Fonds consists of materials pertaining to John Murray Gibbon's personal life, his involvement with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Skyline Hikers, and his career with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Includes manuscripts titled "Scot to Canadian: one of more than a million" by…
36 cm of textual records -- 3 sound recordings -- 185 photograph prints -- 3 negatives
History / Biographical
John Murray Gibbon, born in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) in 1875-1952, was a writer, historian, musician and Canadian Pacific Railway publicity agent at Montreal, Quebec. Gibbon attended the University of Aberdeen where he received a scholarship to attend Oxford, where he graduated with a BA in Literature. He also studied at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and received some musical training in London. Gibbon received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Université de Montréal in 1940.
Following writing and editing work for British journals, he was approached in 1907 by the Canadian Pacific Railway to work on their European publicity program. In 1913, he was appointed general publicity agent in Montreal. For thirty years he promoted Canadian culture and the CPR He was responsible for the inauguration of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, Skyline Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies and Highland Gatherings.
Gibbon was a prolific author and in 1921 became the founding president of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA), which he co-founded with Stephen Leacock, Pelham Edgar and B.K. Sandwell. The CAA lobbied for the protection of authors’ rights and went on to establish the Governor General’s Literary Awards in 1936. Gibbon received the award, in the non-fiction category, for Canadian Mosaic: The Making of a Northern Nation (1938), in which he argued against the American idea of a “cultural melting pot” that encouraged immigrants to cut ties with their culture of origin and assimilate into a homogenous society. Canadian Mosaic greatly influenced Canada’s immigration policies and multicultural attitudes throughout the latter half of the 20th century, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to John Murray Gibbon's personal life, his involvement with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Skyline Hikers, and his career with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Includes manuscripts titled "Scot to Canadian: one of more than a million" by John Murray Gibbon (204 p.) and "John Murray Gibbon (1875-1952)" by Watson Kirkconnell; a letter from Gibbon to Francis Dickie concerning trail riding; published articles and obituaries; and a scrapbook pertaining to trips with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, Skyline Hikers, and views of landmarks throughout Canada.
Photographs pertain to John Murray Gibbon and activities, including Highland Gatherings and Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies trips; also Gibbon's funeral, 1952.
Pincoe, R., & Phillipson, D. (2015). John Murray Gibbon. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-murray-gibbon-emc
Title Source
Title based on accession records and contents of fonds
File consists of newspaper clippings, receipts, correspondence (photocopies), a bound copy of the second annual calendar for Carleton College (1943-1944), a programme for the First Commencement Exercises (November 3, 1943), Dorothy's personal reflections of her experiences working alongside Dr. H.M…
File consists of newspaper clippings, receipts, correspondence (photocopies), a bound copy of the second annual calendar for Carleton College (1943-1944), a programme for the First Commencement Exercises (November 3, 1943), Dorothy's personal reflections of her experiences working alongside Dr. H.M. Tory at Carleton College (photocopies and handwritten originals), and two envelopes, 23 x 33.5 cm or smaller. File pertains to the founding, early years, and community impact of Carleton College, including instructor profiles, corporation and registration, a tribute to Dr. H.M. Tory (college head), and Dorothy's personal experiences and memories while working at the college from 1942-1944 as the first secretary.
Newspaper clippings come from the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Journal and are dated:
September 14, 1942
June 30, 1943
November 7, 1942
November 4, 1943
June 9, 1942
August 29, 1942
February 7, 1947
Correspondence between Dorothy and Blair Neatby is dated February 19 and February 25, 1998.
Notes
Carleton College is now Carleton University.
Blair Neatby was a historian who wrote a biography of Carleton College.He contacted Dorothy (ca. 1997-1998) to solicit her experiences and memories of when she worked there. "Creating Carleton: The Shaping of a University" was published in 2002.
Envelopes were originally used to file the records. There are notations and labels on them created by Dorothy.
File consists of various collected news articles pertaining to community events and friends and members of the McDougall and Luxton families, which are attached to 4 large pages. Materials appear to be a loose/separated section of a large scrapbook. Individuals described in articles include Annie M…
0.5 cm of textual records (4 pages : 20.5 x 34 cm)
Scope & Content
File consists of various collected news articles pertaining to community events and friends and members of the McDougall and Luxton families, which are attached to 4 large pages. Materials appear to be a loose/separated section of a large scrapbook. Individuals described in articles include Annie McDougall, Eleanor Luxton, Elizabeth (Boyd) Chantler McDougall, Rev. John McDougall, May Bagley, Norman Sanson, and others. File also includes articles pertaining to the Southern Alberta Pioneers' and Old Timers' Association.
Notes
Articles are from various publications, including The Albertan, the Calgary Daily Herald, and the Family Herald.
FIle consists of newspaper articles pertaining to Norman Luxton and his life in Banff. Includes one page from The Vancouver Province (March 17th, 1934) with article titled "N-o-a-rman is Our Brother", and two copies of article "Norman Luxton, Oracle of Banff" published in The Western Producer newsp…
FIle consists of newspaper articles pertaining to Norman Luxton and his life in Banff. Includes one page from The Vancouver Province (March 17th, 1934) with article titled "N-o-a-rman is Our Brother", and two copies of article "Norman Luxton, Oracle of Banff" published in The Western Producer newspaper (September 26, 1957).