Myrtle Bell Johnston (nee Smeltz) was born January 23, 1906 on the home farm near Cromer, MB. She attended Elm Valley school and then Virden Collegiate. From 1921-1923, she helped her father on the farm before attending Brandon Normal School. Following graduation, she taught in at Rugby, near Forrest, Ravine, near Lenore, Johnstone near Oak Lake and at Oak Lake for 13.5 years. In 1938, Myrtle married Henry Alexander Johnston (1906?-1986) and together they had one son, Wayne. The couple farmed in the St. David's district. Myrtle returned to teaching in 1959, at Sioux Valley and then Oak Lake. She retired in 1971. The Johnston's retired to Virden in 1972.
Myrtle received the Province of Manitoba Good Citizen Award for "exemplifying a way of life that helps make Manitoba a better place in which to live." She had many hobbies, including gardening, travel, lawn bowling, piano, bridge, curling, and enteratining. She was also active in church and community choirs. Myrtle Johnston died on January 7, 2001 in Virden, MB. She is buried at the Johnston family cemetery.
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 Myrtle Johnson about education in the Virden area. Interviewer is Ola Duncan.
Notes
History/bio information from the records, the Virden local history "Hometown Virden" and Johnston's obituary. Description by Christy Henry.
Audio Tracks
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Harry Mummery was born on August 26, 1889 in Chicago, Illinois. Harry arrived in Canada in 1898 and lived in Hamilton, Woodstock, Toronto, before the family moved to Brandon, MB in 1903; for many years he lived at 17 Lorne Avenue East. He and his wife Lena (nee Anderson) had nine children: Gordon, William, James, Donna, Grace, Helen, Patricia, Beverley and Enid. Outside the sporting world Harry worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway as a locomotive fireman and an engineer. Harry played professional Hockey in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Arenas, Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadians and Hamilton Tigers. He played hockey with many of the great players such as Pat Moran, Joe Hall, Joe Malone, Billy Creighton, Jeff Malone, Rusty Crawford, Tommy Smith, Mike Quinn, Jack Adams, Reg Noble, Al Skinner, and Cy Didenny. Playing for the Montreal Canadiens he won the Stanley Cup. Harry Mummery died December 9, 1945. He is buried at Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Walter “Bump” Mummery was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 10, 1893 and moved with his family to Canada, settling in Brandon, MB in 1903. Walter was employed as a locomotive engineer with the CPR for 46 years, retiring in 1955. He and his wife Myrtle (nee Ramsden) had three sons: Walter, Reginald and Kenneth. Mummery played professional hockey with the Quebec Bulldogs (1913-1918) and with the Dominion Hockey Club, Edmonton (1920-1923). Walter Mummery died suddenly on March 30, 1974, in Chicago. He is buried at Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Reg Mummery (1920-1983) is the nephew of Harry Mummery and the son of Walter Mummery. Lillian Mummery (1901-1994) is the sister of Harry and Walter Mummery.
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 Lillian Mummery and Reg Mummery about hockey, particularly the life and careers of Harry Mummery and Walter Mummery. Interviewer is John Miller.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from The Brandon Sun. Description by Jeremy Roberts (2011) and Christy Henry.
Reg Forbes was born September 16, 1924. He and his wife Clara have two children, Bob and Faye. Forbes served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Navigator during World War II. From 1945-1949, he attended the University of Manitoba where he received his B.Sc.A. While working as Village Councillor and as Secretary-Treasurer for the Pilot Mound Hospital, Forbes initiated the "Save the Soil Campaign," a soil conservation programme that became province-wide, between 1952-1962.
From 1956-1975, Forbes was the Principal of the Agricultrual Extension Centre in Brandon, where he reorganized the Adult Education Centre into the Agricultural Extension Centre. During this period, Forbes was a founding member of the West-Man Regional Development Corporation and a founder of the Manitoba Committee on Rural Leadership. He was also instrumental in the amalgamation of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair and the Provincial Exhibition and in the resulting construction of the Keystone Centre.
From 1975-1977 Forbes was a Commissioner for the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission (Hall Commission/GHTC). Following his work with the Commission, Forbes was employed as the General Manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba (1977-1979), the Director of the Grain Handling & Transportation Section of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture (1979-1983), the Industrial Commissioner for the Brandon Industrial Commission (1983-1986), and as the Westarc Group Inc. Project Director for delivery under contract of Canadian Rural Transition Programme in Manitoba.
