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.
The position of Director of the School of Music was changed to Dean of the School of Music in 1987.
DIRECTORS/DEANS OF THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC:
LONRE WATSON (1967-1981)
Lorne Watson was born ca. 1919 in Leamington, Ontario and is the founder and developer of the School of Music at Brandon University. Watson was admitted to the Toronto Conservatory of Music after an audition played for Sir Ernest MacMillan in 1938. He graduated from that institution with his L.T.C.M in 1940, winning the Conservatory Gold Medal. Further studies the following year took place in New York at the Mannes School of Music, under Rosalyn Tureck and James Friskin. Watson's studies were interrupted when he joined the R.C.A.F., where he became a radar specialist and later a signals officer. He was discharged in 1945. After the war, Watson took a B.A. (Honours Music) degree at the University of Toronto. Upon graduation in 1948, Watson accepted the position of Director of the Department of Music at Brandon College. He later attended New York University (1951) where he held a graduate fellowship and obtained an M.A. (Musicology). In 1961, Watson was awarded a Canada Council Arts Scholarship, which took him to Indiana University where he began work on his Doctor of Music degree.
Watson was the Director, and then the Dean of the School of Music from 1948-1980; from 1984-1991 he was director of the conservatory. During his time at Brandon College/University, he not only revived and expanded the program, he also revived and conducted the Brandon College Glee Club. He was also the artistic director for The S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte National Competition for the Performance of Canadian Music, which is held annually on the campus of Brandon University. In 1988, the Recital Hall in the completed Queen Elizabeth II Music Building was renamed the Lorne Watson Recital Hall. Lorne Watson retired from Brandon University in August 1993.
In addition to his role at Brandon University, Watson helped the growth of music in the surrounding region by insisting that the first Bachelor of Music degree be offered in Music Education to improve the state of music in Manitoba schools; he was also a founding member of the Manitoba Music Educators Association and in 1978, he acted as program chair for the World Congress of the International Society for Music Education. Watson was a founder and conductor of the Brandon Choral Society and in 1964, he became one of the founders of the Canadian Association of University Schools of Music, serving as its Secretary, President and Chairman of the Council of Members Schools at various times. In addition to the above activities, he also gave piano recitals, played radio broadcasts and began an adjudicating career.
In 1996, he was the recipient of a Prix Manitoba Award in recognition for outstanding contributions to the arts. Watson received the award in the category of education and communication for his 50 years of leadership in the development of music education in Manitoba. At present (January 2006), Lorne Watson lives in Winnipeg.
GORDON MACPHERSON (1981-1987)
Gordon Macpherson was born in Moose Jaw, SK on November 14, 1924. He obtained his LRCT in 1949, his Artist Diploma (Toronto) in 1953, and his M.Mus. from Indiana University in 1974. His teachers were Cyril Hampshire 1942-43, at the Hamilton Conservatory (RHCM) and Margaret Miller Brown and Bela Boszormenyi-Nagy 1946-53 at the RCMT, where Macpherson also received chamber music coaching from Boris Roubakine and himself taught piano 1948-50. Macpherson took doctoral studies with Menahem Pressler (piano) and in pedagogy and conducting at the University of Indiana in 1975-77.
He moved to Halifax Orchestra in 1965-66, and was conductor for the CBC TV program "Reflections" in 1960-62. He also wrote and conducted music for many CBC radio dramas, including some in the "Stage" series. Macpherson was head (1964-66) of the piano department at the Halifax (later Maritime) Conservatory. During his Halifax period, he took advanced training as a conductor at the Monteux School of Conducting in Hancock, Maine, and with Hugo Rignold, and as a pianist with Kendall Taylor. He founded the Halifax Trio in 1955 and moved his trio partners to Brandon College (later Brandon University) in 1966 to become artists-in-residence. They were renamed the Brandon University Trio.
Macpherson joined the teaching faculty at Brandon University in 1967, serving as Dean of the School of Music from 1982-87 (his first year was as Acting Director). He continued in 1991 to teach piano and chamber music. In 1988 and 1990, he was visiting professor at the Universite Canadienne en France at Villegranche-sur-mer.
