Fonds consists of papers, photographs and sound recording produced by and pertaining to Jimmy Simpson and the Simpson family. Material is arranged in seven series. I. Jimmy Simpson Sr. papers and photographs, ca.1901-1972, ca.74 cm of textual records, 23 photograph albums (ca.2875 prints), 425 tra…
2.5 m textual records. -- ca.1605 photographs: ca.755 prints, 410 negatives, ca.430 transparencies. -- 29 photograph albums (ca.3000 prints). -- 1 sound recording: audio disc
History / Biographical
Justin James McCarthy (Jimmy) Simpson, 1877-1972, was a trapper, guide and outfitter and lodge owner at Banff and Bow Lake, Alberta, Canada. Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, Simpson was sent to Canada by his family in 1896. He worked briefly at Laggan (Lake Louise), Alberta for the Canadian Pacific Railway, travelled extensively and returned to the Rockies to work on the trail and trap. By the early 1900s, he was a successful guide and outfitter with Carl Rungius and the Alpine Club of Canada as clients. Starting in 1920, Simpson began building Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Bow Lake as a base for hunting and climbing parties. Simpson and Williamina (Billie) Ross Reid, 1891-1968, married in 1916 and had three children. The lodge was run mainly by Billie Simpson and in 1945 the business was turned over to Jimmy Simpson Jr., 1922-2003 . Daughters Margaret Simpson, 1917-1941, and Mary Simpson (Hallock), 1919-2002, were internationally-famous figure skaters.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of papers, photographs and sound recording produced by and pertaining to Jimmy Simpson and the Simpson family. Material is arranged in seven series.
I. Jimmy Simpson Sr. papers and photographs, ca.1901-1972, ca.74 cm of textual records, 23 photograph albums (ca.2875 prints), 425 transparencies. Includes business and personal correspondence, business records and subject files, 1903-1972; literary papers, 1912-1972; and other papers, 1903- 1957. Business records pertain mainly to guiding, outfitting and hunting operations. Correspondents include Carl Rungius, J. Monroe Thorington, L. S. Amery, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, William S. Ladd, C. Hart Merriam, Allan Brooks and others; also federal and provincial government departments, Canadian Pacific Railway, etc., regarding hunting, game regulations, park boundaries, licences, permits, horses, etc. Albums pertain mainly to hunting trips, including those with Carl Rungius, Caroline Hinman and McAleenan family, ca.1901-ca.1920, 23 items. Transparencies pertain to McAleenan family trips.
II. Simpson family papers, photographs and sound recording, ca.1900-1987, ca.1.5 m of textual records, ca.675 photographic prints, 6 photograph albums (ca.460 prints), 410 photographic negatives, 1 sound recording. Textual records include large series of alphabetical files, 1907-1987; correspondence, ca.1910-ca.1985; school records, 1923-1936; Num-Ti-Jah Lodge registers, 1939-1957; other material, 1929-1942. Photographs pertain to Jimmy Simpson and family; friends and guests; lodges and camps, including Num-Ti-Jah Lodge; Banff home and community; pack trips; scenic views; other.
III. Billie Simpson papers, 1913-1968, 6.5 cm of textual records. Includes Billie Simpson correspondence, literary and dramatic papers.
IV. Simpson Sisters professional papers and photographs, 1929-1955, ca.20 cm and 3 v. of textual material, ca.15 cm of print material, 86 photographic prints. Material pertains to the professional skating career of Margaret Simpson and Mary Simpson.
V. Mary Simpson Hallock papers, 1960-1955, 1.5 cm of textual records.
VI. Jimmy Simpson Jr. papers, 1947-1983, 1 cm of textual records.
VII. Other material, before 1970, 1 cm of textual records and art works.
Fonds consists of Tweedy's photographs of Alpine Club of Canada annual summer camps; ACC members and activities, 1928-1946; camp packing activities, 1935; military camps; Stanley H. Mitchell and Mitchell's grave stone. Album is photographs of Little Yoho Valley Military Instruction Camp, July-Augu…
71 photographs : prints. -- 1 photograph album (40 prints). -- 1 item of print material
History / Biographical
Major Wharton Richard Tweedy, 1889-1965, was a soldier, mountaineer, outfitter and packtrain operator, and served as secretary-treasurer and Camp Manager for the Alpine Club of Canada between 1929 and 1942. Tweedy was responsible for setting up the camp facility for the 1943 Military Instruction Camp at Little Yoho Valley
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of Tweedy's photographs of Alpine Club of Canada annual summer camps; ACC members and activities, 1928-1946; camp packing activities, 1935; military camps; Stanley H. Mitchell and Mitchell's grave stone. Album is photographs of Little Yoho Valley Military Instruction Camp, July-August 1943; mainly horse packing and snow and ice training views, some by the National Film Board of Canada (possibly Harry Rowed and Lt. Bell). Accompanied by reproduction of drawing of Stanley Mitchell Hut
2 cm + 1 v. textual records.. -- 1 photograph : print.
