File consists of one scrapbook containing ca. 200 attached postcard prints and commercial postcards, as well as two portrait photograph prints and two souvenir booklets. Content pertains to scenic views of the Canadian Rockies including Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Maligne Lake, Revelstoke and the At…
Some items produced by George S. Cladds [?], Byron Harmon, Gerta Christoffersen, Detroit Publishing Co., and A.C. Leighton
Date Range
[ca. 1925 - ca. 1940]
1932
Physical Description
1 scrapbook : ca. 200 b&w and col. postcards ; 14 x 21.5 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of one scrapbook containing ca. 200 attached postcard prints and commercial postcards, as well as two portrait photograph prints and two souvenir booklets. Content pertains to scenic views of the Canadian Rockies including Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Maligne Lake, Revelstoke and the Athabasca River; portrait paintings of unidentified Indigenous girls by artist Gerta Christoffersen; scenes from Australia, Brussels, Venice, Bermuda, Fiji, Portugal, London, Windsor Castle, California, Mexico, the Grand Canyon, Montana, Niagara Falls, Maine, Ohio and Pennsylvania; and sketched art by A.C. Leighton depicting horses and riders. Many postcards are colorized.
File consists of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings pertaining to the life and career of Andy Russell. Also includes an invitation presented to Russell from the Winnipeg Game and Fish Association and newspaper clippings pertaining to Cleo Mowers' career.
3 cm of textual records (28 pages ; 31.5 x 35.5 cm)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings pertaining to the life and career of Andy Russell. Also includes an invitation presented to Russell from the Winnipeg Game and Fish Association and newspaper clippings pertaining to Cleo Mowers' career.
File pertains to 45 hand-written letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from June 11 to October 3, 1937. Topics include day to day life, visits from friends and visitors, world news [often pertaining to politics and the British Royal family], maintenance and upkeep …
1.7 cm of textual records (108 pages ; 21.4 x 27.5 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File pertains to 45 hand-written letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from June 11 to October 3, 1937. Topics include day to day life, visits from friends and visitors, world news [often pertaining to politics and the British Royal family], maintenance and upkeep of the house and property [mostly landscaping], cleaning and household chores, weather, gifting a stove to the Simpsons for use at Bow Lake [currently a camp], events and people in Concord, various holidays [both Canadian and American], day trips around the National Park [mostly to Lake Louise, Bow Lake and Moraine Lake], making frames and prepping canvas for painting, books Catharine and Edit are reading, dinner parties, rearranging the kitchen [including getting a new refrigerator and a new table with two bench seats], trips to Bow Lake to paint throughout the summer, hiking, wildlife [often in the yard], updates on the new trail being built from Moraine Lake to Taylor Lake, Banff Indian Days, photography and cameras, print-making, descriptions of meals, the birth of Russ and Kitty's first son in July [Russle Jr. aka Rusty], the annual Sky Line Trail Hikers trip in early August [Pete' s last year as President], trips to Lake O'Hara and Assiniboine to paint and hike throughout August and September [the trip to and from Assiniboine was carried out on horseback], painting/sketching, activities and people at various camps, descriptions of the weather and conditions riding in and out of Assiniboine, developing and colouring photographs, working on a portrait of Mark Poucette, and news of Margaret and Mary Simpson going to Boston to skate.
Notes
Please note: language pertaining to Indigenous Peoples used throughout is outdated and may be offensive.
Some letters are written on hotel/lodge letterhead.
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.
102 - 07 contains a sketch of the main floor of the Whyte home illustrating the placement of the new dining table.
