Laurie V. Smith served as the President of the Brandon Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion during the 1940s.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes correspondence, policy documents, and publications relating to the activities of the Royal Canadian Legion, primarily in Brandon under the Presidency of Laurie V. Smith, during and after the Second World War. Prominant themes include the aquiring of gifts for hospitalized veterans, primarily through the Canadian Legion Christmas Tree project, veteran rehabilitation, and promotion of the Canadian Victory Loans project.
The International Toastmistress Club was officially organized in October of 1938, in California by Ernestine White. White thought that communication was the key to success in government, business, and community service. The purpose of the club was to help women gain communication and leadership skills. The North Central Region of the International Toastmistress Club began with the formation of the Winnipeg Toastmistress Club in 1946-47. This club was the first Toastmistress Club in Manitoba and the second club in Canada. The idea of forming a Toastmistress Club in Winnipeg came partly from some members of the Toastmaster Club in the city who had heard of the women's club formed in California. Other North Central Toastmistress Clubs soon followed, including more clubs in Winnipeg, and others throughout southern and central Manitoba, such as the Yellow Quill (Portage), Fort La Bosse (Virden), Colleen (Killarney), Cornucopia (Neepawa), Dauphin, Prairie Horizons (Brandon), Valley Echoes (Swan River), Urban Acres (Brandon), and Kinrossie (Souris) Toastmistress Clubs. The North Central Region was renamed the Land O'Lakes Region in 1966. In 1985, the International Toastmistress Club became the International Training in Communication organization.
Custodial History
This fonds was deposited at the McKee Archives on June 2, 1995 by Marlene Brichon of Brandon, Manitoba.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes a scrapbook made by the Urban Acres Toastmistress Club of Brandon, which spans the years 1963-1977. The scrapbook includes pictures, newspaper clippings, and programs. The fonds also includes the minutes of the Urban Acres Club from 1973-1986 and the club's reports from 1964-1986. A large number of newsletters such as the C4 News, Land O'Lakes Schooner, Ten-Talk, The Communicator, Pieces of Eight, and The Gavel, running from 1967-1990, as well as the official newsletter of the International Toastmistress Club "Toastmistress" from 1963-1972 are included. Fonds contains a history of the Winnipeg Toastmistress Club, as well as a history of the North Central Region, which later became the Land O'Lakes Region. There are also brief histories of the Yellow Quill, Urban Acres, Greenmantle, and Nellie McClung Toastmistress Clubs. Included in the fonds are bylaws and standing rules of the Land O'Lakes clubs, as well as the charters of the Yellow Quill, Colleen, Cornucopia, Fort La Bosse, Dauphin, and Prairie Horizons Clubs. A large part of the record consists of the minutes from international and regional meetings for the years 1969 to 1988. The fonds includes a public relations survey from the Land O'Lakes Region 1977-78, evaluations of various council meetings, Land O'Lakes' agendas and budgets from 1980-1985, and lists of Land O'Lakes executives. Finally, the fonds contains reports from various Land O'Lakes clubs from 1968-1992, as well as Land O'Lakes rosters from 1979-1985.
Reg Forbes was born September 16, 1924. He and his wife Clara have two children, Bob and Faye. Forbes served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Navigator during World War II. From 1945-1949, he attended the University of Manitoba where he received his B.Sc.A. While working as Village Councillor and as Secretary-Treasurer for the Pilot Mound Hospital, Forbes initiated the "Save the Soil Campaign," a soil conservation programme that became province-wide, between 1952-1962.
From 1956-1975, Forbes was the Principal of the Agricultrual Extension Centre in Brandon, where he reorganized the Adult Education Centre into the Agricultural Extension Centre. During this period, Forbes was a founding member of the West-Man Regional Development Corporation and a founder of the Manitoba Committee on Rural Leadership. He was also instrumental in the amalgamation of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair and the Provincial Exhibition and in the resulting construction of the Keystone Centre.
From 1975-1977 Forbes was a Commissioner for the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission (Hall Commission/GHTC). Following his work with the Commission, Forbes was employed as the General Manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba (1977-1979), the Director of the Grain Handling & Transportation Section of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture (1979-1983), the Industrial Commissioner for the Brandon Industrial Commission (1983-1986), and as the Westarc Group Inc. Project Director for delivery under contract of Canadian Rural Transition Programme in Manitoba.
