Sub-series consists of teaching and related school materials that belonged to Alex MacPhail, Marion MacPhail, Iain MacPhail and John Armstrong. It includes the following sub sub series: (1) Manitoba Correspondence College; (2) Iain MacPhail; (3) Marion MacPhail; and (4) Miscellaneous publications and curriculum materials.
Series contains private papers from various professors and administrators at Brandon College.
It has been divided into the following sub-series:
MG 1 1.1 Rev. Dr. Samuel James McKee
MG 1 1.2 Rev. Dr. Franklin W. Sweet
MG 1 1.3 Mrs. Olive Wilkins
MG 1 1.4 Thomas Russell Wilkins
MG 1 1.5 Esther Magdalene Moore
MG 1 1.6 Thomas Hector McLeod
MG 1 1.7 Albert Edward McKenzie
MG 1 1.8 Evan McDonald Whidden
MG 1 1.9 Sarah Persis Darrach
MG 1 1.10 J.R.C. Evans
MG 1 1.11 Martin Johns
MG 1 1.12 Wilfred McCutcheon
The Brandon University Teaching and Administration series is an artificially created collection. It contains the private papers of former Brandon University faculty and staff.
Scope and Content
The series has been divided into the following sub-series:
MG 3 1.1 Errol Black
MG 3 1.2 John Mallea
MG 3 1.3 John Tyman
MG 3 1.4 Lorelei Cederstrom
MG 3 1.5 William Morrison
MG 3 1.6 Ken Hanly
MG 3 1.7 John Welsted
MG 3 1.8 Henri Francq
MG 3 1.9 D.R. MacKay
MG 3 1.10 R.B. Inch
MG 3 1.11 Dale Lakevold
MG 3 1.12 George MacDowell
MG 3 1.13 Donald Wheeler
MG 3 1.14 W.Leland Clark
MG 3 1.15 Bev Nicholson
MG 3 1.16 John Everitt
MG 3 1.17 Michael Blanar
MG 3 1.18 Christy Henry
MG 3 1.19 May Yoh
MG 3 1.20 Francis Chaplin
MG 3 1.21 John Weldon Grant
MG 3 1.22 Harvey Young
MG 3 1.23 Lorne Watson
MG 3 1.24 Lawrence Jones
Storage Location
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
Laura Anne Orchard was born on July 31, 1909 at Graysville, MB to Jeannie and Harold Orchard. She was the fourth of six children. In 1912, the family moved to Glenorchie Farm in the Morton district near Miami, MB.
Laura attended Morton School and Miami High School, completing Grade XI, then attended Manitou Normal School in 1928-1929. She taught in one-room schools: Bracken near Laurier (1929-1930); Rothesay near Isabella (19301-1931 or 1932); and Badger near Roland (1932-1933).
After Laura married Hugh Loyns in 1934, they farmed near Roseisle, MB and raised two children, Shirley, who became a high school teacher, and Alwyn, who became a university professor.
Laura continued to work with young people through 4-H Clubs. She also served on Eldviado school board, the one-room school where her children attended. In 1958, Laura returned to teaching at Roseisle Consolidated School District until 1961. When Laura and Hugh left the farm to live in Vanderhoof, B.C., she worked as a resource teacher in Vanderhoof Elementary School from 1965-1974. Though she never completed Grade XII, she did continue to keep abreast of teaching methods through correspondence courses, workshops, and summer sessions.
In the late 1970's, Laura and Hugh retired to Chilliwack, B.C. Laura Anne Orchard died at Chilliwack on July 28, 1983.
Custodial History
The records in the collection were in the possession of Shirley Hicks, Laura Anne Orchard's daughter, until donated to the S.J. McKee Archives in September 2013.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records related to Orchard’s time at Manitou Normal School. The textual records include: An autograph book with signatures of all the students at Manitou Normal School; Department of Education Entrance examinations for drawing (1929), composition (1929,1930), science (1929), and physiology and hygiene (1930) ; a copy of the Manitou Normal School Closing Ceremonies programme (1929); a notebook on how to teach reading (c.1929); a lesson plan notebook containing notes on various subjects including Manitou Normal School executive, Students, Arithmetic, Primary Reading, Grammar, History, Poetry, Spelling, Geography, Geometry, Science, and class scores.
The collection also contains ten black and white reproduction photographs including: the 1928-1929 Manitou Normal School composite portrait; the Manitou Normal School building; Manitou Normal School Executive; Mr. Gordon, School Principal (1927-1930); various students; and an individual photo of Laura Orchard.
Notes
History/Bio information was provided by Shirley Hicks. Description by John Ball (2013).
JOHN CRAWFORD AND PRAIRIE COLLEGE:
Although Brandon College was officially created in 1899, its roots go back much further to the late 1870’s and early 1880’s. It was during this time that Reverend John Crawford built Prairie College which was located in Rapid City, Manitoba .
Rev. John Crawford was born in Castledawson, Ireland. While he was at boarding school in Belfast he was converted to the Baptist faith. His later education took place at Edinburgh University, Stephany College, and Regent Park Baptist College, all of which are located in Great Britain. He became a pastor in London, England, which is where he met his wife, a prominent and cultured lady.
Crawford felt that his calling was in the backwoods of Canada, so he soon moved his wife and family to a farm near Toronto where he continued to preach. He was asked to join the faculty of the Canadian Literary Institute, a Baptist institution located in Toronto. He accepted the position and taught there for several years. The CLI, as it was commonly known, was a Baptist theological college. It was renamed Woodstock College in 1883.
In 1879, Crawford saw the need for Baptist preachers in the newly opening territories of Western Canada. He felt that a self-sustaining college was the answer. Young men could work the land and gain religious education to prepare them for the ministry at the same time. He chose Rapid City, Manitoba as the site for his new college, because it was then recognized as an integral hub of the Northwest. It was also on the proposed transcontinental railway route. The students would build the college and cultivate the land. The Ontario Baptist Convention, while shying away from giving him official approval for the proposed college, did allow Crawford the liberty to canvass the Baptist churches in order to raise up to $2000 for the venture.
Crawford secured the help of Reverend G.B. Davis, a student at Woodstock and a graduate of Morgan Park College, Chicago, to teach and help train the students. In the summer of 1879, Davis and nine students reached Rapid City. During that summer they cultivated the land and built a two-story college building out of local stone. The following spring, Rev. John Crawford sold his house in Toronto for an estimated $4000 and moved with his family to Rapid City to take up residence at the new college.
The newly formed Prairie College opened in the fall of 1880 with 15 missionary students. Rev. Crawford was the Principal, Rev. Davis was the Vice-Principal, while Misses Emily and Fanny Crawford were teachers. Although the school was a success missionarywise, it did not do well financially. In 1883, Prairie College closed, partly due to financial troubles and partly due to the Ontario Baptists deciding that one Baptist Theological College in Canada was enough, and it was located in Toronto. The students at Prairie College were urged to finish their education in Toronto . This college would soon be known as McMaster University.
S.J. MCKEE AND RAPID CITY ACADEMY:
After the closing of Prairie College, Rev. Crawford left for the United States. However, Rev. Davis still saw a need for education in Rapid City and began to build another school. The Rapid City Academy opened in 1884. Because Davis accepted a pulpit in Moose Jaw soon after, he prevailed upon his brother-in-law, S.J. McKee , to come and take charge of the academy. McKee accepted the position, and the school flourished under his guidance.
