Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
The Maclean family (parents Don and Doris, and children Janice, Heather and Ian) lived in Whaletown from 1961 to 1973.
Don Maclean's parents, John and Edna Maclean, lived for many years in Edmonton, Alberta. When their son came home from the war they bought property near Coulter Bay and moved to Cortes Island. Don Maclean became a fisherman, eventually living on his fishing boat.
Doris Lancaster Maclean was born and raised in Victoria, B.C. In the late 1940s she answered a call from the Anglican Church to come and do Vacation Bible School with the Columbia Coast Mission on Cortes and nearby islands.
Doris and Don married in 1954. They moved to Cortes Island in 1961 when Don was hired to operate the Columbia Coast Mission boat, the "Alan Greene". They lived in the Mission house in Whaletown, next to the church. Don Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in the 1960s when no clergymen were available, holding services in the three Anglican churches on the island.
In 1967 the Diocese sold the "Alan Greene" and the Macleans were required to move out of the mission house. Maclean built a house on the beach of what used to be called Jardine’s property, although by this time it was owned by a cousin of Doris Maclean. He was hired as the Industrial First Aid man on site for the building of the Whaletown Ferry dock and after that worked as a clam digger.
The Maclean family left Cortes in 1973 and moved to Regina, SK. The house that Don built was rented for a couple of years and then sold and moved to a new location; it burned down a few years later.
Custodial History
Twenty-seven photographs and 15 slides were mailed to CIMAS by Janice Maclean Kerr in 2019; two more photos were mailed in Apr. 2021; 16 slides were mailed in Sept. 2021
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
Fonds consists of one scrapbook with 20 pages of photographs depicting Cortes Island people and places. Photographs, with penciled captions, are pasted onto the pages. Pages have been interleaved for conservation.
There are also nine loose photographs of relatives from a later accrual, and a file of textual records from a third accrual.
Eleanor (Christensen) Milne is a third generation Cortes Islander. Her parents are Mabel (Lowe) and Buster Christensen; her grandparents are Henry and Lydia (Heay) Hague. The Christensen/Hague families lived in the Manson's Lagoon area.
Custodial History
Album was donated to CIMAS by Eleanor Milne in 2004, and an accrual of nine photographs was donated in 2019.
Textual records were donated anonymously to the Museum in 2021 and have been described as part of this fonds as they are Milne/Hague family records.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one scrapbook with 20 pages of photographs depicting Cortes Island people and places. Photographs, with penciled captions, are pasted onto the pages. Pages have been interleaved for conservation.
There are also nine loose photographs of relatives from a later accrual, and a file of textual records from a third accrual.
Fonds consists of photographs and records of the Cortes Walking Group. Photographs depict walks and social activities and are arranged in two albums and one printed photo book. Textual records include two small notebooks with notes of walk routes, times and participants; membership lists; and accounts of activities with associated photographs, including a history of the Walking Group. A copy of the cerlox-bound "Listings of the Cortes Island Cemeteries" contains annotations up to 2020, mostly concerning the Mansons Landing cemetery.
The Cortes Walking Group was started in September of 2000 when Ann Dewar and Gail Ringwood decided to meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 AM to walk and put up a sign announcing their intention. The days were changed to the still-current schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and soon incorporated a visit to a coffee shop following the outings.
Walking Group activities are ongoing (2024). Walks leave from the parking lot at Manson's Hall at 9 AM sharp and are open to everyone. The route is decided just before the walks, which last anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours, but are usually one to two hours long.
Custodial History
The photo albums were mostly assembled by Gail Ringwood using photographs taken by Richard Trueman, Jurek and Gina Trzesicka and other group members. They were kept in the Pioneer Room at Manson's Hall and then at the Co-op Cafe. They were donated to the Museum by Sue Ellingsen and Myrna Kerr, members of the Walking Group, in 2022.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs and records of the Cortes Walking Group. Photographs depict walks and social activities and are arranged in two albums and one printed photo book. Textual records include two small notebooks with notes of walk routes, times and participants; membership lists; and accounts of activities with associated photographs, including a history of the Walking Group. A copy of the cerlox-bound "Listings of the Cortes Island Cemeteries" contains annotations up to 2020, mostly concerning the Mansons Landing cemetery.