Forbes also held a number of voluntary and elected positions, such as Long-term Director and President of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair and of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. In 1970-1971, he was the President of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, and from 1978-1981, Forbes was the first chairman of the Agricultural Advisory Committee of the Canadian Broadcasting Corportation. He was also a member of the Canada West Foundation Board, the Brandon University Board of Governers (1974-1976), and the Federal-Provincial Transportation and Industrial Development Advisory Committee (TIDAC). Forbes is also a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada. In 1977, he received the Jubilee Medal and in 1987, he was given the Distinguished Agrologist Award by the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
Custodial History
Reg Forbes donated his working collection of briefs, correspondence and other documents relating to his work as a commissioner of the Grain Handling and Transportation Committee (GHTC) to the McKee Archives c. 1985.
Scope and Content
The majority of the collection consists of records created and received by the Royal Commission on Grain Handling and Transportation (GHTC). Included are documents detailing numerious hearings from all four Western provinces. In addition to the GHTC hearings, there are also a number of documents given to the GHTC as reference material. These include information on the Snavely Commision, documents for the province of Alberta, various reports, the Prairie Regional Studies in Economic Geography (No. 1-27) and General Information. The collection also includes two maps given to the GHTC.
The Fairfax/Elgin United Church was formed in 1921, combining the Methodist (founded in 1889), and Presbyterian (founded in 1887) congregations in these communities. In 1968, the Elgin and Souris congregations joined and, in 1969, the original Elgin United Church was sold to the Fairfax Community Club.
Custodial History
The fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains minute books (1922-1968), account books (1953-1970), account statements (1966-68), one annual report (1967), and documents of insurance and property transfer (1960-1970) concerning the Fairfax/Elgin United Church.
Photograph was tranfered to the McKee Archives from the Gymnasium in December 2011 during the construction of the Healthy Living Centre.
Scope and Content
Item is a team portrait of the 1962-1963 Brandon College men's basketball team. The team were Western Manitoba Senior "B" Champions. Missing from the photograph: Ken Bellas.
The Chater Protestant School District was established in 1883, with the arrival of settlers in southwestern Manitoba. In 1890, it became the Chater School District following school reform in Manitoba. The original Protestant District school was a wooden structure constructed in the village of Chater a few miles east of Brandon, Manitoba. In 1906, funds were raised for the building of a cement structure to replace the original wooden one. The Chater School District was dissolved in 1966, but the school house continued to serve as a community center until 1973, when it was demolished.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes minutes of the School Trustees (1891-1931, 1940-1959), teaching contracts (1937-1957), financial records of the school (1939-1958), a booklet titled "The Public School Act, The Education Department Act, The School Attendance Act, The Teachers Retirement Allowances Act"(1954), and a collection of school registers (1912-13, 1915-49, 1954-55, 1957-58) from the Chater School District. Included within the minute books of the Chater School District are financial records for the "Chater Association of Patrons of Industry, charter # 3532" (1891-1895). Also included is an ink stamp reading "Chater Protestant School District, No. 181, Manitoba Canada."
The construction of the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium was considered first during a meeting of the Brandon City Council in 1953. In 1962, the City of Brandon was given permission by Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin to proceed with the construction of the auditorium as a centennial project to celebrate Canada's centennial in 1967. Constructed on the Brandon University campus, the auditorium was completed in early 1969.
Custodial History
This collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of one scrapbook with newspaper clippings and pamphlets about the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium and its construction.
James Buckley was born in Arnprior, Ontario in 1877. He moved to Manitoba in 1904. In 1906, he settled in Brandon, Manitoba where he was employed as a Canadian Pacific Railway conductor for thirty-six years. In the same year he arrived in Brandon, Buckley married Helenea Stavenaw. Togerher they had two daughters Ruth and Margaret. James Buckley was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors and the Knights of Columbus. He passed away in Brandon, Manitoba on December 8, 1957.
