These files were created from 1899-1967. They include almost all of the financial records from this time. Before the creation of the Bursar position in 1910, the files were probably created by Dr. McDiarmid and Dr. McKee. After 1910, it is assumed that it was primarily the Bursar’s responsibility to update the ledgers. As well, various committees were involved in the creation of these ledgers, such as the Refund Committee and the Library Committee.
Scope and Content
Many of the Ledgers in this collection contain clear information about how Brandon College raised and spent its money. There are General Accounts Ledgers that give an overall view of the College’s finances, as well as Financial Reports from 1910 through to 1969. There are several ledgers entitled Cash Receipts and Disbursements and Petty Cash.
Some interesting files from a researcher’s point of view are the Student Accounts Ledgers. Dating from 1899, these ledgers contain information regarding each student that attended Brandon College. The ledgers record the tuition, board and other students expenses, how it was paid and who it was for. There are also Book Accounts. These two books describe the books students had to buy for their classes. There is a book of room deposits, as well as a list of students by their hometown and denomination.
The Miscellaneous file is probably the most interesting one in the collection. There is a ledger created by Sadie Northam in 1898. The book contains expenses from what was possibly the Dining Room, as the purchases are mainly large amounts of groceries. The collection also includes the minute book from the Refunds Committee from 1914 to 1923. This committee heard appeals from students who desired some or all of their money back from the College. A very intriguing article in the miscellaneous file is that of the COTC Day Sheets. This ledger runs from March through April of an unknown year, although it most likely was 1915 or 1916. It has a list of students that were in the COTC and has columns for each day that they had drill practice. They COTC drilled twice a day, and the Day Sheets mark if the student was present for drill, and if he was not, what his reason for being absent was. It also contains a list of duties for the duty officer, as well as some memorandums.
There are two books in this series that record the Staff salaries from 1918 to 1921 and 1926 to 1928. There is also a ledger from the Brandon College Institute, Session 08. There is no date on this ledger, and it is not quite certain what the Institute was, as there is no other mention of it. Although the collection has been divided under various headings, it must be noted that there is considerable overlap, especially between the General Accounts, Cash Receipts and Disbursements, and the Student Accounts Ledgers.
The series has been divided into six sub-series, including: (1) General accounts ledgers; (2) Financial reports; (3) Cash receipts and disbursments ledgers; (4) Petty cash ledgers; (5) Student accounts ledgers; and (6) Miscellaneous ledgers and minute books.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 13: Brandon College Ledger and Minute books
File consists of guest books inc. Ottawa Office (May 1985-Oct. 1987, Oct. 1987-Aug 1993), Christmas Reception Victoria Inn Salon 1 (Dec. 1985), Melita Golden Age Club Christmas (1986), Christmas Reception Elks Hall Virden (Dec. 1984)
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.14.1 W. Leland Clark - political career
Box 33
The Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women (MACSW) was formed by a group of women who had participated in the preparation of a comprehensive brief to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1967. The Manitoba Volunteer Committee, formed in 1967, then went on to hold its first public meeting in 1970, adopt its constitution in 1973, and build up a membership of over 400 women by 1981. Until its demise in 2000, MACSW was the only feminist lobby group in Manitoba. Nothing has since taken its place.
MACSW was run by the membership and a Provincial Coordinating Committee (composed of members and staff), which met at least three times annually in various parts of the province. This made the workings of the Provincial organization more accessible for women throughout the province. Feminist process was used in all meetings and decisions were made by consensus. During the 1980s and 1990s, there were four MACSW branches: one each in Brandon, Winnipeg, Dauphin (Parkland Status of Women) and Thompson (Thompson Action Committee on the Status of Women). There were individual members in all areas of Manitoba, and for a few years in the 1990s, a Rural Coordinator networked with individual members outside of the four branch locations and helped coordinate provincial activities.
From the beginning, funding was short-term. Operations were run on a shoe-string and with the help of dedicated volunteers. The funding allowed for wages was poverty-level, forcing the organization to operate only part-time with part-time staff in order to provide staff with a reasonable salary.
As governments changed their funding objectives and methods, it became harder and harder for MACSW to maintain its presence as the only feminist lobby within Manitoba. When Status of Women Canada stopped funding core operations and only allowed for “project funding,” the job became impossible to do. Projects meant research and the publication of a document each year, and the work was to be coordinated among the various branches. Work on the project was necessarily additional to the daily tasks of the coordinators of the various offices. It became impossible to operate four branches, a provincial coordinating function and prepare a publication in conjunction with an annual project--all with a total budget of approximately $120,000.00 per year. Although an astonishing amount of work was accomplished by dedicated women under these circumstances, MACSW was unable to continue. MACSW closed its doors in Winnipeg in 1998, Brandon in 1999, and then throughout the province.
The primary activities of MACSW were political action (working for legislative change), public education about women’s issues, and providing resources, referrals and advocacy services to women in need of such support. Where possible, joint actions were planned with other groups in the community sharing similar concerns. The Coordinating Committee met quarterly, including representatives of three standing committees (finance, communications and membership) and up to ten members-at-large. Other committees were set up as members showed an interest in particular issues. At various times, there were committees on media monitoring, political action, labour, day care, education and so on. Branches had their own “mini-committees,” which worked with the Provincial committees on issues in common. Consultation between the branches, between Quarterly Meetings, was done by phone, mail or e-mail.
MACSW strove to advise women on issues of interest through films, guest speakers, speaking engagements, information tables, and working with other groups to present conferences and seminars, public meetings and so on. They also lobbied all levels of government and researched and wrote position papers and briefs for commissions and hearings.
MACSW members also liaised and networked by sharing their resources and working with other women’s groups, such as (in the Brandon area) Women for Equality, The Westman Coalition for Equality Rights, and The Western Manitoba Women’s Resource Centre. They organized and responded to government and public requests for input through research, conferences and the actions of their sub-committees. The media sought out MACSW for comment upon issues of the day.
Throughout the approximate 30 years of its existence, MACSW was respected as an informed and highly effective organization working on behalf of women. No other feminist organization has taken the place of MACSW. However, lobbying and education on behalf of women continues on an ad hoc basis through former MACSW members who have been empowered through their experiences in MACSW to speak up for change and improvement in the status of women in Manitoba, Canada and the world.
Custodial History
The Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women disbanded during the mid 1990s, due to lack of funding. Acting on behalf of the organization, Paula Mallea donated the records to the McKee Archives in 2003.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains minutes of governing bodies (local and provincial) from 1979-1992, correspondence files of the Brandon MACSW, scrapbooks of the Brandon Action Committee (1972-1992), Action Newsletters (1979-1999), records of AGM (1982-1990), and extensive miscellaneous files dealing with activities, workshops and research concerns of the Brandon local of the Manitoba Action Committee of the Status of Women. These include files dealing with violence against women, rural women, northern women, child abuse, social policy, sexual orientation, feminism, poverty, prostitution, pay equity, and racism, among others.
This book contains the minutes of Memorial Gymnasium Committee meetings during the years 1923 to 1932. There is also a subscription card within the book.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 8: Brandon College Students Association
The Manitoba Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators kept and preserved a chronological record of the meetings of the MPE Board of Directors and annual delegate meetings. The minutes were typed and bound, then placed in the MPE reference library so that employees and members could access them.
Scope and Content
This sub-series consists of minutes of organizational meetings and later meetings held by the Central Office of the Manitoba Wheat Co-operative Producers, Ltd (later known as the Manitoba Wheat Pool) from 1923 until it went under in 1934, and of meetings held by the central office of Manitoba Pool Elevators from 1925 until 1997.