194 photographs : colour ; 15 x 10 cm
1 photograph : b&w, 27 x 20 cm
2 albums (ca. 210 photographs : col.)
History / Biographical
Mae Sherwood (b. Feb. 8, 1931), and her husband Alden, moved to Cortes Island in 1992. She was active in the Whaletown Community Club until moving off-island in 2016, serving as Secretary for seven years, and then as Social Convener. She started the Classical Music program in 1994 and initiated other projects such as the Salad Bar at Cortes Days and the Pie Table at Sand Castle Day.
Custodial History
Photographs were donated to CIMAS by Mae Sherwood.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs taken or collected by Mae Sherwood which document the activities of the Whaletown Community Club.
Sous-fonds consists of materials generated or gathered by George Sirk during his term as Regional Director. It includes correspondence; minutes and reports of the Cortes Island Advisory Planning Commission (APC); Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw revision materials; records of foreshore leases and licenses; correspondence on various island issues, and material relating to parks, aquaculture, forestry, treaty negotiations and other island concerns. Sous-fonds is arranged into six series: Advisory Planning Commission; Community Plans and Bylaws; Regional District of Comox-Strathcona: Regional Board; Regional District of Comox-Strathcona: Committees; Rezoning and Development Proposals; Subject Files: Cortes Affairs; Aquaculture; and Treaty Negotiations.
George Sirk was elected Regional Director of Electoral Area I (Cortes Island) in the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona in 1996. He served three terms as Director, from 1996 to 2005.
Custodial History
Material was donated to CIMAS by George Sirk in 2004, prior to his move from Cortes Island to Victoria, BC.
Scope and Content
Sous-fonds consists of materials generated or gathered by George Sirk during his term as Regional Director. It includes correspondence; minutes and reports of the Cortes Island Advisory Planning Commission (APC); Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw revision materials; records of foreshore leases and licenses; correspondence on various island issues, and material relating to parks, aquaculture, forestry, treaty negotiations and other island concerns. Sous-fonds is arranged into six series: Advisory Planning Commission; Community Plans and Bylaws; Regional District of Comox-Strathcona: Regional Board; Regional District of Comox-Strathcona: Committees; Rezoning and Development Proposals; Subject Files: Cortes Affairs; Aquaculture; and Treaty Negotiations.
Sous-fonds consists of records of the Cortes Island Women's Institute. It is arranged in nine series: Minutes, Reports, Financial, Administrative Records, Correspondence, Subject Files, Ephemera, Photographs and Artifacts.
The Cortes Island Women's institute was formed in 1984. Although Cortes Island had historically been difficult to traverse, and the communities consequently insular, by the 1980s the road systems were such that "a Women's Institute for the whole of Cortes Island" seemed to make sense.
CIWI was founded with the bank balance of a Manson's Landing service group called the Ladies Guild, which was founded in the 1940s. When membership and activity in the guild declined in the 1970s, the focus was shifted to a renovation and addition to Manson's Hall. Once the Hall had been sufficiently updated, it was thought that the remaining funds might be put to use "creating an instrument for better communication between all our women and a chance to work together in the community".
Charter members of the CIWI were Heather Berry, Peggy Newsham, Maryann McCoy, Linda Hendricks, and Mary Block.
Custodial History
Records were donated to CIMAS by the Island Women's Club in 2009.
Scope and Content
Sous-fonds consists of records of the Cortes Island Women's Institute. It is arranged in nine series: Minutes, Reports, Financial, Administrative Records, Correspondence, Subject Files, Ephemera, Photographs and Artifacts.
Fonds contains six oversize photograph albums, CDs, administrative documents, ephemera, newsletters, yearbooks, and articles created by Linnaea School. It is arranged in eight series: Administrative records; Creative projects; Linnaea Learner; Yearbooks; Publicity materials; School photo descriptions; Linnaea School photograph albums; and CDs. Electronic records include an overview of Linnaea; Linnaea philosophy and curriculum, and class and attendance lists.
Linnaea School was a small independent school located on Linnaea Farm, a land trust with 315 acres of forests, fields, organic gardens and lake-front which is governed by The Linnaea Farm Society, a registered non-profit. Linnaea School offered its holistic, community-based approach to education for 23 years, from 1987 until its closing in 2010.