In 1890, McKee decided that the school would do better and reach more people if it was located in Brandon, Manitoba, where the railway had eventually gone through. He moved the Academy, and it was housed in various buildings in the city, until he found a permanent resting spot on the third floor of the Stewart Block on Rosser Avenue and Ninth Street .
BRANDON COLLEGE:
During the 1890’s the Baptists began to reconsider their decision of having just one theological college. With the settlement of the West, the Baptists were looking to increase their congregation. It was thought that higher education for potential ministry students would greatly help the Baptist cause. Rev. A. J. Vining, who was the Baptist Superintendent of Missions for Manitoba and the Northwest at the time, strongly advocated a Baptist College in Manitoba.
In 1898, Vining interviewed Mr. William Davies, a prominent Baptist, in Toronto. Davies agreed to pledge $3500 a year for five years towards the establishment of a college in the West. His sister, Mrs. Emily Davies agreed to add $1500 to this amount. These pledges encouraged the 1898 meeting of the Manitoba Convention in Winnipeg to begin organization of a Baptist College to be located in Manitoba. A five member committee was chosen to consider the benefits of a Baptist college in Manitoba. Their report was to be read the following summer at the Portage La Prairie Convention.
At the 1899 meeting of the Convention, the five member committee recommended:
1. “That we proceed to inaugurate a movement for the establishment of a denominational school at once.
2. “That we extend a call to Dr. A.P. McDiarmid to act as Principal.
3. “That we appoint a committee of twenty-one directors.
4. “That at present the question of the site be left with the President and Board of Directors but that no site be considered permanent till endorsed by this Convention at a regular or special meeting.
On July 21st, 1899 it was resolved:
1. That we proceed to establish and develop an educational school at Brandon.
2. That the school be known as “Brandon College”.
3. That the quorum of the Board of Directors be fixed at eleven .
Because S.J. McKee already had a thriving academy in Brandon, and he was a staunch Baptist, it was decided to merge Professor McKee’s Academy with the newly formed Brandon College. The classes would take place in the Stewart Block, the site of the Academy. S.J. McKee was hired as professor in Classics, Mental Science and French, while also acting as the unofficial vice-principal. He also had a position on the Board of Directors. Arthur W. Vining, Howard P. Whidden, J.B. Beveridge, and Miss Annie Beveridge rounded out the first faculty of Brandon College.
The 1900 Brandon College Calendar states:
The College aims at not only the mental culture of its students, but at the development of right character. It recognizes the supreme importance of surrounding the student during the period of college life with positive Christian influences, and to keep before him distinctively Christian ideals. The transcendent worth of character is kept in view in molding the life of the College, while the best possible intellectual training is sought. Though Christian, the College is in no sense sectarian. Students of all denominations will enjoy equal privileges. In every department the professors and teachers must be members of some evangelical church; in the Theological Department alone it will be required that they shall be members of the Baptist denomination. The College in all its departments is open to students of both sexes. The faculty will have watchful regard to the best interests of the students in every respect. Those whose conduct and influence are found to be injurious to the welfare of the College will be dismissed if milder disciplinary methods fail to effect reform .
While the school would be run by the Baptists, it was always non-sectarian and co-educational. Students of all denominations were invited to attend Brandon College. The development of a person with the right character was as important as the mental culture of the students. Classes commenced on October 2, 1899. There were 110 students, 81 men and 29 women. Thirteen of these students had plans to enter the ministry. It soon became apparent that the building Brandon College occupied was far too small for its increasing numbers. Plans were drawn up in early 1900 to build a spacious college on the west edge of Brandon. Hugh McCowan was hired as architect and T.M. Harrington of Winnipeg was asked to build the school.
A charter creating Brandon College was written. This Act briefly defined the purposes, jurisdiction, and administrative framework of the College. The “Act to Incorporate Brandon College” was approved by the Province of Manitoba and assented to on June 1, 1900. It granted the Baptist Convention authority over all College affairs. This authority included the appointment of the College Directors and professors, the creation of rules and bylaws, as well as control over the school’s curriculum. While the Board of Directors had control over financial matters, all Board decisions had to be approved by the Convention .
The cornerstone for the new building was laid on July 13, 1900 by Mrs. William Davies. The College commenced classes in the new building, located at 270-18th street, on October 2, 1901. It cost approximately $44 000 to build. There was residence for 70-80 men as well as a dining room, kitchen, science laboratory, reception room, office, library and nine classrooms. The College consisted of an Academic Department, and Arts Department, a Theological Department, and a Business and Stenographic Department.
The Commercial courses were discontinued in 1916 due to financial difficulties during the war. In 1922, the Business Department of Brandon College was discontinued because the College could no longer afford to keep it operating.
The Academic Department consisted of Grades 9 through 12. Although it was a large and popular aspect of Brandon College, it began to decrease in size with the advent of secondary schools. Up until the early part of the twentieth century, most public schools stopped at around grade eight. After that, there were Normal schools that students could go to to become a teacher. Many students wishing to attend secondary school came to Brandon College, where a full secondary course was offered. By the 1920’s and 1930’s however, collegiates were becoming more commonplace. Students often didn’t have to travel as far to receive a higher education. By the early 1930’s most of the Academic Department had been discontinued because of lack of need and finances. By 1932, only the Grade Twelve course was still in operation.
Although one of the main intents behind building Brandon College had been to prepare students for the Baptist ministry, the Theological Department was always one of the smaller departments. By 1915, the Board of Directors had assumed authority over all College operations. However, the Baptist Union still maintained control over theological education, through the Committee on Ministerial Education created in 1908. In 1916, the department was curtailed considerably because of the war. An Educational Secretary, hired in 1919, managed the teaching of theology at Brandon College. The Educational Secretary also controlled the College Maintenance Fund, which was specifically set aside to ensure the financial health of theological education. The Baptist Union’s residual power over theological education led to the creation of the Brandon College Commission in 1923. This joint commission of the Baptist Union and College Senate examined several instructors, including Harris MacNeill, for alleged improper Biblical interpretations. These claims stemmed from Fundamentalist Baptists, who believed that the theological students at Brandon College were being taught by Modernists. The Commission found little evidence to support these allegations, and the instructors were later exonerated of all charges. Even with this decision, the College had to discontinue the Theological Department in 1927 due to lack of funds.
The College’s financial situation was very poor when Dr. Evans assumed control in 1928. The support from the Baptists was shaky, especially since the Fundamentalist-Modernist argument during the early 1920s. The Baptist Union Educational Committee recommended the Arts department be maintained as a significant training course for Christian leadership. The Committee wanted the re-establishment of the Department of Theology. In 1933, in an attempt to regain Baptist support, Rev. Ross C. Eaton was hired as Lecturer in Bible to help bring religious study back to the College. In 1934, John B. McLaurin was hired as Acting Professor in Theology. Dr. F.W. Pattison gave a Practical Theology course, while Dr. Evans made plans to increase the religious department even more. In 1935 Dr. C.B. Lumsden was appointed Professor of Theology, and in 1936, Rev. E.M. Whidden was appointed Head of the Department of Theology.
In 1905, plans commenced for the building of a Women’s Residence to adjoin Brandon College. On May 24th, 1906 Mrs. A.P. McDiarmid laid the cornerstone for what was to become known as Clark Hall. The building was named for C.W. Clark, a Winnipeg doctor who gave $30 000 of the $40 000 dollars needed to build the residence. Dr. Clark gave the money to Brandon College because he believed that women should have every chance to receive higher education. On October 18th of the same year, Clark Hall was officially opened, with room for 50 women.
