A biography of Olive Agnes Cross Wilkins can be found under the RG 1 Brandon College fonds, BC 9 Clark Hall women’s residence.
Custodial History
Records were accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records collected by Olive Wilkins during her tenure at Brandon College. The ephemra in the collection includes: play programmes; recital programmes; two photo postcards; invitations; dance cards; place cards; and a necklace. Collection also contains the Treasurer’s Book for the Patriotic Committee (Clark Hall Literary Society 1917-1918) and departmental reports for Clark Hall, the Resident Master, the Music, Business, Academic, and Commercial departments.
Thomas Russell Wilkins was born in Toronto in 1891. He received his B.A. from McMaster University in 1912, and became the Science Master at Woodstock College the following year. In 1916, he and his wife Olive moved to Chicago, where Wilkins was an instructor of Physics at the University of Chicago. The next year he served as a master signal electrician in the U.S. Signal Corps. During World War I, Wilkins completed pioneer research for the United States Navy, which led to the development of pulse sonar devices in the 1920s. He had also been researching the possibilities of a wireless telephone.
Wilkins and his wife moved to Brandon in 1918, where he took up the position of Professor of Physics. During his time at Brandon College, Wilkins introduced the latest technology to classrooms, designed the original Science Building, and along with the Brandon Citizen's Committee, seucured building funds for the Citizen's Science Building.
Receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1921, Wilkins resigned from Brandon College in 1925 to pursue postgraduate study at Cambridge University. In 1926, he began research at the University of Rochester, where he also took up the position of Professor of Physics. From 1930 to 1938, he acted as the Director of the Institute of Optics.
Widely known for his work in the fields of cosmic rays and atomic disintegration, in April 1939, Wilkins announced the perfection of a camera that was able to record the "footprints" of invisible atoms after they collide. In October 1939, he received a medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain recognizing his work regarding the use of photographic emulsions in the study of radium. The following year, Wilkins perfected a camera that could determine the energy levels inside the nuclei of stable chemical elements. He received a grant from Sigma Xi, the National Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research, in November of 1940.
Wilkins married twice. The first marriage, to Olive Anges Cross took place on June 17, 1913. Olive Wilkins died suddenly on May 13, 1937, at the age of 45. Wilkins married Susan Gwendolyn Whidden, the daughter of former Brandon College president Dr. H.P. Whidden, in 1938.
Thomas Russell Wilkins died suddenly of a heart attack on December 10, 1940, on his way back to his laboratory after a faculty meeting. He was 49 years old.
Custodial History
Records were accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
T. Russell Wilkins’ reocrds contain correspondence between himself and Mrs. Wilkins and Dr. Whidden concerning their employment with Brandon College. There are letters between the two men regarding the building of the Science Building in 1920. There is also a copy of the Canadian Baptist. Besides programmes and a picture, there is also correspondence between various people. Dr. Wilkins kept the papers he had written for various classes at McMaster University in the years 1911 and 1912. There is a "toast to the ladies" that he delivered at a banquet of some sort, that gives an interesting view on how Wilkins, and possibly other men of his time, viewed women. There are numerous newspapers clippings, and several pages taken from journals such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Electricity and others. Dr. Wilkins was at the top of his field of study. He was an extremely bright man who managed to create some very useful tools of science. His papers are interesting and informative to read.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from Campus News May 1990
Robert Harvey's portrait has come loose of the backing. Matting is torn at base.
History / Biographical
John B. Cole, who operated Cole's Photographic Studio, first at 656 15th Street and then at 831 Rosser Avenue, was a photographer in Brandon from c. 1911 to c. 1914.
Scope and Content
Item consists of eleven oval shaped portraits of the members of Brandon College's graduating class of 1913. L to R: Lillian Wilhelmina Speers; Robert Harvey; James Robinson, Muriel Vivien McCamis; Tom Hare Harris; Leslie Alberta Ward; J.R.C. Evans; Evelyn J. Simpson; W.E. Wilkin; Archibald Gordon; and Constance Gunn.
Information that accompanied the photograph: Born Wilcox Lake, Ontario, 1870. Died 1964 in Brandon, MB. A long-time member of a number of boards at the College. Played a role in re-establishing Brandon College through Brandon College Inc. and the McKenzie Foundation by donating 90% of the shares in his company to the MB Government to support higher education, specifically Brandon College.
Photograph shows a portrait of an elderly woman with crimped hair and wearing classes. The woman has been identified as Elma Hughes, wife of Willard J. Hughes.
Photograph shows an elderly couple posing for a formal portrait. The woman is wearing a black crepe dress. The man, who is bearded but not mustached, is wearing a black jacket.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Mrs. L. O'Neil?
