Photograph of the Brandon College Literary Society Executive 1911-1912.
Back Row (L to R): F. Freer ’15 (Editor of Critic); H.E. Green, Theo. (Pres.Deb.Soc.); W.Wilkin ’13 (Reading Room Com.); J. Robinson ’13 (2nd Vice Pres.); and H. Wilson (Treas.).
Front Row (L to R): M. Reid ’14 (Pres.C.H. Lit.); K. Johnson ’14 (1st Vice Pres.); J. Evans ’13 (Pres.); and W. Speers ’13 (Sec.).
Brent Campbell holds the degrees of Bachelor of Music Education from SUNY Potsdam, ‘81 and Master of Music Education from Brandon University, ‘89. He has taught courses at St. Lawrence University, Brandon University, and at both the junior and senior high levels in Manitoba.
He is a past board member of the International Music Camp, spent six years on the executive board of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), is past director of the University of Manitoba Summer Jazz Camp and past president of IAJE Canada. He spent 13 years on the trombone faculty of the Mile High Jazz Camp in Boulder, Colorado, and worked for Jazz At Lincoln Center as the Canadian consultant for the Essentially Ellington program.
Campbell currently serves as the Director of the Brandon Jazz Festival, as Executive Director of IAJE Canada, as the Administrative Officer of the Brandon Chamber Players and is the Canadian Jazz Representative for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London, England.
Campbell presently teaches concert and jazz bands at Vincent Massey High School in Brandon, Manitoba, where he lives with his wife Caroline and their three children.
Custodial History
Photograph was tranfered to the McKee Archives from the Public Communications Office in the winter of 2007.
Scope and Content
Photograph of Brent Campbell in a computer lab.
Notes
History/Bio taken from the Vincent Massey High School Band Department website, available at: http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/massey/staff/campbell/instructors.htm (May 2008).
Robert (Bob) Troy Blair was born on March 11, 1930 in Brandon, MB. His first six years were spent in Alexander, MB, where his father and uncle operated a grocery store. In 1936, his family moved to Souris, MB, where his father ran a grocery store. Blair received his primary and high school education, with the exception of Grade 12, in Souris.
Blair remembers his school years in Souris as mainly happy years. He was involved with both piano and organ music lessons. he was never interested in physical sports with the exception of golf. World War II broke out in September of 1939. Souris became the site of #17 SFTS and home base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Many of the service men came from England, Australia and New Zealand. Blair's mother always entertained at least two for dinner every Sunday. Rationing of sugar, tea and coffee, butter and meat became a way of life. Blair had the job every Saturday of pasting the ration coupons into booklets. It was also when he was in Grade 6, that Blair realized he was more attracted to boys than to girls. Perhaps it was because so many attractive airmen surrounded him!
In November of 1947, the Blair family relocated to Alexander where Bob Blair finished his Grade 11. This was not a good year due to bullying. In September of 1948, Blair moved to Winnipeg to attend United College for his Grade 12. Upon completion of Grade 12, Blair remained in Winnipeg until June 1950. he worked at a number of businesses - Gestetner, Eaton's Mail Order shoe department, Maple Leaf Milling, and the drug store in the Medical Arts Building. In September 1950, he entered Brandon College. Blair was very active in extra-curricular affairs while at Brandon College; particularly drama. Following his B.A. he enrolled in the Education Faculty, having decided to become a teacher.
Blair's teaching career spanned 34 years. All but one year was spent in the Brandon School Division. On his first day of teaching in the Division he met the man with whom he would spend the next 46 years. He was primarily a teacher of English and Music. A highlight of his career was exchange teaching in Sacramento, California in 1961. Orientation for exchange took place in August in Washington, D.C., where Blair had the opportunity to meet President J.F. Kennedy. He vividly recals the morning that JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. In September 1965, Blair assumed the principalship of Park School and in September of 1969, the same position at George Fitton School where re remained until his retirement in 1989. He was a member of the Brandon Picnipals' Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and servedas President of the Brandon Teachers' Association. Among his major accomplishments during his time as principal were the introduction of a centralized school library in both Park and George Fitton Schools and the integration of special needs students into regular classroom situations wherever possible. He was made a Life Member of the Manitoba Teachers' Society (Brandon) in June 1990. Following his retirement Blair worked as a Library Automation Consultant (1989-1993).