With the expansion of the women’s department came programs that were geared towards young women of the era. A Music and Art Department was added to the College as was an Expression and Physical Culture Department. The heads of these departments were Abbie Helmer Vining, H. Hancock, and Gertrude Trotter. Miss Ernestine R. Whiteside was hired as Lady Principal and teacher of German and English.
With the rise in immigration during this time came the chance of expansion at Brandon College. There were large numbers of Scandinavian settlements in Manitoba, and it was thought that introducing a Scandinavian Department at the College would entice prospective Swedish missionary students. The students would return to their settlements after being educated by the Baptists, and it was hoped that they would spread the Baptist word among the Scandinavian settlers. Mr. Emil Lundquist was hired in 1907 to head the newly formed Scandinavian Department.
Physical fitness was stressed at Brandon College. Students were encouraged and expected to exercise. It was thought that a healthy body helped to create a healthy mind. There was more behind this ideal than simply healthy minds though, at least for the women students. During this period in history, it was often believed that women were not physically capable of learning to a great extent. It was thought that studying created too much of a stress on the female body, often leading to illness or permanent invalids. Before a girl was accepted to Brandon College, she had to furnish a letter from her doctor stating that she was physically able to go to school and study. As well, women were subjected to the “Clark Hall Line”, a daily two mile walk which was mandatory to all women. No matter what the weather was like they would pair up and, in a long line, walk down the streets of Brandon to the edge of the city. This line was often the cause of much amusement for the men of Brandon College. There were plenty of other sports offered at Brandon College for both men and women in an effort to keep the students physically active. This belief in physical fitness led to the development in 1908 of what was to become an annual College Field Day.
In 1908, the Baptist Convention of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories became the Baptist Union of Western Canada. This change reflected a restructuring of the Baptist organization. The Union had a meeting every three years that consisted of delegates sent from Baptist churches throughout western Canada. The Baptist Union Board carried on the affairs of the Union and met semi-annually. Each year the Board created a budget based on the needs of the Union, then allocated funds to Provincial and Conference Boards. These other Boards had the responsibility of financing their local institutions and projects. The Baptist Union was not in direct control over these expenditures. If the budget was not raised, the Union had to incur the provincial deficits. This situation of mounting debts continued for several years.
Principal McDiarmid’s title was changed to President McDiarmid in 1910. There is no document explaining this change, but it follows a trend in other colleges and universities during that period when the head of the school was known as the president.
Up until 1910, the College had been loosely affiliated with the University of Manitoba. The Baptists refused to accept the University of Manitoba model of a higher institution, and they continuously sought to get a separate University charter that would give Brandon College degree-granting privileges. It was because of the Baptists firm belief in the separation of church and state that they could not accept the University of Manitoba model, as it would place the College under state control. The college could not secure a charter of its own, so it was decided in 1910 that Brandon College would affiliate with McMaster University.
Brandon College was in debt following the construction of their first two buildings, and it became increasingly clear to the College Board that they could no longer rely solely on funding from the Baptist Union. In order to carry out their financial campaign and increase their administrative efficiency the Board felt it should control the College. In 1911 the Baptist Union was confronted with a proposal from Brandon College stating:
...in our confirmed judgment the work of the College should be under the immediate and unfettered direction of its own Board of Directors and Senate--that its Board of Directors, subject to the expressed general policy of the Baptist Union, control its business administration, and that its Senate should have direction of its education policies and work, viz., the determination of its courses of study, its curricula, its instruction, its examinations, etc.
It appears after this date that Brandon College was much more in control of its curricula and courses of study. However, the school still relied almost completely on the Union for financial support.
World War One began in 1914 and affected Brandon College greatly. Students were very patriotic to England, reflecting the ideals and propaganda of the time in their thoughts and actions. Classes shrunk as men enlisted, and military drilling in front of the College buildings became a commonplace scene. This was due to the fact that in 1915, a Canadian Officers Training Corps unit was established at Brandon College. A Brandon College platoon was organized as part of the Western Universities Battalion, the 196th.
Over thirty Brandon College men were killed during World War One. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, the students at Brandon College began fundraising to build a memorial gymnasium to honor their classmates who died during the war.
Brandon College began to consider expansion in 1920, when an extension fund campaign was started in an effort to raise money to build a science building. Meanwhile, Dr. Whidden was involved in a continuous effort to maintain the College financially. That year, Mr. William Davies died, and in his will he left $100 000 dollars to Brandon College, on the condition that people in the west could match the amount dollar for dollar.
Contributions to the College increased substantially with the 1923 arrival of Dr. Sweet, the new College President. He quickly gained the confidence of the Board of Directors, the faculty, the students, the community, and the Baptists. The motto of Brandon College up to this point in time seemed to have been “Speaking the Truth in Love”. But with the arrival of Dr. Sweet the motto appears to have been changed to “Education Crowned by Reverence”.
After the Stock Market crash in 1929, the financial situation of the College grew even worse. The Great Depression severely limited charitable contributions for both Brandon College and the Baptist Union during the 1930’s.
In 1931, the Baptist Union indicated by resolution that Brandon College would be closed at the end of the 1930-1931 school year unless the College could find a way to pay its own maintenance bills. The final announcement from the Baptist Union Board stated:
‘RESOLVED that the Board of Brandon College be requested to endeavor to continue the College in operation until the close of the current College year, and that in view of the inability of the Baptist Union to make provision for adequate financial support, that the College cease to operate at the end of the current College year .’
It was at this time the businessmen of Brandon, through the Brandon Board of Trade, began to get involved in the College situation. An organization called the Brandon College Citizens Campaign submitted a by-law that would raise $20 000 for the College for at least five years. The by-law had to be accepted by 60% of the ratepayers before it would be instituted. Despite a huge campaign effort, the by-law was rejected, mainly by the large working-class society in the city who did not see the need for higher education and who resented not being hired to do contract work there. After the by-law failed Brandon citizens raised $20 000 on their own to keep the school open for at least another year.
By 1937, the College was still financially unstable, and although the Western Baptists supported the institution, they could no longer afford to help with the costs. In 1938 the Baptist Union passed a resolution withdrawing completely from any financial responsibility for Brandon College.
BRANDON COLLEGE AS A NON-DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOL:
The citizens of Brandon began to look for ways to keep the College open. A delegation of 60 representatives from towns in southwestern Manitoba asked Premier John Bracken and the Minister of Education for assistance to help keep Brandon College open as a Western Manitoba Arts College under the direction of an independent Board and on a non-denominational basis. The Brandon Board of Trade created a Brandon College Committee. Its members looked into ways the College could be saved. A.E. McKenzie was one of the central figures in this fight to save Brandon College .
In July, McKenzie put up an offer of a $100 000 endowment for Brandon College. Shortly after that he upped the endowment to $300 000. The provincial government agreed to give the College $15 000 annually on the condition that the city of Brandon raise that amount as well and the $300 000 endowment was accepted. In September, McKenzie increased the endowment to $500 000 dollars, $100 000 of which would be revenue-bearing at 3%, which would raise $3000 a year for twenty years. Brandon was disappointed that the provincial government only offered $15 000, as they had originally asked for quite a bit more. However, they set about on a campaign to raise their share of the funds so that Brandon College could open for the fall term .