Macpherson retired from Brandon University on September 1, 1991. He and his wife later moved to Victoria, BC. Gordon Macpherson died on September 28, 2011.
LAWRENCE JONES (1988 - 1993/1994)
Lawrence Jones was born in Ninga, MB on March 26, 1936. He obtained his ARCT in 1954, his Associate Diploma, piano from WBM in 1954, his Licentiate Diploma, music (Manitoba) in 1957, his B.A. from the Unviersity of Manitoba in the same year, his M.Mus. from Yale in 1959, and DMA piano performance, pedagogy from the University of Iowa in 1985. In 1959, he moved with his family to Winnipeg where he began studies with Filmer Hubble. Following graduation from Yale, he taught briefly at the University of Manitoba, before joining the Faculty of Music at Brandon College in 1961. Meanwhile, he continued his studies at the University of Minnesota in 1960-62, with Bernard Weiser and at the Julliard school in 1967-68. In 1975, while pursuing doctoral studies, he attended the International String Worksoho at Exeter, England, and in 1976, the Dartington Summer School. In 1985, he studied with Kendall Taylor at the RCM (London) and in 1986, with Jeaneane Dowis (New York).
Jones has perfomed widely in the Atlantic provinces and in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in concert and on the CBC as soloist, ensemble pianist, and accompanist. With Francis Schaplin he premiered the piano version of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte's violin concerto in 1951 at Brandon College. He has been offical accompanist at the Manitoba finals of the CIBC National Music Festival, and began in 1962 to adjudicate throughout Canada at music festivals. Beginning in 1970, he has assisted in curriculum preparation for the WBM, chairing the sight-reading and ear-training committees. He was secretary of CAUSM (1973-75), chairman of the Brandon University music library committee (1969-77), and a member of the board of the Internationl Music Camp, Manitoba (1981-87). In 1987, he was appointed Dean of the School of Music at Brandon, a position he continued to occupy until 1994. Jones retired on July 1, 1997.
At present (Janaury 2006), Lawrence Jones resides in Brandon and teaches sessionally for the School of Music.
T. PATRICK CARRABRE (1994-1995/1996 and 1998)
For additional biographical information on Patrick Carrabre, see RG 6, sub-series 4.1 (Office of the Vice-President (Academic & Research)).
Carrabre's early compositional studies were with Dr. Robert Turner at the University of Manitoba and with Jules Leger Prize winning composer Peter Paul Koprowski at the University of Western Ontario. He later went on to work closely with Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Perle in the study of his system of Twelve-Tone Tonality.
Patrick Carrabre returned to his faculty position within the School of Music after his departure from the office of the Vice-President (Academic & Research). In addition to his teaching, he carries on an active program of composition.
R. GODDARD - acting (1995 - 1997)
Ron Goddard, currently on administrative leave (2005-2006), was dean of the Faculty of Education from 2000-2005 and provost of the College of Arts & Science from 2003-2005 at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, British Columbia. For that same period, Goddard was the founder and clarinetist of the OUC Woodwind Quintet, an artist-in-residence ensemble of professional musicians who perform frequently on the campuses of OUC and throughout the Okanagan Valley. Prior to his appointment as dean at OUC, he was an associate professor of music at Brandon University, chairing the Joint Department of Music Education and teaching clarinet and music education courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He served as acting dean of BU's School of Music from 1995 to 1997.
After recieving the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Oklahoma, Goddard performed professionally as solo clarinetist of the Fourth US Army Band in San Antonio, Texas and the US Army Band of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He won First Prizes with Distinction in Clarinet and Chamber Music at the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music (Belgium). Goddard earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Arizona State University in 1987.
Teaching appointments have included public school music in Oklahoma and serving on the music faculties of Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Mount Allison University in New Brunswick.
G. CARRUTHERS (1998 - July 31, 2008)
Glen Carruthers' early training took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he studied with Winifred Hardiman (piano), Filmer Hubble (harmony) and Gwendda Owen Davies (counterpoint). In 1972, he entered Brandon University and graduated with a BMus in 1977. After a year of private study in Halifax, he entered the MA program in Canadian Studies at Carleton University, graduating with distinction in 1981. His thesis, "The Career and Compositions of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte," was the first comprehensive study of the composer's life and works. After teaching theory and ear training in the extra-curricular music programs of the Ottawa Board of Education, Carruthers completed his PhD in musicology at the Unviersity of Victoria, graduating in 1986. His dissertation is entitled "Bach and the Piano: Editions, Arrangements and Transcriptions from Czerny to Rachmaninov."