Blair also had numerous community involvements during his time in Brandon. he was active in the Brandon Little Theatre (Best Actor Award, Manitoba Drama Festival for One Act Plays in 1963), the Brandon Festival of the Arts, the Eckhardt-Gramatte National Music Competition, and Arm Industries to name a few.
Following the death of his partner in 2001, Blair moved to Saskatoon to live with a younger gay couple. He has been active in volunteerism: as an Ambassador for the Saskatoon Airport Authority, assistant with the Saskatoon Health Region's Immunization Clinics, information clerk for the Festival of Trees, data entry clerk for the Saskatoon Music Festival, on the Board of the Saskatoon Jazz Society, and Hospitality Coordinator for the Saskatoon Jazz Festival.
Robert Troy Blair died on July 2, 2024 in Saskatoon, SK. He is buried in Brandon, MB.
Custodial History
Records were in Blair's possession until he donated them to the Mckee Archives on Homecoming weekend October 2013.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of two scrapbooks containing 145 photographs and ephemera (play and graduation programs, tickets, pins, newspaper clippings) documenting Bob Blair's days at Brandon College. Social events and extra-curricular activities are heavily featured in the two scrapbooks. Also included are graduation portraits for the Classes of 1951, 1952 and 1953. Of the 145 photographs all are black and white except for two photos of the Class of '53 reconvocation (May 1993), and one from the Class of '53 reunion (2003).
The photograph has bubbled but it hasn't damanged the image.
Scope and Content
Photograph is mostly likely of members of the Clark Hall Literary Society pre-World War I.
Back Row (L to R): ? and Lillian Wilhelmina Speers '13.
Middle Row (L to R): Leslie Alberta Ward '13, ?, and M. H. Strang '13
Front Row (L to R): Evelyn J. Simpson ' 13 and M. McCamis ' 13
Generally good. Some tears. Issues located first and last in the folders Lindsay stored them in are missing sections where the page stuck to the folder.
History / Biographical
James Gordon Lindsay was born June 16, 1925 in Minneapolis, Minnesota where his father, James Lindsay, a Brandon pioneer from Northern Ireland, had been working for the Coca Cola Bottling Company. In November 1925, the Lindsay family moved back to Brandon where they lived at 547 16th Street.
Lindsay attended Park School, Earl Oxford Junior High School and Brandon Collegiate. In September 1943, he entered 2nd Year at Brandon College, joining the Class of 1946. Due to past experience in publishing the BCI yearbook, he was drafted into The Board of Publications and named Co-editor of the Quill along with third year student Genevieve Fuloski. Lindsay and Fuloski held their positions for two years. Because of the war, money and supplies were in short supply and the Quill at one point was reduced to mimeographed pages. While Editor Lindsay wrote The eggshell-Slightly Cracked column.
Lindsay was named Senior Stick in 1945 and graduated from Brandon College with a B.Sc. in 1946. He obtained both his MSc (1948) and PhD (1951) in Physical Chemistry from McMaster University.
During his time in Hamilton, Lindsay met Shirley Woolmer and the couple married on September 2, 1950. They moved to Arvida, Quebec in 1951 where Lindsay accepted an offer from Aluminium Laboratories Limited, the research arm of Alcan Aluminium Ltd. The couple remained in Arvida for twenty-two years, during which time they had four children: Sharon, Heather, Geoffrey and David.
In 1973, Lindsay was transferred to Alcan's head office in Montreal where he spent the next three years co-ordinating alumina research in Alcan plants around the world. In 1976, he accepted a transfer to Alcan Jamaica as Chief Technical Officer and Manager of Technical Development. He and Shirley spent nearly eight years in Jamaica before returning to Canada in 1984. After a yaer at Alcan's Research Centre in Kingston, ON Lindsay took early retirement.
During their years in Jamaica Lindsay had been introduced to Rotary and he continued his association with the organization in Kingston where for fifteen years he was Bulletin editor of the Kingston-Frontenac Rotary Club. In addition to Rotary, Lindsay (along with his wife) took up genealogy in his retirement and after fifteen years of extensive travel and research he became his Lindsay family's historian and author of The Lindsays of Dundonald.
For three years in the late 1980s Lindsay served as a representative on the Brandon University Alumni Executive for Eastern Canada. Along with his wife he attended two class reunions at Brandon University including his 50th Re-convocation in 1996.
At present (June 2010) Gordon Lindsay continues to live in Kingston, ON with his wife.