History / Biographical
Olive McDonnell Allan (1896-1978) took a wildflower painting and collecting trip in 1924 to Banff from Edmonton. McDonnell Allan attended the Lamerton School in Alberta until 1901. After this she was tutored at home, until the family’s move to Victoria, BC. Olive and her brother lived with relatives north of Alix, Alberta until they joined their sister and parents in Victoria. In Victoria Olive attended St. Anne's Academy. Prior to her marriage Olive attended business college in Calgary, and took courses at the University of Alberta. At this time she worked as the Assistant Librarian at the University of Alberta Extension Department. While she was living in Edmonton, Olive met James Rennie Nicol Allan while she was visiting her relatives in the Alix, Alberta area. They were married August 23, 1923. Olive played violin in the Symphony Orchestra in Edmonton, and sold her violin to pay for a nurse to attend the birth of her daughter Eve. Olive and James had two children, James McDonnell Allan and Eve Elizabeth Blanche Keates (nee Allan). Olive returned to the Banff/Lake Louise area in 1948 when her daughter, Eve, was working there. Olive belonged to the Alix (Alberta) Horticulture Club, and throughout her life she was an avid gardener, and won many awards.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of 1 pressed flower album, 3 wildflower sketches, 1 pamplet by E. S. Dowding, 1 three page trip calendar, 1 photograph.
Fonds consists primarily of expedition records in four multi-media volumes. Fonds also contains lantern slides and print material. Material pertains to the 1927 Ostheimer Expedition and the 1926 advance expedition by Alfred J. Ostheimer III and John de Laittre II. It describes expedition activit…
Also known as the 1927 Ostheimer expedition, Canadian Rockies fonds
Date Range
1927-1929
Physical Description
30 cm of textual records. -- 66 photographs : transparencies
History / Biographical
The Ostheimer Expedition 1927 was a mountaineering and scientific expedition, led by Alfred J. Ostheimer III, 1908-1983, with fellow Harvard students John de Laittre II and W. R. Maclaurin, in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The party completed a nine week climbing and exploration trip described as "perhaps the greatest tour de force ever accomplished in a single season in the Canadian Rockies." Party members climbed thirty-five mountains, including twenty-eight first ascents, in the region between the Athabasca River and Tsar Creek.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists primarily of expedition records in four multi-media volumes. Fonds also contains lantern slides and print material. Material pertains to the 1927 Ostheimer Expedition and the 1926 advance expedition by Alfred J. Ostheimer III and John de Laittre II. It describes expedition activities, topography, drainage, geographic names, mountains and mountaineering, geology, glaciation, flora, fauna and meteorology, etc., of the Jasper, Whirlpool, Clemenceau, Chaba and Columbia areas and is illustrated with photographs, maps and cartoons.
Volumes titles are: 1927 Ostheimer Expedition, Canadian Rockies : Report / by Alfred J. Ostheimer III (2 v : 569 p.); 1927 Ostheimer Expedition, Canadian Rockies : Every other day / Alfred J. Ostheimer III (1 v : 312 p.); 1927 Ostheimer Expedition, Canadian Rockies : Field notes and photographs / by John de Laittre II (1 v : 562 p.).
Notes
Lantern slides are from an original set of sixty-six pertaining to the expedition
Every other day : the journals of the remarkable Rocky Mountain climbs and explorations of Alfred J. Ostheimer III / R. W. Sandford and Jon Whelan (eds.), was published by The Alpine Club of Canada in 2002
Fonds consists of four series: I. Personal, II. Professional, III. Activities, IV. Brewster family. I. Personal series, 1905-1982, 18 cm of textual records, 160 photographs, 2 sound recordings. Includes correspondence, interview and recorded conversation, address/notebook, artwork, other textua…
ca.80 cm of textual material. -- ca.900 photographs : prints, postcards, transparencies, negatives, copy negatives. -- 1 photograph album (50 prints). -- 3 sound recordings : audio tape cassettes
History / Biographical
Forrest Oliver "Pat" Brewster, 1896-1982, was a trail guide, outfitter and businessman in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Pat was a native and life-long resident of Banff. As a boy, he was an active Boy Scout and, by age seventeen, was a big game guide. After serving in World War I, Brewster established the first permanent camp at Lake O'Hara for the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1926, he took over the Brewster Transport Company outfitting business from his brothers, Bill and Jim. In the 1930s, he became involved in skiing explorations in the Assiniboine, Skoki and Sunshine areas. Pat Brewster was active in community affairs and, in his later years, was an avid historian of the region. He published three books of reminiscences between 1975 and 1982.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of four series: I. Personal, II. Professional, III. Activities, IV. Brewster family.
I. Personal series, 1905-1982, 18 cm of textual records, 160 photographs, 2 sound recordings. Includes correspondence, interview and recorded conversation, address/notebook, artwork, other textual records, photographs.
II. Professional series, 1892-1982, 47.5 cm of textual records, 266 photographs, 1 sound recording. Includes papers pertaining to various Brewster family and other businesses, writing papers and sound recording, and photographs pertaining to guiding and outfitting, tourism promotion and other.
III. Activities series, 1841-1983, 6.5 cm of textual records, 262 photographs. Pertains to genealogical research, other activities and collected material.