Prior to coming to Brandon University, where he has served as Dean of the School of Music since 1998, Carruthers taught at Lakehead University (1988-1998), where he was chair of the Department of Music for seven years. He has served on the national boards of the Canadian Music Centre and Canadian University Music Society, of which he was President 2001-2003, and continues to serve on the Prairie Regional Council of the Canadian Music Centre and several other boards. A pianist, as well as a musicologist, teacher and administrator, he studied with Lorne Watson, William Tritt, Elaine Keillor, Bruce Vogt and Ronald Turini.
Glen Carruthers died at his home in Ontario on December 24, 2020.
MICHAEL KIM (August 1, 2008 - July 31, 2013)
No biographical information yet.
Custodial History
The majority of these materials were held in the School of Music until their transfer to the Archives in the fall of 2003. Box 23 was donated by Lorne Watson in May 2004.
Scope and Content
The bulk of the materials in this sub-series were generated during the course of Lorne Watson’s years as Director and instructor of the School of Music. Records include corresondence, committee materials, financial information, audio tapes, posters, musical scores, concert programs, publications, records related to the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition , lectures, proposals, minutes (including Faculty Council), teaching and course materials, photographs, newsletters, festival materials, and records related to the Winnipeg Symphony. One file (1979) contains Gordon Macpherson's correspondence.
Notes
A partial inventory exists as a Word document. Information in the History/Bio field for Lorne Watson was taken from his biography file in the McKee Archives. Information for Gordon Macpherson was taken from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/emc/m17-119.01-e.php?uid=4650&uidc=ID (January 2006). It was written by Kenneth Nichols. Information for Lawrence Jones was also taken from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/emc/m17-119.01-e.php?uid=6068&uidc=ID (January 2006). It was written by Mabel H. Laine. Biographical information on Goddard, Carrabre and Carruthers was provided by the School of Music (March 2006).
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
7.4 School of Music
Related Material
An article summarizing Lorne Watson's career appeared in the Saturday, August 12, 2006 edition of The Brandon Sun. A copy of the article has been placed in Lorne Watson's bio file in the McKee Archives reading room.
4.2 m textual records; 5 cassette tapes; 2 cd roms, 110 photographs (colour and b/w) various sizes
History / Biographical
Errol Black was born on September 8, 1939 in Brandon, Manitoba. He was the son of Thomas Alexander Black, who immigrated to Canada from Limerick, Ireland in 1929, and Roberta Jean (nee Groat) Black, a native of Chatham, New Brunswick. Black attended King George Elementary, Earl Haig Junior High, Brandon Collegiate Institute for Grade 10, and completed high school through correspondence courses for Grandes 11 and 12. He left school in 1956 to work a variety of jobs in Brandon, Calgary and on the west coast. He spent a short time in the Royal Canadian Navy. Errol Black undertook post-secondary education at Brandon College (1963-1965, graduated with a B.A.), the University of Alberta (1965-1967, graduated 1973 with an M.A. in economics) and Warwick University (1975-1977). Black taught economics at Brandon University from 1970 until his retirement in 2002. Following retirement he was granted Professor Emeritus status in 2003.
Errol Black has published three books, as well as many articles and reports in leading academic journals. He has a longstanding interest in the history of organized labour and working-class politics in Brandon. These remain important themes in his research and writing. He served on the Executive of the Brandon University Faculty Association for many years, and was President of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations for two years. Black is also a member of the Brandon District Labour Council, a founding member of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian centre for Policy Alternatives, and a board member of the Brandon Regional Health Authority (2000-2006). He was elected to Brandon City Council in 1998, and for a second term in 2001. In 1999 he was the federal NDP candidate for Brandon-Souris.
Black married Margaret Millard from Waskada, MB in 1961, with whom he had three sons: Sean, Dennis and Tom.
