961 he was elected mayor of Brandon, a position he held until 1969. Many of his mayoral projects were connected with the military, including an attempt to build a new road to CFB Shilo, an effort to prevent the closure of CFB Rivers, and the coordination of a Freedom of the City Ceremony. In 1967, Magnacca was made honorary colonel of the 26th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery.
A construction boom in the city marked Magnacca’s term as mayor. Throughout the sixties, Magnacca was instrumental in the building of the Keystone Centre, the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, a new city hall, and the residential subdivisions of Riverheights and Kirkcaldy Heights. Magnacca’s business interests aided the development of these subdivisions—during this time he was president of Magnacca Real Estate and general manager of the Magnacca Housing Project.
Besides being a colonel, a mayor, and a president of a real estate company, Magnacca held numerous other titles. These included at different times president of the Brandon Lions Club, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Brandon Branch No. 3, treasurer of the Brandon Progressive Conservative Association, and director of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Brandon. In recognition of these efforts, Magnacca was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1973.In the middle of the seventies, Magnacca was active in historical pursuits. He became president of the Assiniboine Historical Society and helped to establish the Brandon Daly House Museum. To prevent Brandon’s Prince Edward Hotel from being demolished, he formed a protest group called “Save the Eddy.” In his spare time, he wrote unpublished accounts of local political figures and collected various artifacts.
A member of St. Matthew’s Cathedral, religion was important to Magnacca. Also important to him were hard work, efficiency, and hierarchy. He was a British loyalist and was devoted to public service and political life. As mayor, he prized industrial and urban development. Much of his public life was dedicated to furthering awareness of governmental and industrial activities.
Magnacca’s wife, Grace, played an integral role in her husband’s career, attending numerous networking and volunteer functions, and often organizing his activities. They had two children, Patricia (Coleman) and Allan. On 4 August 1980, at the age of seventy-seven, Stephen Adolph Magnacca passed away due to heart failure.
Custodial History
Little is known of the custodial history of the fonds. On 1 May 1995 Magnacca’s Thomas Mayne Daly collection and Magnacca’s Manitoba Historical Society papers were deposited in the Archives.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of minutes of meetings; correspondence with politicians and military officials; newspaper clippings of military affairs; documents about governmental and military celebrations; notes on Louis Riel; a manuscript about Thomas Mayne Daly and other local politicians; papers of the Daly House museum; issues of nineteenth-century Brandon newspapers, and various historical artifacts.
The fonds is valuable for researchers interested in Brandon city council history 1882-1969, regional military history 1955-1975, and general Manitoba history 1882-1981. For social historians, this fonds is important because it demonstrates which actions and which beliefs gave Magnacca access to his many esteemed positions. Historians of gender will discover that Magnacca had a specific definition of masculinity that permeated all his activities in the public realm.
The fonds is divided into four series, including: (1) mayoral papers; (2) historical interests; (3) military interests; and (4) photographs.
Notes
Description by Tom Mitchell. Biographical sketch: Information in the biographical sketch comes from the fonds itself, as well as from two articles of the Brandon Sun: “Steve Magnacca warmly recalled,” Tuesday, 5 August 1980, p. 1; and “Brandon loses one of its finest,” 5 August 1980, p. 3. Biographical information about Stephen Adolph Magnacca is located in the Biography Files of the McKee Archives.
Associated material: Brandon Sun: “Man for the Sixties,” 30 December 1969; “History Comes Alive,” 15 June 1978; “Tenure Appointment,” 18 October 1978; “Steve Magnacca warmly recalled,” Tuesday, 5 August 1980, p. 1; “Brandon loses one of its finest,” 5 August 1980, p. 3; and “Magnacca,” 9 August 1980, p. 16, located on microfiilm in the John E. Robbins Library at Brandon University.
Conservation
Original processing of records and preparation of finding aid by Donica Belisle (22 July 1999)
Finding Aid
Patricia Coleman, daughter of Stephen Adolph Magnacca, provided the funding for the creation of this finding aid.
