Fonds consists of materials pertaining to John Murray Gibbon's personal life, his involvement with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Skyline Hikers, and his career with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Includes manuscripts titled "Scot to Canadian: one of more than a million" by…
36 cm of textual records -- 3 sound recordings -- 185 photograph prints -- 3 negatives
History / Biographical
John Murray Gibbon, born in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) in 1875-1952, was a writer, historian, musician and Canadian Pacific Railway publicity agent at Montreal, Quebec. Gibbon attended the University of Aberdeen where he received a scholarship to attend Oxford, where he graduated with a BA in Literature. He also studied at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and received some musical training in London. Gibbon received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Université de Montréal in 1940.
Following writing and editing work for British journals, he was approached in 1907 by the Canadian Pacific Railway to work on their European publicity program. In 1913, he was appointed general publicity agent in Montreal. For thirty years he promoted Canadian culture and the CPR He was responsible for the inauguration of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, Skyline Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies and Highland Gatherings.
Gibbon was a prolific author and in 1921 became the founding president of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA), which he co-founded with Stephen Leacock, Pelham Edgar and B.K. Sandwell. The CAA lobbied for the protection of authors’ rights and went on to establish the Governor General’s Literary Awards in 1936. Gibbon received the award, in the non-fiction category, for Canadian Mosaic: The Making of a Northern Nation (1938), in which he argued against the American idea of a “cultural melting pot” that encouraged immigrants to cut ties with their culture of origin and assimilate into a homogenous society. Canadian Mosaic greatly influenced Canada’s immigration policies and multicultural attitudes throughout the latter half of the 20th century, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to John Murray Gibbon's personal life, his involvement with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Skyline Hikers, and his career with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Includes manuscripts titled "Scot to Canadian: one of more than a million" by John Murray Gibbon (204 p.) and "John Murray Gibbon (1875-1952)" by Watson Kirkconnell; a letter from Gibbon to Francis Dickie concerning trail riding; published articles and obituaries; and a scrapbook pertaining to trips with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, Skyline Hikers, and views of landmarks throughout Canada.
Photographs pertain to John Murray Gibbon and activities, including Highland Gatherings and Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies trips; also Gibbon's funeral, 1952.
Pincoe, R., & Phillipson, D. (2015). John Murray Gibbon. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-murray-gibbon-emc
Title Source
Title based on accession records and contents of fonds
File consists of John Murray Gibbon's correspondence. Included is a letter regarding the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and Skyline Hikers from Phillip Gibbon
File consists of John Murray Gibbon's correspondence. Included is a letter regarding the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and Skyline Hikers from Phillip Gibbon
File consists of photographs relating to trips with the Skyline Hikers and Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies. Photographs of people include Jim Brewster, Wild Carter, and John Murray Gibbon.
File consists of photographs relating to trips with the Skyline Hikers and Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies. Photographs of people include Jim Brewster, Wild Carter, and John Murray Gibbon.