James Lasby Lowes was born in Brandon on March 12, 1903, and passed away at Brandon General Hospital on August 9, 1986, after a lengthy illness. His wife Jean, his son Lasby Jr., daughter-in-law Carole, and grandsons Kirk and Rick survived him. Lowes also had one sister, Kathleen Conder, of Gross Pointe Mich.
Lowes was a dedicated employee of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd. for 47 years, beginning February 13, 1924. Throughout his career with the Company, Lowes worked in various departments: he served as manager of the wholesale department, assistant manager in charge of Field Seed purchases, manager of sales for both domestic and export trade, and Field Seed division manager. In 1964, following A. E. McKenzie's death, Lowes became the President and General Manager of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Although he retired as President and General Manager in 1968, at the request of the Company, Mr. Lowes became Saskatchewan Sales Supervisor. In 1972, he accepted a new role in Public Relations. Here his primary task was to write a corporate history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary companies.
Lasby Lowes attended Brandon College and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings. He chose to make his career as a seedsman rather than a hockey player. He served on the Board of Brandon College/University, Brandon General Hospital, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Lowes was a member of the Kinsman Club of Brandon and an elder in First Church United for many years. He enjoyed gardening. When he was not on the road traveling for the Company, visiting the many distributors of McKenzie seeds in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, he spent a great deal of time at the family cottage at Clear Lake.
Custodial History
In the course of preparing notes for a history of the McKenzie Seed Co., Mr. Lowes extracted documentary records from the Company files. Records taken from the Company files by Mr. Lowes remain in the historical accounts he created.
See fonds level description of custodial history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series contains documents, primarily correspondence dealing with Lowes' years as President/General Manager. The correspondence involves Premier Duff Roblin, the Company lawyer, Wm. Johnson, the Bank of Montreal, and Charles Sharpe & Co. Ltd. Further correspondence relates to trademarks, the sale of the Company, the hiring of Ted Chiswell as Comptroller of McKenzie Seeds, and the change of the Company's name to McKenzie Seeds Ltd.
Subsequent to his retirement from the President/General Manager's office, Lowes undertook the task of writing a history of the McKenzie Co. His Historical Topics cover a wide-range of subjects including the history of the Company, Canadian agriculture and the seed industry, the life and times of A. E. McKenzie, and notes on various employees of McKenzie Seeds and McFayden Seeds. The Topics also include information related to various properties and acquisitions of the Company. There is also information pertaining to the McKenzie catalogues.
The original order in which these records were acquired has not been disturbed. However, the original order appears to be quite haphazard.
To facilitate access for researchers, a summary of the arrangement of Lasby Lowes' Historical Topics and related records has been created.
The sub-series is divided into three sub sub series, including: (1) Correspondence; (2) Historical Topics; and (3) Miscellaneous.
Notes
Lasby Lowes:
President/General Manager: c. 1960-1968, 11.5 cm
Historical Topics: 1900-1983; 44.7 cm
For the most part both the handwritten and typed version of each Historical Topic can be found within sub sub series McS 2 2.2.
Finding Aid
A file level inventory of McS 2 2.2 (Historical Topics) is available.
Storage Location
RG 3 A.E. McKenzie Company fonds
McS 2 Office of the President/General Manager
Related Material
Additional records related to the Brandon Council of Women are located in the Brandon Council of Women Fonds (34-1998) in the S. J. McKee Archives.
C. J. Barnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba in February 1884. His parents were native Nova Scotians who arrived in Brandon in the early 1880s. In 1884, the family settled on a homestead near the present town of Lauder. This homestead was sold in 1899, and the family moved to farm in the district of Medora. C. J. Barnes took over the operation of this farm in the early 1900s. He farmed until 1924. Barnes was educated in schools in the Truro School District and the village of Lauder. He was active in the original Territorial Grain Growers' Association.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains a pamphlet written and published by C.J. Barnes titled Seventy Years in Southwestern Manitoba. The pamphlet contains an account of life in rural southwestern Manitoba from the 1880s through to the 1940s. The pamphlet is based on a variety of sources including diaries written by Mr. Barnes' father. Fonds also includes some hand-drawn maps not included in the published version of the pamphlet, as well as four letters c.1962, between C.J. Barnes and Rev. Robert Harvey in his capacity as a columnist for the Brandon Sun.
File consists of copies of articles written by Brockway.
Notes
A black and white photograph of Dr. Brockway (12.5 x 17 cm) wearing a knitted coat and hat, standing in the stairwell of the Brodie Building, as been removed from the file and placed in the Brandon University Photograph Collection.
Dr. Evans was born in Nanaimo, B.C. on March 15, 1891. In the fall of 1907, at the age of sixteen, Dr. Evans entered the Academic Department of Brandon College. He played an integral part at the College, participating in academics, sports, and various other college functions and organizations. In his final year he was Senior Stick, the highest position in the Student Government. In 1913, Dr. Evans graduated from Brandon College. Immediately after graduation he was hired to teach Science and Academic Mathematics. In 1917, he became Principal of the Academic Department, while continuing to teach Mathematics and Science. Dr. Evans took leave in 1920 to study post graduate work at the University of Chicago. During the summers, he was the Acting Dean of the Department of Geology in Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in Geology in 1923, and returned to Brandon College. His new positions at the college were of Professor of Geology and Resident Master. He also taught some Chemistry.