Storage Location
1998 accessions
Related Material
Twenty-four file drawers at the Brandon Daly House Museum contain records donated by Magnacca that deal with local political, military, and economic history.
31 cm textual records;
1 b&w photograph - approx. 50 x 20cm (torn in half);
1 ribbon from the International Pool Conference of 1928
History / Biographical
Leslie Victor Robson was born in Deleau, Manitoba in 1893. Following graduation from the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1915, he began a career in farming near Deleau, Manitoba. Robson married Edna Chapman in 1917. He was active in farm organizations, the co-operative movement and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Robson focused his farming activities on raising purebread polled herefords. His stock was exhibited across Canada and the United States and sold in Great Britain, Japan and Czechoslovakia. In 1977, he was made a member of the Canadian Hereford Honour Roll. Leslie Victor Robson died in 1977.
Custodial History
This fonds was donated to the McKee Archives in 1995 by Clarke M. Robson of Deleau, Manitoba.
Scope and Content
This fonds contains booklets and issues of newspapers from the Canadian prairie provinces concerning the CCF, the Independant Labor Party, the UFM, the Canadian farming co-op movement, Manitoba Pool Elevators, and the early NDP. Also included are publications of the CCF including "The Commonwealth," the Canadian Department of Agriculture, the League for Social Reconstruction, the NDP, the UFM, and Manitoba Pool Elevators. The single photograph is a group picture of mostly men taken at the International Wheat Conference of 1926 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It includes Colin H. Burnell, Fawcett W. Ransom, and Dick Mahoney.
The Cinema Club of Brandon was formally created in May 1954, and operated for two and one-half years before dissolving due to lack of interest. The club was formed for the purpose of providing private screenings, on a non-profit basis, of films that normally would not have been exhibited in commercial theatres in Brandon. Films had to be assessed by the club membership as outstanding in quality. During its existence, the club sponsored the screening of two to three movies every second Sunday.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes a minute book that contains a record of each meeting held by the Brandon Cinema Club and a list of the elected executives. It also includes a file of newspaper clippings from the Brandon Sun about the Cinema Club.
Berbank Women's Aid was founded in 1919. It was, in large part, the Berbank Red Cross under a new name. The principal project of the original Berbank Ladies Aid was the construction of the Berbank Church, which was accomplished in 1919. In 1962, the organization was renamed the Berbank United Church Women. With the closing of the Berbank church in 1966, the Berbank United Church Women were dissolved.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
This fonds consists of various minute books of the Berbank Ladies Aid, and its successor organization, dating from 1919 to 1965.
C. J. Barnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba in February 1884. His parents were native Nova Scotians who arrived in Brandon in the early 1880s. In 1884, the family settled on a homestead near the present town of Lauder. This homestead was sold in 1899, and the family moved to farm in the district of Medora. C. J. Barnes took over the operation of this farm in the early 1900s. He farmed until 1924. Barnes was educated in schools in the Truro School District and the village of Lauder. He was active in the original Territorial Grain Growers' Association.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains a pamphlet written and published by C.J. Barnes titled Seventy Years in Southwestern Manitoba. The pamphlet contains an account of life in rural southwestern Manitoba from the 1880s through to the 1940s. The pamphlet is based on a variety of sources including diaries written by Mr. Barnes' father. Fonds also includes some hand-drawn maps not included in the published version of the pamphlet, as well as four letters c.1962, between C.J. Barnes and Rev. Robert Harvey in his capacity as a columnist for the Brandon Sun.
Archibald E. Wilson was the son of Reverend E.F. Wilson and the husband of St. Clair Vidal Wilson. Rev. E.F. Wilson was at one time in charge of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Homes at Sault Ste. Marie. Rev. E.F. Wilson moved to Elkhorn, Manitoba in 1888, to establish an educational home for Indian children. He was joined by his son, Archibald E. Wilson who was, in 1890, appointed assistant to the superintendent. A.E. Wilson became Principal of the Indian Industrial School in 1892. His wife served as Matron of the girls departments. Togerher they had three daughters: E.F. Metita, Winifred St. Clair and Murial Grace, as well as two sons: Edward Vidal, and St. Clair Vidal Wilson.
