Margaret Menzies was born on July 30th, 1920, at a family farm located in Oakburn, Manitoba. She grew up on the family farm and attended school in both Oakburn and Shoal Lake. She married Donald Menzies on June 4th, 1941. Together they had four children. In 1959, the family moved to Brandon, Manitoba, where they lived for the rest of their lives.
Margaret Menzies was a longtime and active member of the International Toastmistress Club (ITC), and was also involved in the Consumers Association of Canada, Seniors for Seniors, as well as being a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Central United Church. Menzies did not graduate from high school in her early years, but managed to continue her education and receive a bachelor of arts degree from Brandon University at the age of 70.
Margaret Menzies passed away on June 9th, 2012.
Custodial History
Records in the collection were brought to the S.J McKee Archives on July 13, 2012, by Gerald Brown, on behalf of the family of Margaret Menzies.
Scope and Content
Collection contains of two scrapbooks created by Margaret Menzies. The scrapbooks contain various cards, itinerary's, and other documents associated with Menzies' membership in the International Toastmistress Club. The items in the scrapbooks date from the mid 1980's to the late 1990's.
Also included in the collection are four local history books. The first is a 100 year history of the town of Oakburn, Manitoba, from 1870 to 1970, published during celebrations of Manitoba's centenniary in 1970. Next is a book about the history of the town of Shoal Lake, Manitoba, which was published in 1959 on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the town of Shoal Lake in 1909. The last two books are the first and second volumes of Ripples on the Lake, which cover the history of the Shoal Lake municipality from 1884. The first volume covers the first 100 years of the history of the Shoal Lake region, being published in 1984. The second volume was published in 2007, covering the history of Shoal Lake since 1984, as well as including new information that was not published in the 1984 version of the book.
Finally, the collection contains one photograph of Margaret Menzies receiving her bachelor of arts degree from Peter Hordern, dean of arts of Brandon University.
Notes
Biographical information provided by obituary entry in the Brandon Sun, June 16, 2012. Description by Tyler Warren (October 2012).
View is northeast from the Brandon College Building. Photograph shows the inside of the Brandon College Building after it had been gutted and then partially rebuilt. The exterior fascade of the west side of the building can be clearly seen in this photograph. A number of houses on the east side of 200 block of 18th Street are also visible, as is the stone fence on Princess Avenue and the flag pole on the front lawn.
Brandon College looking south from 19th Street. Photograph was taken after Flora Cowan Hall was built but before construction of the Education Building.
View is northeast probably from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the new roof on Clark Hall and the Brandon College Building. A portion of the east side of the 000 and 100 blocks of 18th Street, as well as the corner of 18th Street and Rosser Avenue are visible in the upper left hand corner. This includes the "Downtown Brandon" sign.
View is north northeast probably from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the new roof on Clark Hall and the Brandon College Building, as well as the construction of the extension to Clark Hall and the skywalk. Portions of the city as far north as the Assiniboine River are also visible.
View is north northeast from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the campus under construction during the renovation of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall. The photograph was taken in late fall after the roof had been removed from the buildings but before the construction of the extension of Clark Hall. Construction materials litter the courtyard and driveway. The view looking north extends to The North Hill - a number of residential blocks, particularly to the northeast of 18th Street are visible. Buildings include the International Harvester Building and Kin Village.
View is north northeast probably from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the new roof on Clark Hall and the Brandon College Building, as well as the construction of the extension to Clark Hall and the skywalk. The view looking north extends to The North Hill - a number of residential blocks, particularly to the northeast of 18th Street are visible. Buildings include the International Harvester Building and Kin Village.
View is southwest from approximatley 16th Street between Princess and Rosser Avenues. Photograph shows the Brandon University campus, as well as surrounding residential blocks, including Flemming, J.R. Reid and Vincent Massey schools.
View is west southwest from approximatley 16th Street between Princess and Lorne Avenues. Photograph shows the Brandon University campus, as well as surrounding residential blocks between 16th and 23rd Streets, Princess and Louise Avenues..
View is west from approximatley 17th Street between Lorne and Louise Avenues. Photograph shows a portion of the Brandon University campus (excluding the Education Building and anything north of it), as well as surrounding residential blocks from approximatley 17th Street to 22nd Street.
View is west northwest from approximatley 16th Street and Louise Avenue. Photograph shows the Brandon University campus, prior to the Library Extension, and a large portion of the city to the west of the campus.
View is northwest from approximatley 16th Street and Louise Avenue. Photograph shows the Brandon University campus, prior to the Library Extension, and a large portion of the city to the west of the campus.
Image shows the Brandon College campus from 17th Street looking southwest. The photo was taken after the completion of the original Music Building in 1963, but construction of the Education Building. Also visible are a number of properties on the 200 block of 18th Street and the 200 block of 20th Street.
Image is looking east northeast from approximately the 300 block of 23rd Street between Lorne and Louise Avenues. Photograph shows the Brandon College campus after the opening of the original Music Building in 1963, but before the construction of the Education Building in 1966. A number of house on the 300 blocks of 22nd and 21st Streets are visible in the foreground, with the A.E. McKenzie Seed Co., the Prince Edward Hotel and various grain elevators on the horizon.
View is northwest from the roof of the John R. Brodie Science Centre. Photograph shows the roof of the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre, the Citizens' Science Building, and the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall during renovation.
Photograph was taken from the roof of the Library and shows the walkway and flower bed on the southeast corner of the George T. Richardson Centre. The Physical Plant H-Hut is visible in the top right hand corner.
View is southwest from the roof of the George T. Richardson Centre. Photograph shows the curved glass wall of the John E. Robbins Library, the walkway between the Library and the Dining Hall, the Dining Hall and Darrach Hall.
Music in the Brandon Community was created by Brandon University student Richard Bee for the course Advanced Topics in Oral History. The project was conducted under advisement from Dr. Rhonda Hinther, BU History Department. Interviews were conducted by Bee with members of the Brandon community - Bill Campbell, Elizabeth Grant, Bill and Sue-On Hillman, Ian Robinson and Bill Turner - between June 9-July 7, 2015, about their experences in the local musical community.
Following the completion of the interviews, Bee created a transcript of the Hillman interview, at their request. Interview logs were created for all other interviews. Bee used the interviews to write an essay titled "Oral History and Community Music: A Case Study of Brandon, MB," which he submitted to Hinther to meet course requirements.
Custodial History
As part of the ethics approval for the project, records created were slated for donation to the SJ McKee Archives. Bee donated the materials to the McKee Archives in July 2015.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of consent forms, interview logs, one interview transcript, a copy of Bee's case study and the six audio recordings of interviews conducted with community members.
All of the interviews detail the interviewee's experiences in and around Brandon regarding music in the community: Brent Campbell’s interview discusses his life as a music teacher in Brandon, his life, and his participation in Brandon Jazz; Dr. Elizabeth Grant’s interview discusses her life, her teaching career at Brandon University and her musical career, including the Brandon Conservatory Chorale, which she founded; Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s interview discusses their lives individually and together, their careers, and how music influenced their lives; Ian Robinson’s interview discuses the operation of Ted Good Music, his life and performances in Brandon; and Bill Turner’s interview discusses his life, radio career, and the Brandon community.
Bee's case study primarily covers first-person accounts of people in the Brandon Community involved in music. It includes topics such as faculty at BU's School of Music, performance experiences, and personal experiences of interviewees in and around Brandon and Canada.
Notes
Description by Hope Penner (September 2018) and Christy Henry
Finding Aid
The interviews and interview logs are available in Branond University's institutional repository, IRBU at: https://irbu.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/irbu%3ARBeeC
