Fonds consists of two sous-fonds: M521 and V75.
M521 consists of four series, 154 cm, ca.1870-2002. Series I: Dorothy Wardle Personal Papers, 69.5 cm, ca.1870-2002 (includes Dorothy's written work and research and notes related to Banff). Series II: Wardle Family, 32.5 cm, 1872-1998 (including cor…
154 cm of textual records. -- 1304 photographs (1190 prints, 95 negatives, 19 transparencies). -- 6 photograph albums.
History / Biographical
The Wardle family was comprised of husband and wife, James Morey Wardle (June 26,1888 - May 18,1971) and Maud Leette (Roney) Wardle (May 24,1889 - December 1,1969), and their one child, Dorothy Hope Wardle (May 23,1919 - July 20,2003).
James Wardle, born in Chiliwack, British Columbia, was a civil engineer and public servant. He was the Superintendent of Banff National Park from 1918-1921, Chief Engineer for Parks Canada from 1921-1935, and Deputy Minister of the Interior from 1935-1936. He is primarily known as a highway design engineer, particularly for building the Banff-Windermere, Banff-Lake Louise, and Banff-Jasper highways. He was a councillor for the Municipality of Rockcliffe Park in Ontario and he was the President of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies in Banff from 1925-1929. Mount Wardle in Vermillion was named after him in 1921. James married Leette on November 4, 1913, with whom he had one child, Dorothy.
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Dorothy (also known as Dot and Dorie) grew up in Banff, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario, due to her father's position with the federal government. She was educated at the Mountain School in Banff and at the Elmwood School in Ottawa. All three family members were graduates of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. James graduated in 1912 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Leette graduated with a Bachelor's degree, and in 1942, Dorothy also earned a Bachelor's degree. Dorothy was prominent in student life and active in athletics. In 1941, Dorothy became the first woman elected as President of the Alma Mater Society and during her academic career, Dorothy was a member of the Levana Intercollegiate Debative, University Centenary Committee, and Queen’s War Aid Commission.
Dorothy spent her career as a freelance writer however, upon graduation she served as the first Secretary-In-Charge of Records at Carleton College (now Carleton University) from 1942-1944 in Ottawa and in the mid-1950s worked as a secretary for the Glenbow Foundation in Calgary. Dorothy pursued a lifelong interest in traveling, art, and antiques. Although she was fiercely proud and protective of Banff and the Park, and remained a volunteer and patron of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Dorothy eventually settled in Sidney, British Columbia and shared an apartment with Sheila Iris Ritchie, with whom Dorothy travelled extensively. After her death in 2003, Dorothy, "Dorie," was laid to rest alongside her parents in the Old Banff Cemetery.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of two sous-fonds: M521 and V75.
M521 consists of four series, 154 cm, ca.1870-2002. Series I: Dorothy Wardle Personal Papers, 69.5 cm, ca.1870-2002 (includes Dorothy's written work and research and notes related to Banff). Series II: Wardle Family, 32.5 cm, 1872-1998 (including correspondence with Carl Rungius and Mrs. Helen Brett, and Christmas and other greeting cards from Peter and Catharine Whyte). Series III: Queen's University, 7.5 cm, 1911-1980 (including graduation certificates for each family member and records pertaining to Dorothy's participation on the Alma Mater Society). Series IV: Travel, 44.5 cm, ca.1950-1988 (includes hand-written notebooks meticulously detailing their travels).
V75 consists of two series, 79.5 cm, ca. 1912-2001. Series I: Wardle Family, ca. 1912-1971, 6 albums, 31 cm of photograph prints and negatives (including family trips, trail rides in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and family gatherings). Series II: Dorothy Wardle, 1972-2001, 34 cm of photograph prints, negatives, and transparencies (including Dorothy's travels in Alberta and British Columbia, overseas, and various outings with friends).
File consists of 82 black and white photographs, 18 x 13 cm or smaller. File documents the Wardle family and friends in the community, at different events and various travels, including: baby photographs of Dorothy in Banff (1919-1926); Banff early days with James and Leette Wardle, particularly at…
File consists of 82 black and white photographs, 18 x 13 cm or smaller. File documents the Wardle family and friends in the community, at different events and various travels, including: baby photographs of Dorothy in Banff (1919-1926); Banff early days with James and Leette Wardle, particularly at the snowshoe tramp for the Banff Winter Carnival (1919-1920); snapshots from a trip to Big Bend (1930); Norman Sanson's 1000th ascent of Sulphur Mountain in 1931; class photographs from the Mountain School (1932, 1935); various trips with Carl Rungius, including Lake McArthur and Lake O'Hara (1933), Ottawa (1945), and the Laurentians (1949); a trip to the Panama Canal (1933); miscellaneous photographs of school events (including the Alma Mater Society election that resulted in Dorothy being the first female president) of Dorothy and friends at Queen's University (1938-1941); the Swedish Legation in Ottawa (1946-1950); and photographs of Frank Kaquitts and his artwork (1963).
Notes
Most photographs are annotated on the backside of the print.
V75 / I / PA -193 : Includes an accompanying list identifying everyone in the class photograph (Dorothy attended the Mountain School as a young child).
V75 / I / PA -239 to 247 : includes handwritten notes regarding Frank Kaquitts. Dorothy originally filed these images with M521 / I / A / 10 ([Indigenous] Story Material).