In September of 1938, Brandon College reopened under the affiliation of the University of Manitoba. A provisional Board of Directors, consisting of Dr. J.R.C. Evans, Mayor F.H. Young, A.E. McKenzie, N.W. Kerr, K.C., E.M. Warren, H.O. McDiarmid, M.D., A.G. Buckingham, K.C., F.R. Longworth, and R.B. Alexander, was responsible for the administering of the affairs of the college. These men were all prominent Brandon citizens who had been involved in the fight to save Brandon College. They tried to complete the campaign to cover financial obligations and assure permanency of the college. The provincial government said that they would raise their support from $15 000 to $22 500 per year if Brandon could pass a by-law guaranteeing support of the college.
On April 17, 1939, Bill 104 received assent as an Act of the Provincial Legislature incorporating Brandon College Incorporated. On June 6, a Brandon Bylaw was passed that approved the levying of one mill on the dollar from taxpayers for the next twenty years to help support Brandon College. This Bylaw assured that Brandon taxpayers would raise $5000 during the first year that it was levied, and this amount would increase during subsequent years as Brandon grew and prospered. On June 13, the Board of Directors approved recording of the Bill as the Charter of Corporation. The A.E. McKenzie endowment was authorized by Bylaw #5 of the corporation on December 19.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939 came the resurrection of the C.O.T.C. at Brandon College in 1940. Enrollment went down as young men and women joined the Armed Forces to go overseas. In order to keep the college out of debt, Dr. Evans created the War Emergency Fund in 1941. This fund raised $15 000 from 1941 to 1946. Scholarships were restarted at the college to help boost enrollment. Many of the scholarships were contingent on the recipient being a resident student in order to help raise residence numbers.
In 1945, the A.E. McKenzie Trust of 1939 was canceled, and 90% of A.E. McKenzie’s stockholdings were transferred to the control of the Province of Manitoba. The A.E. McKenzie Foundation was established using the annual declared dividends from the 90% of the stock. This foundation was administered by the Minister of Education of Manitoba, the President of Brandon College, and a third person to be decided on by both parties. The annual grant of $10 000 from the foundation would be increased by $4000 if a Social Science Chair was established at the college.
In 1946 that Brandon College hired its first Director of Public Relations. This man was Walter G. Dinsdale, a 1937 Brandon College graduate. A Guidance Committee was created in 1948. It was also during this year that Brandon College became an associate member of the National Conference of Canadian Universities. A Social Science Department was added in 1948, and the Biology Department was reorganized. In 1949 a Department of Political Science was created.
The Board of Directors passed a resolution in 1949 to create a committee to hire a director for a financial campaign. The campaign went poorly. Brandon College, although not in the same position as it had been a decade earlier, was still not secure financially. The citizens of Brandon, having been through the Depression and the war years, did not have much left to give to the College.
In 1951, the Federal Government provided the first of an annual fund of $8 000 000 to be divided between Canada’s universities and colleges based on enrollment figures. During this first year, Brandon College received $18 000 from the government.
Education was first offered at Brandon College in 1952 with the co-operation of the Department of Education and the University of Manitoba. In 1953, Brandon College became an associate member of the Association of Universities of the British Commonwealth.
The mortgage that had been assumed from the Baptists in 1939 was paid off in 1954. It was also during this year that Brandon College received its first new building since the 1922 Science Building. An “H-Hut” was moved onto the property and placed behind the Science Building. It was redecorated and used for student functions, a library, and a recreation area.
The Board of Directors increased from twenty one to thirty six in 1955. The provincial grant of $22 500 was raised to $50 000.
In 1957 the Brandon College Faculty Association was formed. This marked the beginning of the end of the ‘family’ structure of the college. A salary schedule was created in 1957 for the Arts and Science Departments. In November of 1958, the Expansion Committee of the Board of Directors was authorized to proceed with all aspects of expansion. By 1959, a new Arts and Library building was being planned.
On Thursday, July 23, 1959, Dr. Evans died suddenly while on holiday in Robson, British Columbia. Before he died he had managed to secure funding and plans for the new Arts and Library building and Lecture Theatre. The Manitoba Government granted $500 000 and the Canada Council $102 000 towards the building of a new Arts and Library Building and Lecture Theatre.
The new Arts and Library Building and the J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre were officially opened on January 6, 1961 by Mrs. John G. Diefenbaker (Olive Freeman, Class of 1923). It was also during 1961, that Brandon College welcomed its first overseas student. As well, J.E. Brodie, the former president of Great West Coal made a $200 000 gift to Brandon College, and gave $50 000 to the Expansion Fund.
The next several years were full of expansion for Brandon College. The Men’s Residence, Dining Hall and Heating Plant were opened in 1962. In 1963, a Women’s Residence and the Music Building were opened. A Gymnasium was opened in 1965.
The Board of Directors changed dramatically in the early 1960’s, becoming more influenced by the distribution of funds from government sources. Legislation in 1966 revised the Brandon College Act to reduce the number of members on the Board of Directors from thirty-six down to twelve. Seven of these twelve would be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council, and three would be appointed by the Brandon College Corporation. One member would be elected by the Alumni Association, and the College President would be a member ex-officio.
BRANDON COLLEGE BECOMES BRANDON UNIVERSITY:
1967 was an important year for Brandon College. Not only was a new Education Building opened, but the College ceased to exist. This was because a university charter had been granted to Brandon College. On July 1, 1967, Brandon College became Brandon University. Dr. John E. Robbins was appointed to be its first president. The university would enjoy a certain amount of freedom from the financial hardships it had endured over the past 68 years. As well, the university would no longer have its curriculum dictated to it from other institutions as it had during affiliation with McMaster University and the University of Manitoba.
Custodial History
The records have been located in a number of areas around the University including Clark Hall, the old Science building, the A.E. McKenzie building, and “the trailer”, which was a very old addition to Clark Hall and has now been removed from campus. The records are now in the S.J. McKee Archives located on the Brandon University campus.
Scope and Content
The fond consists of minutes, reports, correspondence, invoices, printed material, clippings and photographs. The collection spans from S.J. McKee’s personal papers from Rapid City Academy in the 1880’s through to the decision to grant university charter to Brandon College in 1967. It is a very interesting source for the history of Western Canada.
Several different themes emerge in the fond. A very central theme concerns Baptist higher education in Western Canada, higher education in general, the development of curriculum in Canada, and the Baptist Western Movement. The development of religious higher education, especially Baptist training, is well-documented.
Areas such as student associations, student life on campus, and women’s education are detailed in the collection. There is a very detailed look at the social aspects of college life, especially the difference between the genders in the realm of higher education. These themes can be found in the various Clark Hall scrapbooks and “Saturday Books” written by the lady principal.
An economic theme is prevalent for much of the early history of Brandon College due to various financial restraints that the College and Western Canada faced. These themes are especially noticed in the Bursar and Registrar records.
The administration of the corporation can be followed closely through the minutes and certain correspondence from the Board of Directors. A more in-depth look at the people involved in the running of an institution of higher learning can be found in the various personal papers of the presidents of the College.
There are also several military files, dealing with the creation and operation of a C.O.T.C. regiment on campus during both the First and Second World Wars. The fond also provides a glimpse of how the wars affected daily life on campus and their after-effects on the College.
The fonds also examines the effects that affiliation with other universities can have on curriculum, regulations and other aspects of College life.