On August 1, 1927, Dr. Evans married Adelene M. Bailey (Class of 1921, Music 1924) at the Joseph Bond Chapel in Chicago. He took over as College Dean in 1928 after the position became vacant. In September of 1928, Dr. Evans accepted the position of President of Brandon College, thus becoming its fifth president since the college’s inception. Dr. Evans was head of the college at a very difficult time. He guided the College through the Depression and repeated threats of closure from the Baptists. Dr. Evans resurrected the Department of Theology in the mid-1930’s. He helped with the reorganization of Brandon College as a non-denominational college in 1938, and its new affiliation with the University of Manitoba. During World War II, Dr. Evans started a War Emergency Fund, aimed at keeping the College from sinking into debt during the war years as enrollment shrank. With increased financial support from the government, Dr. Evans began expansion plans for the College. In 1958, he created the Dr. J.R.C. Evans Student Loan Fund in conjunction with the Alumni Association in order to provide worthy students with interest-free loans. It was also in 1958 that Dr. Evans was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal for his outstanding contribution to education in the British Commonwealth.
On July 29, 1959, Dr. Evans died suddenly at his summer home in Robson, B.C.. On his desk was the programme for the sod-turning ceremony for the new Arts and Library Building and Lecture Theatre. When it was completed, the Lecture Theatre was christened the Dr. J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre on behalf of the man who had made sure that it would be built. The Theatre had been his dream, a place to hold Chapel and Assemblies, as the student body grew in number.
Scope and Content
Dr. Evans collection is quite substantial, owing to the fact that he was President of Brandon College for thirty one years. His collection is primarily made up of correspondence between Dr. Evans and various people. The letters deal with students, teachers, finances, fundraising, the Bursar, the Registrar, and legal matters. The collection also includes the minutes from various meetings, including Board of Director meetings and National Conference on Canadian Universities. There are accounts dealing with World War II, its affect on campus, the C.O.T.C, and the lending of part of Brandon College to the R.C.A.F. during the war. The complete withdrawal of Baptist support for Brandon College is well documented in this collection, as is the ensuing affiliation of the College with the University of Manitoba. The Brandon College Campaign and other fundraising endeavors are documented in Evans’ papers as well. Evans was bent on the expansion of Brandon College, and there is a lot of correspondence dealing with this topic. There are various financial accounts and financial histories of Brandon College in Evans’ collection.
Dr. Robert Dudley Howland was born June 1, 1909 in Bexley, Kent, England. He attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Faversham, Kent. In 1926, he came to Canada where he attended Brandon College, graduating in Arts in 1935. He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained a doctorate in Economics.
During his years at Brandon College, Howland participated in debating and drama. He also acted as a student minister for the Baptist Church.
Howland spent his working eyars in various positions in the federal and provincial governments. Energy was an important focus of his work. His introduction to energy problems came in 1944, when he was appointed Secretary of the Carroll Commission on coal. From this experience he accepted appointments in Nova Scotia as Vice-President of their Research Foundation; Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Economic Advisor to the Nova Scotia government.
In addtion to the Carroll Royal Commission on Coal, Howland was associated with the Royal Commission on Saskatchewan's Coal Mining Industry, was an ecnomist on Canada's Economic Prospects from 1955-1957, and a member of the Royal Commission on Energy.
In 1959, Howland was appointed Vice-President of the National Energy Board and Chairman from July 1, 1968, until his retirement in August 1973. Howland was granted an honorary LL.D. by Brandon University in May 1974.
Howland had a lifelong interest in the Fabian Society and Fabian Socialism, assembling a rich collection of original edition Fabian publications.
Custodial History
Dr. Howland presented his collection of Fabian publications to Brandon University sometime in the 1970s. The collection remained in the John E. Robbins Library until it was placed in the Archives in 1997.
Scope and Content
The Howland Collection includes a wide range of books, pamphlets, and assorted publications of the Fabian Society assembled by Dr. Howland.
The Fabian Society, a socialist society, was founded in 1883-1884, in London. The Fabian Society was created with the goal of fostering the creation of democratic socialism in Great Britain. Unlike revolutionary Marxists, the Fabians placed their hopes for change in evolutionary socialism not revolution.
The creation of the Fabian Society is generally attributed to Thomas Davidson, a Scottish philosopher. Its charter members included George Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, Annie Besant, Edward Pease, and Graham Wallas. Shaw and Webb, later joined by Webb's wife, Beatrice, were the outstanding leaders of the Society for many years. In 1889, the Society published its best-known tract, "Fabian Essays in Socialism," edited by Shaw. The Fabian Society played an integral role in the creation of the British Labour Party.
Notes
The items in the collection have been added to the Brandon University Library catalogue. Description by Mike White.
Storage Location
MG 2 Brandon College Students
2.16 Robert Dudley Howland
Dr. Robert Harvey graduated from Brandon College in 1913 (McMaster Arts). He received a diploma in theology from Brandon College in 1915. Initially a minister in the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Harvey spent the greater part of his life as a minister in the service of the United Church of Canada.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
This fonds consists of manuscripts written by Dr. Robert Harvey, various newspaper clippings, primarily from the Brandon Sun, featuring articles written by Harvey. Fonds also contains war-time publications from the Soviet Union, United States of America, and Canada. Topics include: the armistice, biographical accounts of war-time figures, the history of the church in Canada, human rights, communism and fascism.
