Betty Margaret Gibson was born on July 14, 1911 in Brandon, MB. She attended primary school in Alexandra and Park schools, and took her teachers education at the Brandon Normal School. She began her teaching career in 1929. Teaching first in Deloraine and Chater, in 1936, Gibson travelled to South Africa to be the headmistress at Kingsmead College, Johannesburg. She returned to Brandon ten years later to take up the post of Principal at Fleming School. During this time she completed a BA from Brandon College (1959). Attaining her Master's degree in Early Childhood Education, she taught at the University of Saskatoon and Brandon College/University. At Brandon University she was heavily involved with Indigenous teacher programs, including BUNTEP, PENT and IMPACT. She was briefly the Assistant Superintendent for the Brandon School Division (1967-1968). Gibson was active in the Children's Aid Society, co-created and appeared in a television show called "Common Sense About Reading" (CBC), and was the author of a children's book called "The Story of Little Quack." Gibson received the Centennial Medal in 1967, and the J.M. Brown Award (1974), for contribution to education in Manitoba. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Liberal Laws from BU in 1975, and even in retirement continued to teach education courses at BU and help children with reading disabilities. In 2003, she was inducted into Brandon University's Hall of Fame. Betty Gibson School in the Brandon School Division is named in her honor. Gibson never married. Betty Gibson died on February 23, 2001 in Brandon, MB. She is buried at Rosewood Memorial Gardens.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Betty Gibson about her teaching career. Interviewer is JE Bateman.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from the Manitoba Historical Society, The Brandon Sun and the records. Transcript by Nathan Qumsieh (2014). Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Conservation
Preservation copy created 2021 (R. Hess)
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Mary Jane "Jean" McDonald Cosgrove (nee ?) was born on April 9, 1892 at Langside near Lucknow, ON. Her family came to Manitoba in 1903, where they lived at Reston for five years before settling in Tilston. Jean attended school in both locations, then worked at the post office and as a telephone switchboard operator, then in Eaton's of Winnipeg before marriang Alexander Grant "AG" Cosgrove (1896-1965) on March 1, 1922 in Brandon. Together they had two sons, Douglas Grant and Kenneth. The Cosgrove's farmed at Lyleton for five years before returning to the Tilston farm. From 1929-1932 they operateda boarding house. In 1933, the couple purchased a British American (BA) Service Station and Tea Room in Oak Lake, where they were also agents for Greyhousnd Bus Lines. They retired and moved to Brandon in 1964, for health reasons. In Brandon, Jean lived at Princess Towers and then Central Park Lodge.
Jean was always active in the community. She was a Passt Noble Grand of the Rebekah's and received her Life Membership Certificate from Crocus Lodge No. 8, Virden. She enjoyed golfing, curling and bridge. After the Second World War, she was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Royal Canadian Legion in Oak Lake. She was a long time member of the United Church. Jean Cosgrove died on January 13, 1990 in Brandon, MB. She is buried at Brandon Municipal Cemtery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Mary Jane Cosgrove about pioneer stories from 1892. Interviewer is Marjorie Lange.
Notes
History/bio information from the records and Cosgrove's obituary. Description by Christy Henry.
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Paul Panton, a native of Melita, and now a resident of Boissevain, began art lessons with Miss Helen Douglas in New Westminster, B.C.. He continued study with Joe Plaskett at the Vancouver School of Art. During 1962 to 1964 he studied with Steve Repa at the Brandon Allied Arts Centre. The artist held several solo exhibitions in B.C. and Manitoba. (BU Art Catalogue, 1983)
Dimensions
28.5 X 41.5 cm
Size Overall
66 X 81 cm
Medium
oil pastel
Condition
Cockling of mat in BM area. Frame has multiple abrasions all along perimeter.
Ena Skafel has studied in Brandon and at the Banff School of Fine Arts under W.J. Phillips, W.G. Clyde, and W. Townsend. She has exhibited at the Brandon Allied Arts Center, the Brandon Library (sponsored by the Brandon Council of Women), Banff School of Fine Arts, Banff Traveling Exhibition, Canadian National Exhibition, Manitoba Society of Artists and at the Galerie Loujetsky, The Hague, Holland. (BU Art Catalogue, 1983).
Dimensions
54 X 69 cm
Size Overall
68.5 X 84 cm
Medium
oil
Condition
Paint loss in area TR 10cm X R 22cm, c.. 0.5cm in diameter. Grungy accretion stains in TL and middle of image. Paint cracks in middle and TM of image, which could be result of blow or pressure from the back of canvas.
Primary Support
canvas
Secondary Support
no backing board; frame - wood and plaster with gild
Inscriptions
Inscription: Presented to Brandon College by Mr. and Mrs. E. Fotheringham, October 1958.
Phyllis Field Cooper was born on July 22, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois. She attended the Chicago Art Institute. Phyllis emigrated to Canada in March 1918, where she worked briefly for Mr. and Mrs. Archie Cooper near Treesbank, MB, before she moved to Winnipeg to teach a juvenile art class connected with the Winnipeg School of Art. In fall 1920, Phyllis went to work in the office of a Winnipeg insurance company. That same year her parents and brother moved to the Treesbank area. Phyllis moved home to work at the Treesbank store, before the entire family moved back to Chicago in 1923.
Phyllis married Archibald Cooper (1868-1953) on August 26, 1933, and the couple moved to Winnipeg. They did not have children. During their time in Winnipeg, Phyllis worked as an interior designer, a vocalist and a writer, writing articles for the Winnipeg Free Press and the Winnipeg Tribune. She was a member of the Philharmonic choir in Winnipeg and an Honorary Life Member of the Winnipeg Sketch Club. She moved to Glenboro in 1955, following the death of her husband. In Glenboro she gave piano and art lessons for several years. Phyllis Field Cooper died in August 1987. She is buried at Millford Cemetery in Treesbank, MB.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Phyllis Field Cooper about her life. Interviewer is Irene Brown.
Notes
History/bio information from the records and the Glenboro local history "Beneath the long grass." Description by Christy Henry.
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