Gabriel Richard Rowe was born in Coleman, P.E.I. in 1897. In 1918, he enlisted in the Canadian Army. After the Great War, he moved to Viscount, Saskatchewan were he was principal of a high school. In 1924, Rowe moved to Brandon where he served as principal for various schools until his retirement in 1964. G.R. Rowe attended the University of Manitoba graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1935, a Bachelor of Education 1952, and a Master of Education degree in 1957. Rowe also studied at the University of Minnesota, Harvard, and the University of British Columbia. Rowe served as President of the Manitoba Teachers' Scoiety from 1948 to 1949. He served as a member of the International School Master Association, the Brandon's Citizens' Committee of the Arts, and the Brandon General Hospital Board. He died in Brandon on January 6th, 1968.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 1997 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes photographs, certificates and diplomas, career resumes, testimonials, draft obituaries, and correspondence, relating to G.R. Rowe's professional teaching career, and in small part to his personal life.
2.4 m textual records; c. 5 photographs; 1 minute book (measuring 1"x 9"x 14")
History / Biographical
The Brandon Trades and Labour Council was established in 1906, as an affiliate of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada. The original Council contained thirteen locals, including those of railway workers, sheet metal workers, plumbers and steam fitters, bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, cigar makers, printers, and barbers. By 1912, the Council contained twenty four locals. The Council's principal function was to advance the corporate interests of labour within the framework of a largely unregulated capitalism. After 1955, the Council was affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress, which was created through a merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.
Custodial History
Fonds remained in possession of Brandon and District Labour Council prior to donation to the S.J. McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of financial and administrative records of the Brandon and District Labour Council. Records also include collective agreements, correspondence, publications of the Labour Council and affiliated unions, some union local minutes, newspaper clippings, petitions, and various miscellaneous files. Fonds also includes a minute book for the Council (1971-1985) and two union charters.
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.
The Odd Fellow Lodge in Minnedosa was created in 1884. Membership was open to white males over the age of 21, who were in good health and had good moral character. The organization was established as a mutual friendly association to provide social and financial support to its members. According to its Constitution, OddFellow members have five duties: to visit the sick, to relieve the distressed, to bury the dead, to educate the orphan, and to aid the widow. The organization existed until 1991.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2000. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of minutes from Minnedosa Odd Fellow meetings from 1884-1991. There is also one book kept by the Sick Committee from 1924-1949, in which the committee kept track of sickness and injuries among members and what each sick or injured man received in wages lost from the lodge. The fonds also includes a roll call book from 1884-1920. There is also a member and visitor register for the years 1972-1980, and an envelope of approximately 40 completed application forms from the 1940's and 1950's. Finally, the fonds includes a minute book of the Patriarch Militant IOOF of Brandon, Manitoba, which covers the years 1909 to 1922.
Benjamin J. Hales was born in Peterborough, Ontario on November 24, 1868. Hales lived in Peterborough until attending the University of Toronto, where he graduated in 1894. In 1897, Hales travelled west to teach at Broadview, North West Territories. He moved to McGregor, Manitoba in 1899, where he was Principal of the school, and in 1902, he moved to Hartney, Manitoba. Between 1907 and 1911, Hales devoted his time to working for the provincial Normal School that offered courses for prospective teachers in Portage La Prairie, Manitou, and Brandon. In 1911, the normal courses were established in Brandon and Hales moved to Brandon, where he resided for the rest of his life. Hales acted as the Principal of the Brandon Normal School from 1912 until his retirement in 1938. B.J. Hales married Elizabeth Lewis of Peterborough, who died in 1942. The couple had one daughter Marion Hales Doig. B.J. Hales was a well-known naturalist and author of several texts dealing with prairie flora and fauna. Hales also built a museum of Manitoban flora and fauna in the Normal School. Hales was an alderman on Brandon City Council from 1920 to 1923, and served as the chairman of the city's Parks Board from 1937 until his death in 1945. Hales was twice the president of the Western Manitoba Teacher's Association, and once the head of the Manitoba Educational Association. B.J. Hales was also a member of the First United Church and served on its board. He died on December 23, 1945 at his home in Brandon.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes three books written by B.J. Hales, titled, "Selected Western Flora: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta"(1925); "Prairie Birds"(1927); and "Forests and Trees"(1925), all published in Toronto by The MacMillan Company of Canada. The fonds also includes two books of field notes concerning specimens held in the Brandon Normal School Museum, as well as a list of birds in the Atkinson Collection also located at the Brandon Normal School Museum.