File pertains to 44 hand-written letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from August 1 to November 20, 1935. Topics include day to day life, visits from friends and visitors, weather, a trip to Lake O'Hara in early August following the annual Skyline Trail Hikers tri…
1 cm of textual records (70 pages ; 21.2 x 26.3 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File pertains to 44 hand-written letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from August 1 to November 20, 1935. Topics include day to day life, visits from friends and visitors, weather, a trip to Lake O'Hara in early August following the annual Skyline Trail Hikers trip, photography and cameras, hiking/climbing, wildflowers, activities and people at camp, Pete's work on commission paintings/photography projects, events and people in Concord, trips to Bow Lake to paint, dinner and tea parties [both at home and around town], overnight camping trips to Lake Louise to paint, going to the movies and seeing friend's homemade films, going back to Lake O'Hara in early September to paint and hike, Russ and Kitty's travels and activities, day trips around the National Park [mostly to Lake Louise, Bow Lake and Moraine Lake] to paint/sketch, updates on what Pete and Catharine's friends are doing [mostly as it pertains to Skoki and Assiniboine Lodges], wildlife, an overnight trip to Calgary [and a visit to Morley on the way back] in early October, 3 young Doukhobor fugitives escaping police custody that resulted in a chase and shootout in Banff National Park [October 6 - 7] and the subsequent funerals, developing photos and print-making, politics [mostly pertaining to the provincial and federal elections], various holidays [both Canadian and American], skiing, matters pertaining to the Ski Club, and preparing to leave for a trip to Concord at the end of November.
Notes
Please note: language pertaining to Indigenous Peoples used throughout is outdated and may be offensive.
A few letters written on lodge letterhead.
Most 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.
Some letters have numbers written in pencil in the upper margin of the first pages from an unknown project.
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 Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies bulletins from 1931-1974 [some annotated] and one "Skyline Trails" bulletin [1960]. Content pertains to views and events from previous trips, schedules and planned destinations of trail rides, and membership lists.
File consists of Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies bulletins from 1931-1974 [some annotated] and one "Skyline Trails" bulletin [1960]. Content pertains to views and events from previous trips, schedules and planned destinations of trail rides, and membership lists.
Notes
Brochures are organized by date [see "Content Details"]
Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Rider…
26 cm of textual records.-- 109 photographs (42 prints, 67 lantern slides). -- 2 sound recordings.
History / Biographical
Jean Alexandra Hembroff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 5, 1908 to Walter B. Hembroff (d. 1945) and Sarah Jane Hembroff (d.1952). Jean was accepted to the MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art at the University of Minnesota, from which she graduated in 1927. She returned to Winnipeg to begin teaching courses in speech arts and drama. To establish herself, she first volunteered as the "story lady" at the Williams Avenue Public Library and quickly became known as an excellent speaker sought by many different organizations. She taught at St. Mary's Academy and the Evening Institute at the University of Manitoba, as well as offered private sessions. Many of her students used the skills they learned from Jean as they entered radio, television, politics, and business. Jean was also very active in organizing and adjucating Speech Arts festivals in Manitoba, often going to inaccessible places to give workshops. Her teaching, broadcasting, adjucating, coaching, and speaking career spanned more than 50 years.
Jean was hired by the Canadian Pacific Railway's promotions manager to give presentations and broadcast interviews across Canada and the United States. In 1937, Jean joined the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and participated in their summer trail ride in the same year. For that year's issue of the Trail Rider's Bulletin Jean wrote an article - and became the first woman to ever do so. In 1938, during her lecture titled "Trail Riding in the Rockies" on January 18, 1938 at the Royal Alexandra Hotel, Jean met John David (Jack) MacDonald. Jack and Jean were married on June 18, 1938, and the couple had one son, Bruce Walter James MacDonald (August 28, 1946-August 25, 2016).
Jean participated in several trail rides with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Trail, and produced articles reflecting her experiences. Jean loved to travel and visited places all around Canada and the United States, Borneo, Tangier, Montevideo, Stockholm, New Delhi, and Tonga. At the age of 102, Jean passed away on February 2, 2011 and is buried in Winnipeg.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies, particularly 1937-1939). Series II: Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings, 4 cm, 1924-2000 (including correspondence with John Murray Gibbon, former students, and attendees at various talks, as well as newspaper articles that Jean wrote about various subjects and articles of her achievements). Series III: Collected Materials and Ephemera, 3 cm, ca.1930-1950 (including a variety of collected poems and ephemera, as well as a copy of The Beaver Magazine from 1940, for which Jean wrote an article titled "On the Trail of Sir George").
