Fonds pertains to L. A. Duncan; Duncan family; Banff, Alberta and area; Alpine Club of Canada camps, especially 1919 Victory Camp (Yoho Valley); Rocky Mountains scenes, wildflowers and wildlife; Indians; Calgary and area events; oil industry; Alberta scenes and landscapes. Photograph series are: I.…
ca.950 photographs : albums, negatives, prints, transparencies. -- 5 photograph albums (ca.725 prints). -- 2 textual records
History / Biographical
Lawrence (Laurie, Larry) Allison Duncan, 1890-1978, was a photographer, businessman and collector at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Duncan came to Alberta in 1908 with his parents, Thomas Henry Duncan and Elizabeth Jane (Gill) Duncan, who settled on a ranch at Okotoks. For a time, Laurie Duncan operated a photography business in Calgary, specializing in views of Calgary, Indians, ranching and the Canadian Rockies. He attended Alpine Club of Canada camps in the 1920s, after becoming a member in 1920 with his graduating climb of Mount President, 1919. He was active in professional photography into the 1930s. Duncan was self-taught in mineralogy, painting and photography and was active for over fifty years in the development of mining and petroleum interests in the United States and Canada. Larry Duncan was an avid collector of shells, gems, rocks, fossils and cultural artifacts.
Scope & Content
Fonds pertains to L. A. Duncan; Duncan family; Banff, Alberta and area; Alpine Club of Canada camps, especially 1919 Victory Camp (Yoho Valley); Rocky Mountains scenes, wildflowers and wildlife; Indians; Calgary and area events; oil industry; Alberta scenes and landscapes.
Photograph series are: I. Photograph albums, including Duncan family albums, ca.1880-ca.1910, 3 items (ca.400 prints), and L. A. Duncan albums, 1908-1950, 2 items (ca.300 prints); II. Negatives, including glass negatives, ca.1920, 146 items, and film negatives, ca.1910-ca.1950, ca.580 items (including prints); III. Prints, ca.1890-ca.1940, ca.200 items, includes some prints by Harry Pollard; IV. Transparencies, ca.1915, 18 items. Most photographs were made by L. A. Duncan.
Textual items are ACC membership nomination ballot, 1919-1920, signed by L. A. Duncan, and newsclipping, 1965, re Duncan's involvement in the Calgary Rock and Lapidary Club.