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 personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
Notes
Contents of individual folders in file:
M590 / I / C / 11 : Auto
M590 / I / C / 12 : Awards
M590 / I / C / 13 to 14 : Alberta Wilderness Association [Files 1 and 2 of 2]
M590 / I / C / 15 : Banff Issues
M590 / I / C / 16 to 17 : Bikes, Bicycling [Files 1 and 2 of 2]
M590 / I / C / 18 : Bird Atlas
M590 / I / C / 19 : Bird Checklists
M590 / I / C / 20 : Boating
M590 / I / C / 21 : Book Talk
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
Notes
Contents of individual folders in file:
M590 / I / C / 22 : Ginnie and Stanley Boucher
M590 / I / C / 23 : Brian Chaplin Committee Brief and Response by City
M590 / I / C / 24 : Jim Butler
M590 / I / C / 25 to 26 : Cadomin Cave [Files 1 and 2 of 2]
M590 / I / C / 27 : Cadomin Cave Signs
M590 / I / C / 28 : Canadian Mountaineering Co-op
M590 / I / C / 29 : Canadian Nature Federation
M590 / I / C / 30 : Caribou [File 1 of 3]
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
Notes
Contents of individual folders in file:
M590 / I / C / 31 to 32 : Caribou [Files 2 and 3 of 3]
M590 / I / C / 33 to 34 : Cheviot [Files 1 and 2 of 2]
M590 / I / C / 35 : Christmas Bird Counts
M590 / I / C / 36 : Christmas Cards
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
File consists of personal interest materials, including newspaper clippings, research articles, loose notes, and other textual records collected by Ben Gadd. Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject title.
Notes
Contents of individual folders in file:
M590 / I / C / 144 : Robson Provincial Park
M590 / I / C / 145 : "Rocks in the River"
M590 / I / C / 146 : Torry Schultz
M590 / I / C / 147 : Sewage and Treatment
M590 / I / C / 148 : Sierra Legal Defense Fund
M590 / I / C / 149 : Skiing
M590 / I / C / 150 : Ski Areas
M590 / I / C / 151 : Society for Technical Communication
M590 / I / C / 152 : State of the Parks Meetings
M590 / I / C / 153 : Superwood
M590 / I / C / 154 : Surveys, Opinion Polls
M590 / I / C / 155 : Timoney, Kevin
M590 / I / C / 156 : Tonquin Valley
M590 / I / C / 157 : Chris Townsend
M590 / I / C / 158 to 160: Townsite Issues [Files 1 to 3 of 3]
File consists of drafts and a scanned copy of a "pocket flower list" detailing which plants can be found in Jasper and Banff National Park, compiled by Ben Gadd.
File consists of drafts and a scanned copy of a "pocket flower list" detailing which plants can be found in Jasper and Banff National Park, compiled by Ben Gadd.
File consists of newspaper articles, notes and published research materials collected by Ben Gadd, pertaining to the provenance of place names, the history of human settlement and regional populations in the Canadian Rockies.
File consists of newspaper articles, notes and published research materials collected by Ben Gadd, pertaining to the provenance of place names, the history of human settlement and regional populations in the Canadian Rockies.