Paint loss in areas 49cm T X 66cm R; 47cm TM X 87.5cm R (both c.. 0.5cm in diameter). Many long, thin scratches resulting in paint abrasion, especially in lower part of the painting. Paint loss in area 48cm B X 101cm L (c.. 0.5 X 1cm)-possibly inherent to the image. Painting could use some surface protection to prevent further damages
Fred McGuinness’ public speaking and broadcasting career began after he enrolled at St. Paul’s College, which was affiliated with the University of Manitoba. From 1943 to 1946, McGuinness served on the student union’s Public Relations Committee; in 1945, he became chairman of the Radio Subcommittee working as the Director of the University Radio Series where he was responsible (i.e., writing, casting, directing) for a half-hour Saturday afternoon radio programme. That same year, the President of the University of Manitoba recommended McGuinness as a speaker for the War Finance Committee in the Winnipeg Area.
In 1946, McGuinness moved to Port Arthur to work in public relations with the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. That same year he married his wife Christine. In 1947, the couple returned to Winnipeg, when McGuinness took a job as a Public Relations Officer for the National Employment Service’s Unemployment Insurance Commission (UIC). While employed with the UIC, McGuinness travelled the summer fair circuit with displays promoting the UIC and its benefits. During that time, Royal American Shows also hired McGuinness as its Director of Publicity and Exploitation while the show toured with the fairs on the Canadian prairies. McGuinness also sold his first manuscript to the CBC in 1947, recording a 14-minute broadcast titled the “Class A Circuit” about the Royal American tour, after his summer fair schedule concluded.
McGuinness continued his work with Royal American and the UIC until he accepted a position with the Saskatchewan government in 1952 to promote its upcoming 1955 golden jubilee. His experience with the Saskatchewan Jubilee preparations lead to McGuinness being appointed as a provincial representative to the Canadian Centennial Commission in 1963; an appointment that had McGuinness delivering speeches provincially and internationally.
After the jubilee, McGuinness accepted a position with The Medicine Hat News in Medicine Hat, Alberta. During his decade with that newspaper as a journalist and publisher, McGuinness was heavily involved with the Chamber of Commerce and community service organizations. His position within the community had him delivering talks to many local groups.
At the beginning of 1966, McGuinness started his new appointment as manager of the newly formed personnel and information branch for James Richardson and Sons Ltd. whose head offices were in Winnipeg. At that time McGuinness was developing broadcast scripts for the CBC in earnest. McGuinness left Richardson and Sons in the fall of 1966 to become the publisher and vice-president of the Brandon Sun newspaper in Brandon, Manitoba.
In the 1970s, McGuinness was writing copy for CBC’s Radio Noon and Information Radio, as well as producing Ashgrove Farm, a CBC radio drama. By 1980, McGuinness was hosting the CBC Radio broadcast Neighborly News from the Prairies. The radio program was cancelled by the CBC in 1983, but was reincarnated with Altona broadcaster CFAM later that year with McGuinness at the helm. The radio show ended its run in the summer of 1987. McGuinness continued working with the CBC, and is popularly known for his work as the prairie essayist for CBC Radio’s Morningside with Peter Gzowski, a position McGuinness held for 17 years.
During his twenty years with the Sun, McGuinness took an active roll in the community and cultivated his interest in local history. Consequently he was invited to guest speak and chair sessions on local history, rural development, and the economy while providing his personal insights as a newspaper publisher.
In the 1980s and 1990s, McGuinness co-taught an undergraduate journalism class at Brandon University with English Professor John Blaikie. McGuinness also delivered community workshops on memoir writing, a past time he continued until shortly before his death in 2011.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a radio broadcaster, newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Scope and Content
The series contains records created and collected by Fred McGuinness during his time as a radio broadcaster, journalist, editor, and freelance writer. Records in the series consist of broadcast scripts, lecture notes, speeches, rough drafts and notes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other research materials for respective broadcasts, lectures, speeches, and workshops.
The series has been divided into three subseries, including: (1) radio broadcast scripts, (2) BU journalism course, and (3) talks and workshops.
