Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, …
ca. 7.9 metres of textual records -- ca. 274 maps -- 29 VHS tapes -- ca.15 discs with digital files -- 21 cassettes -- photographs -- oversized materials -- USB stick with 15 sldeshows
History / Biographical
Ben Gadd (1946-) is a retired naturalist, guide, geologist, instructor, freelance writer and award-winning author based in the Canadian Rockies.
Ben was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1946. He met his wife, Cia (Langdon) Gadd at Colorado College in 1965, and the couple married four weeks later. Ben and Cia had two sons, Will and Toby. Ben and his family relocated to Jasper in the late 1960s. Ben later attended the University of Lethbridge and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Earth Science in 1972.
Between 1976 and 1980, Ben taught classes at Mount Royal College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology; he later taught additional classes at Grant MacEwan College and Lakeland College. From 1981, Ben also worked as a seasonal naturalist/guide for Parks Canada. Ben left Parks Canada in 1985 to start an independent naturalist guiding business with Cia based in Jasper and other parts of the Canadian Rockies, which the couple continued to operate for over two decades.
Ben published his best-known work, "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies", through his publishing company Corax Press in 1986. The second edition of "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies" received multiple awards after its release in 1995. Ben's fiction book, "Raven's End" won the title of Best Canadian Rockies Book at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in 2001 and became a Canadian bestseller. Overall, Ben has authored or co-authored 11 books and received nearly one dozen awards for his achievements as a writer, researcher and guide.
Ben continued to lead guided hikes and school programs until his retirement in 2016.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, video and sound recordings, and other related material. Materials donated in 2024 include one USB stick containing
Notes
Ben Gadd fonds arrangement:
Series I : Personal records
- Subseries A : Travel guides and maps
- Subseries B : Education and early writings
- Subseries C : Personal interest files
- Subseries D : Other personal and collected
Series II : Research and publication records
- Subseries A : Handbook of the Canadian Rockies
- Subseries B : Other publications
Series III : Professional records
- Subseries A : Parks Canada Records
- Subseries B : Interpretive guiding
- Subseries C : Teaching records
- Subseries D : Other contracts and projects
Series IV : Legal and financial records
- Subseries A : Legal records
- Subseries B : Financial records
File consists of 70 personal and family photograph prints. Content pertains to trips to the Okanagan region in British Columbia, Jasper, New Hampshire, and Banff; and views of the Luxton family property [206 Beaver St.]
File consists of 70 personal and family photograph prints. Content pertains to trips to the Okanagan region in British Columbia, Jasper, New Hampshire, and Banff; and views of the Luxton family property [206 Beaver St.]
File consists of 10 photographs collected by member(s) of the Luxton family. Photographs depict children fishing and attending school, two pictures from the wedding of Hugh Lee, Eleanor Luxton and friends in Quebec [ca.1990], and a portrait of an unidentified RCMP officer.
10 photographs : b&w and col. prints ; 23 x 28 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of 10 photographs collected by member(s) of the Luxton family. Photographs depict children fishing and attending school, two pictures from the wedding of Hugh Lee, Eleanor Luxton and friends in Quebec [ca.1990], and a portrait of an unidentified RCMP officer.
File consists of one personal photograph album [likely created by Eleanor Luxton]. Content pertains to staff members of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation Aircraft Division and related events including a dinner party in New York, as well as friends and relatives of the Luxton family. Includes images of…
Some photographs produced by Associated Screen News Ltd., Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Byron Harmon
Date Range
[ca. 1910]
[ca. 1920 - ca. 1930]
[ca. 1940 - ca. 1945]
1941 - 1944
1950
1954
1956
[ca. 1960 - ca. 1970]
1967 - 1969
Physical Description
1 album (193 b&w photographs ; 20 x 25.5 cm or smaller -- 2 textual records)
Scope & Content
File consists of one personal photograph album [likely created by Eleanor Luxton]. Content pertains to staff members of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation Aircraft Division and related events including a dinner party in New York, as well as friends and relatives of the Luxton family. Includes images of Eleanor Luxton as a child and as an adult, group and individual portraits of mostly unidentified individuals [likely immediate and extended family and friends of Eleanor, including Norman and Georgina Luxton], unidentified children playing, images from the Calgary Stampede parade [ca. 1940s], unidentified Indigenous groups and individuals [possibly Stoney Nakoda community members during Banff Indian Days], Dr. Casey's Ranch [1944], and a family picnic. File also includes one small textual record describing a 1943 Curtiss-Wright Corporation staff event, as well as an annotated Christmas card from Ruth and Frank Neustadt [n.d.].
