The records are in excellent condidtion, but the extensive use of photocopying of available records occasionally leads to difficulty in clarity of content.
History / Biographical
The project originated in the summer of 1987 at Brandon University. It was undertaken by several Brandon University students under the guidance of Dr. William R. Morrison and Dr. Ken Coates, both professors in the Department of History. From the perspective of all involved, research and future publication were the original aims of the project. The intention was to produce a combination of documentary and oral history of the Brandon region during the Great Depression, including an extensive study of Brandon College. Initially, an outline and project summary was presented to Manitoba Heritage Grants Program for consideration and after being chosen as a recipient for the grant, regular reports on research progress were submitted. The project was discontinued at the end of the summer due to a lack of funding and availability of the researchers.
Custodial History
The records were held in the custory of Dr. Morrison until his departure from Brandon University in 1989. At this time, the records were given to Tom Mitchell, who donated the entire project to the McKee Archives, where they were accessioned in 1997.
Scope and Content
The sub sub sub series consists of textual records relating to Brandon and the surrounding area during the years of the Great Depression, predominantly 1929-1939. The material in the sub sub sub series falls generally into the following categories: city, provincial, and federal government documents and correspondence; newspaper articles and other publications, and statistical data. Of particular interest are four papers written by Brandon University students and six years of the Henderson Directory. Also included is a folder containg documents associated with the research project undertaken by Dr. Morrison et al. during the summer of 1987.
The sub sub sub series has been divided into four boxes:
Box 1 - Brandon City Council file index, City Council membership and minutes, relief regulations, proposals for burials and children's shelters, relief work projects reports, Brandon-Cornwallis Health Unit reports, correspondence between the City of Brandon and numerous levels of government, Brandon Public Health Nurse reports, farm reports, Brandon bank clearings, Provincial Election results, Employment Service of Canada documents, various published articles, Brandon University student papers.
Box 2 - Civic, provincial and federal documents related to various features of the Great depresion and its impact on Brandon including lists of relief recipients and personal letters to the City, Brandon General Hospital reports. Some of thes documents remain unsorted but clearly identified by title and archival institution of origin.
Box 3 - Censuses of Canada, Henderson Directory for Brandon, City of Brandon Property Address Listing, United Farmers of Manitoba documents, rural rehabilitation programs, Brandon by-law voting, Archives of manitoba documents, Westman Municipal News articles, Economic Survey Board provincial data, project documents.
Box 4 - Brandon Sun articles including a file index to articles of interest.
Notes
The description for this sub sub sub series was taken from the Brandon - Great Depression research project fonds written by Codee Lorrain (2005). Part of RG 6, 7.1.4 (Department of History).
Because of privacy issues, correspondence relating to the recipients of relief is restricted. They are still available in the sub sub sub series, however, and discretion on the part of the examiner is necessary.
Location Original
Provincial document originals are available at the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Federal document originals can be found at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. City of Brandon document originals can be obtained through City Hall. The original Brandon Sun papers are located at the Brandon Sun office in Brandon.
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 7: Faculties and Schools
7.1 Faculty of Arts
7.1.4 Department of History
Related Material
Records relating to the Faculty of Arts at Brandon College during the Great Depression can be found in the Brandon College fonds. Other records specifically relating to the Great Dpression in Brandon can be found in the Errol Black fonds and the Manitoba Pool Elevators fonds. All fonds are available at the McKee Archives.
Arrangement
Each subject of information has been compiled into separate folders. The first three boxes are composed of various documents sorted by the archivist. The fourth box is entirely composed of Brandon Sun articles arranged by the researchers. If there is one subject that covers a number of years, each year will typically have a folder; however, in some cases, like the Brandon Sun articles, more than one folder was needed per year.
See RG 6, series 9 (Department of Extension) for biographical information on R.B. Inch.
Custodial History
R.B. Inch's records were passed on to the McKee Archives following his death. It is presumed that the executer of his estate donated the collection after his passing in 1983.
Scope and Content
This collection is heavily influenced by Inch's professional and organizational life. Most heavily represented is literature associated with Inch's involvement with the League of Nations Society in Canada during the 1930s. It also appears that Inch paid close attention to United Nations' policy following World War II, from ca. 1945-1970. There are numerous items devoted to both Canadian and international political and diplomatic issues, with particular emphasis on British politics in the immediate post-war period. As one would expect from his involvement in the National Research Council and League of Nations Society, the core of the fonds is a study in two major themes. The first theme is of the post-WWII policy pursued by Canada and Britain and, secondly, the growth and development of United Nations' policy following the collapse of the League of Nations. There is some periphery material of general interest to Canadian history and Canadian university publications, but for the most part the material can be classified into one of the two preceding themes.
The collection includes a manuscript prepared by R.B. Inch entitled "Parliament Will Decide: A Chronicle of the Drift to War and of an Effort to Help Avert it" (1947). The manuscipt is edited but out of order.
The balance of the collection consists of accumulated documents gathered over the course of Inch's lifetime from outside sources. These include: newspaper clippings and whole newspapers from publications in Winnipeg, Brandon, Toronto, Calgary and London; United Nations' pamphlets conerning a broad range of issues, ranging from the question of East Indian independence to annual policy directives of the organization; various magazines including copies of "Interdependence," which Inch once edited; articles taken from the publication "Life" concerning important figures of the time period; numerous books and textbooks concerning the political formation of post-war Europe; quarterlies from academic institutions, such as the University of Toronto; some material, primarily pamphlets, concerning R.B. Inch's involvement in Amnesty International after his retirement; and documents relating to post-war reconstruction in Britain.
Notes
Finding aid for the R.B. Inch fonds was prepared for the McKee Archives by Matthew Palmer (2003). The majority of the boxes in the collection contain a typewritten inventory detailing the contents of each container. As well, the preponderance of the files within the boxes are further subdivided by either a typwritten inventory itemizing the material contained within each dossier or a handwritten note on the outside of the folder describing the contents.
MG 3 Brandon University Teaching and Administration
1.10 R.B. Inch
Related Material
Additional materials related to R.B. Inch may be found in RG 6, Series 9 (Department of Extension). There is also a related group of records from R.B. Inch that can be found in the Library and Archives of Canada under the heading Rober Boyer Inch fonds. This fonds consists of 4.05 m of textual records dating from ca. 1923-1981.
