Bertha Miriam Clark was born on Prince Edward Island but attended public and high school in Brandon, MB. She was a member of the Class of 1929 and served as Lady Stick in her final year at Brandon College.
Clark married J. Scott Leith, Brandon College Class of 1928. Scott and Bertha Leith's son James Clark Leith is in the Canadian Who's Who.
Custodial History
Album was sent to Pat Britton, Brandon University Director of Alumni Relations, by Bertha Leith in April 1991. Britton then transferred it to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of a small accordian style photograph album (7 x 10.5 x 3.5 cm) created by Bertha Clark during her years at Brandon College. The photographs, which measure 4" x 2.75", depict numerous people and events.
Notes
History/Bio information taken from the 1928-1929 Sickle.
Lady and Senior Stick were honorific positions that existed during the Brandon College era. The offices of Senior Stick and Lady Stick were replaced by the offices of President and Vice-President of the Brandon College Students' Association on January 29, 1966. The change was the result of proposed changes to the B.C.S.A. constitution passed almost unanimously by the student body; the office of President enabled a co-ed to hold the highest student office, which was impossible under the previous system. Following the change in 1966, the Class Presidents were renamed faculty Sticks. At some point during the Brandon University era the faculty Stick positions were renamed faculty commissioners. The use of "stick" appears to be a particularly Canadian one.
The stick of office was carried by the incumbent as a symbol of his or her position.
Like the sticks of office at other universities and colleges in Canada, the Brandon Lady's stick is composed of an elongated wooden rod, painted or stained dark, with a metal bottom cap and an ornamental metal top in silver. The Brandon College Lady's stick also contains silver rings dating from the 1923-1924 school year, each ring containing the name of the Lady Stick chosen for that year.
It was also customary to attach a ribbon(s) in the college colours (blue and gold) to the stick. The ribbons attached to the Brandon College Lady's stick were donated by the 1954-1955 Lady Stick Verda Peden (McDonald) in 2006.
Scope and Content
Item is the Brandon College Lady's stick.
Notes
Information in the History/Bio field was adapted from Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Stick (October 2006). Additional History/Bio information was taken from the March 1966 issue of Alumni News.
The Lady's stick was previously displayed in a glass fronted display case donated by the Class of 1966. Unfortunately, two holes were drilled in the stick to anchor it to the display case. The Senior stick was also displyed in the same case, however at some point prior to 1997 it disappeared from the display case.
The silver rings and crown on the stick easily tarnish, but can be shined with any silver polish.
Part of BU 16.3 Artifacts - other.
The matting has a large tear and some stains. The photograph itself has a couple of small stains.
Scope and Content
Photograph is looking southwest from the north end of the driveway and 18th Street and shows the Brandon College campus, including the front lawn, Clark Hall, the Brandon College Building and the Citizens' Science Building. Caption on the photograph reads: Brandon College: The Baptist College in Western Canada.