See collection level description for history/biography for information on Fred McGuinness.
Custodial History
Records in this series were acquired in four accruals and were in the possession of Fred McGuinness until their donation to the Archives.
Accession 18-2002 records were in the possession of Fred McGuinness until the publication of Only in Canada, a book on the history of the Kinsmen Club of Canada co-authored with BU history professor Ken Coates. In the course of writing the history, records of the Kinsmen Club in Canada were amassed at the McKee Archives and the research materials developed by Coates and McGuinness were simply added to the Kinsmen records circa 1987. The Kinsmen records have since been deaccessioned by the McKee Archives and transferred to Kin Headquarters in Ontario.
Accession 6-2008 contains records created and collected during the writing of the Provincial Exhibition book, Pride of the Land. Fred McGuinness, who co-authored the book with Ken Coates, donated these records to the McKee Archives circa 1988.
Accession 20-2009 contains records created and collected by Fred McGuinness over the course of his career as a newspaper journalist and during the research and writing period of the Brandon history book, The Wheat City. Records remained in his possession at his home until their transfer to the McKee Archives on July 28, 2009.
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015. This accession contains records for the following monographs: Manitoba: The Province & The People (1987); The Keystone Province: Manitoba Enterprise (1988); The Wheat City (1988); The Chronicle of Canada (1990); and Old Pathways, New Horizons (1995).
Scope and Content
The series contains records created and collected by Fred McGuinness and writing partners during the production of seven of Fred McGuinness’ monographs. Series has been divided into seven subseries, including: (1) Pride of Land: (2) Only in Canada; (3) Old Pathways, New Horizons; (4) Manitoba: The Province & The People; (5) The Keystone Province: An Illustrated History of Manitoba Enterprise (1988); (6) The Wheat City; and (7) Chronicle of Canada.
Records in the series consist of notes, drafts, correspondence and research materials in the form of photographs and photocopied newspaper clippings, journal articles and book chapters pertaining to Manitoba history.
Notes
Information in the history/biography was taken from Neighborly News column (#934, November 10, 1997)
In the file level inventories, square brackets at end of file names reference the original location of the file in the unprocessed Fred McGuinness collection. The original location is also noted on the front of each file folder
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
File level inventories for each subseries are available. See
individual subseries’ descriptions
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Series has been re-arranged according to publication period with the exception of Old Pathways, New Horizons (1995)
McG 5 Monographs
McG 5.1 Pride of the Land (1985)
McG 5.2 Only in Canada (1987)
McG 5.3 Old Pathways, New Horizons (1995)
McG 5.4 Manitoba: The Province & The People (1987)
McG 5.5 The Keystone Province: Manitoba Enterprise (1988)
McG 5.6 The Wheat City (1988)
McG 5.7 Chronicle of Canada (1990)
"Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, by The copp, Clark Company, Limited, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight-nine"
"Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, by The Copp, Clark Company, Limited, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight-nine"
Common errors in speaking and writing and how to avoid them : a series of exercises, with notes, cautions and suggestion, for the use of teachers, pupils and private students
Gage's health series for primary classes / : with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stiumulants, and narcotics upon the human system. part 1
Euclid's Elements of geometry : books I and II, with explanatory notes, and a series of questions on each book : designed for the use of the junior classes in public and private schools
Fred McGuinness’ public speaking and broadcasting career began after he enrolled at St. Paul’s College, which was affiliated with the University of Manitoba. From 1943 to 1946, McGuinness served on the student union’s Public Relations Committee; in 1945, he became chairman of the Radio Subcommittee working as the Director of the University Radio Series where he was responsible (i.e., writing, casting, directing) for a half-hour Saturday afternoon radio programme. That same year, the President of the University of Manitoba recommended McGuinness as a speaker for the War Finance Committee in the Winnipeg Area.
In 1946, McGuinness moved to Port Arthur to work in public relations with the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. That same year he married his wife Christine. In 1947, the couple returned to Winnipeg, when McGuinness took a job as a Public Relations Officer for the National Employment Service’s Unemployment Insurance Commission (UIC). While employed with the UIC, McGuinness travelled the summer fair circuit with displays promoting the UIC and its benefits. During that time, Royal American Shows also hired McGuinness as its Director of Publicity and Exploitation while the show toured with the fairs on the Canadian prairies. McGuinness also sold his first manuscript to the CBC in 1947, recording a 14-minute broadcast titled the “Class A Circuit” about the Royal American tour, after his summer fair schedule concluded.
McGuinness continued his work with Royal American and the UIC until he accepted a position with the Saskatchewan government in 1952 to promote its upcoming 1955 golden jubilee. His experience with the Saskatchewan Jubilee preparations lead to McGuinness being appointed as a provincial representative to the Canadian Centennial Commission in 1963; an appointment that had McGuinness delivering speeches provincially and internationally.
After the jubilee, McGuinness accepted a position with The Medicine Hat News in Medicine Hat, Alberta. During his decade with that newspaper as a journalist and publisher, McGuinness was heavily involved with the Chamber of Commerce and community service organizations. His position within the community had him delivering talks to many local groups.
At the beginning of 1966, McGuinness started his new appointment as manager of the newly formed personnel and information branch for James Richardson and Sons Ltd. whose head offices were in Winnipeg. At that time McGuinness was developing broadcast scripts for the CBC in earnest. McGuinness left Richardson and Sons in the fall of 1966 to become the publisher and vice-president of the Brandon Sun newspaper in Brandon, Manitoba.
In the 1970s, McGuinness was writing copy for CBC’s Radio Noon and Information Radio, as well as producing Ashgrove Farm, a CBC radio drama. By 1980, McGuinness was hosting the CBC Radio broadcast Neighborly News from the Prairies. The radio program was cancelled by the CBC in 1983, but was reincarnated with Altona broadcaster CFAM later that year with McGuinness at the helm. The radio show ended its run in the summer of 1987. McGuinness continued working with the CBC, and is popularly known for his work as the prairie essayist for CBC Radio’s Morningside with Peter Gzowski, a position McGuinness held for 17 years.
During his twenty years with the Sun, McGuinness took an active roll in the community and cultivated his interest in local history. Consequently he was invited to guest speak and chair sessions on local history, rural development, and the economy while providing his personal insights as a newspaper publisher.
In the 1980s and 1990s, McGuinness co-taught an undergraduate journalism class at Brandon University with English Professor John Blaikie. McGuinness also delivered community workshops on memoir writing, a past time he continued until shortly before his death in 2011.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a radio broadcaster, newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Scope and Content
The series contains records created and collected by Fred McGuinness during his time as a radio broadcaster, journalist, editor, and freelance writer. Records in the series consist of broadcast scripts, lecture notes, speeches, rough drafts and notes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other research materials for respective broadcasts, lectures, speeches, and workshops.
The series has been divided into three subseries, including: (1) radio broadcast scripts, (2) BU journalism course, and (3) talks and workshops.
Notes
Information for the history/biography was obtained from documents in McGuinness’ personal papers (see his family papers McG 1.1 and the scrapbook in McG 1.4) and his book Letters from Section 17 (published by Great Plains Publications in 1999)
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available for each subseries, see subseries
descriptions
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Related Material
Fred McGuinness would write/publish about a topic in a number of forums. Therefore, it is possible materials pertaining to his broadcast and lecture career may be found in other series of the Fred McGuinness collection. A sound recording of one of McGuinness’ UofM broadcasts can be found in McG 7
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Series has been re-arranged according to publication period
McG 6 McGuinness broadcasts, lectures, workshops
McG 6.1 Radio broadcast scripts
McG 6.2 BU Journalism course
McG 6.3 Talks and workshops