The Brandon Assisted Passages Association was created in 1911, for the purpose of providing loans to "english speaking artisans" [sic] who wished to immigrate to Canada and work in Brandon, MB. In 1913, the Association was renamed the Brandon Imperial Home Reunion Association. The Association continued to operate and provided passage assistance in the form of loans to many immigrants until loan defaults mounted during World War I. After 1917, no further loans were given.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 1997. Its custodial history prior to this is unknown, but it was at one time in the posession of a H.R. Hoffman, and well as Richardson & Bishop Ltd. in Brandon.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of a minute book and a single page letter. The minute book is a record of every meeting of the B.A.P.A./B.I.H.R.A. and includes the names of the board members, the names of the applicants (in some cases their addresses), and the amounts loaned. In some instances, the fonds provides a documentary record of loan repayment.
The construction of the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium was considered first during a meeting of the Brandon City Council in 1953. In 1962, the City of Brandon was given permission by Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin to proceed with the construction of the auditorium as a centennial project to celebrate Canada's centennial in 1967. Constructed on the Brandon University campus, the auditorium was completed in early 1969.
Custodial History
This collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of one scrapbook with newspaper clippings and pamphlets about the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium and its construction.
10 cm textual records;
2 class portraits;
and 1 small print
History / Biographical
Stella and Gladys Sleigh were born and raised in Rossburn, Manitoba, and attended Normal School in Brandon, Manitoba, in the late 1910's and early 1920's. Both subsequently pursued teaching careers in Manitoba. Katherine McLean also attended Normal School in the early 1890's, and was from Virden, Manitoba.
Custodial History
Janette Donnelly has donated this collection of material that belonged to her mother and aunt, Stella and Gladys Sleigh, respectively. Included in this collection is a booklet that belonged to Donnelly's great-aunt Katherine Sinclair (McLean). This collection was donated to the McKee Archives by Janette Donnelly of McGregor, Manitoba, on September 15, 1999.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of portfolios and notebooks kept by Stella and Gladys Sleigh while attending Brandon Normal School. The portfolios contain drawings and projects that the women made. The notebooks contain information about education in Manitoba in the early 20th century. There is also a portrait taken of Gladys Sleigh around 1920 and two Normal School portraits included in this collection. The collection also includes a notebook kept by Katherine Sinclair (McLean), which describes lessons given to prospective teachers at the Virden Normal School in the early 1890's.
Notes
CAIN No. 202609 (under Stella and Gladys Sleigh fonds).
The Brandon Council of Women (BCW) was active between 1895 and 1927, when it disbanded. Principally through the efforts of Mrs. Kaye Rowe of Brandon, the BCW was officially restablished in 1952. The Brandon Council of Women remained active until c. 1973. It brought together fifty-two women's organizations in Brandon, representing 2600 women.
Custodial History
The Brandon Council of Women fonds was transferred to the McKee Archives during the 1970s. It was accessioned in 1998.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of papers and photographs of the International Council of Women (ICW), the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), the Manitoba Council of Women (MCW), and the Brandon Council of Women (BCW). The ICW papers include meeting minutes. The NCWC papers include meeting minutes, resolution lists, pamphlets, newsletters, correspondence, financial records, yearbooks, and copies of Acts pertaining to women. The MCW papers contain copies of the MCW constitution, meeting minutes, resolution lists, correspondence, and committee reports. The BCW materials comprise the largest part of the fonds, and include meeting minutes, committee reports, financial records, correspondence, short course agendas, posters, pamphlets, memos, resolution lists, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, photographs, and scrapbooks.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees came into existence in September 1963, during a convention in Winnipeg when The National Union of Public Employees and the National Union of Public Service Employees merged. In 1964, the Manitoba Division of CUPE (now CUPE Manitoba) held its founding convention in The Pas. At that time, there were 12 affiliated local unions and a total membership of 1,300. The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada's largest union. Public service employees formed CUPE to protect their rights, to negotiate wages and working conditions, and to achieve dignity in the workplace.
Custodial History
Fonds was in the possesssion of the Brandon CUPE Office until its donation to the S.J. McKee Archives in 1995.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains general administrative files of the CUPE including agreements, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and convention records. In addition, fonds includes records for many CUPE locals in southwestern and north-central Manitoba. These includes files for each local containing agreements, lists of officials, correspondence and financial records. An extensive body of records dating from 1956 exists for CUPE local #69. This local began its existence as the Brandon Civic Employees Federal Union formed in April 1919.
