Photograph shows a portrait of an elderly woman with crimped hair and wearing classes. The woman has been identified as Elma Hughes, wife of Willard J. Hughes.
Photograph shows a group of 14 individuals scattered throughout a yard of a two-storey brick home with an extension. An elderly woman can be seen a wheelchair. Four women are wearing white gowns with long sleeves.
Notes
Writing on the front corner of the photograph reads: 1868
Photograph shows a three-storey wood framed house with a wrap-around porch, second storey bay window, and four gables.
Notes
Photograph is stamped on the back: Hughes & Co. Ltd., 1009 Princess Ave., Brandon, Man. Location has been identified as the southwest side of 10th Street.
Photograph shows a three-storey wood framed house with a front porch, second storey balcony, and third-storey gable and dormer winder. Saplings have been planted on the boulevard.
Photograph shows a two identical wood-framed homes. Both homes are three-stories, with wrap-around porches with a glassed-in sunroom and two gables with wooden sunburst ornamentation. The property on the right has curtains hanging in the porch, the other property has a striped blanket to block the sun. The properties are surrounded by a low chain-link/chicken wire-like fence with wooden posts. Saplings and grass have been planted on the boulevard in front of the properties. The road in front of the houses appears to be unpaved, while the curbs and sidewalks and appear to be concrete.
Photograph shows the northwest corner of 10th Street and Princess Avenue. Traffic on the west side of Princess Avenue appears to travelling both ways. A taxi waits at the intersection.
Above the west entrance on the corner building is an electric sign that spells "Hughes Bldg." A second storey has been added to the portion of the Doig's shop that is adjacent to the Alexandra Block.
Photograph shows a three-storey multi-family brick house that appears to have at least four units. The structure also has a basement. A group of five men are posing on a stoop on the west side of the building. Sapplings have been planted on the boulevard in front the building.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Lorne Terrace, 12th and Lorne, always in the Hughes Family.
Photograph is scratche and scuffed. Top right corner is creased.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows the three storey brick terraced property at 12th Street and Lorne Avenue. The entrance/stoop on the west side of the property appears to have been removed and the Lorne Street entrances have been modified (see 3-1997.72 for a comparison). Ivy is growing up the side of the house and the tree on the boulevard have grown and tower above the roof-line. A motor car is parked on Lorne Avenue in front the property.
Photograph shows a two-storey wood-framed house with front porch and sunroom. Above a rocking chair and chez lounge, a Union Jack and pennant hang on the exterior wall on the porch. A five-globed black iron street lamp is on the sidewalk in front of the property. The Wheat City Arena can be seen behind the residence.
Notes
Based on the presence of the arena, the location has been identified as 10th Street near Victoria Avenue.
Photograph shows a two-storey wood-framed duplex. The building appears to be situated on a corner. The front verandas have wooden ornamentation and a lattice fence separates the front yards. Flowers and viriginia creeper appear in flower beds along the side of one house.
Notes
The location has been identified as the 7th Street Terrace between Lorne and Louise Avenues.
Photograph shows a sketch of the Hughes Building by architect W.H. Shillinglaw. The building, which was erected on the northwest corner of 10th Street and Princess Avenue, had the potential to be four storeys high.
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
A biography of Olive Agnes Cross Wilkins can be found under the RG 1 Brandon College fonds, BC 9 Clark Hall women’s residence.
Custodial History
Records were accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records collected by Olive Wilkins during her tenure at Brandon College. The ephemra in the collection includes: play programmes; recital programmes; two photo postcards; invitations; dance cards; place cards; and a necklace. Collection also contains the Treasurer’s Book for the Patriotic Committee (Clark Hall Literary Society 1917-1918) and departmental reports for Clark Hall, the Resident Master, the Music, Business, Academic, and Commercial departments.