Custodial History
Accession 17-1997 was originally owned by Jim Davis, brother to Communist activist Stanley Forkin. Taimi Davis, Jim Davis' wife, mailed the collection from her residence in Ontario to Errol Black in 1994. Professor Black donated the collection to the McKee Archives. Accession 02-2003 was donated to the Archives in November 2002 by Errol Black. Accession 15-2003 was donated to the Archives on April 30, 2003 by Errol Black. Accession 17-2003 was donated to the Archives on July 15, 2003 by Errol Black.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of a number of accessions. Accession 17-1997, dating from 1935-1936, consists of twelve of the thirteen issues of the "Unemployed Worker," published in Brandon in the 1930s. The "Unemployed Worker" was the organ of the Brandon Unemployed Workers' Council. This Council, like its counterparts in other communities, was created by Canadian Communist Party militants. The "Unemployed Worker" covered the activities of the Unemployed Workers' Council, the plight of Brandon's unemployed, efforts by the city's unemployed to improve their lives, and City Council decisions, specifically those regarding relief policy.
Accession 02-2003, dating 1917, 1936-1939, 1970-2002 (predominant 1970-2002), contains extensive correspondence from former Brandon University Economic Professor Don Wheeler to Errol Black. In addition, the accession contains an important body of correspondence received by Professor Black from Taimi Davis written by Pat Forkin and his wife Pheobe Forkin to family members in Canada during the years 1936-1939, while Pat was a Moscow based corespondent for the Canadian Communist Party Clarion. The accession also contains personal correspondence of Errol Black dating from ca. 1970, drafts of papers, newspaper clippings, pamphlets related to labour and labour political matters. Two publications of note include: "Labour in Brandon" published by the Brandon and District Labour Council and a student guide to labour law written by George MacDowell. The accession also contains several documents related to Black's involvement in the provincial Industrial Adjustment Committee.
Accession 15-2003, dating 1930-2002 (predominant 1930-1939; 1971-2002), contains extensive clippings from the Canadian Communist Party publications "The Worker" and the "Daily Clarion" from the years 1930-1939; twenty-one personal and family photographs (b/w 3x5) of the Forkin family of Brandon, many of whom were active in the Canadian Communist Party; various historical photographs (b/w 8x10) related to the history of labour in Brandon, Manitoba; personal files containing correspondence, letters and opinion pieces to various newspapers, course outlines, research materials and draft publications, arbitration awards and documents related to Black's involvement with the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations (MOFA).
Accession 17-2003, dating 1970-2002, contains correspondence, a manuscript of an autobiography written by Black's father Tom Black, research files, letters to the editor and draft publications by Errol Black.
Accession 3-2011, dating 1909-2010, contains an extensive record of newspaper clippings often of Professor Black's correspondence with the Brandon Sun from the early 1970s through to 2011. Clippings relate to civic issues, labour relations, social justice, economic questions. Documents (membership cards, cards of thanks, stamps) of various kinds, and photographs of Professor Black, family members, and various labour related events including parades and rallies, appear throughout these clippings. Collection includes miscellaneous files relating to the 75th Anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike including the Brandon Sympathetic Strike of 1919, the Brandon Greys Baseball team, the Assiniboine College BMHC lobby campaign, Brandon and Area Environmental Council, the Brandon East NDP Contituency Association. Editions (1925-31) of the Sons of England - Official Organ of the Sons of England Benefit Society - published in Oshawa, Ontario, and copies of documents related to the Commission of Inquiry (1928) into labour issues at the Brandon Mental Hospital are included.Collection also contains extensive correspondence associated with Professor Black's activities as a department member, scholar, and activist in the Department of Economics at Brandon University. Collection contains as well research materials related to the Brandon labour movement, strikes at A.E. Mckenzie Seed Company 1940s, cd roms containg research materials - clippings and images - for Labour Council Anniversary book ( 2006), and civic politics in Brandon. Records also contain research materials on various members of the Forkin family - in particular the Pat Forkin, Tom Forkin, and Stephen Forkin (aka Jim Davis) - who were active members of the Canadian Communist Party during their adult lives. A collection of family photographs and six tape cassettes containing accounts of the experiences of single unemployed men during the Great Depression and the funeral of Stephen Forkin ( Jim Davis) and correspondence from Taimi Davis the widow of Stephen Forkin (Jim Davis) supplement the sources on the Forkin family.
