Original office furnishings of College Librarian's Office. L. to R. Barbara Ritchie (library staff), Ray Hegion (Library Staff), Professor Norma E. Walmsley (poli. sci., Chairman, Faculty Library Committee), Eileen McFadden (College Librarian), Lee Finch (Library Staff)
The Brandon College Dean was the head of the College in the absence of the President. It was created in 1925 after the sudden passing of Dr. Sweet. Dr. Harris MacNeill, who had been Dean in Arts up until that time assumed the position of College Dean. The duties of the College Dean were as follows:
1. In the absence of the President of the College he shall exercise the functions of the President in relation to all “inside” College matters; it being understood that frequently it may be necessary for him to exercise his personal judgment apart from anything that may be specified in this memorandum.
2. With respect to matters of special importance arising unexpectedly he shall consult with the Chairman of the Board, or by telegram with the President, or both.
3. All questions arising that have a direct connection with the “business” aspects of College affairs shall naturally be referred to the Chairman of the Board, or the President, or both.
4. In the absence of the President he shall preside at all Faculty meetings, Committee meetings of which the President is Chairman, and shall attend meetings of Committees of which the President is an ex-officio member.
5. In the President’s absence he shall preside at the regular Chapel Exercises and at special College gatherings in the Chapel at which the President would naturally be expected to preside.
6. He shall also keep in touch with the work of the several departments of the College and shall consult frequently with the Heads of such departments.
7. While the Lady Principal and the Resident Master are responsible for the detailed administration and discipline of the College life and activities of Clark Hall and Brandon College respectively, the College Dean shall have the absent President’s responsibility for the general discipline of the College in respect of the students’ relation to Courses of Study, Corridor, Campus, etc.
8. That the President when absent may be kept in touch with the work of the Institution it is desirable that the College Dean keep him informed of the more important happenings and problems with College life.
9. Throughout the Session the College Dean shall be Registering Head of the Arts Department.
The position of College Dean continued until 1952. In 1952 the position became known as the Dean of Arts and Science. In 1963, another change occurred, with the two departments going separate ways. From that time on there was both a Dean of Arts and a Dean of Science.
BRANDON COLLEGE DEANS:
HARRIS LACHLAN MACNEILL (1925, 1926-1928)
Dr. MacNeill was born in Paisley, ON on November 29 or 30, 1871, the son of Rev. Donald and Amanda (Hemenway) MacNeill. He received his B.A. from McMaster University in 1894. He was also educated at the Ontario College of Pedagogy and the University of Toronto. From 1895 until 1898 he was a teacher at Woodstock College. In 1899 he married Anne Hatch. From 1899 until 1903 he was a professor of Latin at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. In 1903 he accepted an offer to teach Latin and German at Brandon College. In 1909 he was a Professor of the New Testament, Language and Literature, as well as Resident Master. Dr. MacNeill was the Academy Principal for two years. He then received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1911. MacNeill acted as the Dean of Arts from 1912 until 1930. Dr. MacNeill was the central figure in the scandal involving Brandon College in the early 1920’s. The Fundamentalist Baptists accused Brandon College, and Dr. MacNeill especially, of teaching Modernist views. He was absolved of any charges at the 1924 Baptist Convention in Chicago.
Dr. MacNeill was Acting President of Brandon College after Dr. Sweet died for the period from January 1925 until Dr. Bovington was hired in August 1925. After Dr. Bovington resigned in May of 1926, Dr. MacNeill again accepted the position of Acting President from May 1926 until April 3, 1928, when he retired as College Dean. Dr. MacNeill taught Latin and Greek for two more years then retired from Brandon College in 1930. He accepted a position at Fairview Church in Vancouver, B.C. where he remained until 1932. In 1932 he was offered a teaching position at McMaster University. He married his second wife, Vera Leech, in 1939. He remained at McMaster teaching New Testament Interpretation until 1943 when he retired. Dr. MacNeill was the first person to receive an honorary degree from Brandon University in 1967. He continued to do religious research until his eyesight failed at age 97. On January 15, 1974, Dr. MacNeill died at the Chedoke Hospital at the age of 102.
JOHN ROBERT CHARLES EVANS (1928)
Information on J.R.C. Evans can be found under the heading Office of the President.
W. BURTON HURD (1929-1935)
No biographical information yet.
C.F. RICHARDS (1935-1937)
Information on C.F. Richards can be found under the heading Office of the Registrar.
REV. EVAN M. WHIDDEN (1937-1938)
See MG 1 Brandon College Teaching and Administration, 1.8 Evan McDonald Whidden fonds for biographical information and additional records related to Rev. Evan M. Whidden.