Custodial History
Fonds passed into the hands of Buckley's daughter Margaret following the death of Helenea (Stavenaw) Buckley in 1959. Following Margaret's death the fonds was retained by Lesley Liversidge who donated the fonds to the Daly House Museum in 2004. The Museum then donated the fonds to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds includes Conductors' Local Passenger tariff No. C 6 Brandon to Moose Jaw in effect June 23, 1918; Constitution of Railway Conductors of America revised and adopted May 4, 1925; CPR Rules for Heating, Ventilating, Lighting and for operation of water rising system on passenger equipment, revised January 1924; Souvenir, Canada's Great Inland Port Fort William and Port Arthur [n.d.] 127 illustrations; poster The Spirit of 1918: Sticking To It, supplement to The Graphic, The Railway Conductor, July, 1939 Royal Visit Edition; Wonderland of Canada, The Rocky Mountains Specially Selected Views of the Canadian Rockies on the Canadian Pacific Line, photographs by WM Notman & Son. Valentine & Sons, Publishing Company, Montreal and Toronto[n.d.]; Over the Kettle Valley Route British Columbia published for Canadian Pacific Railway News Service 20 pp. [n.d.]; postcard with steam engine traveling through a flooded rail-line and CNR key.
In 1988, Sheila Doig was the Rural Liaison Coordinator for the Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women. That winter, she travelled to Crystal City, Manitoba, to meet with a group of women that included Verna Menzies. At the meeting, the women were concerned about the efforts of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to amend the Constitution so that Quebec would sign on. They believed that the amending document, The Meech Lake Accord, would jeopardize women’s rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Thus began a chain of events that resulted in the formation of The Westman Coalition for Equality Rights under The 1987 Meech Lake Accord. The group became known simply as The Westman Coalition. During the years 1988-1990, these women—almost all grassroots rural women with no special training in things constitutional—met with and lobbied politicians, other feminists, and the public in order to change Meech Lake or defeat it.
There were many high points to this campaign. Sheila conducted an extensive tour of rural and northern Manitoba, recruiting women to express their concerns in writing to Ottawa. The Coalition presented briefs to the Manitoba hearings and to the Charest Commmission. They were only permitted to appear at the latter after they picketed the hearings in Winnipeg and demanded that women be heard. They were courted by the national media for comments, and became adept at handling interviews and public appearances.
After much turmoil, in June 1990, Meech Lake was defeated in the Manitoba legislature by Elijah Harper on behalf of Aboriginal peoples, who had largely been left out of the constitutional debate. The Coalition was there to support him and to show the face of women, who also felt that they had not been heard.
This should have been the end of Canada’s constitutional debate, but Prime Minister Mulroney was determined to succeed where others had failed, and so a new process (the Charlottetown Accord, as it became known) was soon under way to bring Quebec into the fold by amending the Constitution. This time there was endless consultation with the public, and the women scrambled to respond to the many commissions and hearings. There were the Spicer Commission, the Manitoba hearings, the Dobbie/Beaudoin committee and so on. Finally, there were five (and later, six) constitutional conferences to be held around the country. Ordinary Canadians would be invited to apply to attend, and they would be chosen randomly.
The women were invited to 5 of the 6 conferences. Just a coincidence of random selection? Or a consequence of their high profile in the debate? They thought the latter. In any event, Terri Deller, Kady Denton, Paula Mallea and Sheila Doig all attended at various venues and advanced the position of women on equality rights and on the other issues on the table.
A high point of this second campaign was the visit to Brandon of Marcelle Dolment from Quebec City. As one of the few vocal feminists in Quebec who opposed the new Charlottetown proposal, she was a precious ally. She came to meet with the women, forge solidarity, and show that French and English, Quebec and The Rest of Canada, were capable of meeting and coming to agreement.
Sheila conducted another rural tour in 1992, and also attended the Annual General Meeting of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, where she felt she was given short shrift.
The women were discouraged on many fronts during this campaign. They were out of pocket many thousands of dollars, and the promised funding from the Secretary of State for the Status of Women was finally denied. As well, despite herculean efforts to put their position to politicians and the media, the women felt again as though they were not being heard.