Archibald Wilson and his family lived in Elkhorn, Manitoba during the years 1892 to 1918 while he was principal. At the beginning of his term as Principal there were 12 students enrolled; enrollment reached as high as 95 students, representing eight different nations. In February of 1918, the government withdrew funding and the school closed. In September of 1918, Wilson left Elkhorn to take up his new position as a clerk at an Indian Reserve near Gleichen, Alberta.
During its years of operation, the Elkhorn Industrial School included an Athletic department, a curling team and a boys' football team. Students studied carpentry, shoemaking, harness making, tailoring, knitting and sewing. In 1893, the school was presented with a large Canadian flag for being the best Industrial School in Manitoba and the Territories. In November of 1893, a brass band was established, which provided music for the local Anglican Chruch. After a fire demolished most of the school in 1895, Wilson convinced the Federal Department of Indian Affairs to rebuild the school. In 1899, the Elkhorn Industrial School was reopened.
Custodial History
Most of this fonds was at one time in the possession of Principal A.E. Wilson. After Wilson passed away the pieces of the fonds were kept by one of his daughters, Winifred St. Clair Wilson, now deceased. Winifred married Mr. Frank Clark, M.D. and kept the fonds when she moved to Vancouver B.C. and then to Calgary, Alberta. Winifred Clark eventually donated the fonds to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes four journals, one testimonial and one newspaper article. The journals include: the ‘7th Annual Report of the Washakada Indian Homet 1895-1896,' written by Principal A.E. Wilson; ‘The Greater Britain Messenger’ September and October 1899, which includes the article ‘The Elkhorn Home, Manitoba;’ ‘The National Monthly of Canada’ September 1902, which includes the article ‘Indian Children at Home;’ and the Centeneray Number (March-April 1932) issue of ‘The Algoma Missionary News,’ which includes an article giving information about Rev. E.F. Wilson and his missionary work.
Fonds also includes an article from the November 19, 1971 edition of The Vancouver Sun, entitled "Leisure's Book Reviews," which discusses Indigenous publications in Canada. The testimonial that is included in the fonds, was given to Archibald Wilson upon his departure from Elkhorn. There are 28 subscribers to the testimonial and it is dated September 19, 1918.
Notes
The Wilsons are discussed in J.R. Miller's "Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens: A History of Indian-White Relations in Canada," Miller's "Shingwauk's vision :a history of native residential schools" and John S. Milloy's "A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System 1879-1986." Description by Christy Henry.
William Birtles was born in Alexander, Manitoba in 1930. He received his early education at Alexander School. In 1948, he completed grade 12 at St. John's College School in Winnipeg. He undertook formal training in art, beginning in 1949, at the Winnipeg School of Art. In 1952, he graduated from the Manitoba Provincial Normal School. After teaching school in Winnipeg for three years, Birtles completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Sculpture in 1958. He obtained a Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba in 1970. Throughout his adult years, Birtles taught in various Manitoba communities, was active as an artist, showing his work and winning awards. He was also active in the Manitoba Society of Artists and associated provincial organizations. Birtles is retired and is a resident of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Custodial History
All of the items in the fonds were in the possession of William Birtles until their donation to the McKee Archives in 2003.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs of Ms. Sarah Birtles, Rt. Rev W.W.H. Thomas D.D, the Thomas Smith farmhouse located northwest of Alexander, and a postcard containing a photograph of Westminster Abbey. Fonds also contains two biographical sketches written by William Birtles: one of Ms. Sarah Birtles - three pages - and one of Rt. Rev. W.W. H. Thomas D.D - six pages. Also includes the program of the Composite Lodge No. 64 G.R.M., A.F. & A.M. sixty-fifth Anniversary (Alexander, MB 1961).
