Fonds pertains to 3 photograph prints of members of the St. Elias expedition in the Yukon, a large-format black and white print of a mountain range [possibly including St. Elias], 11 typed letters to Wright from W.E. (Smoke) Blanchard dated January-May 1965 discussing the expedition, 2 typed one-pa…
1 cm of textual records (18 pages ; 21.6 x 27.9 cm) ; 4 photographs : b&w and col. ; 29.2 x 21.8 cm or smaller
History / Biographical
Dr. Gerald Wright (1917-2007) grew up in Brecon, South Wales, and studied medicine in Wales and London, England, throughout the 1940s. He served in the British Army in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1942-1946 in North Africa and Italy.
In 1951 Wright moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, due to its close proximity to the Canadian Rockies, where he maintained a general practice as a member of the Hunt Clinic. He went on to serve as Chief of Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital and the Lethbridge Municipal Hospital until his retirement in 1988.
Shortly after arriving in Canada he became a member of the Alpine Club of Canada and attended many annual camps, often as camp doctor. He also participated in ACC expeditions to Mount St. Elias (1967, unsuccessful), Mount Alberta (1967, successful as part of the Alberta Team), and Mt. Waddington (1969). He also successfully summited Mt. Robson on his third attempt at the mountain. Wright hiked extensively throughout Nepal, Switzerland, South America, and New Zealand in addtion to the Rockies.
He was also a member of the Skyline Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies and was a founding member of the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition, where he served on the Board of Directors, helping to plan and lead many annual hiking trips.
Scope & Content
Fonds pertains to 3 photograph prints of members of the St. Elias expedition in the Yukon, a large-format black and white print of a mountain range [possibly including St. Elias], 11 typed letters to Wright from W.E. (Smoke) Blanchard dated January-May 1965 discussing the expedition, 2 typed one-page summaries of the attempt on the mountain [one written by Blanchard and includes a hand-drawn map of the area around the mountain], a Xerox copy of a letter written on University of Oregon Medical School letterhead listing the members of the St. Elias party and recommended medical tests to have completed prior to the expedition, a two-page typed list of gear & equipment, and a hand-written list of expedition members and the University of Oregon Medical School doctor and their contact information.
Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Rider…
26 cm of textual records.-- 109 photographs (42 prints, 67 lantern slides). -- 2 sound recordings.
History / Biographical
Jean Alexandra Hembroff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 5, 1908 to Walter B. Hembroff (d. 1945) and Sarah Jane Hembroff (d.1952). Jean was accepted to the MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art at the University of Minnesota, from which she graduated in 1927. She returned to Winnipeg to begin teaching courses in speech arts and drama. To establish herself, she first volunteered as the "story lady" at the Williams Avenue Public Library and quickly became known as an excellent speaker sought by many different organizations. She taught at St. Mary's Academy and the Evening Institute at the University of Manitoba, as well as offered private sessions. Many of her students used the skills they learned from Jean as they entered radio, television, politics, and business. Jean was also very active in organizing and adjucating Speech Arts festivals in Manitoba, often going to inaccessible places to give workshops. Her teaching, broadcasting, adjucating, coaching, and speaking career spanned more than 50 years.
Jean was hired by the Canadian Pacific Railway's promotions manager to give presentations and broadcast interviews across Canada and the United States. In 1937, Jean joined the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and participated in their summer trail ride in the same year. For that year's issue of the Trail Rider's Bulletin Jean wrote an article - and became the first woman to ever do so. In 1938, during her lecture titled "Trail Riding in the Rockies" on January 18, 1938 at the Royal Alexandra Hotel, Jean met John David (Jack) MacDonald. Jack and Jean were married on June 18, 1938, and the couple had one son, Bruce Walter James MacDonald (August 28, 1946-August 25, 2016).
Jean participated in several trail rides with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Trail, and produced articles reflecting her experiences. Jean loved to travel and visited places all around Canada and the United States, Borneo, Tangier, Montevideo, Stockholm, New Delhi, and Tonga. At the age of 102, Jean passed away on February 2, 2011 and is buried in Winnipeg.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies, particularly 1937-1939). Series II: Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings, 4 cm, 1924-2000 (including correspondence with John Murray Gibbon, former students, and attendees at various talks, as well as newspaper articles that Jean wrote about various subjects and articles of her achievements). Series III: Collected Materials and Ephemera, 3 cm, ca.1930-1950 (including a variety of collected poems and ephemera, as well as a copy of The Beaver Magazine from 1940, for which Jean wrote an article titled "On the Trail of Sir George").
V797 consists of two series, 24.5 cm of visual records, ca.1928-1939. Series I: Photograph Prints, 3 cm, ca.1928-1939 (includes personal photographs of Jean and her family and friends as well as photographs of Jean and Jack's visit to Lake Louise in 1939). Series II: Lantern Slides, 21.5 cm, ca.1937-1939 (Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1937 to Mt. Assiniboine; Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1939 to Ptarmigan Valley and Skoki; collection of trail ride songs).
S60 consists of two sound recordings, 1 cm, 2004 and 2007 (Winnipeg at Christmas, narrated by Jean, broadcasted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
File pertains to various papers and correspondence between members of the Alpine Club of Canada, the American Alpine Club, and the individuals of the Mt Logan Expedition. Includes Director's papers, financial records, publicity and public relations records, reports, newsclippings; also telegrams to…
39 cm of textual records (3 boxes ; 21.6 x 27.9 cm)
Scope & Content
File pertains to various papers and correspondence between members of the Alpine Club of Canada, the American Alpine Club, and the individuals of the Mt Logan Expedition. Includes Director's papers, financial records, publicity and public relations records, reports, newsclippings; also telegrams to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Lambart.
A detailed list is available for a portion of the material.
Related Material
Material is closely related to expedition material in Sous-fonds III. Personal papers and photographs (H. F. Lambart papers and photographs; W. W. Foster photographs). Related oversize display prints can be found in Series I.A.1.j. (AC 00P / 137-147 and AC 00P / 275-280).
A detailed list is available for a portion of the material.
Related Material
Material is closely related to expedition material in Sous-fonds III. Personal papers and photographs (H. F. Lambart papers and photographs; W. W. Foster photographs). Related oversize display prints can be found in Series I.A.1.j. (AC 00P / 137-147 and AC 00P / 275-280).