Notes
Information for the history/biography was obtained from documents in McGuinness’ personal papers (see his family papers McG 1.1 and the scrapbook in McG 1.4) and his book Letters from Section 17 (published by Great Plains Publications in 1999)
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available for each subseries, see subseries
descriptions
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Related Material
Fred McGuinness would write/publish about a topic in a number of forums. Therefore, it is possible materials pertaining to his broadcast and lecture career may be found in other series of the Fred McGuinness collection. A sound recording of one of McGuinness’ UofM broadcasts can be found in McG 7
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Series has been re-arranged according to publication period
McG 6 McGuinness broadcasts, lectures, workshops
McG 6.1 Radio broadcast scripts
McG 6.2 BU Journalism course
McG 6.3 Talks and workshops
Artifacts in this series were collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his lifetime as a community volunteer and newspaperman. Beginning in the mid-1930s through the Second World War, McGuinness worked with the Canadian Pacific Telegraph service in Brandon and Winnipeg. McGuinness frequently wrote about those early experiences in his newspaper columns, journals, and monographs.
In the early 1950s, while McGuinness worked as a publicist with the Unemployment Insurance Commission in Winnipeg, he volunteered with community organizations such as the Winnipeg Community Chest Drive. From 1953 to 1955, McGuinness worked as an organizer for the Province of Saskatchewan’s 1955 Golden Jubilee.
After the Saskatchewan Jubilee, McGuinness worked with The Medicine Hat News as a journalist and publisher from 1955 to 1965. During that time, McGuinness became heavily involved with the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce. His community and business connections resulted in his appointment as a fundraiser for the Medicine Hat Junior College Library, a building project intended to see the City established with its own college.
After his work with the Saskatchewan Jubilee, McGuinness was asked to be a Regional Director for the Canadian Centennial Commission from 1965 to 1967. During that time, McGuinness returned to his hometown of Brandon in 1966, to start a 20-year career with the Brandon Sun as a publisher and vice-president. McGuinness’ interest in local history, of which he often wrote, made him the recipient of local ephemera from his readers.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Scope and Content
This series contains artifacts collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his lifetime as a community volunteer and newspaperman. The artifacts include one telegraph sounder, four letterpress blocks, five typesetter rulers, two patches, two buttons, one token, one tin box, and ten sound recordings.
The telegraph sounder and relay system was possibly a gift from Bill Flett, a CPR superintendent. In his story “Canadian Pacific” published in Letters from Section 17 (1999), McGuinness mentions receiving a package containing telegraph equipment while he was working at the Brandon Sun. The tin box in McGuinness’ collection contained copies of telegraphs announcing the end of the war.
Two letterpress type blocks have the letters “WM” which may represent the initials of Fred McGuinness’ father William McGuinness. J.R. Langford donated the “Colquhoun and Beattie” type plate to McGuinness, a known collector of Brandon local history. Mr. Beattie had gifted the plate to Lanford’s father who worked as a barber in Brandon in 1906. The Brandon Sun letterpress is likely from the period when McGuinness worked at the Brandon Sun.
The five typesetter rulers come from a variety of typesetter and newspaper companies and include Teletypesetter (Chicago, IL), 6 Cutting Limited (Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg), Mergenthaler Linotype Company (Brooklyn, NY), and The Edmonton Journal.
The two buttons in the collection come from McGuinness’ time as a community-volunteer in Winnipeg, Manitoba. One button is from the Community Chest Drive, the other button is a guest badge from the 1953 Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.
The two patches are from the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee (1955). Photographs of Saskatchewan Jubilee events and participants wearing the patch on their blazers can be found in the McGuinness photograph collection.
McGuinness saved a Medicine Hat College Official Opening Token from October 3, 1971. McGuinness was likely at the opening as he was originally involved in the establishment of the junior college in the 1960s.
The sound recordings in McGuinness’ collection largely pertain to centennial events, which McGuinness helped organize. There is one box set containing four records of the Saskatchewan Golden Jubilee Choir. Tucked in this volume is an additional record of the Choir recorded at CKCK, Regina, Saskatchewan. Also stored within the box set was a copy “Canada, A Centennial Song.”