Bottom left corner of the matting is missing. There is discoloration in the top right corner.
Scope and Content
Composite of the members of the Brandon College Matriculation Class of 1917 and their class motto "Abeunt In Recors Studia."
Front Row (L to R): C.L. Strachan; H. Coram; N. Bilasz; H.A. Robertson; M. Gibson; and G. Clarke.
Second Row (L to R): C. Molberg; G.B. Craig (C. President); D.R. Wilkie; and K. Moffat.
Third Row (L to R): E. Irwin; J.R. Evans (Principal, B.A.); Dr. Whidden (President, M.A.); and L.M. Coutts.
Fourth Row (L to R): J. Olson; J.S. Peterson; A. Livingstone; and M. Thomson.
Bottom Row (L to R): A.G. Douglas; B. Hall; P. Red; J. Hindorff; E. Maley; and J. Wiklund.
Photograph was donated to the McKee Archives by Sydney Pechet.
Scope and Content
Item consists of portraits of the members of the Brandon College Graduation Class Arts 30.
Top Row (L to R): M.N. Brooks; W.L. McFarland; C.McNeil; Professor C.F. Richards (Hon. Class Pres.); T. Douglas; G.D. Wilkie; and R. McLachlan.
Second Row (L to R): M.H. Dunkin; E.M. Fidler; M.R. McDonald; I.E. Shanks; A.E. Cameron; and J. Leslie.
Third Row (L to R): M.M. Evans; E.W. Morrison; M. Maltman; C.B. Wicklund; Dr. J.R.C. Evans (Pres. Brandon College); S.H. Knowles; J. Hitchings; T.B. Stoodley; and R.E. Bingham.
Last Row (L to R): G.W. Brown; R.A. Clement; W.F. Westcott; R.W. Sharpe; W.A. Stevens; A.H. Clark; A.G. Robertson; J.P. Odin; and S. Pechet
The middle of the photograph was bent at one time and there is some damage to the matting.
Custodial History
Photograph was donated by Betty Gibson.
Scope and Content
Item consists of portraits of the members of Brandon College Arts Class of 1931 taken in 1928, their motto “Carpe Diem,” and photographs of Prof. H.R. Jolliffee (Honorary President), the College campus, and J.R.C. Evans (Dean of Arts).
Top Row (L to R): L. Umphrey; O. Morrison; A.C. Fromme; W. Steinhauer; W.M. Beer; C.M. Dunkin; W.P. Dutton (Class Pres.); B.M. Gibson; C.H. Spearin; I.E. Zink; R.A. Dowling; I. Robertson; and V. Laughton.
Second Row (L to R): L.C. Bulman; R.E. Vasey; K.A. Barnwell; R.F. Eamer; F.R. McLeod; D. Wright; A.L. MacArthur (Sec.Treas); M. Stewart (Vice Pres.); M.A. Shepley; S. Bateman; J.G. Miles; A.H. Houssain; and W.G. Robertson.
Third Row (L to R): J. Kilgour; R. Harris; H. McDowell; M. Draper; R. Pritchard; H. Vaisler; D.R. Morris; and N.E. Todd.
Fourth Row (L to R): C.A. McNeil; H. LaMontagne; A.E. Marshall; D.R. McLeod; H. Young; G. Aylesworth; G. Heywood; and G. Fulcher.
Fifth Row (L to R): O. McDiarmid; R. Wright; W. Harwood; E. Stott; R.H. White; A.J. Cameron; M.E. Armstrong; and J.A. Girvin.
Sixth Row (L to R): H.J. Fraser; R.C. Lundgren; M.E. Henderson; N. Spearin; A. Kennette; H.K. Scott; H.G. Tolton; M. Fitton; W.G. Dick; L.R. Gainer; J.T. Condell; and E.N. Reid.
Bottom Row (L to R): G. Scott; D. Campbell; J. Harwood; H. Ball; G.R. Easter; C.I. Hitchings; R.S. McGill; F. Cater; J.P. Buss; J.M. Cowell; E.W. Shaw; M.A. Bremner; and A.W. Mott.
At one point the photograph may have belonged to S. Louise Wickstrom, who attended Brandon College in the 1920s. The photograph came into possession of the Alumni Office at Brandon University. The Alumni Office transfered it to the McKee Archives in July 2009.
Scope and Content
Item is a portrait of the students and faculty of Brandon College in 1921. Photograph was taken outdoors in front of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall.
Notes
Writing on the back lists two Wickstroms: S.L. and N.O. Duplicate is BUPC 9.6