Custodial History
Materials remained in Gordon Lindsay's possession from time of creation until he donated them to the Archives on September 4, 2009.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of copies of the Quill, including:
1942-1943: No. 11 (January 26, 1943)
1943-1944: Nos. 2, 12, 14 (October 20, 1943, February 2, 1944, February 16, 1944)
1944-1945: Nos. 1-5 and 7-12
1945-1946: Nos. 1-10 (11 issues as there are two labelled No. 4)
Notes
History/Bio information provided by Gordon Lindsay. Description by Christy Henry.
Poor. Upper right corner is missing. Numerous creases and stains.
Custodial History
Item originally belonged to Mary Bromley. Her grandson James Frank donated it to the McKee Archives in 2017.
Scope and Content
Photograph is a group portrait of the members of The Brandon College Quill staff for 1918-1919.
Back Row (L to R): D.G. MacKnight, Matriculation, Subscription; William J. Johnson, Advertising; Rae Smale, College Gossip; Don S. Forsyth, Literary; Herman Olsen, Athletics; William A. Mackintosh, M.A., Consulting Editor.
Second Row (L to R): Muriel Carey, Clark Hall Athletics; Madge Struthers, Assistant Editor; Corday Mackay, Editor-in-Chief; Zoe Hough, Clark Hall; Jennie Turnbull, M.A., Alumni-Alumnaeque.
Front Row (L to R): Frances Wolverton, Overseas; Charles G. Whidden, Business Manager; Alexa Forsyth, Latitude and Longitude.
Notes
Reverse includes names as well as inscription "To Mary Bromley" and " Quill Staff - Brandon College." Appears in the March 1919 (Spring Number) issue of The Quill.
Kathleen Emily Kenner was born in Pierson, Manitoba on December 6, 1903. Her father, W.S. Kenner, was a General Merchant there. Kathleen had one brother, Ewing. She took her early education in Pierson, then moved to Brandon to take her Grade XI course in 1919. The following year, Kathleen moved to the Clark Hall Annex on Louise and 11th, in order to attend Brandon College (B.C.) as a student in the Music Department. In the fall of 1921, she entered the Arts Department of Brandon College. During her time at the college, Kathleen was very involved with student life. She was elected Lady Stick for the school year 1924-1925, the highest position in student government that a woman could attain. In the spring of 1925, she graduated with her B.A., then begain studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto.
Kathleen taught school in Melfort, Saskatchewan from approximately 1930-1949, and for several years after that was an instructor at the Saskatchewan Government Correspondence School. Sometime during this period, Kathleen left to serve in the Air Force during the Second World War.
Kathleen Kenner married William A. Kennedy in 1950, and through marriage she gained one son, John Kennedy, and two daughters, Mrs. Claire H. A. Still and Mrs. Janet Sheridan. Around the same time, Kathleen and William moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where Kathleen was very active in the church and the community. Kathleen Kenner Kennedy died suddenly on November 28, 1967 at the age of 61.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
The Kathleen Kenner Fonds are organized in three series:
Series 1 – scrapbook (6.5 cm.)
Series 2 - file of correspondence (8 mm.)
Series 3 - newspaper clippings (1 mm.)
The scrapbook contains pictures of Kathleen’s life and times at Brandon College and the University in Toronto. There are pictures of students and friends, Brandon College, the University of Toronto, Victoria College, Toronto City Hall, Grandpa Ewing’s Farm in Ontario, grad pictures, a train station, and much more. The pictures show dress, women’s activities, the ladies’ Basketball team, and what Brandon itself looked like in the 1920’s. She also included personal notes, cards, invitations to dinners, dances, and luncheons, poems, dance cards, hockey tickets, and various other university mementos.
There are numerous newspaper clippings. One file contains poetry, mainly from her friend Mary McLaughin MacDonald, letters from her father and mother, a list of College yells, and a copy of "Hail Our College". Kenner has various excerpts from The Quill, letters from former students, and a grapho-analyst report (1933) that she received. An interesting possession in this collection are two speeches that Kenner delivered and kept originals of. The first is her reply to being nominated for Lady Stick in 1924. The second is a speech that she made when she invested her duties of Lady Stick to the new Lady Stick, Rose Vasey in 1925.
Notes
A portion of the description was written by Kathleen Scammell (2000).
70 b&w photographs (various sizes)
7 mm textual records
Physical Condition
Good
History / Biographical
Frances Elizabeth Percival (nee Fraser) attended Brandon College in 1928-1929. She was from Wawanesa, Manitoba and passed away on August 3, 2004 at the age of 93 years.
