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 7 cassette tapes and 10 VHS tapes re: Nicholas Morant and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Includes 6 cassette tapes with recorded 1986/1987 interviews with Nicholas Morant; 1 cassette recording of steam locomotive sounds used for a Revelstoke Museum exhibit on Nicholas Morant; and 10…
File consists of 7 cassette tapes and 10 VHS tapes re: Nicholas Morant and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Includes 6 cassette tapes with recorded 1986/1987 interviews with Nicholas Morant; 1 cassette recording of steam locomotive sounds used for a Revelstoke Museum exhibit on Nicholas Morant; and 10 VHS tapes containing various content, including footage of Nick Morant receiving the Order of Canada in 1990, TV and film features on Nicholas Morant and TV news broadcasts discussing CP Rail and/or Nicholas Morant.
Notes
Originally stored in box for mandarin oranges, accompanied by business card for J.C. Edgar Rozon.
S20/III/A6/10: Order of Canada Awards - Rideau Hall - October 24, 1990
S20/III/A6/11: Nick Morant Tape 1 1986 Interviews
S20/III/A6/12: Nick Morant Tape 2 cont.'d 1986 1986 interviews continued
S20/III/A6/13: Nick Morant tape #3 1986 Interviews N. Morant
S20/III/A6/14: Nick Morant Tape #4 1987 Interviews
S20/III/A6/15: Nick Morant Tape #5 1987 1987 Interviews
S20/III/A6/16: Nick Morant Tape #6 1987 Interviews
S20/III/A6/17: CPR Sounds. Nick Morant Steam Locos [On front of cassette:] "NICHOLAS MORANT DEDICATION OF RVELSTOKE [sic] MUSEUM - STEAM LOCO SOUNDS - EDITED TO 9 mins."
Fonds consists of records relating to Edwin Mills activities with the Alpine Club of Canada, 1920-1946. Moving images include 4 reels of 16mm films: Alpine camp, 1935; Grass (2 reels); and Everest. Also included is 1 VHS video: Grass, 1926; Everest, 1924; ACC camps, 1935, 1938, 1946; Arctic, 1937.…
4 moving images: 4 film reels; 16mm, 1 video; VHS. -- 2 photograph albums (125 prints)
History / Biographical
Edwin W. Mills, 1899-1979 was a resident of Hamilton, Ontario. He attended Ridley College and the Royal Military College, serving overseas from 1917 to 1919 in the Royal Flying Corps and the RAF. Mills was an active member of the Alpine Club of Canada from 1935-1953, attending the ACC Assiniboine Camp in 1935 as well as the first camps at the Columbia Icefields and the Bugaboos. Mills frequently hiked at Lake O'Hara, Emerald Lake, and Bow Lake. In 1937, Mills made several ascents on Ellesmere and Baffin Islands with the Canadian Arctic Foundation.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of records relating to Edwin Mills activities with the Alpine Club of Canada, 1920-1946.
Moving images include 4 reels of 16mm films: Alpine camp, 1935; Grass (2 reels); and Everest. Also included is 1 VHS video: Grass, 1926; Everest, 1924; ACC camps, 1935, 1938, 1946; Arctic, 1937.
1 photograph album contains 99 prints and is titled: With the Alpine Club, 1935. Photograph album relates to ACC camps, Mount Assiniboine area, including Lake Magog, Marvel Lake, as well as Athabaska Glacier, Columbia Icefields Camp, Jasper and historical cairns. A second photograph album contains 27 prints and is titled: Photographs taken by Edwin Mills at Columbia Icefields, July 1938.
File consists of one DVD containing a published video titled "The Rockies: Naked Science". Content pertains to geology, fossils, plate tectonics and related subjects. Ben Gadd appears in the video discussing the physical formation of the Canadian Rockies.
File consists of one DVD containing a published video titled "The Rockies: Naked Science". Content pertains to geology, fossils, plate tectonics and related subjects. Ben Gadd appears in the video discussing the physical formation of the Canadian Rockies.
Notes
Ben Gadd appears in video at 9 min. 11 sec.; total running time 11 min. 50 sec.
File consists of one VHS tape containing rough cut footage from an episode of "Signs of Nature" by the National Geographic Society. Ben Gadd appears in the video, discussing wildlife identification and antlers.
File consists of one VHS tape containing rough cut footage from an episode of "Signs of Nature" by the National Geographic Society. Ben Gadd appears in the video, discussing wildlife identification and antlers.