Harry "Hap" Fraser was born in Brandon, Manitoba on January 15, 1919. On February 12, 1945, he married Muriel Coleman of Virden. Fraser served in the RCAF during World War II, returning to Brandon in 1946. Harry Fraser was employed by Coca-Cola, Nutty Cup Candy Company and the Codville Company. Following a brief stint as manager of the North Hill IGA, Harry Fraser built an IGA grocery store on Victoria Avenue West. He operated this store until his retirement in 1972. Harry Fraser was a member of the Brandon Lion's Club from 1952 until his death. He also served a term on Brandon City Council. He passed away at his home in Brandon on April 2, 1991.
Custodial History
This fonds came into the possession of Fred McGuinness, a Brandon writer and acquaintance of Hap Fraser's, after Fraser's death. McGuinness donated it to the McKee Archives in 1998.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of a single scrapbook containing articles and pictures of various personalities and events from the world of sports during the 1920s and 1930s. Hockey, baseball, basketball, wrestling, boxing, body building, bike racing, boat racing, track and field, swimming, diving, football, rugby, rifle shooting, tennis, bowling, horse racing, golf, soccer, and fishing are all featured in the scrapbook. The articles and pictures feature both local and internationally known sports figures. Fonds also contains pictures of celebrities, royalty, prominent military figures, inventors, and beauty queens from the same era.
The Fairfax/Elgin United Church was formed in 1921, combining the Methodist (founded in 1889), and Presbyterian (founded in 1887) congregations in these communities. In 1968, the Elgin and Souris congregations joined and, in 1969, the original Elgin United Church was sold to the Fairfax Community Club.
Custodial History
The fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains minute books (1922-1968), account books (1953-1970), account statements (1966-68), one annual report (1967), and documents of insurance and property transfer (1960-1970) concerning the Fairfax/Elgin United Church.
2 mm (1 two-page letter -- 1 letter with envelope)
History / Biographical
David Sommerville Charleson was born January 14th, 1884, in Brandon, Manitoba. The Charleson's settled in the GlenSouris area south of Brandon, Manitoba in 1882. David Charleson enlisted on 24 September 1914. He served as a lieutenant in the 6th Infantry Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Later, he transferred to the 8th Battalion. In Belgium, Charleson was a victim of an enemy gas attack early in the war, following which he returned to Canada incapacitated. Miss Estella Cullen, a trained nurse, cared for him following his return to Canada. David Sommerville Charleson died on May 12, 1925 a victim of war-time injuries. He is buried in the GlenSouris Cemetery just south of Brandon.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one letter written by Charleson from Belgium in early 1915 to Miss Estella Cullen in Rounthwaite, Manitoba. In the letter, Charleson describes the circumstances facing the Canadian troops in the trenches during the Great War and provides an account of the German trenches facing him. This is an evocative and reflective letter. Philatelists may find the condition of the stamps on the letter envelope of interest.
Mildred (Mollie) Norton Kellet was born April 5, 1914, in Birmingham, England to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Travers. At the age of 18, she joined the Cadbury Brothers Co. as a contometer. In 1942, she married George Crawford Kellet Jr. Mollie and George Kellet had two children together: Patricia (b. 1944) and Ian (b. 1949). In February of 1944, Mollie and her husband relocated to Manchester where George Kellet worked as an accountant.
Following World War II, the Kellets emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada. Mollie remained a mother and homekeeper until 1954, when she was hired as a secretary for Mitchell, Green, and Menouk Lawyers. She was also employed by The Bay and in the securities department of Montreal Trust Co, where she was the manager until 1966. She retired at age 65, but was recalled by the company to work until 1984, when she was 70 years old. In 1990, Mollie moved to Brandon to be closer to her daughter, Pat Alvested. Due to complications from surgery and a weak heart, Mollie Kellet passed away on January 31, 1999.