Notes
The RG 1 Brandon College fonds description and finding aid were prepared by Karyn Taylor (nee Riedel) in August 1998.
McKee Archives: RG 6 Brandon University fonds. The Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster University contain the following records related to Brandon College: Correspondence (1911-1936); McMaster Chancellor's Correspondence (1895-1926); McMaster Chancellor's Reports; History (1962); Stone & Garnet History (1969); Calendars (1899-1938); Report of Commission 1923 (pamphlet); Fact Concerning 1922 (pamphlet); Jesuit Methods (pamphlet); an incomplete set of the Quill; and exams. They also have The Western Baptist and the Yearbooks of the Baptist Union of Western Canada (1907-1996). (Source: Correspondence between Judith Colwell, Archivist, Canadian Baptist Archives and Thomas H. McLeod. Date: October 8, 1996).
Arrangement
The fonds is divided into fifteen series and two associated fonds.
The Westridge Senior Citizens Club was established in 1981, in response to an invitation from the President of the Westridge Community Centre. The club was funded through a New Horizons grant. During its existence the club provided a variety of recreational and social opportunities to it members.
Custodial History
The records were retained by the club's recording secretary, Miss. Myrtle W. Grieve, following the disbandment of the club. She donated the records to the S.J. McKee Archives in October 2005.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of membership lists, minutes and financial records of the Westridge Senior Citizens Club during the period of its existence from October 1981 to its disbandment in September 2005.
The forerunner of Manitoba Pool Elevators (MPE), the Manitoba Wheat Pool was created in 1924 as a mechanism to allow for the co-operative marketing of wheat by Manitoba producers by the United Farmers of Manitoba. The Manitoba Wheat Pool was initially intended to be a provisional organization until the establishment of an interprovincial Pool, but when Alberta and Saskatchewan established their own permanent Pools the United Farmers decided to do the same. The Manitoba Pool was different from the SK and AB Pools in that the municipality was the primary unit of organization; members belonged to their municipal Pool associations first, rather than having direct membership with the central Manitoba Wheat Pool. Manitoba Pool Elevators was established in 1925 as a subsidiary of the Pool in response to local members complaints about the unfair business practices of privately owned elevators. The private elevators also slowed up the shipment of grain to the Central Selling Agency employed by the Wheat Pool, acting as a barrier between the local Pools and the Manitoba Wheat Pool. Once established MPE quickly began to build new elevators and aquire privately owned elevators.
MPE's approach to marketing grain promised to stabilize the market price of grain and ensure a fair market price to producers. Initially the Manitoba Wheat Pool was very successful. However, in 1930, the Manitoba Wheat Pool found itself burdened with an unsold surplus from the preceding year that had been bought from the farmers at a price that was significantly higher than any possible return during the Depression. As a result, in 1931 the Manitoba Wheat Pool's Central Selling Agency defaulted on its bank loans. Despite attempts to save the organization, it was forced to declare bankruptcy in November 1932. The financial difficulties of the Wheat Pool had little to no effect on the Pool Elevators, and so this former subsidiary organization became the main Manitoba Pool organization. This change meant MPE had to reorganize, which they were able to do with funds from the provincial government. The company was successful enough in subsequent years that it was able to finish repaying the Manitoba government a full year early in 1949.
MPE did not limit itself to grain handling; they wished to enrich the lives of rural families through education and to provide economic stability through diversification.
MPE established a lending reference library for members and a traveling library for rural families in 1926. With the passing of the Public Libraries Act in 1948, the province took over responsibility for providing rural families with books. MPE decided that since their traveling library would no longer be needed when rural libraries were established, the best course of action was to donate their library to the Provincial government. They also established and supported programs that educated young people about agriculture and ag business.
Subsidiary companies that dealt with course grains, livestock, packing and fertilizer were established by MPE to streamline and stabilize business for its members.
1961 marked the high water mark for the number of local associations within Manitoba Pool Elevators with 225 local associations. After this date the associations began to amalgamate and consolidate. Improvements in rural roads and rail systems and increases in the size of farms and mechanization of farm labour meant that fewer elevators were needed to service all members and regions. These changes led to an organizational restructuring of Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1968. Membership became direct, and the main unit of organization became the central office. The central office administrated the Pool through districts, which were further subdivided into sub-districts. The locals which were formally the main organizational unit came under the immediate direction of the sub-district they were located in. Local association could opt out of this system if they wished, but by 1975 all but 29 associations had become part of the new structure.
In 1998 Manitoba Pool Elevators merged with the Alberta Wheat Pool to form Agricore Co-operative, Ltd. In 2001 this organization merged with the United Grain Growers to become Agricore United, and in 2007 AU was taken over by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool; the new company is currently known as Viterra.
Custodial History
The bulk of this fonds was accessioned in 1975, when the forerunner to the McKee Archives at Brandon University, the Rural Resource Center, was founded. The original mandate of the Rural Resource Center was to house the records of the Manitoba Pool Elevators. Previous to this, most of the fonds was stored at MPE's head office in Winnipeg. Many accruals to this collection have since taken place, with some of the larger ones being received in 1997, 2001, and 2002.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains records dealing with every aspect of the Manitoba Pool Elevators organization, from the events leading to its formation in the 1920's, to its amalgamation as part of Agricore beginning in the late 1990's.
Fonds includes records of the local co-operative elevator associations established in the period 1925 - 1968 under the Co-operative Associations Act including: organizational papers; minutes of executive boards; minutes of shareholders annual meetings; financial statements; correspondence; membership lists; and miscellaneous documents.
Also to be found are: documents related to the Royal Commission re the Manitoba Pool Elevators Limited ca. 1931; miscellaneous reports and submissions documents (1925 -1952); central office papers consisting of annual reports, circulars to local co-operative elevator associations and documents related to various other activities of the Manitoba Pool Elevators organization. Fonds also contains documents pertaining to the Manitoba Co-operative Poultry Marketing Association Limited and its successor, the Manitoba Dairy and Poultry Co-operative Limited, and related agencies.
Other items in the fonds (dating from the 1890's to 2001) include: books acquired for the Manitoba Pool Elevator Library, including a complete run of both the Scoop Shovel (MPE's first newspaper)and the Manitoba Cooperator; photographs; slides; audiotapes; and reel-to-reel videos.
Finally, the fonds contains a small number of miscellaneous items such as banners, and company issued briefcases.
This fonds is organized into four series, (A) Local Association records, (B) Central Office Records, (C) Subsidiary Companies and Co-operatives, (D) Commissions, Committees and Inquiries
Notes
Description by Mike White (2002), revised and enlarged by Jillian Sutherland (2009-2010).
History/Bio taken from F.W. Hamilton, "Service at Cost: A History of the Manitoba Pool Elevators 1925-1975" (Saskatoon: Modern Press) and from records within the fonds.
Preparation of this description made possible in part by a generous grant from the Brandon University Student's Union Work Study Program 2009.
Researchers are responsible for observing Canadian copyright restrictions.
Finding Aid
File level inventory available for some boxes. The Pool Elevator library and publications are available online through the Brandon University Library catalogue.
Professor John Weldon Grant was born 12 March 1919 in Sunnybrae, Nova Scotia, son of Alec and Linda Grant. He was raised in Sunnybrae and graduated from Pictou Academy in 1937. Prof. Grant entered Pine Hill Divinity School to study Theology. During his ministerial internship, he taught and preached in Rabbit Lake and Biggar, Saskatchewan. He graduated from Pine Hill in 1943 and entered the mission field with the United Church.