V797 consists of two series, 24.5 cm of visual records, ca.1928-1939. Series I: Photograph Prints, 3 cm, ca.1928-1939 (includes personal photographs of Jean and her family and friends as well as photographs of Jean and Jack's visit to Lake Louise in 1939). Series II: Lantern Slides, 21.5 cm, ca.1937-1939 (Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1937 to Mt. Assiniboine; Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1939 to Ptarmigan Valley and Skoki; collection of trail ride songs).
S60 consists of two sound recordings, 1 cm, 2004 and 2007 (Winnipeg at Christmas, narrated by Jean, broadcasted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
File pertains to nine diaries kept by Lillian Gest from 1925-1939 from travels throughout the Canadian Rockies, Europe, and Alaska.
Includes:
M67 / 1 - 1 : top-bound red leather diary, dated 1925 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover. Pertains to a pack trip through Banff and Jasper Nation…
9.5 cm of textual records (9 volumes ; 11 x 17.7 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description
Scope & Content
File pertains to nine diaries kept by Lillian Gest from 1925-1939 from travels throughout the Canadian Rockies, Europe, and Alaska.
Includes:
M67 / 1 - 1 : top-bound red leather diary, dated 1925 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover. Pertains to a pack trip through Banff and Jasper National Parks organized by Caroline Hinman.
M67 / 1 - 2 : black leather diary, titled Europe 1390: Can Rs 1931 on a piece of paper taped to the front cover (paper is now loose). Pertains to a trip to Switzerland and France in 1930 and the 1931 annual Alpine Club of Canada backpacking trip around the Mount Assiniboine and Kootenay National Park areas. Also includes a list of names and addresses and a poem possibly written by Gest at the back of the diary.
M67 / 1 -3 : red leather diary, dated 1933 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover. Pertains to a pack trip organized by Caroline Hinman.
M67 / 1 - 4 : red leather diary, dated 1934 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover, torn in the bottom left corner. Pertains to a pack trip through Banff National Park into Jasper National Park organized by Caroline Hinman. Also includes notes on other events from the rest of the summer.
M67 / 1 - 5 : black paper diary, dated 1935 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover. Pertains to Walking trip through glacier Park June 26 to July 5 ; Lake Magog Camp ACC July 13 to Aug 2 ; Banff Aug 2 to Aug 25 ; Fay Hut Aug 26 to Sept 1 ; O'Hara Sept 3 to 8 ; Motor trip home. Includes total milages of trips and a list of food taken on the seven day Fay Hut trip.
M67 / 1 - 6 : brown leather diary, dated 1936 on a paper sticker adheared to the front cover. Pertains to a visit to Banff before driving to Edmonton and then Jasper to begin the annual Alpine Club of Canada trip. Title of insert two reads "Aplinists Will Scale Mt. Brussels" - clipping is adheared to the page and cannot be removed.
M67 / 1 - 7 : brown leather diary, dated 37 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to various trips and visits made by Gest to Banff and around Banff National Park. Includes details of visits to town, hikes, climbs, and motor car trips. The diary is written on the right hand pages until Gest ran out of room, at which point she returns to the front of the book and continues on the left hand pages.
M67 / 1 - 8 : black leather diary, dated 38 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to trips Lillian Gest took to Banff, Lake Louise, Big Bend, and the Alpine Club of Canada camp at the Columbia Icefields during the summer of 1938.
M67 / 1 - 9 : brown leather diary, dated 39 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to trips to Glacier Park, Goodsir Park, and a motor car trip to Washington and Oregon during the summer of 1939. Also includes title lists for reels (possibly pictures/slide shows), as well as a list of flower names at the back of the diary.
Also includes loose items, mostly consisting of newspaper clippings, Alpine Club of Canada pamphlet, and three handwritten pages of loose paper.
Notes
Blank pages not scanned.
