Gertrude Ellen Leslie (nee Smith) was born in Sydney, Australia on January 21, 1886. She came to Canada in April 1907, but settled in Stockton, California for two years before going to England for eleven years. While in England, Gertrude took her teacher training. After teaching for a couple of years in Leeds, she returned to Canada, settling in Kenton, MB. Gertrude married John Wilmer Leslie (1883-1972) in 1910. The couple farmed at Elkhorn, where they raised nine children: Len, Allan, Clifton, Merle, Winnie, Lyle, Ronald, Alex and Jack. In 1919, the family started spending their winters in Elkhorn. Gertrude and Wilmer lost the farm in 1931 as a result of the Depression. They then moved to a farm at Blythe, where they remained until retiring in 1946. For the next 22 years the couple spent their summers in Elkhorn and winters at the coast in Abbotsford and Burnaby, BC. In 1968, they bought a house in Elkhorn and in 1978, Gertrude moved to Sherwood Home in Virden, MB. Gertrude Leslie died in 1994, in Virden, MB. She is buried at Elkhorn Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Gertrude Leslie about her life story. Interviewer is Rosalyn Sutley.
Notes
History/bio information from the records, the Elkhorn local history "Steel and Grass Roots" and the Find A Grave website. Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Audio Tracks
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Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from Leila McDiarmid Leck of Mission, BC, on 08 Feb 1983 in response to his Park School column (see F.A. Rosser, “Sunbeams – Park School reminiscences from a far away friends, Brandon Sun 25 Jan 1983)
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a group of young girls posing for a picture on the steps of residence. The girls had assembled fro Leila McDiarmid's 9th birthday.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Back Row - Mina Collins, Muriel Good, Lorna Lawrence, Evelyn Warren, Shirley Lane. Front - Doreen Donnelly, Leila McDiarmid, Jen Nicol, Phyllis Murdock, Florence Roberts. March 1930. (My 9th Birthday - Grade 3 with Helen Bennett.) Photograph is stamped: Crawford's Drug Store Brandon.
Photograph shows a showgirl wearing a feathered headdress and skirt.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
Photograph shows a tuxedoed man contorted with his leg around his head while a female looks on as she sits beside him. The pair are likely the entertainers Leslie and Laurence. The back of the photograph is stamped: Leslie and Laurence.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
Photograph shows a tuxedoed man holding a woman in a dance lift. The pair are likely the entertainers Leslie and Laurence.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
Photograph shows a tuxedoed man holding a woman in a dance lift. The pair are likely the entertainers Leslie and Laurence.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
According to the website www.harleminhavana.com, The Harlem in Havana revue was the largest touring attraction in Royal American Shows’ North American traveling carnival exhibition from 1936 to 1967. Amateur and professional performers from Harlem's Cotton Club and Havana's Tropicana Nightclub performed comedy, dance, music, and theatre routines as part of the revue.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a band and dance troop. Centre stage are a couple dressed in white.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
According to the website www.harleminhavana.com, The Harlem in Havana revue was the largest touring attraction in Royal American Shows’ North American traveling carnival exhibition from 1936 to 1967. Amateur and professional performers from Harlem's Cotton Club and Havana's Tropicana Nightclub performed comedy, dance, music, and theatre routines as part of the revue.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows the Harlem in Havana band performing behind a pair of dancers.
Notes
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness, Premier’s Office, Parliament Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Harry B. Julius, Tampa, Florida. Photographs possibly sent to McGuinness for consideration for entertainment for the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee.
