MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1963-64 season
|
The Annual Meeting this evening is the ninth meeting of the 1963-1964 season. The first general meeting in September took the form of a field trip to historic spots in Manitoba. Stops were made at St. Francois Xavier, the Austin Agricultural Museum, Manitou and Morden. The Mound at Pilot Mound was also viewed from a distance.
A good variety of papers were presented to the regular monthly meetings. They were as follows:
October
November
January
Sidelights on the History of Assiniboia by Mr. E. Russenholt
February
Pierre Falcon, Bard of the Plains by Mr. M. Allard
March
Settlement Patterns in Manitoba, 1870-1900 by Mr. J. Friesen
April
History of the Electrical Industry in Manitoba by Mr. D. G. Ross
It is difficult to single out any one paper for special mention but Dr. Spangler's was unique in that it took us out of Manitoba into the neighbouring State of Minnesota. However, Dr. Spangler did a fine job of relating his narrative to our local scene wherever possible.
In November, in addition to Dr. Spangler's address, there was a special joint meeting with La Societe historique de St. Boniface. At this meeting a symposium was held on Biculturalism in Manitoba. The symposium arose from a proposal put before last year's Annual Meeting by Dr. Morton. The four panelists who participated in the symposium were Mr. Roland Couture, Father L. Guy, Judge W. J. Lindal and Mr. Bud Sherman.
The Ross House Museum opened on Monday and will stay open until mid-September. Once again the Society would like to state how indebted it is to Mr. Leonard A. Reid, Chairman of the Ross House Committee for the work he and his Committee have done.
During the course of the past season the Transactions for 1960-1961 and 1961-1962 were sent out. You should be receiving the 1962-1963 Transactions this week. In addition two issues of Pageant have been sent out. Henceforth three issues will be sent out annually, in the Fall, Winter and Spring.
In the field of local history a valuable and comprehensive bibliography has been compiled of all available histories of Manitoba localities (published and unpublished) and of works underway. Some of this work was done by a University student who also catalogued all of the Society's own holdings.
Another aspect of this tidying up campaign has been the transcription of the Orlikow tapes. These are the results of Mr. Orlikow's interviews with leading Manitoba personalities.
Turning to the future, the Manitoba Record Society, an independent body which receives financial assistance from this Society, will shortly be appealing for members. The first in this series of publications of rare manuscripts from Manitoba's part is expected before 1955. The first volume will be The Birth of Manitoba (documents of 1870) edited by W. L. Morton. Other volumes that are now being prepared are The Papers of James Wickes Taylor edited by Hart Bowsfield, Colin Robertson's Journal edited by Mrs. A. E. Brown, Dafoe and Prairie Politics by Ramsay Cook, and A Work on the Troubles of the Red River of the 1840s by W. D. Smith. Further volumes are being considered.
In October this Society formed a special Centennial Committee. The main purpose of this Committee is to make sure that Manitoba's own Centennial is not neglected because of the proximity in time to the Canadian Centennial. As part of their work the Committee has been in contact with Mr. Kaye Lamb, the Dominion Archivist and his staff. They are undertaking a study as to the best location for the Manitoba Archives and the offices of the Historical Society.
One other way in which the Society is preparing for the Centennial's celebrations is through liaison with the Manitoba Association of Architects and the Faculty of Architecture. It is hoped that, working together, funds may be provided to send one or more students into the field in order to draw up a list of buildings which should be preserved. Once this list has been compiled, it will be presented to the Government.
Page revised: 22 May 2010