George Crawford Kellet Jr. was born to George Crawford Kellet Sr. and Lizzie Auld Halliday Kellet on July 16, 1911, in Glasgow, Scotland. An only child, he attended private school, and in 1933, at the age of 21, he was the youngest Chartered Accountant graduate in Britain. At some point between 1933 and his marriage to Mildred (Mollie) Norton in 1942, George joined the British army; while with the army his job was to receive the orders concerning army accounting and process them for soldiers in the field.
George left the army after the war and sailed with his wife and daughter on the Mauretania for Canada. Upon settling in Winnipeg he worked for Family Fair. In 1956 and 1957, he continued to work while setting up his own accounting firm, Kellet & Co. He was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1956. In 1971, George's health forced him to retire. Mollie continued to work at this time. Five years later she was unable to care for him adequately and he moved to a nursing home. In 1985, at age 74, George Kellet passed away.
Custodial History
In January 2000, Pat Alvestad, the Kellets' daughter, donated this fonds to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
The records contained within the Mollie Kellet fonds are contributions from both Mollie and her husband George. Included are: a collection of handwritten recollections by Mollie Kellet concerning her experiences during the Second World War (Mollie had been living in London and experienced life under German bombing); a document from WWI, presumably from her father, who was a veteran of this war; and records acquired by George Kellet during his service in the Second World War concerning the practical arrangements made to support troops following the 1944 D-day invasion of Nazi Europe. Marked "top secret," these records set out procedures for paying and provisioning the invading army.
The Griswold Protestant School District was established on September 9, 1885, to provide schooling for children residents in the village of Griswold and the surrounding countryside. It became the Griswold School District following school reform in Manitoba in 1890. The District existed until the early 1960s, when it was incorporated first into Brandon School Division #40 and subsequently into Division #41 (La Bosse). The Griswold School was still in operation in 1967. The building is now used as a community center.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 1997 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
The single minute book in this fonds contains minutes on meetings held by the Griswold School District, in Griswold, Manitoba from 1907 to 1943. The minutes deal with questions related to teacher hiring and general administration in the school district.
The Binscarth Women's Institute began in 1928, as a division of the Manitoba Women's Institute. It was organized for rural women to come together in a social setting. The members of the Institute participated in fund raising for community projects initiated by the Institute. The Institute also undertook to organize community events. The last meeting of the Binscarth Women's Institute took place in 1967. The organization was never formally dissolved.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 1997 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains minutes, financial records, and other material created by the Binscarth Women's Institute from its creation in 1928, to its final gathering in 1967. Aside from minutes and financial records, the fonds contains records of the Canadian Centennial celebrations of 1967, planned by the Institute.
Related women's institute collections in the McKee Archives include:
Manitoba Women's Institute; Minnedosa Women's Institute; Cordova Women's Institute; Clanwilliam Women's Institute; Rathwell Women's Institute; Strathclair Women's Institute; Crocus Women's Institute; Southwest A Region - Manitoba Women's Institute; Douglas Women's Institute
The Douglas Women's Institute was established in 1948. Throughout its existence, the Institute undertook a variety of community based fund raising and educational activities, including the sponsorship of courses in first-aid, home nursing and sewing. The Douglas WI also provided a public space for women in the Douglas district to meet and engage in educational, social and political activities.
Custodial History
The records were in the possession of officers of the Douglas Women's Institute prior to their donation to the S.J. McKee Archives in April 2006 and May 2008, following the disbandment of the organization.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of scrapbooks and Annual Programs assembled by members of the Douglas Women's Institute. Fonds also contain clippings related to local, provincial, national and international themes of interest to the members of the Institute. The scrapbooks are particularly strong on community stories directly connected to the Douglas Women's Institute and the Douglas-Carberry district including anniversaries, biographical sketches, obituaries, weddings and family related themes.
Notes
Description by Christy Henry.