Professor Grant moved to Trinidad & Tobago in the 1940s. There he taught in both San Fernando and Siparia, towns located in the southwest tip of the island. Weldon Grant was the first head master off the Iere High School School in Siparia when it opened in 1955. Professor Grant is recalled by Kenneth Ramchand in his _The West Indian Novel And Its Background_ as “his beloved English teacher” reading from an early Sam Selvon novel in a “Saskatchewan version of Trinidad dialect.” That he was teaching Selvon – a West Indian writer - testifies to Grant’s cultural pluralism. See Kenneth Ramchaud, _The West Indian Novel and its bachground_ (London: Faber and Faber, 2001 edition).
Professor Grant and Bernice Emma Moats were married in Gray, Saskatchewan 30 June 1954. They adopted three children in Nova Scotia and returned to Trinidad.
In 1961, the Grants returned to Canada. Weldon taught for one year at Vincent Massey High School and then joined the English Department at Brandon University where he taught in the English department until his retirement on August 31, 1984.
During a sabbatical he spent six months exploring Ireland and the poets that had been inspired by its countryside. He also loved stories of the sea and read many varied authors, both factual and fiction.
Custodial History
Records were collected by Weldon Grant during his teaching career in Trinidad and Canada.
Scope and Content
In the course of his teaching career in Trinidad & Tobego and at Brandon University Professor Grant acquired and retained a number of items with cultural, scholarly and sentimental value. These incude The First Folio of Shakespeare, prepared by Charlton Himan, [Academic ed.]. Imprint New York : W.W. Norton, 1968. xxvii, 928 p. : port. ; 37 cm. Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies. Published according to the true original copies. London, Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount, 1623.
The facsimile is described as "an ideal copy in which each page represents the best page selected from one of the 29 most satisfactory copies of the 80 copies in the Folger Shakespeare Library."
1 Self prononcing Holy Bible, Oxford 1910.
1 print 22.4" x 17," "Baking in a Clay Oven," by Trinidad artist David Moore, June 1977 printed in Trinidad by the College Press.
2 water colour paintings 17.5" x 12" by artist "AM." One titled San Fernando (1961) one titled Royal Palm, Trinidad (1960).
1 black and white portrait 10" x 13" of Governor general Roland Michener and his wife (No: A-2) copyright Karsh dated 1970.
1 Asian art work, 12.5" x 18" embroidery on silk.
Notes
Weldon Grant history/bio from Weldon Grant obituary Brandon Daily Sun c. April 14, 1999.
When the Department of Music was founded in 1906, it offered only conservatory-type instruction under the direction of Abbie Helmer Vining (1906-07). W.L. Wright, after four years' study in Berlin with Leopold Godowsky, took over in 1907 and remained director until 1947. During the 1920s and 1930s, the department attracted students from across Canada to work with Wright, Esther Magdalene Moore, Kathleen Moffat Fairbairn (piano), and Ruth Morgan (voice) towards graduate and post-graduate diplomas. During the Depression and the Second World War, music education at Brandon College declined as a result of financial woes facing the College and the departure of students to the war.
Under directors Peggy A. Sharpe (acting director 1947-48), and Lorne Watson (1948-1981), most instruction was given to elementary and high school students from Brandon. Through the encouragement and support of successive university presidents, the music faculty and university music credit courses were expanded to make possible a music minor within a B.A. or B.Sc. degree. By 1963, the college offered the first B.Mus. program (music education and applied) in Manitoba. In the same year, the Department of Music became the School of Music with two areas of activity: one continuing the conservatory tradition, the other leading to university degrees. Watson continued as director while Sharpe assumed the new position of supervisor of the conservatory. She was succeeded by Watson in 1981.
When Brandon attained university status, the School of Music became a member of the Western Board of Music (WBM), now Conservatory Canada. Later a B.Mus. (general) was added and, in 1980, the M.Mus. (music education and applied). In 1981, Watson was succeeded as director by Gordon Macpherson (1981-87), during whose tenure the position was re-named dean. In 1987 Lawrence Jones became dean. Jones was followed by Patrick Carrabre and Glen Carruthers.
Originally housed in Clark Hall, in 1963 the School of Music moved into a new building, officially opened by Sir Ernest MacMillan, on 28 October 1963. It housed a music library, electronic music studio, classrooms, rehearsal hall and studios. Increased enrolment in the 1970s necessitated the acquisition of three adjacent houses. On 5 October 1984, Queen Elizabeth II opened the present music building, which is named after her.
The school's reputation as a centre of string pedagogy dates from Albert Pratz' appointment to the faculty in 1964 and the engagement of the Halifax Trio (Brandon University Trio) as artists-in-residence in 1966. The Wawanesa Insurance Co. in 1964 established a string scholarship program, which has since been carried on through the Carl and Lyle Sanders Grant and the R.D. Bell String Scholarships. A Suzuki string program was set up in 1977, directed by Alison Ryles (B.Mus. Brandon, 1978) who was followed in 1981 by Gerhard Ginader.
Besides the Brandon University Trio, school ensembles have included the Brandon University Orchestra, Concert Band, Chorale, Jazz Bands and Guitar Ensemble. The Collegium Musicum, formed in 1973 by James Mendenhall, has a collection of replicas of early instruments. The school frequently produces an opera (or musical theatre work) directed by Sylvia Richardson.
Student pursuing a major in music education have founded an active organization known as the Brandon University Student Music Educators' Association (BUSMEA), which is, in effect, a student branch of Manitoba Music Educators Association (MMEA). Annual summer schools enhance the program. In the 1960s, under the direction of Peggy A. Sharpe, recitals and workshops were given by visiting artists. In the 1980s, the emphasis was on graduate courses, including the offering of a Kodaly specialist diploma.
In the conservatory, music for children classes, the Suzuki string program, and classes in the Alexander technique are offered. The conservatory offers courses for gifted students. It also sponsored annual workshops for teachers. Clinicians have included Lawrence Jones, Lorne Watson, Gordon Macpherson, Sydney Young McInnis, Shirley Yip, Elizabeth Grant and Irma Toews.
The School of Music acts as a musical focus for southwestern Manitoba. Beginning in the 1960s, it co-sponsored (with the MMEA) an annual choral/orchestral workshop in January attracting up to 300 music educators and students from Manitoba and beyond. Rehearsals of the Brandon Community Chorus and Community Orchestra take place at the school, as do most events of the Brandon Festival of the Arts. It is also the home of the annual S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte competition for the Performance of Canadian Music and the annual Brandon Jazz Festival. One reason for such constant activitiy is the excellence of the Queen Elizabeth II Music Building, which includes an advanced electronic studio, rehearsal halls for orchestras, bands and choirs and a 200-seat hall with recording facilities and ideal acoustics. On the occasion of Lorne Watson's 40th anniversary at Brandon that hall was named the Lorne Watson Recital Hall in his honour.
The music school's first graduate (1966) was Jack Spalding. Honourary doctorates in music have been awarded to W.L. Wright (1969), S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte (1970), Murray Adaskin (1972), Jon Vickers (1976), Kenneth Winters (1989), the Guess Who and Tom Cochrane.
Scope and Content
Series has been divided into three sub-series, including: (1) Dean of Music; (2) Music Faculty Council; and (3) School of Music publications.