Special note: to read M67 / 1 - 7 begin reading only the right hand pages. Towards the end of the diary Lillian Gest runs out of room and continues the entries at the beginning on the left hand pages.
File pertains to six diaries kept by Lillian Gest from 1940-1947 from travels throughout the Canadian Rockies, Europe, and the western United States.
Includes:
M67 / 2 - 1 : black leather diary, dated 40 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to trips taken to Jasper Park Lodge, G…
8 cm of textual records (6 volumes ; 11.5 x 18 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description
Scope & Content
File pertains to six diaries kept by Lillian Gest from 1940-1947 from travels throughout the Canadian Rockies, Europe, and the western United States.
Includes:
M67 / 2 - 1 : black leather diary, dated 40 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to trips taken to Jasper Park Lodge, Glacier Lake Camp, the Icefields Chalet, and Emerald Lake during the summer of 1940. Includes details of movies and photographs taken at the back of the diary.
M67 / 2 - 2 : black leather diary, dated 41 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to trips to the Chateau Lake Louise. Twin Falls, and Emerald Lake taken during the summer of 1941. At least part of the summer was spent attending a motor car tour organized by Caroline Hinman. Also includes lists of names and addresses of other people who attended Hinman's tour, as well as details on milage and on films and photographs taken.
M67 / 2 - 3 : black plastic 6-ring diary. Pertains to a collection of trip notes, mostly trips throughout the Canadian Rockies, from summer 1942 to summer 1945. Mostly consists of place names, people, and trip highlights - not much detail.
M67 / 2 - 4 : black leather diary, dated 42 43 in red paint (possibly ink) on the front cover. Pertains to Alpine Club of Canada Camp at Consolation Lakes (July 19-24) and a stay at Deer Lodge at Lake Louise (Aug 16-22) in 1942, an informal ACC Camp at Lake O'Hara and a stay at Deer Lodge (Aug 16-18). For both summers she notes "In Browne House, Banff" which possibly could have been a home available for rent. Also includes details pertaining to the various costs of the trips (years not specified), the fish hatchery, a list of home movies from 1942, a list of stills (no date), and a list of equipment used at the ACC Camp in 1943.
M67 / 2 - 5 : black leather diary, dated 44 45 in red paint on the front cover. Pertains to trips taken by Lillian Gest during the summers of 1944 and 1945. 1944 includes travelling from Toronto to Banff, staying at the Browne House (presumably a guest house or other such rental property), annual Alpine Club of Canada Camp in Paradise Valley, Trial Riders of the Canadian Rockies trip to Fatique Pass and Eohippus Lake. 1945 inlcudes travelling from Toronto to Banff, staying at the Browne House, annual ACC Camp in Larch Valley, Sky Line Trail Hikers trip in Lake O'Hara (Aug 3-6), and a trip with A. Harmon [?] to graveyard cabin and Summet Pass. Also includes a list of people met during these trips, a list of equipment left in the Browne House (1944), trees local to the Canadian Rockies, and a small sketch of downtown Banff focussed around the Bow River Bridge.
M67 / 2 - 6 : black leather diary, dated 46 47 in red paint on the front cover. Trips taken during the summer of 1946 include staying at the Chateau Lake Louise (June 29-July 12), Emerald Lake [Lodge?] (July 12-Aug 2), annual Alpine Club of Canada Camp in the Bugaboos (July 13-24), Mitchell Hut, Yoho (July 26-30), Banff (Aug 2-Sept 3), and Bow Lake (Aug 3-9). Trips in 1947 included time spent in Calgary during the Stampede, annual ACC Camp, pack trip organized by Caroline Hinman, and time spent around the town of Banff. Also includes list of people met during trips, and milage and details about trip from Banff to Merion (September 1947).
Also includes loose items consisting of letters (mostly addressed to Lillian Gest), brochures for the Sky Line Trail Hikers, Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, and the Calgary Stampede, postcard, tellegram, trip itineraries and cost listings, and newspaper clippings.