Storage Location
2006 accessions, 2008 accessions
Related Material
Related women's institute collections in the McKee Archives include:
Manitoba Women's Institute; Minnedosa Women's Institute; Cordova Women's Institute; Clanwilliam Women's Institute; Rathwell Women's Institute; Strathclair Women's Institute; Crocus Women's Institute; Southwest A Region - Manitoba Women's Institute; Douglas Women's Institute
The Brandon Women's Institute was established in 1963, by several women residents in Brandon who had been associated with Women's Institutes in their home communities. The Brandon Women's Institute was established in 1963, received its charter in 1965, and continued in operation until 1992.
Custodial History
Fonds was donated to the Daly House Museum by Mrs. Edna Hammond sometime in the 1990s. The records were retained by Daly House Museum until June 23, 2005, when they were donated to the S.J. McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains records generated in the course of Institute activities including minutes, scrapbooks, miscellaneous reports, publications, newspaper clippings, photographs and correspondence.
Storage Location
2006 accessions
Storage Range
2006 accessions
Related Material
Related women's institute collections in the McKee Archives include:
Manitoba Women's Institute; Minnedosa Women's Institute; Cordova Women's Institute; Clanwilliam Women's Institute; Rathwell Women's Institute; Strathclair Women's Institute; Crocus Women's Institute; Southwest A Region - Manitoba Women's Institute; Douglas Women's Institute; Brandon Women's Institute
In 1984, the Federal government responded to pressure from women's organizations from coast to coast with a program to stimulate women's studies in universities throughout Canada. In the next few years the Secretary of State Endowment Assistance Program provided $500,000 of seed money to establish a Chair of Women's Studies in each of five regions of Canada.
The Chair for the Prairie Provinces and the NWT was awarded jointly to the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, on the basis of their unique proposal to combine academic excellence with community outreach.
The federal grant stipulated that matching funds should be raised as part of the contract signed in December 1986, by the two universities and the Secretary of State.
Early in 1989, the Laurence family agreed to associate their mother's name with the Prairie Chair of Women's Studies and in the spring, the Senates of the two universities, together with the Board of Regents of the University of Winnipeg and the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba agreed to designate this chair "The Margaret Laurence Chair of Women's Studies."
Custodial History
The records have been in the possession of the administrative officers of the Margaret Laurence Endowment until their transfer to the S.J. McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
These records were generated by the Margaret Laurence Endowment as a product of meetings, correspondence, consideration of grant proposals, projects, conferences, and publications. Fonds includes minutes, financial records, grant applications, project descriptions, and newsletters.
Notes
Description by Jana Sheardown (2006).
Accruals
Further accruals expected.
Storage Location
2006 accessions
Storage Range
2006 accessions
Arrangement
Box One:
Files:
Financial Records:
Budget 97-98
Other accounting
Budget overview docs
U of M accounts
U of M finances 96-97
MLC finances U of W 93-96
U of W finances 96-97
U of W payment vouchers
U of M finances 94-95
MLC finances 95-96
MLC finances 93-94
Budget Info
U of W accounts
Budget info 99-2000
Budget info 98-99
Past budgets
98-99 budget
Student funding
Student support
Union Centre
MLAP Budget info
MLC Executive Minutes:
Feb 95
Mar 95
May 95
June 95
Oct 95
Jan 17, 96
Mar 18. 96
July 29, 96
Sept 4, 96
Feb 28, 97
Sept 12, 97
Dec 2, 97
Dec 10, 97
Mar 5, 98
Apr 8, 98