Notes
The history/bio note was taken from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/emc/m17-119.01-e.php?uid=415&uidc=ID (January 2006). The entry was written by Lorne Watson. Peggy A. Sharpe died in 2005.
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
Related Material
A file of miscellaneous newspaper clippings etc. assembled by Eileen McFadden for the period 1979-1985, is located in the Institutional Files in the Reading Room.
Fleming School, located at 2320 Louise Avenue, Brandon, MB, was a part of the Brandon School Division from its creation in 1914 until its closure in 2005. The school was named to commemorate the life of pioneer Dr. Alexander Fleming. Fleming, who was a Scottish born immigrant, came to Brandon in 1881, where he worked as Brandon's first medical doctor and pharmacist. He also held the role of chairman for the Brandon School Board. Fleming died in Brandon on November 26, 1897.
Rapid population growth in the City of Brandon in the early part of the 20th century resulted in a need for additional school buildings; Fleming School was among the schools established during this period. Designed by W.H. Shillinglaw, the structure was constructed out of concrete, wood and brick, and included a basement. When the school first opened, it was composed of six classrooms; after two renovations in 1953 and 1962, the school expanded with more classrooms and a gymnasium. At the time of its closure, Fleming School could accommodate seven classes, covering grades kindergarten to grade six.
Around 2004, the Brandon School Division decided to close Fleming Elementary School. Prior to the closure a celebration was held on January 14, 2005, to honour the school's 90th Anniversary. Following the school's official closing, students were reallocated to Earl Oxford Elementary School (540 18th Street). Some of the former staff found work in other schools within the Division, while Craig Manson, the last principal of Fleming School, became principle of Green Acres Elementary School.
The building formerly used as Fleming Elementary School became a high school for the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in late 2006. The Band bought the building in late 2010.
Custodial History
Records were collected and created by Fleming School staff and administration, many for the 90th anniversary and closing of the school. Craig Manson, the last principal of Fleming School, gave the records to David Wilson, who donated them to the S.J. McKee Archives in 2015.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records that document the history of Fleming School. Many of the records were created and gathered specifically by Craig Manson and others for the school's 90th anniversary; on November 19, 2006 an ad written by Grant Hamilton was placed in the Brandon Sun with Jean Pickard asking for potential archives from Fleming School to be donated by contacting Keith Heide at the Brandon School Division. The archives were to be used in a display on education in Brandon to be located in the Town Centre in June 2007. Other records were collected and created by the school's staff and administration to document the activities and student of their school.
Textual records include newspaper clippings, staff and administration lists (1914-2005), programs, calendars, correspondence, anecdotes, as well as records related to the events surrounding the 90th anniversary and the closure of the school. The 90th anniversary celebration materials include Craig Manson's speech and agenda, the lyrics to the school song, and a list of people in attendance. The newspaper clippings, with capture the experiences of Fleming students, are evidence of the staff's interest in the lives of their current and former students.
Also included in the textual records is in depth genealogical research for the Fleming family. The research includes birth and death dates, photographs of grave sites and residences of Fleming family members, as well as some correspondence around the school's 90th anniversary. The photographs in the album include both originals and photocopies.
Photographs in the collection, like the newspaper clippings, document the activities and events of Fleming School, its students and staff. They include candid's from the classroom, various ceremonies (including the 90th anniversary), and the celebration of holidays (especially Halloween). There are also a number of class and staff portraits.
The collection also includes audio visual materials. The VHS recording entitled "Fleming School 90th Birthday Tea," runs approximately 75 minutes and was videoed by Ian Carkener. The DVD, which runs 42 minutes, was created by the staff and students for the 90th anniversary celebration. It has three components: "Through the Decades" shows students re-enacting school scenes from earlier decades; "Students at Work and Play," shows the 2004-2005 students in their classroom environment during holiday celebrations, school ceremonies and working on assignments; and "Reflections," which includes a slide show of photographs of Fleming School throughout the years set to music.
Finally, the collection includes four artifacts: one 90th anniversary celebration balloon with an image of the school building and the its years of operation printed on it; a school magnet with the school phone number and an image of the brick school building; and two pins. The first pin is circular with a black background and gold details including the school's name, three silhouettes and three maple leaves. The second pin appears to have a hornet or bee emblem with the number 72.
Notes
History/bio information was taken from the records, as well as the Manitoba Historical Society's website (Alexander Fleming, Fleming School - accessed on September 30, 2016), the Brandon School Division website (Fleming School - accessed on September 30, 2016) and Grant Hamilton's article "Gathering school archives while they can" (Brandon Sun, November 19, 2006). Description by Megan Treloar (September 2016) and Christy Henry.
Sub-series has been divided into four sub sub series, including: (1) Dean of Health Studies; (2) Health Studies Faculty Council; (3) School of Health Studies publications; and (4) School of Psychiatric Nursing (BMHC).
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
3.85 m textual records; 880 photographs (220 negatives); 26 slides
Physical Condition
Good
History / Biographical
The Brandon School of Nursing was established in 1921, at the Brandon Hospital for Mental Diseases (hereafter B.H.M.D.). It was first alluded to in 1913, when the Superintendent of the B.H.M.D., J.J. McFadden, recommended it as a means of enhancing the reputation of the hospital. In 1919, the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene released a highly critical report on the state of custodial institutions for the mentally ill in Canada that paved the way for reforms such as the establishment of psychiatric nursing schools. In 1920, the new superintendent, Dr. Charles A. Baragar, in his first annual report, again mentioned the need for trained nurses and instructional facilities in which to train them. Lectures began at B.H.M.D. in October of 1920 for attendants and nurses, but they were not compulsory and were not part of a formal program of studies. This was followed in 1921 with the establishment of the School of Nursing through which courses were offered beginning in 1922. The program consisted of a two year Mental Nurses Diploma Course, and a shorter "demonstrative" course that was required for all employees of the B.H.M.D. who elected not to enroll in the diploma course. The Class of 1923 was the first class of graduates from the Brandon School of Nursing. They were, by all accounts, the first graduates in all of Western Canada with a diploma in Mental Nursing. In 1924, wages at the B.H.M.D. were adjusted to take into account the completion of formal training in psychiatric nursing. In 1925, a short lived affiliation with the St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg, that ended in 1927, was begun. That year also saw the beginning of a graduate studies course. In 1930, the diploma course grew to a three year program. In 1986, as many aspects of the B.H.M.D. - now referred to as the B.M.H.C. (Brandon Mental Health Center) - were phased out in favor of community based care, the B.M.H.C. School of Nursing was incorporated into Brandon University's School of Nursing, which began to offer a 2 year Post-Diploma Degree in Nursing and Mental Health.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 2000. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Sub sub series consists of a collection of records dealing with the history of the School of Nursing at the Brandon Mental Health Centre. The records consist primarily of administrative documentation created by the school dealing with various internal issues, such as student recruitment, graduation services - including an almost complete collection of graduation programs - and records dealing with the behavior of the students. Administrative records also refer to external issues faced by the B.H.M.D. as a whole, such as its burgeoning patient population and the constant problem of adaquate accommodations for patients, staff, and student nurses. The collection also includes staff recollections, and correspondence from within and from outside of the B.H.M.D. Also included are documents relating directly to the history of the School of Nursing and of the B.H.M.D. as a whole. A smaller amount of curriculum materials, including instruction manuals, notebooks, and hand-written lecture notes are also included. Publications from within the B.H.M.D.., including "The Opinion" from 1970-1990, and the "The Ego" 1956 - 76 (seven editions) are also included, as well as a collection of outside publications dealing with psychiatric nursing, mental diseases, medical ethics, and heredity. Fonds also includes medical dictionaries and handbooks of different nursing institutions such as the Victorian Order of Canadian Nurses. Lastly, the collection includes approximatley 880 photographs, 220 negatives, and 26 slides, that provide a graphic portrayal of the history of the Brandon Mental Health Centre.