By this time, the Coalition had developed a position on all of the salient issues under the Charlottetown process: property rights, distinct society, an interpretative clause, equal representation of women in the Senate, the economic agenda and the Canada Clause. In the summer of 1992, Canadians were finally shown the text of the Charlottetown Accord and were told that they would be voting on it in a referendum, even though the text was not in its final form.
The women waged a final campaign asking people to vote “No” to the Charlottetown proposals. Politicians, business leaders, many academics and constitutional experts were saying that “No” would mean immediate Quebec separation and the breakdown of the country. The same had been said of Meech Lake. The women of the Coalition did not believe that the country was so frail, and they were proved right. On October 26, 1992, the country voted “No”.
Secretary of State finally came through with funding to cover the Coalition’s many expenses, thanks largely to the efforts of M.P. Lee Clark.
Sheila Doig was awarded the prestigious Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person’s Case for her work on behalf of rural women. Paula was given the Manitoba Human Rights Award for her work on the constitution.
All of the women who were involved in the Meech and Charlottetown campaigns felt that their lives had been changed by the experience. Like ordinary Canadians everywhere, they did not believe that they could have any real influence over constitutional affairs, much less national politics. They knew nothing about constitutions or the law of the Charter, but they educated themselves on the issues, and became articulate and incisive advocates. They were fearless in front of Prime Ministers and news anchors. They entered corridors of power that they had never thought possible. They were, then and now, a force to be reckoned with.
The Westman Coalition became Women for Equality (WE) after the Charlottetown campaign. They met for many years every week to discuss the issues of the day. Then, as various members dispersed, the group waned. A new crisis threatening the equality rights of women, however, would surely revive what was once a powerful grassroots lobby.
Custodial History
Paula Mallea was using the records in accession 9-2004 to write a book on the Westman Coalition on Equality Rights ("The Fight for Women's Rights: Meech, Charlottetown and Manitoba women" published 2005). Once she was finished with the records, her husband, former president of Brandon University John Mallea, delivered three boxes of records to the Archives in 2004. A small number of photographs were donated later.
The records in accession 4-2011 were originally in the possession of Shiela (Doig) Kingham. They were given to Terri Deller who donated them to the McKee Archives in 2011.
Scope and Content
Accession 9-2004 (96 cm textual records, 9 video tapes - 1987-1993) contains the records of the Westman Coalition on Equality Rights in the Canadian Constitution including newspaper clippings 1988-1991, dealing with the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord and the failed ratification of both; meeting notes and agendas of the Coalition 1987-1993; miscellaneous documents dealing with Canadian constitutional reform circa 1988-1993; documents related to the Manitoba Task Force on Meech Lake; correspondence 1987-1993; budget matters; rural tour by Coalition members; constitutional proposals development and submitted by the Coalition; miscellaneous files relating to Meech Lake and Charlottetown; a file dealing with Manitoba first-wave feminist Nellie McClung; and published commentary on the Charlottetown Accord.
Accession 9-2004 also contains 2 video tapes of an interview conducted with Elsie McLaughlin, niece of Nellie McClung, as well as 7 additional video tapes consisting of panels with Coalition members, information sessions, Meech Lake workshops, the Westman Coalition meeting with Jean Chretien and Sheila Doig receiving the Governor General's Award.
Accession 4-2011 (6.5 cm textual records - 1989-1999) consists of the records of the Westman Coalition on Equality Rights in the Canadian Constitution including notes on the origin and activities of the Coalition; a grant application - 1992 - by the Coalition; Coalition proposals and lobbying stragegies concerning the Meech Lake Accord; a brief to the Special Committee on the Companion Resolution to Meech April 1990; a brief to the Manitona All-Party Task Force on the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord, April 1990; a brief to the Dobbie Commission, November 1991; correspondence, clippings and e-mails concerning Coalition activities; book drafts - history of the Coalition - Paula Mallea, February 1996 and spring 1996; a brief to the Manitoba Legislative Task Force on Canadian Unity [nd]; copies of letters "Rural Tour" 1992; and several published sources on constitutional matters.
Notes
History/Bio information provided by Paula Mallea. See Paula Mallea, The Fight for Women's Rights: Meech, Charlottetown and Manitoba Women (Kagawong, Ont.: Paula Mallea, 2005).
