A.E. McKenzie was involved with Brandon College from its very beginnings. He was present at the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the Brandon College Building in July of 1900; he became a member of the Brandon College Endowment Committee in 1918; the following year he was on the Finance Committee. By the mid-1920's, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the College. In 1928, he was part of a group that convinced the Baptist Union of Western Canada, the principal funding body for the College, to provide money towards reducing the College’s accumulated deficit. McKenzie and other members of the College Board had advised the Union that they were developing an endowment plan to provide continuing financial support for Brandon College.
In 1931. Mr. McKenzie organized the Brandon Board of Trade to help save the College when the Baptist Union indicated its intention to withdraw financial support to the College. When efforts to have the City of Brandon provide finacial resources to the College failed, A.E. McKenzie organized the Brandon Citizen's Campaign to raise enough money to enable the College to open the next year.
In 1938, when the Baptist Union did withdrew support from the College, McKenzie offered to establish a $100,000 endowment, which he later raised to $300,000, to ensure the continuation of the College. On August 1 of the same year, the Board of Trade, of which McKenzie was a member, set out to raise $15,000 to match the offer the government had made to the College. In September 1938, McKenzie increased his endowment again, this time to $500,000. As a result, of McKenzie's endowment and the fundraising efforts of the Board of Trade the charter establishing Brandon College Incorporated was approved on April 17, 1939.
Custodial History
See fonds level description of custodial history of A.E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series includes correspondence between McKenzie and Lowes with various government officials - Duff Roblin, Hon. George Johnson, Hon. Stewart E. McLean and Comptroller-General George D. Iliffe. There is also correspondence with the company lawyer, William Johnston. Documents within the series consist of the Act to Incorporate Brandon College, Inc. and Bill 86, as well as an indenture and an agreement between C.S. Eaton, G.C. Edwards, A.E. McKenzie, D.H. Hudson and E.J. Tarr. There are also a number of documents written by McKenzie that were presented to the Brandon College Board of Directors. Brandon College Inc. resolutions regarding the McKenzie Foundation are also included.
The sub-series has one sub sub series: MG 5 1.1.1 History of Brandon College Inc.
See series level description of the administrative history of the Office of the President/General Manager
Custodial History
See fonds level description of custodial history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series includes publications covering a variety of topics related to the seed industry and/or McKenzie Seeds. Publications include:
1. Building Bigger Business/by Charles Austen Bates. Winnipeg, 1925, 4 pp.
2. Business Correspondence/ by C.A. Burt. Chicago, 1905, 221 pp.
3. The Production of Timothy Seed in Alberta/ by H. A. Craig. Edmonton, [no date], 8 pp.
4. Sweet Peas for All Purposes/by A. J. Macself. London, [no date], vi, 84 pp.
5. Growing Quality Beans in Manitoba/by the Manitoba Department of Agriculture, 1976, 12 pp.
6. 1979 Field Crop Recommendations for Manitoba/by the Manitoba Department of Agriculture. Winnipeg, 1979, 69 pp.
7. The Canada Year Book 1915/by the Minister of Trade and Commerce. Ottawa, 1916, xvi, 707 pp.
8. 1974 Vegetable Production Recommendations/by New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 36 pp.
9. Lawn Care: A Bulletin Service for Turf Enthusiasts/by O. M. Scott & Sons Co. Marysville, Ohio, August 1928 - 1943(?), plus index
10. 1965 Guide to Chemical Weed Control/by the Ontario Department of Agriculture. Toronto, 1965, 67 pp.
11. 1968 Ontario Vegetable Production Recommendations/ by the Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food. Toronto, 1968, 47 pp.
12. 1978 Vegetable Production Recommendations/by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 72 pp.
13. The Canadian Newspaper Directory, seventh edition. Montreal, 1911, xx, 138 pp.
14. The Shareholders' and Directors' Manual/by J. D. Warde. Seventh edition. Toronto, 1907, 617 pp.
THE BUSINESS MAN'S LIBRARY:
15. The Business Man's Library, volume II - Business Correspondence/ by Glenn S. Noble, et al. Chicago, 1907, 221 pp.
16. The Business Man's Library, volume III - Cost of Production/ by Alexander H. Revell, et al. Chicago, 1907, viii, 196 pp.