Notes
Photographs of Joe Forkin, Pat Forkin, Stan Forkin, Jim Davis and other members of the Forkin family are contained in Box 3 (15-2003) and Box 10 (3-2011).
Some restrictions. Consult the University Archivist for access.
Repro Restriction
Researchers are responsible for observing Canadian copyright restrictions.
Storage Location
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.1 Errol Black
Related Material
MG 3 1.12 contains additional records related to George MacDowell; RG 6, Series 15 (BUFA) contains additional records on the Brandon University Faculty Association; RG 6, Series 7, Sub sub series 7.1.5 (Department of Economics) contains additional records related to the Department of Economics at Brandon University; RG 6, Series 7, Sub-series 7.1 (Dean of Arts) contains files on Don Wheeler and George MacDowell.
30 photographs -- 25 at 3.5" x 8" (color and b/w); 5 at 8" x 10" (b/w); 3 magnets; 1 plaque (8 x 3 cm)
History / Biographical
See RG 6, series 1 (Office of the Chancellor) for biographical information on Stanley Knowles.
Custodial History
This collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Collection contains photographs and memorabilia from Stanley Knowles' political career, and his time at Brandon University. Included are pictures of Knowles with Pierre Trudeau, Queen Elizebeth, Ed Broadbent, and other national political figures. However, the majority of the pictures have to do with the time Knowles spent at Brandon University later in his life, serving as Chancellor. These pictures depict Knowles addressing crowds and attending conferences. Of the three magnets included, two are pictures of Knowles late in life, while the third is a cartoonish representation of him. The plaque is a recreation of a campaign slogan from very early in Knowles' political career.
Notes
Description written by Mike White or Robyn Mitchell (2002).
Files consist of correspondence and other documents related to a SSHRC grant for the acquisition of the William S. Gray Research Collection in Reading for the E.L. Christie Education Library at Brandon University.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 8: Library Services
8.2 S.J. McKee Archives
Box 2
Files consist of correspondence and other documents related to what appears to be two grant proposals, one for an arrangement and description backlog reduction cost-shared cooperative program through Public Archives Canada, the other a SSHRC grant for the Indians of the Northern Plains collection in the University library.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 8: Library Services
8.2 S.J. McKee Archives
Box 2
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.
Cedric Vendyback was born August 28, 1923 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England and was educated at Harehills Council School till the age of fourteen - then becoming a labourer. At the outbreak of World War II, he educated himself for aircrew duties and in 1942 came to Canada where he was trained as a fighter pilot and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Air Force until demonbilisation in 1946. He flew as a Reservist pilot from 1948 to 1968.
After Training College, Vendyback became a teacher in 1948 and in 1953 began empirical training with Alex Baron as an actor and director until becoming appointed as Associate of the Drama Board, later a Licentiate of The Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. In 1963, he was elected a Member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators.
In 1971, he was selected for and offered a position as a professor at Brandon University where he opened a new drama department in January 1972.
Vendyback retired in 1992 and currently (June 2012) lives in Kelowna, B.C., where he works as a free-lance director and lecturer.
Custodial History
Records were in the possession of Cedric Vendyback from their creation until he donated them to the McKee Archvies in 2011 and 2012.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records related to the activities of the Brandon University Drama Society (BUDS) and the Brandon University Drama Department collected by Cedric Vendyback during his years as head of the department. The Society performed plays in the then Drama Building, the J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre and the Westman Centennial Auditorium.
Accession 16-2011 (1972-1978) consists of a photograph album of photographs, playbills and related newspaper clippings for Brandon University Drama Society productions staged between 1972 and 1978.
Accession 10-2012 (1972-1985) consists of: production reviews from various newspapers and playbills for BUDS productions; a historical fact sheet provided by the donor regarding the Drama Department's service to the community; student evaluation extracts; and the course description for Play Production.
Notes
History/Bio provided by Cedric Vendyback. Description by Christy Henry.