A. HAYWARD FOSTER (1938-1939)
No biographical information yet.
F.J. WESTCOTT (1939-1945)
Frederick James Westcott was born in Douglas, Manitoba. He began taking classes in the Academy at Brandon College in 1918. He entered the Arts course in 1921 and specialized in Political Economy. He received the Special Political Economy Medal in his final year. He was very active on committees and associations, as well as sports. Westcott served as the Senior Stick during the school term 1924-1925. He graduated with his B.A. from Brandon College in 1925.
Westcott received the position of Student Assistant in the Academy the following year. He left soon after to pursue post-graduate work. He received his M.A. in economics from Harvard and spent two years at the University of Toronto on a teaching scholarship in economics, completing the course work leading to the Ph.D. degree. In 1929, he returned to Brandon College and took up the position of Associate Professor of Political Economy. It was also in 1929, that Westcott married Rose Vasey, a 1926 Brandon College graduate. The following year, Westcott was the Resident Master of Brandon College, as well as being an Instructor in Political Economy and Sociology. The Resident Master position only lasted the one school year. He accepted the post of Acting Dean of Arts and Science in 1939. From 1942 until 1945 he was away on military leave with the National War Finance Committee. He resigned from the position of College Dean in 1945. From 1945 on Westcott and his family resided in Toronto. He died suddenly in 1961.
HENRY STEWART PERDUE (1947-1952)
Dr. Perdue was born in 1904 near Souris. He graduated from the Souris Collegiate in 1920. After working several odd jobs, Dr. Perdue entered Brandon College in 1924. He graduated with his B.A. in 1928. After graduation, Dr. Perdue was hired as a teacher in the Academic Department. He received his M.A. in 1930, and went on to receive his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Chicago. In 1930, Dr. Perdue became the Director of the Matriculation Department as well as an Instructor in Geology. In 1931, he took over the position of Resident Master. In 1937, he married Ella May Higgens, who was the Resident Nurse. From 1938 until 1948, Dr. Perdue acted as Registrar of Brandon College.
In 1947, Dr. Perdue accepted the position of College Dean. This position ran until 1952, when it was changed to the position of Dean of Arts and Science. Dr. Perdue also held this position until 1962, when the office separated into the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Science. Dr. Perdue continued in the position of Dean of Science until 1967. After Dr. Evans death in July of 1959, Dr. Perdue became Acting President. He held this position from August 1959 until August 1960, when Dr. Robbins was appointed President. Dr. Perdue retired from teaching Geology in 1973. He died on December 22, 1979 at the age of 75.
DEAN OF ARTS AND SCIENCE:
H.S. PERDUE (1952-1963)
Information on H.S. Perdue can be found under the heading College Dean.
DEAN OF ARTS
R.F.B. KING (1963 - Brandon University)
Information on R.F.B. King can be found under RG 6 Brandon University fonds, sub-sub series 7.1.1 Dean of Arts.
DEAN OF SCIENCE:
H.S. PERDUE (1963-1967)
Information of H.S. Perdue can be found under the heading College Dean.
Scope and Content
The series consists of records from MacNeill's term as College Dean (1921-1928). It also includes correspondence during the time that MacNeill was Acting President. It contains letters to and from MacNeill regarding examinations, students, business, and finances. Some earlier letters also include correspondence regarding the controversy MacNeill was in during the Baptist Fundamentalist/Modernist Debate in the early 1920’s.
Records from Evans' term as Acting Dean have been included in his Presidents' files. There are no records from the terms of the other College Deans, except R.F.B. King; his records have been encorporated into RG 6 (Brandon University fonds), 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts).
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 6: Office of the College Dean
Related Material
RG 6, sub sub series 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts) for additional Dean's records and RG 6, series 9 (Department of Extension) for additional records related to H.S. Perdue.
Student activity: Sticks of office used by Senior Stick and Lady Stick. c. 1919 – 1966 and later, housed in a display case in the Robbins Library Reading Room
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS/DIRECTORS OF LIBRARY SERVICES:
EILEEN M. MCFADDEN (1967-1977)
Eileen May McFadden was raised in the Brandon area and obtained her B.A. from Brandon College (University of Manitoba) in 1953, her B.L.S. from McGill University in 1954 and her M.L.S. from the University of Toronto in 1978. Following service in the libraries of the University of Toronto and the University of Manitoba from 1954-1959, McFadden found employment at Brandon College/University, first as a Librarian (1959-1969) and then as Director of Library Services (1969-1977). In the late 1970s, McFadden became the University Archivist. She held this post until her retirement in 1997.
She is a former president of the Brandon Council of Women and a former councillor of the Canadian Library Association. Eileen McFadden continued to live in Brandon until her death on August 24, 2001.
