Laurie V. Smith served as the President of the Brandon Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion during the 1940s.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes correspondence, policy documents, and publications relating to the activities of the Royal Canadian Legion, primarily in Brandon under the Presidency of Laurie V. Smith, during and after the Second World War. Prominant themes include the aquiring of gifts for hospitalized veterans, primarily through the Canadian Legion Christmas Tree project, veteran rehabilitation, and promotion of the Canadian Victory Loans project.
Gerry Beaubier was born in Wainwright, Alberta to Beatty and Babe Beaubier. He completed his high school in Saskatoon, before receiving a BSc in Geography from Brandon University.
Before attending university Gerry served in the army as a special reserve, while working as a night clerk at the Bessbourough Hotel in Saskatoon. His post-graduate career consisted primarily of work for Canada Agriculture, under the PFRA Branch (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration). Later he would work as an Executive Manager, helping develop forage and range management programs for several post secondary schools, including, Assiniboine Community College, as well as schools in Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Saskatoon.
Gerry Beaubier married Joyce Abercrombie, of Saskatoon. Together they had two sons: Neil and Dean. Neil, an Account Advisor for the Royal Bank, was born in Regina, and currently works in Swift Current. Dean was born in Swift Current, received his PhD in Education and currently lives in Forrest working at Elton Collegiate.
The Beaubiers, who were originally from Ireland, emigrated to the Canadian West, making Gerry part of the fourth generation of his family to call the region home. His great-grandfather, along with his grandfather and great uncle were amongst the first one hundred settlers in Brandon. Together they first built the Beaubier House, a boarding house for early settlers and travellers. After it burnt down they began construction on the Beaubier Hotel, which stood at the corner of 8th Street and Princess Avenue in Brandon until August 17th, 2008. His grandfather, David Wilson Beaubier, continued to build and operate hotels throughout the prairies, including the Empire Hotels (of Brandon and Saskatoon) and The Park (Moose Jaw).
David Wilson Beaubier served as a secretary of the Orange Lodge of Manitoba. As an Orange Lodge Colonel, he worked with other Orange Lodge members, to recruit throughout the prairies for the purpose of World War One. For his efforts , David was promoted to Leftenant Colonel, and later Captain of the 99th Manitoba Rangers. David's sons (Gerry’s father, at University of Manitoba, and uncle at McGill), were both working towards undergraduate degrees when war broke out in 1914, and each would leave school to join their father at Camp Hughes.
Custodial History
Gerry Beaubier collected these photos primarily in the years 2000-2011, largely
from family and friends who knew of his interest in the topic. They were donated to the S.J. Mckee Archives in 2011.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of digital photographs of those who trained for battle in World War I at Camp Hughes and in Brandon, Manitoba. It also includes a digital copy of the cover of the Nominal Roll of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men, who departed from Brandon in 1917.
The photos, taken primarily at Camp Hughes, are of a number of battalions, including the 34th, 100th, 108th, 181st and 214th. The photo, PT in England, is a postcard sent home from Beaty Beaubier. The Massey Harris building seen on the right side of, WW1 B parade0001, was used to house troops throughout the war. The man standing alone at the front of the parade in, 181 Parade, is David Wilson Beaubier.
Notes
Information for the biographical and custodial histories was provided by Gerry Beaubier on September 25, 2013. Description by Dustin Lane (October 2013).
View is southwest from the roof of the George T. Richardson Centre. Photograph shows the curved glass wall of the John E. Robbins Library, the walkway between the Library and the Dining Hall, the Dining Hall and Darrach Hall.
Photograph shows a backhoe and a dump truck on the north side of McMaster Hall during the landscaping of the flower bed on the southeast corner of the George T. Richardson Centre (John E. Robbins Library). The Dining Hall is in the background.
Photograph shows a backhoe digging a sewer hole near the sidewalk between the Brandon College Building and the Citizens' Science Building. The Knowles-Douglas Students' Union Centre, John R. Brodie Science Centre and a portion of the driveway are visible in the background.
View is northwest from the roof of the John R. Brodie Science Centre. Photograph shows the roof of the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre, the Citizens' Science Building, and the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall during renovation.
View is north probably from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the new roof on Clark Hall and the Brandon College Building.
View is north probably from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the extension to Clark Hall and the skywalk. Also visible are the A.E. McKenzie Building, the Brandon College Building, the Education Building, the original Music Building and the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, as well as the walkway that runs north between the buildings and the courtyard.
View is southeast from Clark Hall. Photograph shows a large crane, building materials and machines and the construction trailer (Bird Construction) on the driveway during the restoration of Clark Hall and the Brandon College Building. Portions of the front lawn, the John R. Brodie Science Centre and the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre are also visible. In the distance is Knox United Church.
View is southwest from the roof of Clark Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the foundation and exterior walls of the Clark Hall extension. George T. Richardson Centre and construciton materials in the background.
View is north northwest from the roof of the John R. Brodie Science Centre. Photograph shows the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Building, and the Citizens' Science Building, the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall under restoration, as well as parts of the driveway and front lawn, including the flag pole.
Very poor. Item has been broken in half on a diagonal from top to botton. Upper right corner is missing. Various tape stains and some tape residue on the bottom left.
History / Biographical
Lottie Louisa Currie was born on September 9, 1876 in St. Mary's, Perth, ON, to William and Eleanor Currie. She came to the Brandon area with her family in the 1880s. Currie worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer for Smith & Burton, from at least 1906 until the business ceased operations in 1917.
Currie continued working in bookkeeping and accounts, first for Brandon Gas & Power Co., then for the Manitoba Power Commission. She appears to have retired around 1942. She is not listed as living in Brandon between 1943-1945, but was once again a resident by 1947. Currie was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, a charter member of the Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club and in 1916, she passed her examinations for the St. John's Ambulance Association.
Lottie Louisa Currie died on November 25, 1972 in Brandon, MB.
Smith & Burton, a grocery store that also had mail order and china departments, was founded by E.B. Smith and John Burton in the 1886. It was housed at a few locations in downtown Brandon; their location at 829 Rosser Avenue is the one that mostly likely appears in the photograph.
Scope and Content
Item is a portrait of office employees at Smith & Burton, grocers. Lottie Currie, daughter of William Currie, is shown standing on the left.
View is northwest from Clark Hall. Photograph shows construction materials in the area between Clark Hall and the A.E. McKenzie Building during winter. The Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium is visible in the upper right hand corner.
View is south southeast from the skywalk. Photograph shows the courtyard in winter full of vehicles, machines and building materials. Also visible are the Development and Physical Plant H-Huts, the Citizens' Science Building, the John R. Brodie Science Centre and McMaster Hall.
View is northwest from the roof of the Brandon College Building. Photograph was taken through wire fencing and shows construction on the roof of the Brandon College Building during winter. The original Clark Hall entrance to the roof is clearly visible. Portions of the A.E. McKenzie Building, Clark Hall and the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium are visible in the background.
Photograph was taken from the skywalk and shows students leaving the George T. Richardson Centre during winter. The courtyard contains construction materials. The Physical Plant H-Hut and McMaster Hall are partially visible in the background.