June 15, 98
Aug 14, 98
Oct 5, 98
MLEWS Minutes:
99-2000
A panel meeting June 9, 99
A panel meeting May 20, 99
Jan 27, 99
June 28, 98
Oct 29, 98
Oct 29, 98
Box Two:
MLC selection 96-97
Cate Harrington
ML Advisory panel members list
MLE fund proposal 99-2004
MLC history and background
MLC background and doc
MLC letters
Membership
ML Chair original proposal
WS proposals
Requests for funding
Feminist Research Centre
ML Chair 98
Files - Muriel Smith
MLC proposal
MLEWS correspondence
MLEWS community
MLEWS fin
MLEWS speakers series
Dec 1, proposals community
Student fund requests
Minutes contract
Emails of general interest
Emails
Speaker series
Call for grant applications
Oct 2000 grants
2000 successful grants
September 2000 grant applications
MLEWS membership
Lists MLEWS
Fax mailing lists
Speaker series, U Brandon college
Box Three:
Julia Emberley
96-97 U of M admin appt
UNPAC - Alice in Cyberland
PTAM / Choices UNPAC
Colleen Cutschall
Carmen Romero
Reproductive Rights - Carolyn Egan meetings 98
Kay Turner Mtgs
Stirring up a storm Conference
Conference Receipts
Final report to SWC
Stirring up a Storm - grant application
Feminist Activist conference
SUS finances ML chair
Conference Assistant
Stirring up a Storm Publicity
SWC grant Application
Grant to SWC
Conference finances
ASL - Arlene Young
Box 4:
Keith Fulton’s Women’s Studies Newsletters 1988, 1989
Backtalk:
Jan 94 (first issue), March 94, Sept 94, Dec 94
Feb 95, April 95, Sept 95, Dec 95
Feb 96, April 96, Autumn 96, Dec 96
Feb 97, April 97
Why Women’s Studies, Agnes Grant and Ingrid Makus. Proceedings of the WS Conference at Brandon University. March 8, 1987
Margaret Laurence Chair Guide to Women’s Studies, Susan Prentice, Sept 1994
Files
1.Chair (big file of materials used in the proposal for the Prairie Joint Chair in WS)
2.Women’s Organizations Consulted in the Development of the Proposal
3.Women’s chair (1986)
4.Women’s Chair: Letters re person’s day
5.Mail and Messages
6.Celebration 1990
7.Letters about the name: sent and acceptance from Margaret Laurence’s family
8.Women’s Studies steering committee (developed proposal for the Joint Chair in Women’s Studies)
9.Printout of donors for the endowment
10.Women’s Chair Budget and Bills
11.Women’s Studies Fund Raising
12.Women’s Studies Chair Proposal-Federal Government
13.Sept 94 Margaret Laurence Chair Advisory Panel
14.Feb 95
15.Media Skills Workshop Feb 97
16.April 97
17.Marilyn Waring sponsorship
18.Yvette Nolan sponsorship
19.Nathalie Davis sponsorship
20.ml Advisory Panel dated by month and year: 1994-96
21.MLC Appointments to Advisory Panel, 92, 96
Box 5:
1.June Menzies’ notes (up to 87)
2.Leaders, supporters
3.Lists of names for fund raising committee/person’s day
4.4 Folders for presentations: transparencies, flip chart notes
5.News sheets stuff for mlc update
6.Climate committee
7.Debate: chilly climate
8.Misc. info
Administrative history for the Basswood School District is currently unavailable.
Custodial History
Accessioned in 2007 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of van driver contracts (1916-33), income tax forms (1919-38), school inspector's reports (1922-29), high school examination results (1926-34), correspondence with Western Seating Co. (1922), school censuses (1919-38), bus route plans (1916-34), caretaker agreemtns (1918-33), transportation expenditure forms (1917-38), equalizaton of taxes forms (1916-34), annual meeting reports (1924, 1927), Department of Education reports (1921-38), secondary school taxes notice to council forms (1926-33), Manitoba income tax employers' returns (1923-32), library reports (1929-34), requisitions for library books (1916-30), assessments (1919-34), teacher's annual reports (1937-38) and a miscellaneous file including records related to pupil promotions, teacher's retirement fund, religious teaching, a hectograph recipe, by-laws and insurance (1922-38).
Notes
Receipts from 1938-1939 were culled. Description by Christy Henry.