T.A. MITCHELL (1978-1982; 1996 - 1997/1998 (acting); and 1999-2001 (acting))
Terrence A. Mitchell received his B.A. and his Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Manitoba in 1958 and 1966 respectively. In 1970, he obtained his Master of Science in Librarianship from Western Michigan University. Mitchell taught in Manitoba schools before becoming Education Librarian at Brandon College in 1966. He returned to his work at Brandon University in January 1977, after a two year secondment to the Canadian International Development Agency to develop the library of the Kenya Technical Teachers College, Nairobi, Kenya. In 1978, he became Director of Library Services.
MARILYN NICHOLS (1983 - c. 1988)
Marilyn Nichols was raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana. She attended high school there before going on to Denison College in Ohio where she obtained a B.A. in history and French. Further studies included undergratuate studies at Indiana University and an M.A.L.S. from the University of Minnesota. Nichols came to Brandon in 1967, with her husband Ken, and began her library career at Brandon University in 1975. Her first assignment was librarian to Inter-University of the North (IUN) and later she assumed the position of Head of Technical Services. Nichols was appointed Director of Library Services in 1983; she held the position until a few months before her sudden death on March 17, 1989.
*In the interim between Nichols and Bazillion, various members of the Library staff informally held the position of Director of Library Services, until Meir Serfaty, then Vice-President (Academic and Research) assumed the position. He remained Director until Bazillion was hired.
RICHARD BAZILLION (1990 - 1995/1996)
Richard James Bazillion graduated from the College of Liberal Arts, Boston University with an A.B., from the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University with his M.A.T., from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with his Ph.D. (modern European history with specialization in nineteenth-century Germany), and from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with his M.A.L.S.
From 1969-1971 he was a faculty member at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). From 1971-1980 he was employed as a faculty member at Algoma University College, and from 1980-1990 he was the Library Director for that institution, as well as an associate professor of history and a member of the graduate faculty of Laurentian University. In 1990, he became the University Librarian at Brandon University, as well as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of History.
During his time in Brandon, Bazillion oversaw the construction of the Brandon University library building as chair of the project-management team. He also served as a member for the following organizations: Search Committee for Dean of Arts; Board/Senate Planning and Priorities Committee; Board/Senate Budget Committee; Senate Library Committee; and the University Senate. In addition to his work for Brandon Univeristy, Bazillion also did consulting work, and in 1993, Bazillion, Braun & Associates, consultants in library design, furnishings, equipping and moving, was registered in Manitoba.
Richard J. Bazillion resigned from his position as University Librarian some time during the 1995/1996 school year.
B. FOLEY (1997-1999)
Prior to coming to Brandon University, Bob Foley held the position of Director, Information Technologies, Applications and Planning / Librarian at the Banff Centre (1979-1997). From 1997-1999, he acted as Chief Information Officer and University Librarian at Brandon University, before going to the University of Regina as University Librarian (1999-2003). Since August 2006, Foley has been employed as the Director of Library Services at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo, B.C.
L. BURRIDGE (1989 (acting) and 2001 - April 30, 2011)
No biographical information yet.
CHRIS HURST - Acting (May 2011 - September 2013)
No biographical information yet.
BETTY BRAAKSMA (September 16, 2013 - April 2019)
Elizabeth Braaksma obtained her BA (Honours) from Brock University and a Master of Library Science from the Univeristy of Toronto. Right before joing Brandon University she worked as Usability Liaison Librarian and Virtual Reference Co-ordinator at the University of Manitoba.
H. RAINER SCHIRA - Acting (May 2018 - April 2020)
No biographical information yet.
Scope and Content
Sub-series includes records related to budget, planning, library employment, acquisitions, surveys, COPUL, external associations, library building plans, statistics, inter-library loan, and publications, as well as general files and correspondence. A portion of the sub-series consists of Senate records of former University Librarian Eileen McFadden. These records measure 1.2 m and include materials from: Senate (1964-1984), Senate Library Committee (1968?-1980?), Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Committees (1968), Senate By-law Revision Committee (1967-1972), Senate Committee on Counselling (1967-69), and Senate Long Range Planning Committee (1967-1977?). There is also a box labelled "Restricted file" (1964-1980).
Notes
General information in the History/Bio field was taken from University calendars and from a position description (1994). Biographical information for R.J. Bazillion was taken from his personnel file located in RG 6, series 7, sub sub series 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts). Biographical information on Marilyn Nichols was taken from an ariticle in "The Quill" (April 6, 1989). Biographical information for Bob Foley was taken from http://www.mala.ca/library/about/WNarchive.htm (September 2006).
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 8: Library Services