The Business and Professional Women's Club of Brandon was created in November 1932. The club grew out of a meeting of business and professional women who were interested in forming an association. Guest speakers at the meeting were Miss Hilda Hesson, the Vice President of the Federation of Canadian Business and Professional Women's Clubs, and Miss F. Ingram, the President of the Winnipeg Business and Professional Women's Club. The objective of the Brandon club, according to its constitution, was the "promotion of educational, service, and social facilities for the business and professional women." The club consisted of active and associate members and belonged to the greater Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club. The first President of the club was Miss Margaret Gemmell, with approximately 80 women attended the club's first meeting. The club established sub-committees on a variety of subjects including current events, sports, bridge instruction, public speaking, dress making, photography, stitch craft, manual training, and physical culture. The club also put on exhibitions, participated in drama festivals, held rummage sales and an annual Christmas party. During the Second World War, it established a War Effort Department. This department organized activities such as sewing and knitting in support of the war effort. The War Effort Department also raised money for charities such as the Red Cross. During its meetings, the club often heard local and national speakers or watched films. Women of many different vocations joined the club including florists, teachers, salesclerks, nurses, and housewives. Over the years, additional departments were added to the club including those named poetry, pottery, woodcraft, and drama.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2002. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains three small scrapbooks, which cover the years 1932-1939, 1939-1949, and 1950-1959, respectively. The scrapbooks contain newpaper clippings from the Brandon Sun, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the Flin Flon Daily Miner. The scrapbooks also contain exhibition and meeting programs from the Brandon Club. Fonds also contains meeting minutes for the years 1932-1972.
Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club (10-2002); Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club (11-2002); Neepawa Business and Professional Women's Club (12-2002); Trilliam Business and Professional Women's Club (2-2006).
The Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club was organized on May 14, 1959. The group received its charter on September 15, 1959 at a ceremony that included guests from Minnedosa, Neepawa, Dauphin, Brandon, and Portage La Prairie. The first president of the club was Mrs. Julie Johnson. In September 1959 the club had 15 members. The Minnedosa Club became the thirteenth Business and Professional Women's Club chartered in Manitoba. The purpose of the club was to train and educate women in business and the professions and to promote women's participation in local, provincial, and national affairs. The club included many committees such as the Public Relations, Membership, Survey and Archives, Programme and Projects, Social and Courtesy, International Affairs, Budget and Finance, Federation Promotion, Personal Development, Public Affairs, and Resolutions, Legislation and Employment Committees. The Minnedosa Club held exhibitions, hosted guest speakers, observed Business Women's Week, and held workshops for all of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs in Manitoba on a few occasions. Over the years the club made many donations to the Minnedosa Museum, the Minnedosa Centennial Committee, and charities such as UNICEF, Ramallah Fund, Children's Aid, and United Way. The Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club was very concerned with the status of women in Canada and around the world. The Minnedosa Club disbanded in May 1980. After the disbanding of the club, the women who were involved in the club formed the Just For Fun Club.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2002. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds is comprised mainly of four scrapbooks, which run from 1959-1979, 1959-1963, 1959-1964, and 1977-1979. The scrapbooks contain photos, newspaper clippings, Christmas cards, correspondence and programs. The clippings relate to Business and Professional Women's Clubs from around Manitoba, while focusing on the Minnedosa Club. Many of the clippings also focus on the status of women in Canada and the rest of the world.
Fonds also contains financial records and minutes from the years 1959-1980. There is also a copy of the club's bylaws, as well as monthly membership reports from 1976-1980. The fonds also includes a brief typed history of the Minnedosa Club, as well as other loose newspaper clippings, programs, songbooks, and correspondence. Finally, there are three guestbooks included in the collection. The first runs from 1959-1978. The second guestbook is from the Art and Ceramic Display and Tea, held on May 27, 1972. The third guestbook is from the Art and Ceramic Dispay and Tea, held on May 29, 1976.
Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club (10-2002); Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club (11-2002); Neepawa Business and Professional Women's Club (12-2002); Trilliam Business and Professional Women's Club (2-2006).
It appears that the Neepawa Business and Profession of Women's Club was established in 1955. The president of the club in 1955, was Nora Day. The objectives of the club were to enhance the status of professional and business women and to promote contact between women in business and the professions. The club had seven committees, including: the United Nations, Newsletter, Emblem, Social, Programme, Publicity, and Membership Committees. The Neepawa Club attended provincial conferences of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs and observed Business Women's Week. The club also hosted conferences,as well as local luncheons and picnics.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2002. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one scrapbook made by the club, which covers the years 1955-1959. The scrapbook includes newspaper clippings, programs, invitations, and lists of club officers from around the province. The scrapbook also includes the bylaws of the Neepawa Club. Many of the newspaper clippings relate to the status of women in Canada and around the world.
Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club (10-2002); Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club (11-2002); Neepawa Business and Professional Women's Club (12-2002); Trilliam Business and Professional Women's Club (2-2006).