Notes
Some items are annotated on back
Items not in chronological or other clear order
Material Details
Album has clear plastic layer on surface of front and back covers
Green plastic stitched around border of both covers and side bindings
File consists of 285 col. prints [including one small photograph album] depicting Eleanor Luxton and various friends and family members, including members of the Cooper, Miller, O'Connor, Smith, Kunst, Swan and Nickles families. Photographs pertain to family reunions, weddings, Christmas holiday ce…
File consists of 285 col. prints [including one small photograph album] depicting Eleanor Luxton and various friends and family members, including members of the Cooper, Miller, O'Connor, Smith, Kunst, Swan and Nickles families. Photographs pertain to family reunions, weddings, Christmas holiday celebrations [including a 1967 New Years party at the Luxton family home], school portraits, family trips within Canada and the United States, child and newborn portraits, and other related subjects. Items LUX / II / E / PA - 310 to 335 are stored in a miniature photo album. Several photographs are stored with corresponding holiday greeting cards which were sent to Eleanor Luxton.
Notes
Some individuals in photographs are not identified; many photographs are not dated
File consists of non-dated Christmas and holiday greeting cards sent to Eleanor Luxton between ca.1940 and 1994. Cards are signed by various friends, family members and coworkers of Eleanor, as well as some organizations and groups which Eleanor was involved with [including the Trail Riders of the …
File consists of non-dated Christmas and holiday greeting cards sent to Eleanor Luxton between ca.1940 and 1994. Cards are signed by various friends, family members and coworkers of Eleanor, as well as some organizations and groups which Eleanor was involved with [including the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and UNICEF].
Notes
Some cards have personal photographs printed onto front covers, or have photograph prints physically attached.
File consists of 43 b&w and colour photographs. Content pertains to friends and family members of Eleanor Luxton, views of Banff National Park and Montana, decorations inside the Luxton family home and exterior views, and family Christmas gatherings.
43 photographs : b&w and col.; 19 x 15.5 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of 43 b&w and colour photographs. Content pertains to friends and family members of Eleanor Luxton, views of Banff National Park and Montana, decorations inside the Luxton family home and exterior views, and family Christmas gatherings.
Fonds consists of textual records, postcards, drawings and one photograph album pertaining to Mary (Molly) Wright Adams (1868-1909); transcripts of Molly's original letters which were compiled by Molly's sister, Catharine Elkin (nee Adams) between ca.1939 and 1941; and transcriptions of letters sen…
Some materials produced by Catharine (Adams) Elkin
Date Range
[ca.1844 - 1909]
[ca.1939 - 1944]
1980 - 1981
2014
Physical Description
21 cm of textual records -- 16 postcards -- 3 drawings -- 1 photograph album : 107 b&w photographs
History / Biographical
Mary Wright (Molly) Adams was born on 15 October 1868. in Ridgefield Connecticut. She was the third of five children born to Cornelia Ann Cook (1830-1902) and Daniel Lucius Adams (1814 - 1899) She died in Kobe, Japan on 23 January 1909 and was buried there.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of textual records, postcards, drawings and one photograph album pertaining to Mary (Molly) Wright Adams (1868-1909); transcripts of Molly's original letters which were compiled by Molly's sister, Catharine Elkin (nee Adams) between ca.1939 and 1941; and transcriptions of letters sent between Molly's extended family members [including members of the Adams, Cook and Wright families], ca.1844 and 1866.
Textual records primarily consist of correspondence sent between Molly Adams and various friends and family members [ca.1891-1909].
Notes
Fonds consists of two series:
Series I : Correspondence [contains two sub-series: I / A : Molly Wright Adams ; I / B : Extended family]
Series II : Personal and collected records
File consists of photographs pertaining to family and friends of Eleanor Luxton, local events and travel, including: the movement of a large totem pole [possibly one which was displayed outside of the Banff Park Museum]; local children's school portraits; Christmas celebrations in the Luxton home; …
File consists of photographs pertaining to family and friends of Eleanor Luxton, local events and travel, including: the movement of a large totem pole [possibly one which was displayed outside of the Banff Park Museum]; local children's school portraits; Christmas celebrations in the Luxton home; landscape views and monuments in the Canadian Rockies; a memorial concert in Miami [1955]; and a cruise ship [in Hawaii?].
Notes
One photograph of Eleanor Luxton posing with an RCMP officer was removed for scanning in 2009; file contains scanned copy, original photograph is not in file.
File consists of one scrapbook containing photograph prints, postcard prints, newspaper clippings, and two typed pages pertaining to John McDougall and the "Indian Uprising" in Alberta in 1880, and Marion Carson. Visual content pertains to various members and friends of the Luxton family attending …
1 scrapbook (59 b&w and col. prints ; 16.5 x 21.5 cm or smaller -- 3 newspaper clippings - 2 textual records)
Scope & Content
File consists of one scrapbook containing photograph prints, postcard prints, newspaper clippings, and two typed pages pertaining to John McDougall and the "Indian Uprising" in Alberta in 1880, and Marion Carson. Visual content pertains to various members and friends of the Luxton family attending domestic and international trips between 1954 and 1970, including trips to Victoria, B.C., Hawaii, Italy, Egypt, Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland, India, Greece and England.
Notes
Some items are heavily annotated on back, some dates and locations provided on pages of scrapbook