These records were produced between 1984 and 1985, the researching and writing period for the book The Pride of the Land: An Affectionate History of Brandon’s Agricultural Exhibition. Published in 1985 by Peguis Books (Winnipeg), Pride of the Land is a 222-page soft cover book, containing hundreds of pictures, and 50,000 words of text.
BU faculty members Dr. Kenneth “Ken” Stephen Coates, Assistant Professor of History, and Mr. Fred McGuinness, Lecturer in Journalism, authored the book. Assisting the writers was a research team of four BU history students, which were referred to as “The Pride Team”: Diane Fowler, Rob McGarva, Bruce Stafeld, and Byron Williams.
The Pride Team was tasked with collecting and synthesizing exhibition documents and other materials in city, provincial, and federal records spanning 100 years. Many local newspapers and committee minutes were consulted.
The authors cover 103 years of Brandon Fair history, starting with the first fair in 1882 followed by the development of other agricultural fairs and exhibitions in Brandon, specifically The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, and the Ag-Ex livestock show.
Custodial History
Records were collected and created by McGuinness, Coates, and The Pride Research Team during the process of the creation of the book, The Pride of the Land: An Affectionate History of Brandon’s Agricultural Exhibition. The materials were donated to the SJ McKee Archives by the authors circa 1988. The Archives accessioned the records in 2008.
Scope and Content
The subseries consists of textual records, created and collected during the production of the monograph Pride of the Land. It includes research cards created by the research team, copies of newspaper articles from very early editions of Brandon newspapers (such as the Brandon Sun, Brandon Daily Sun, Western Sun, and The Independent), copies of fair/organizational minutes, photocopies of photographs used in the publication, and chapter drafts. Of particular interest are the detailed summaries of Provincial Exhibition minutes that were specifically produced for each book chapter.
Notes
Information in the history/biography was taken from a Brandon University press release dated June 1985, about the Pride of the Land Project (see file 64)
Description Note: The original accession number is noted on the front of each file folder. The circled number indicates the original file order in the 6-2008 accession
Accruals
Closed
Language Note
Fred McGuinness often uses journalistic jargon to label his files. A “brite” refers to a short, amusing story
Pride of the Land acronyms:
PEM = Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba
RCMP = Royal Canadian Mounted Police
WAAA = Western Agricultural & Arts Association
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Related Material
Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba fonds
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Subseries has been arranged according to book chapter. McGuinness often organized his ideas and research materials by potential brite topic
See series level description (RG 6 Brandon University fonds, series 6: Brandon University Senate) for history/bio information.
Custodial History
Records were transfered to the McKee Archives from the Senate Office in 1998.
Scope and Content
Accession 14-1998 includes minutes, related materials, and committee reports considered during meetings of the Brandon University Provisional Senate from January 1967 to June 1967, as well as Senate minutes, related reports and materials from meetings of Senate in the years 1967 to 1987. In addition, the Senate records include an Index to topics in Senate minutes for the years 1967 to 1977, minutes of the Senate Planning Committee 1970-73, and minutes of the Senate Executive Committee (1969-1987).
Box 1
Files 1-3 Minutes only 1967-1971.
Files 4-5 Provisional Senate January 1967-June 1967.
Files 6-13 Minutes regular Senate meetings August 10, 1967 - October 8, 1970.
Box 2
Senate Index A-Z 1967-1977
Senate Minutes and materials (9 files) October 4, 1970 - January 4, 1973
Minutes Senate Planning Committee February 10, 1970 - February 7, 1973.
Box 3
Senate Minutes and materials (13 files) December 22, 1972 - December 10, 1974.
Senate Only (2 files) 1972-1976
Box 4
Senate minutes and materials (13 files) February 4, 1975 - January 18, 1977
Senate minutes only (2 files) 1977-1981.
Box 5
Senate minutes and materials (12 files) March 29, 1977 - May 6, 1980.
Box 6
Senate minutes and materials (13 files) September 30, 1980 - December 4, 1984
Box 7
Senate Executive Committee minutes (13 files) October 6, 1969 - August 12, 1987.
Box 8
Senate minutes and materials (12 files) January 1985 - October 27, 1987.
Notes
Senate minutes for 2001-2005 are available online on Brandon University's webpage under Faculty and Staff: Senate: Minutes.
Access Restriction
Closed Session minutes available only with the permission of the University Archivist.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 6: Senate Office