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives
Documents
McG 7 McGuinness artifacts and sound recordings inventory.pdf
83 books and other materials (see Material Details Note)
Material Details
49 booklets
3 maps
3 newsletters
18 periodicals
16 pamphlets
35 newspapers [oversize drawer]
History / Biographical
The publications in this series were collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his career as a newspaperman. McGuinness’ personal library contained over 500 volumes pertaining to local history. He regularly consulted these materials when writing his radio broadcasts, newspaper columns, and monographs. McGuinness was known to file related materials (e.g., correspondence, newspaper clippings, invitations) between book covers of various titles.
McGuinness donated a substantial portion of his personal library to Brandon University’s John E. Robbins Library when he moved to River Heights Terrace (Brandon, Manitoba). That collection can be found in BU’s library catalogue under the McGuinness local history collection. The titles McGuinness retained upon his move were donated to the McKee Archives by his estate in 2011.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Accession 20-2009 contain records created and collected by Fred McGuinness over the course of his career as a newspaper journalist and during the research and writing period of the Brandon history book, The Wheat City. Records remained in his possession at his home until their transfer to the McKee Archives on July 28, 2009.
Accession 6-2008 contains records created and collected during the writing of the Provincial Exhibition book, Pride of the Land. Fred McGuinness, who co-authored the book with Ken Coates, donated these records to the McKee Archives circa 1988. The materials relating to Souris, Manitoba, were given to McGuinness by Kay Sullivan in August 2007, and were subsequently deposited in the Archives.
Scope and Content
This series contains publications collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his lifetime as a newspaperman. McGuinness was a well-known local history enthusiast and frequently wrote about Brandon’s local history. Many of his readers forwarded booklets and pamphlets for his consideration and review.
Materials in this series include books, booklets pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers and maps. Subjects include, but are not exclusive to: the city of Brandon, the town of Souris, memoirs, family histories, Canadian Pacific Railway, and local businesses.
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available
Storage Location
All library titles, except the newspapers in the McGuinness oversize drawer, are located in Special Collections
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives.
McG 8 McGuinness library
McG 8.1 Books
McG 8.2 Booklets
McG 8.3 Maps, newsletters, and periodicals
McG 8.4 Pamphlets
McG 8.5 Magazines and newspapers (oversize)
Manitoba Pool Elevators was quick to realize the usefulness of the radio medium as a educational and promotional tool. It was also often used to defend the Pool and the co-operative movement in general on programs such as Farm Radio Forum. See fonds level description of RG 4 for complete history/bio of MPE.
Scope and Content
Sub-series MPE B.10 consists of textual radio broadcast transcriptions. The records include transcriptions from 1930 until 1971. Radio broadcasts are on a wide variety of topics, including argicultural science, the grain market and general economy of Canada and the world, government acts and legislation that affected the producer, co-operatives and the co-operative movement, rural life, young people, WWII, Manitoba, and the Manitoba Pool Elevators.
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.
Photograph shows Fred McGuinness standing next to a rack of seven antelope that are hanging from a ladder stretched between two vehicles. Rifles are nestled amongst the antelope carcasses. The hunt occured in the winter.
Notes
Photograph is part of series of photographs (20-2009.13 to 20-2009.124) of an antelope hunting trip that likely occurred in Alberta.
Triptych shows three separate photographs of Fred McGuinness as a young boy. One photograph shows Fred standing in the snow wearing miniature buckskins and feather headdress another shows Fred in the same costume on the family's front porch. The third picture shows Fred in a quarter-length peacoat and winter cap with flaps standing on the front porch of the family home.
Photograph shows Fred McGuinness sitting at a table in the John E. Robbins Library. Spread before him are a variety of weeklies containing his Neighborly News column.
Photograph shows Fred McGuinness standing with Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood (centre) and the Centennial Commissioner John Fisher (right). The men are standing before an architectural model.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: On tour of Newfoundland as member, board of directors Canadian Centennial Commission, McG, Premier Smallwood, & John Fisher, Centennial Commissioner, 1965
Photograph shows Fred McGuinness at a Pierre Burton book signing for "The Promised Land." Mr. Burton is seated at table in the concourse of the Brandon Shoppers' Mall in front of Doigs.