Notes
A detailed inventory for the textual records exists. An inventory for the photo collection is also avaiable. The description for this sub sub series was written by Mike White (2002).
Access to these materials is restricted. Those interested in the collection should consult the Archivist.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
7.5 School of Health Studies
Related Material
Other material relating to the BHMD./BMHC. are housed at the Manitoba Provincial Archives.
Arrangement
The sub sub series is organized into eight sub sub sub series, including: (1) History; (2) Correspondance; (3) Administrative Records; (4) Curriculum Materials; (5) Publications of B.M.H.C.; (6) Outside Publications; (7) Photographs, Slides, and Negatives; and (8) Miscellaneous Items.
Fonds consists of correspondence, newsclippings, reminiscences, historical information about Grand Valley, name and address lists for students and teachers, invitations to Grand Valley School District reunions (1935 and 1968), the program for the dedication ceremonies and reunion picnic (1968), and the guest book for the 1968 reunion and cairn dedication. The latter includes 3 photographs.
The Crown Protestant School District was founded in 1883, in the municipality of Whitewater, Manitoba. It became the Crown School District following school reform in Manitoba in 1890. The School District provided schooling for children in the Elgin, Fairfax, Heaslip and Minto communities. In 1930, the district was replaced with the creation of separate school districts for Elgin, Fairfax, and Lily.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains minute books (1883-1930), financial records (1884-1917), attendance registers (1892 -1906), tax records for the District (1918-1930), and documents concerning the disestablishment of the Crown School Division.
Very good. Some of the letters written in pencil are a little faded.
History / Biographical
Ruth Alverda Wade was born born July 11, 1912 in Brandon, MB to James and Etta Alverda. She had two younger siblings: sister Gwen and brother Sherry. The Wade family resided at 1837 Princess Avenue, Brandon, MB. Ruth graduated from Brandon College with the Class of 1933.
During her time at Brandon College Ruth met Archie MacLachlan. Archibald James MacLachlan was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 1907. He had four brothers: Howard, Edgar, Bruce, Curly and Stirling. When Archie was quite young the MacLachlan family moved to Alberta. Archie came to Brandon c. 1930 to attend Brandon College. During the summers of his years at Brandon College Archie held pastoral charges in Alberta. The first two summers were spent in the Peace River Country and the second two in Etzikom in Southern Alberta. This is the period during which the letters in the fonds were written.
Ruth Wade married Archie MacLachlan on September 19, 1934 in Brandon, MB. Following the wedding the couple moved to Hamilton, ON. Archie graduated from McMaster University with his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1937. During this period their daughter Joann Ruth was born. After his ordination as a Baptist Minister the family moved to North Bay where Archie was minister for four years. The next six years were spent in Vancouver as Archie worked as minister at Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver. The couple's sons Archibald James and Lachlan Wade were also born during this period.
At the end of the Second World War Archie decided to go back to school. The family travelled to Brandon, where Ruth and the children remained for part of a year while Archie went ahead to Andover Newton to enroll and find a parish that would support him while he went to school. The family was reunited in Penacook, New Hampshire; they lived there for two years while Archie completed his Masters in Sacred Theology. After a brief additional period of study at Harvard University, the MacLachlan family returned to Canada, settling in Toronto while Archie finished his second Masters degree (Psychology) and held positions as interim minister and then assistant minister at York Minster Church. Following the two years in Toronto they moved to Winnipeg.
Eventually Archie left the church ministry and became Chaplain at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital. He also continuted to train students in Pastoral Education through the courses he had begun at the Divinity College of McMaster University. He remained at the Hospital until his retirement.
During their married life Ruth was kept busy raising the couple's children and with her work as a minister's wife, particularly her work in the community. She sat on a number of community boards, including positions as President of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec and a member of the Board of Governors for McMaster University's Divinity School.
Ruth MacLachlan died on October 29, 1983 in Missassauga, ON.
Archie married Kathleen Marie (Green) French (b. January 22, 1908, d. June 1, 1998) on June 20, 1987. Archie MacLachlan died in December 1997.
Custodial History
Records were in the possession of Ruth and Archie MacLachlan until their deaths. At that time the records were inherited by their daughter Joann. Joann MacLachlan donated the records to the McKee Archives on October 24, 2009 at a donation event held as part of Homecoming 2009.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of approximately 197 letters written by Ruth and Archie to each other during the spring and summers of 1932, 1933 and 1934. The letters were written during the courtship of the couple and contain details not only on about their lives in Brandon and Alberta but also more personal information about their relationship, families and future plans. Because Ruth and Archie were students at Brandon College during this period the letters also often reflect on events and personalities related to the College, as well as their own personal studies.
Fonds also contains a scrapbook compiled by Ruth during her Brandon College years. It includes photographs, newspaper clippings, graduation cards, event programs, place cards and other ephemera. There are also a few miscellaneous documents - McMaster University examination papers, handwritten sheet music, postcards - that appear to have belonged to Archie. Fonds also contains a graduation photograph of Ruth.
Notes
Description by Christy Henry. History/Bio information taken from Joann MacLachlan's book Ruth and Archie: Brandon and Brandon College 1932-1934.
Ruth and Archie's daughter Joann edited the letters into a book entitled Ruth and Archie: Brandon and Brandon College 1932-1934. A copy of the book is located in the Rare Book collection of the John E. Robbins Library, Brandon University.
William Ridley Sheridan Wade collection (28-2007)
Arrangement
The letters are arranged in chronological order with all of Archie's letters to Ruth for a particular year grouped together, followed by Ruth's letters to Archie for that same year. For preservation purposes photographs in the scrapbook have been removed and placed in photograph storage, with their corresponding scrapbook page number noted on the back. Because of the fragile condition of the scrapbook a note has been made concerning the original location of many items that have become detached from their original location in the scrapbook. These items remain with the remnants of the scrapbook in one archival housing. Note that Ruth did not place items on every page so the numbering is not sequential for scrapbook items. Some items were loose at the back of the scrapbook and therefore have no corresponding page number.
Series has been divided into five sub-series, including: (1) Faculty of Arts; (2) Faculty of Science; (3) Faculty of Education; (4) School of Music; and (5) School of Health Studies.
Frank Robb was Assistant Secretary Treasurer for School District of Brandon No. 129 and Curator of the B.J. Hales Natural History Museum exhibition for Brandon's 75th Anniversary (1957). Robb left Brandon ca. 1969 and relocated to Minaki, Ontario.
Custodial History
Frank Robb sent the slides to Fred McGuiness ca. 1986. McGuiness gave them to Eileen McFadden at the McKee Archives in April 1986.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 155 slides taken by Frank Robb, an inventory for the slides prepared by Robb and a letter from Robb to Fred McGuiness regarding the slides and memories of Brandon ca. 1950s.
This record group was artifically created in January 2007 by Tom Mitchell and Christy Henry of the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
The record group consists of various fonds and collections concerned with the political, cultural, social, and educational life of western Manitoba. See the Subject Access field for a list of titles.