17. The Business Man's Library, volume V - Book on Buying/ by H.T. Kett, et al. Chicago, 1907, 216 pp.
18. The Business Man's Library, volume VI - Organizing a Factory/ by Clinton E. Woods. Chicago, 1907, 190 pp.
19. The Business Man's Library, volume VII - Book on Advertising/ by Truman A. DeWeese. Chicago, 1907, v, 165 pp.
20. The Business Man's Library, volume X - Accounting and Office Methods/ by W. Vernon Booth, et al. Chicago, 1907, v, 136pp, plus 45 p. index.
Storage Location
RG 3 A.E. McKenzie Company fonds
McS 2 Office of the President/General Manager
See fonds level description of custodial history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series includes minutes of the Board of Directors of McKenzie Seeds, extracts from minutes of the Board of Directors, information on shareholders of the company, notices of Board meetings, suggested meeting agendas, the President's annual report for 1967, and memos regarding Board meetings/business.
Storage Location
RG 3 A.E. McKenzie Company fonds
McS 1 Board of Directors
Related Material
Additional minutes for the meetings of the Board of Directors of McKenzie
Seeds, dating from the mid 1930's, are held in the Provincial Archives of Manitoba.
Minute excerpts for the Board of Directors are located in the Document sub-series in the file titled By-Laws for 1940-1985.
The Brandon Board of Trade was founded in 1883 to promote business activity and economic expansion in Brandon. Aside from these records, no other records of the Board of Trade are known to exist.
Custodial History
See fonds level description of custodial history of A.E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
Sub-series includes the intervention of the Board in the 1910 municipal election in Brandon and a listing of the standing committee for 1911. The sub-series also includes a letter to Mr. Blanchard from A.E. McKenzie and a financial statement for the Brandon Commercial Bureau.
The Brandon Allied Arts Council was established in the fall of 1959 and spring of 1960. At that time a Foundation was set up, consisting of six men 'of affairs' in Brandon, who were to act as Trustees and administer gifts, bequests and all capital expenditures. The men asked to serve were: Judge Buckingham, Roy Armstrong (Manager of the Royal Bank), Lasby Lowes, R.A. Clement, Victor Sharpe and D.R. Doig.
From the beginning A.E. McKenzie was a great supporter of the Allied Arts Council. Shortly before his death in 1964 McKenzie proposed leaving his home at 436 Victoria Ave. to the Arts Council to be used as an art gallery. Following a great deal of debate it was finally decided, sometime after McKenzie's death, to decline the offer.
Custodial History
See fonds level description of custodial history of A.E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series has been divided into two periods, the first dealing with A.E. McKenzie and the Arts Council and the second concerning Lasby Lowes and the Arts Council.
Included within the sub-series is correspondence to McKenzie from Marion Doig of the Arts Council relating the progress of the establishment of the Council through the fall of 1959 to the summer of 1960. It also includes correspondence between McKenzie and R.A. Clement regarding the gift of McKenzie's home to the Brandon Allied Arts Council, and correspondence between McKenzie and the Chairman of Nominations, Brandon Allied Arts Council.
The records generated during the Lasby Lowes period revolve primarily around the estate of A.E. McKenzie. Included is correspondence between The National Trust, Sutherland Agencies Limited, Kathleen Roberts (nee McKenzie), Canadian Diebold Safe Co., G.R. Rowe (President of Arts Council), Green Blankenstein Russell Associates, Income Tax Department, Winnipeg, Monarch Life Assurance Company and Lasby Lowes. Other correspondence deals with Lowes' role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brandon Allied Arts Council.
Also included within the sub-series is a photocopy of the Memorandum of Agreement that established the "Brandon Allied Arts Foundation" (1960).
The sub-series has been divided into two sub sub series, including: (1) 1.3.1 A.E. McKenzie and the Brandon Allied Arts Council (1959-64); and (2) 1.3.2 Lasby Lowes and the Brandon Allied Arts Council (1964-68).
Additional Information on the Brandon Allied Arts Council is located in the
Brandon Art Club fonds 03-2001 in the S.J. McKee Archives.
Series 5 (Photographs) contains newspaper clippings concerning the gift of McKenzie's house to the Brandon Allied Arts Council in oversized drawer #4.