IV. Brewster family series, 1841-1981, 2.5 cm of textual records, 132 photographs. Pertains to Brewster family, Jack Brewster, John Brewster, Pearl Brewster Moore and the Moore family.
Fonds consists of papers, photographs and sound recordings of Peter and Catharine Whyte and the papers and photographs of their respective families. Consists of three sous-fonds: V683, S37 and M36. M36 and S37 consists of three series. Series I: Peter and Catharine Whyte, Series II: Robb and Morse …
25 m of textual records. -- ca.46,000 photographs : prints, albums, postcards, cased photographs, transparencies, negatives. -- 178 sound recordings : audio tape reels, audio tape cassettes. -- 6 motion pictures (and film strips)
History / Biographical
Peter and Catharine Whyte were artists, photographers, outdoor enthusiasts, travelers, philanthropists and cultural workers at Banff, Alberta, Canada. Peter Whyte, 1905-1966, was born at Banff in 1905 to pioneer merchant Dave White and Annie (Curren) White. He was an accomplished skier and ski jumper and one of the region's first native-born painters with an intimate knowledge of the mountains and was an active photographer from ca.1920 until the 1950s. Peter Whyte studied art at the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1923-1924, and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, 1925, where he met Catharine Robb. Catharine Robb Whyte, 1906-1979, was born in 1906 at Concord, Massachusetts and grew up amongst the wealth and creativity of the Robb and Morse families. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, 1925-1929.
Following their marriage in 1930, the Whytes pursued a life of painting, photography, hiking, skiing and travelling. Their log home and studio in Banff became a focal point for their artist friends, Stoney Indians and local pioneers. Catharine shared Pete's involvement in skiing and hiking organizations and together they managed Skoki Lodge from 1932-1934. In following years, the Whytes travelled extensively. During the Second World War, Peter served in the reserve army, with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a photographer and, briefly, as an official war artist. Catharine continued to paint and maintain their home and, when possible, accompanied Pete to his military postings. In civilian life, Pete resumed his art career, explored new photographic techniques and sculpted.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Whytes formulated plans for a foundation to preserve the art and history of the Canadian Rockies. Plans for a building to house an archives, public library and gallery were in preparation when Pete died in 1966. The Peter Whyte Foundation was named in his honour. Catharine immersed herself in the development of what is now the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, in the cultural community, painting, outdoor activity, travel and work with the Stoney First Nations. She became a more active photographer, recording her travels and outdoor pursuits. She served in an official capacity with numerous cultural and charitable organizations, was a patron to individuals studying art and music, and supported numerous causes relating to the Stoney First Nations. Catharine also supported causes related to multiculturalism, regional culture and recreation, and cancer research. Despite her modesty and often anonymous patronage of causes, Catharine was recognized with numerous awards and honours, including the Order of Canada in 1978. She died in Banff in 1979.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of papers, photographs and sound recordings of Peter and Catharine Whyte and the papers and photographs of their respective families. Consists of three sous-fonds: V683, S37 and M36. M36 and S37 consists of three series. Series I: Peter and Catharine Whyte, Series II: Robb and Morse families, Series III: White and Curren families. Within Series I, there are four Sub-series: Series: A. Catharine Robb Whyte papers; B. Peter Whyte papers; C. Peter and Catharine Whyte papers accessioned after 2017; D. Peter and Catharine Whyte sound recordings.
General colour: black on white. In the foreground is a lake and ten trees on the opposite shore. Beyond is a treed slope up to rocky peaks. Behind is cloudy sky.
General colour: black on white. In the foreground is a lake and ten trees on the opposite shore. Beyond is a treed slope up to rocky peaks. Behind is cloudy sky.
General colour: blue. The lake at the bottom is banked on the right by trees and on the left in the distance by a mountain face rising out of the water. Glacier is center with five peaks visible: The central one being left of center at the very top. Sky is yellow grey and mostly in the upper right …
General colour: blue. The lake at the bottom is banked on the right by trees and on the left in the distance by a mountain face rising out of the water. Glacier is center with five peaks visible: The central one being left of center at the very top. Sky is yellow grey and mostly in the upper right corner.
General colour: pencil on white. Line drawing of nuts. Some lines in the lower half are jagged to indicate trees. In the lower right are larger marks to indicate trees. In the upper left corner, the underside of clouds are outlined.
General colour: pencil on white. Line drawing of nuts. Some lines in the lower half are jagged to indicate trees. In the lower right are larger marks to indicate trees. In the upper left corner, the underside of clouds are outlined.
General colour: blue. A foreground rock cliff goes up right side from the lower corner. Center mountain face has a jagged ridge. Clouds come down to the peak at the upper right of center, edge. In the lower left corner is a distant mountain. Blue sky with one cloud fills the upper left area. There …
General colour: blue. A foreground rock cliff goes up right side from the lower corner. Center mountain face has a jagged ridge. Clouds come down to the peak at the upper right of center, edge. In the lower left corner is a distant mountain. Blue sky with one cloud fills the upper left area. There is also a patch of blue in the upper right corner.