Hubert Clayton Weidenhamer was born near Dand, Manitoba in 1926. He was raised in Dand and attended school in the Dand Consolidated School District. Weidenhamer enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1943. He became a member of the Priness Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Following training in Canada and England Weidenhamer was sent to Italy. He was badly wounded in battle in mid-September and died of his injuries in November 1944 at age 21. He was buried in the Ancona Military Cemetery, Ancona Italy.
Custodial History
These records were in the possession of Bea Chapin (née Weidenhamer) following their creation in the 1940s until they were donated to the S. J. McKee Archives in January 2011.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence from Hubert Clayton Weidenhamer to his sister Bea. The letters begin in the spring of 1943. Weidenhamer had enlisted in the Canadian Army in January 1943. His letters detail his induction into miltary life in Fort Garry, Winnipeg and his training experience in Canada, principally at Camp Ipperwash, Lambton County, Ontario. He relates his experience of travels on leave to Detriot. Weidenhamer left Canada from Halifax in late 1943 and arrived in Great Britain in December for additional military training. In England, maintaining his morale, waiting for deployment, and coming to terms with British currency were challenges. Transferred to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Weidenhamer was deployed to Italy in March 1944. The letters dating from March 1944 to September relate in oblique fashion his's experience of military life on the Italian frontier as the Canadian Army fought its way north - "hard fighting" - and the impact of the war on Italian cities and the countryside. He was "proud" of his conduct in action. Weidenhamer's last letter is dated September 11, 1944.
Collection also includes correspondence on Weidenhamer's behalf from his military Chaplin; two press clippings dealing with his military career, and several facimiles of telegrams and correspondence from the Canadian government officials related to Weidenhamer's death and burial in Italy.
Photograph of a proposed model for the Brandon College and Clark Hall renovations. Model shows the courtyard, the link, the skywalk and the new rear entrance.
Photograph of a proposed model for the Brandon College and Clark Hall renovations. Model shows the link, the skywalk, the A.E. McKenzie Building and part of the George T. Richardson Centre.
Photograph of a proposed model for the Brandon College and Clark Hall renovations. Photograph is looking down on the model, which shows the link, the skywalk, west side of Clark Hall and the Original Building and the courtyard.
Photograph is looking east and shows the preparation work for the sidewalk leading up to the steps and portico at the west entrance of the Brandon College Building.
BRANDON COLLEGE BUILDING
The construction of the Brandon College Building, also known as the Original Building, was primarily financed by Mr. and Mrs. William Davies, a Toronto based Baptist meat packer, and his sister Mrs. Emily Davies, also of Toronto, who pledged $5,000 a year for five years to the new Baptist College. Four city blocks between 18th and 20th streets were purchased for the College campus and the tender of Messrs. T.M. Harrington of Winnipeg was accepted in the spring of 1900; Mr. Hugh McCowan of Winnipeg appointed as architect. Mrs. Davies laid the cornerstone for the Brandon College Building on July 13, 1900.
The Brandon College Building was conceived as a substantial five story brick structure with a stone basement. The Tyndall Manitoba quarries, located thrity miles northeast of Winnipeg, supplied the stone and presented the College with the stone steps at the main entrance. The basement contained the dining room, kitchen, laundry, furnace room, a science laboratory, and maids' rooms. The first floor housed the reception room, office, library, four classrooms and the teachers' cloak rooms. The second floor had five classrooms, a reading room, five rooms for resident students and a resident teacher. Teachers' rooms and seventeen rooms for students comprised the third floor; and additional thirteen rooms for residents took up the fourth floor. The residence was to house 70 men. The total cost of the building and furnishings was $44,000. The Brandon College Building was ready for occupancy by October 1, 1901.
CLARK HALL
The cornerstone of Clark Hall was laid by Mrs. A.P. McDiarmid, wife of the Principal of Brandon College, on May 24, 1906. The residence was officially opened on Thanksgiving Day, October 18, of the same year. The construction of the building grew our of a demand for a ladies' college. A canvass made in Eastern Canada had resulted in subscriptions totaling $10,000. When Dr. McDiarmid reported the results of the canvass to the Chairman of the Board, Dr. C.W. Clark of Winnipeg, Clark proposed that he and his wife be allowed to provided the balance of the funds, some $30,000. While presenting the building at the opening ceremony, Clark stated that the reason for his donation was his belief in the power of cultured womanhood - he believed "that refined and Christian mothers were the strength of a nation and that he wished to see in Brandon a chool of learning for women in which every Christian virtue and grace might be illustrated."
Clark Hall was built immediately north of the Brandon College Building and was connected to it by classrooms and the iron door with its door bell, which was rung by gentlemen before being admitted. It is a five story brick building, with fittings of imported Georgia pine. In the basement was the gymnasium, studios and maids' rooms. On the main floor was a spacious reception room furnished by the Honorable A.C. Rutherford, the Premier of Alberta and the Lady Principal's suite, furnished by Mrs. N. Wolverston, wife of the treaurer of the College Board. Music studios and the offices of the resident matron were also on the main floor. The second and third floors were dormitories. The fourth floor was meant to be art studios, but due to registration demands, it was divided into students' rooms. The residence was designed to house fifty students and seven teachers. Piano practice areas were also designated on the west side of the building and on the groundlevel half way between the basement and the first floor.
BRANDON COLLEGE BUILDING AND CLARK HALL RESTORATION PROJECT
By the early 1990s, it was clear that major reconstruction work on the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall was necessary if the buildings were to remain in use. The alternative was to demolish both buildings and construct a new central administrative structure for the campus. Because of the historic character of the two original campus buildings, the decision was taken to mount a complete restoration of the structures that involved a complete removal of everything except for the surrounding brick fascade and the construction of new buildings within the old external walls. This project was financed by the Provincial government of Manitoba, who granted the University approximatley 10 million dollars. The Chief Architect for the restoration was George Cibinal. Work began in 1996 and was completed by the fall of 1997. In addition to the restoration of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall, a new entrance was built on the west side of the buildings, as well as an addition to Clark Hall, which included a skywalk connecting it to the A.E. McKenzie Building.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of photographs of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall.
Notes
History/Bio information was taken from Brandon College: A History, 1899-1967 by C.G. Stone and F. Joan Garnett (Brandon, Manitoba: Brandon University, 1969), chapters 2 and 3. Tom Mitchell provided history/bio information on the restoration project.
The Citizens' Science Building was built in 1922 and financed by Brandon citizens. It was renamed the Knowles-Douglas Student Union Centre c. 1984 in honour of Brandon College graduates Stanley Knowles and Tommy Douglas, both of the Class of 1930. The Knowles-Douglas Addition was completed in 1987.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of photographs of the Citizens' Science Building and the Knowles-Douglas buildings, which include the Knowles-Douglas Student Union Centre and the Knowles-Douglas Addition.
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