The Brandon Golf and Country Club was created in 1914, to serve the recreational needs of Brandon's social and economic elite. Leading Brandon politicians, professionals, and businessmen belonged to the club and served on its executive. The club was a place for Brandon's elite to play golf and socialize, and was affiliated with the Royal Canadian Golf Association. The club included a separate Verandah Club composed of women. In 1926, the Brandon Golf and Country Club became a member of the Canadian Ladies Golf Union. The club sponsored dances and dinners for its members. Strict policies for non-members were enforced. Brandon residents that were not members of the club could only play golf once a week, had to pay daily green fees, and had to be invited and accompanied by a member.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one scrapbook that runs from 1914-1948. The scrapbook contains minutes from director and shareholder meetings, as well as notices of upcoming meetings. There are also secretary and treasurer reports included in the scrapbook. Finally, there are a few newspaper clippings dealing with the club included in the scrapbook.
The Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club was organized on May 14, 1959. The group received its charter on September 15, 1959 at a ceremony that included guests from Minnedosa, Neepawa, Dauphin, Brandon, and Portage La Prairie. The first president of the club was Mrs. Julie Johnson. In September 1959 the club had 15 members. The Minnedosa Club became the thirteenth Business and Professional Women's Club chartered in Manitoba. The purpose of the club was to train and educate women in business and the professions and to promote women's participation in local, provincial, and national affairs. The club included many committees such as the Public Relations, Membership, Survey and Archives, Programme and Projects, Social and Courtesy, International Affairs, Budget and Finance, Federation Promotion, Personal Development, Public Affairs, and Resolutions, Legislation and Employment Committees. The Minnedosa Club held exhibitions, hosted guest speakers, observed Business Women's Week, and held workshops for all of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs in Manitoba on a few occasions. Over the years the club made many donations to the Minnedosa Museum, the Minnedosa Centennial Committee, and charities such as UNICEF, Ramallah Fund, Children's Aid, and United Way. The Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club was very concerned with the status of women in Canada and around the world. The Minnedosa Club disbanded in May 1980. After the disbanding of the club, the women who were involved in the club formed the Just For Fun Club.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2002. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds is comprised mainly of four scrapbooks, which run from 1959-1979, 1959-1963, 1959-1964, and 1977-1979. The scrapbooks contain photos, newspaper clippings, Christmas cards, correspondence and programs. The clippings relate to Business and Professional Women's Clubs from around Manitoba, while focusing on the Minnedosa Club. Many of the clippings also focus on the status of women in Canada and the rest of the world.
Fonds also contains financial records and minutes from the years 1959-1980. There is also a copy of the club's bylaws, as well as monthly membership reports from 1976-1980. The fonds also includes a brief typed history of the Minnedosa Club, as well as other loose newspaper clippings, programs, songbooks, and correspondence. Finally, there are three guestbooks included in the collection. The first runs from 1959-1978. The second guestbook is from the Art and Ceramic Display and Tea, held on May 27, 1972. The third guestbook is from the Art and Ceramic Dispay and Tea, held on May 29, 1976.
Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club (10-2002); Minnedosa Business and Professional Women's Club (11-2002); Neepawa Business and Professional Women's Club (12-2002); Trilliam Business and Professional Women's Club (2-2006).
The Brandon Women's Musical Club was formed in 1945 by Miss Peggy Sharpe and Miss Hilda Smith. Together with a group of women from around Brandon, they managed to form a large club for, according to the club's constitution, "the study of vocal and instrumental music, literature and related arts and the encouragement of promising Junior Artists under eighteen years of age." With these goals in mind, the club undertook to provide tuition for young music students and contributed to the formation of the Brandon Women's Musical Choral Club. The club held meetings during which club members listened to guest speakers and observed performances by local musical and dance groups, as well as some national musical stars. The group also sponsored performances of musicals, plays, and recitals, and held an annual Christmas party.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2002. Previous custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds is composed predominantly of two scrapbooks, one of which covers the years 1953-1960, the other the years 1960-1965. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings about the Musical Club's meetings and performances. There is also a file containing miscellaneous correspondence, the constitution and bylaws of the group, the club's membership lists from 1959-1964, and questionnaires about the Women's Musical Club.