File pertains to 67 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from January 3 to June 26, 1949. Topics include holiday activities, day to day life, Banff events, visits from friends, bonspiels, watching local hockey games, the Banff Winter Carnival, weather, events and …
1.7 cm of textual records (101 pages ; 21.4 x 27.5 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File pertains to 67 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from January 3 to June 26, 1949. Topics include holiday activities, day to day life, Banff events, visits from friends, bonspiels, watching local hockey games, the Banff Winter Carnival, weather, events and people in Concord, a train crash east of Banff in late February [no one was injured, Syd Vallance was on the train], new household appliances like a washing machine [Bendix] and electric sewing machine, world news, radio programs, photography, painting, Catharine going to Concord in May [she was called back to Banff early due to concerns for Pete's mental health], the death and funeral of Norman Sanson, and Pete and Catharine going to Victoria and Vancouver for the month of June [they stayed at the Empress in Victoria and the Hotel Georgia in Vancouver before moving to an apartment at the Ritz Vancouver].
Notes
Please note: language pertaining to Indigenous Peoples used throughout is outdated and may be offensive.
Letters are mostly typed, some hand-written. Many typed letters have hand-written notes and post scripts added throughout.
Some letters are marked with a small x in pencil, indicating where Jon Whyte made notes for use in his project "Catharine Robb Whyte, Peter Whyte: Commemorative Portfolio," originally published in 1981.
124-21 contains a note written after Catharine's post script, possibly by Pete.
File pertains to 62 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from July 1 to December 31, 1945. Topics include Pete and Catharine's 15th wedding anniversary, day to day life, errand trips to Calgary [usually by bus], wildlife, Ski Club meetings, the Calgary Stampede, B…
1.4 cm of textual records (77 pages ; 21.4 x 27.5 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File pertains to 62 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from July 1 to December 31, 1945. Topics include Pete and Catharine's 15th wedding anniversary, day to day life, errand trips to Calgary [usually by bus], wildlife, Ski Club meetings, the Calgary Stampede, Banff events, visits from friends, attending a Sun Dance in Morely in July [held to celebrate the end of the war], painting, photography, weather, events and people in Concord, radio programs [mostly news and hockey games], various holidays [both Canadian and American], World War II officially ending August 15 and its various celebrations, cleaning and household chores [including renovations to the chimney], going to the movies, day trips around Banff National Park [usually to Lake Louise/Moraine Lake, Bow Lake, and the immediate Banff town area] to paint/sketch and take pictures, Major Fred Bagley's funeral in October, strikes in the US and Canada [primarily butchers and coal miners], d'Arcy Baker-Carr being released from a Japanese POW camp and coming back to Canada, Catharine mounting slides, skiing, watching curling games, putting together the annual Christmas card, and various other holiday activities.
Notes
Please note: language pertaining to Indigenous Peoplesand Japanese people used throughout is outdated and may be offensive.
Letters are mostly typed, some hand-written. Many typed letters have hand-written notes and post scripts added throughout. Some letters written on RCAF letterhead.
File consists of one scrapbook [possibly compiled by Maud Kidney] with ca. 100 newspaper articles and full pages attached inside. Contents pertain to golden wedding anniversaries of Frank and Alice Wheatley and Annie and Ulysses LaCasse; obituary notices for numerous individuals including Norman an…
Articles mainly published by the Crag and Canyon and the Calgary Herald
Date Range
1933
1935 - 1940
1947
1950
1956
1960 - 1965
1968
1969
1974
Physical Description
1 cm of textual records (1 scrapbook : 52 pages ; 31 x 39 cm)
Scope & Content
File consists of one scrapbook [possibly compiled by Maud Kidney] with ca. 100 newspaper articles and full pages attached inside. Contents pertain to golden wedding anniversaries of Frank and Alice Wheatley and Annie and Ulysses LaCasse; obituary notices for numerous individuals including Norman and Georgina Luxton, Jimmy Simpson Sr. and Jim and Fern Brewster; articles on achievements by Jimmy Simpson Sr., Norman Luxton, Norman B. Sanson and others; and other news including opinion articles, sports updates and articles on construction/expansion projects and local events held in Banff.
Notes
Newspaper articles attached to inside of scrapbook cover wide range of dates. Scrapbook has been placed in sub-series M74 / IV / C [1946 - 1970] as a large portion of articles fall within specified dates.
Some articles are loose in scrapbook
Material Details
Most newspaper clippings attached inside with adhesive, some items loose.
File consists of 33 colour photograph transparencies (lantern slides). File documents the official trail ride of the Skyline Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies, which Jean Hembroff MacDonald participated in. File pertains to the Ptarmigan Valley Camp, with landscape scenery and photographs of the…
File consists of 33 colour photograph transparencies (lantern slides). File documents the official trail ride of the Skyline Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies, which Jean Hembroff MacDonald participated in. File pertains to the Ptarmigan Valley Camp, with landscape scenery and photographs of the hikers (singing, eating, etc). Places that are documented in this file are the Redoubt Lake trail, Hidden Lake, Ptarmigan Lake, Boulder Pass, and Skoki. Notable people include Jean Hembroff MacDonald, her husband, Jack MacDonald, and sister-in-law, Anna Cran; Dan McCowan; James M. Wardle; George Fisher; Norman Sanson; Betsy Struthers; and Emmeline Savatard and John Wheeler (A.O. Wheeler's wife and grandson).
Notes
Each slide is labelled.
Jean wrote an article about her experience [see related material], and used this experience for future lectures
Slides were stored with a note stating: "Slides taken by the C.P.R. of Trail Ride, 1936-1937."