Custodial History
The records were donated to the McKee Archives by Joy Lalonde, a realtive of Fran Percival's, in 2005.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of three dance cards from the Brandon Normal School, a photograph album of Brandon College students and activities (many of them identified) and an autographed copy of the 1929 Brandon College Annual Graduation Program.
The Brandon College Students series is an artificially created collection. It contains the private papers of former Brandon College students.
Scope and Content
The series has been divided into the following sub-series:
MG 2 2.1 Kathleen Emily Kenner
MG 2 2.2 Gerald R. Brown
MG 2 2.3 Saul L. Cohen
MG 2 2.4 Paul McKinnon
MG 2 2.5 Verda McDonald
MG 2 2.6 Frances Percival (nee Fraser)
MG 2 2.7 Raymond R. Bailey
MG 2 2.8 Harold Arthur Kinniburgh
MG 2 2.9 Barbara Cooper
MG 2 2.10 Class of 1953
MG 2 2.11 Elizabeth Kovach
MG 2 2.12 Carole Paintin-Dence
MG 2 2.13 Edward Lloyd Bowler
MG 2 2.14 Rev. Einar Egilsson
MG 2 2.15 George Thorman
MG 2 2.16 Robert Dudley Howland
MG 2 2.17 Charles H. Koester
MG 2 2.18 Robert Harvey
MG 2 2.19 Lawrence Skeoch
MG 2 2.20 Edith Laycock
MG 2 2.21 Marion Stone
MG 2 2.22 Margaret Doran Roberts
MG 2 2.23 Georgina (Hill) Matiation
MG 2 2.24 Class of 1950
MG 2 2.25 Donald Freeman
MG 2 2.26 William Archibald Branton
MG 2 2.27 Adelene Monica Bailey
MG 2 2.28 Lois and Gordon Daly
MG 2 2.29 Marionne Scott
MG 2 2.30 Christine Coltart
MG 2 2.31 Bertha Leith (nee Clark)
MG 2 2.32 Margaret Hawley Speers
MG 2 2.33 Ruth and Archie MacLachlan
MG 2 2.34 Fran Sallows
MG 2 2.35 Clare Coburn
MG 2 2.36 Gordon Lindsay
Martin Wesley Johns was born to missionary parents Alfred and Myrtle Johns in Chengtu, West China on March 23, 1913. The family returned to Canada in 1925. Johns attended high schools in Tacoma, Washington; Vancouver, BC; Brandon, Manitoba; and Exeter, Ontario. He studied at Brandon College from 1928-1931 before obtaining his B.A. (1932) and M.A. (1934) from McMaster University and his Ph.D. From the University of Toronto (1938). From 1937-1946, he taught physics at Brandon College. In 1972, Brandon University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
Johns served in the Canadian Officers Training Corps (C.O.T.C.) in 1940-1941 doing research concerned with neutron physics at Chalk River. In 1947, he joined the Physics Department at McMaster University, where he remained for the remainder of his career.
Johns married Margaret Mary Hilborn on July 15, 1939. Together they have four children: Robert, Elizabeth, Kenneth and Kathryn. Following Margaret's death c. 1979, Johns was married to Elsie North for twenty years. At the age of 90, Johns fell in love with his sweetheart Marian Thompson.
Martin Wesley Johns died on September 18, 2008 at McMaster Hospital.
Custodial History
The notebooks in accession 17-2007 were in the possession of Wesley Wong, former member of the Physics Department at Brandon College, who mailed them to Martin Johns in 2002. Wong suggested Johns donate them to the McKee Archives, which he did on January 28, 2004. The photographs in accession 8-2009 were sent to Carla Eisler, Alumni Relations Officer, Brandon University by Ken Johns (Martin Johns' son) following Martin's death. Eisler transfered them to the Archives in February 2009.
Scope and Content
Accession 17-2007 contains two lab record notebooks used by Martin Johns while he was a member of Brandon College's Department of Physics. The notebooks record class lists, grades, absences, and seating charts for courses Johns taught, as well as regulations for lab reports and major assignments.
Accession 8-2009 contains twenty-one black and white photographs dealing with Brandon College students, faculty and buildings. There a a few photographs of Brandon, as well as one of the Queen Mother from her visit to Brandon in 1939.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from the Martin W. Johns bio file in the Archives reading room.