Forbes also held a number of voluntary and elected positions, such as Long-term Director and President of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair and of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. In 1970-1971, he was the President of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, and from 1978-1981, Forbes was the first chairman of the Agricultural Advisory Committee of the Canadian Broadcasting Corportation. He was also a member of the Canada West Foundation Board, the Brandon University Board of Governers (1974-1976), and the Federal-Provincial Transportation and Industrial Development Advisory Committee (TIDAC). Forbes is also a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada. In 1977, he received the Jubilee Medal and in 1987, he was given the Distinguished Agrologist Award by the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
Custodial History
Reg Forbes donated his working collection of briefs, correspondence and other documents relating to his work as a commissioner of the Grain Handling and Transportation Committee (GHTC) to the McKee Archives c. 1985.
Scope and Content
The majority of the collection consists of records created and received by the Royal Commission on Grain Handling and Transportation (GHTC). Included are documents detailing numerious hearings from all four Western provinces. In addition to the GHTC hearings, there are also a number of documents given to the GHTC as reference material. These include information on the Snavely Commision, documents for the province of Alberta, various reports, the Prairie Regional Studies in Economic Geography (No. 1-27) and General Information. The collection also includes two maps given to the GHTC.
Maureen Johnson (nee Sills) was born in Brandon, MB in 1936 and grew up in western Manitoba. She spent three years in Ethiopia (1958-1961) and two years in Houston, Texas before taking up permanent residence in Winnipeg, MB. She attended Brandon College in 1953-1954, living in the Tower Room of Clark Hall.
From 1960-1979, Johnson raised her family, volunteered in the St. Vital community and was Secretary to the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium (1973-1977). She worked in the Office of the President at the University of Manitoba from 1980 to 1996.
Johnson is a visual artist and photographer, and is a member of the Winnipeg Sketch Club, Manitoba Society of Artists and Winnipeg South Photo Club. Her work is on permanent display at Medea Gallery (www.medeagallery.ca) where she has been a member since 1985. She also has work in the Rental Program at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
For biographical information on Sarah Persis Darrach see RG 1 Brandon College fonds, Series 9: Clark Hall women's residence.
Custodial History
The original photographs in accession 10-2009 are in the custody of Maureen Johnson in Winnipeg, MB. Copies were digitally scanned by Johnson and sent to the Archives in March 2009. The 1921 photographs of Brandon College students were given to Johnson by Eileen McKenzie, her aunt, who attended Brandon College at that time. The photos of Sarah Persis Darrach (Johnson's great-aunt and maternal grandmother's sister) are from her family albums.
All of the records in accession 14-2009, except for the 1920 Quill and the Clark Hall Rules 1912, were collected by Johnson during her time at Brandon College. The Quill issue belonged to Johnson's aunt Eileen McKenzie, a student at Brandon College in the early 1920s. The records were in Johnson's possession at her home until their donation to the McKee Archives in May 2009.
Scope and Content
Accession 10-2009 consists of seventeen digital photographs. Seven photographs are of Sarah Persis Darrach (nee Johnson), taken primarily during her time as a nursing sister during World War I. Two photographs are of Eileen McKenzie. The remaining photographs depict students and student activities at Brandon College in the early 1920s.
Accession 14-2009 consists of a copy of the sound recording and program for Mr. College Spirit, a musical comedy presented by the Brandon College Literary Board and written by James Struthers and Kenneth Gunning. Accession also includes fifteen photographs from 1953-1954, when Johnson attended Brandon College. Subjects include: Freshie King and Queen; Graduation Banquets (1955, 1956); senior and lady sticks; Jim Casey Trophy; Grand March 1954; Capettes basketball team 1954; Glee Club 1953; Variety Night - Men's Chorus; Caps Football Team; Caps Hockey Team 1954; Cheerleaders 1954; Caps Basketball 1954; and Touques.
Textual records include graduation banquet and commencement programs, news clippings, programs for Variety Night and Be Your Age, a list of football cheers and a copy of the Fall Number of the 1920 Quill. Textual records also include two color photocopies: Clark Hall Rules 1912 and Johnson's Arts and Science Departments, Brandon College Registration card.
Notes
History/Bio information and Custodial History provided by Maureen Johnson (April 2009). A review of the play, written by Kay Rowe, appeared in the March 6, 1953 issue of the Quill.
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