The school was founded by Donna Bracewell in 1987. It expanded from a first-year enrollment of eleven students to take in close to half of the island's school-age children. Linnaea offered a program of creative, nature-based, alternative learning for Kindergarten to Grade 6. Strong academics were enhanced by farm classes, environmental and outdoor education, mentorship programmes, music classes and service projects. A notable project was the annual spring musical play. Bracewell left in June, 2009 to take a teaching position in Vietnam and the school closed a year later.
Custodial History
Records were donated to CIMAS on 22 October 2014 by a representative of Linnaea Education Centre/Linnaea Farm Society. An accrual of electronic records was donated by Donna Bracewell in 2019. A sticky note attached to the CD file box said they were brought to the Museum in 2017 by Miensje Vlaming.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains six oversize photograph albums, CDs, administrative documents, ephemera, newsletters, yearbooks, and articles created by Linnaea School. It is arranged in eight series: Administrative records; Creative projects; Linnaea Learner; Yearbooks; Publicity materials; School photo descriptions; Linnaea School photograph albums; and CDs. Electronic records include an overview of Linnaea; Linnaea philosophy and curriculum, and class and attendance lists.
Fonds consists of documents created and accrued by CES between 1988 and 2006, including financial statements, correspondence, meeting minutes, notes, maps, reports, legal documents, and publications. It includes 62 files arranged in thirteen series following the original order of the material.
.6 m of textual records (2 boxes)
29 photographs : col.
Extent
0.6
History / Biographical
The Cortes Ecoforestry Society (CES) was incorporated in March 1999, under the following mission statement:
"To work in partnership with the Klahoose First Nation, to gain community stewardship of the working forest lands on Cortes to create perpetual ecological and economic benefits for the entire community, and to serve as a model for sustainable ecoforestry."
Preceding names for the organization include Cortes Island Forestry Committee (ca. 1988-1990), Cortes Island Forest Resource Committee (c. 1990) and Cortes Island Forest Committee (ca. 1991-1999). A draft document from October 1991 states that,
"[T]he Cortes Island Forest Committee (CIFC) was formed in 1988. The purposes of the CIFC are to develop ecologically responsible and balanced forest use of Cortes Island forests, to develop a sustainable forest-based economy, to educate ourselves and the public regarding appropriate use of Cortes Island forests, and to work towards a broad based public consensus for the use of these forests."
In July 1999 Klahoose First Nation and CES signed an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding, stating that the two parties would work together to create a community forest that used eco-system forestry. In 1999 and 2000 the Cortes Ecoforestry Society began planning and preparing a community forest proposal. In 2003, volume was made available for small community tenures, including Woodlot Licences and Community Forest Agreements (CFAs). Klahoose supported the efforts to revitalize the community forest proposal and a small, voluntary advisory group was formed (Bruce Ellingsen, Chief Kathy Francis, Liz Richardson and Ron Wolda). To ensure the proposal was seen to be inclusive of all islanders, the proponent name was changed to the Cortes Island Community Forest advisory group. The community forest proposal stalled, and CES, which at one point had a membership of 400 residents supporting their goals, became less active.
In May of 2011, the Cortes Community Forest Advisory Group was invited to apply for a Community Forest Agreement (CFA) by the Minister of Forests, and in September 2013 the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations issued a Community Forest Agreement to the Cortes Forestry General Partnership, which was established on June 2012.
The Cortes Forestry General Partnership is managed and governed equally by two partners, the Klahoose Forestry No. 2 Limited Partnership (KF2LP) and the Cortes Community Forest Co-operative. The tenure agreement lasts for 25 years and encompasses 3,869 hectares of crown land, about 35% of the island. The Klahoose Nation holds ancestral tenure over Cortes Island. They are currently at stage 4 in the process of negotiating a treaty agreement with the province of British Columbia and Canadian government.
Custodial History
Donated to CIMAS on Dec. 16, 2017 by David Shipway.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of documents created and accrued by CES between 1988 and 2006, including financial statements, correspondence, meeting minutes, notes, maps, reports, legal documents, and publications. It includes 62 files arranged in thirteen series following the original order of the material.
Fonds consists of material generated by the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society and includes meeting minutes, administrative records, research materials, correspondence, ephemera, maps, plans, and publications of the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society, as well as some records of the Cortes Island Old Age Pensioners' Organization. Fonds is arranged into twelve series, following the original order of the records.
An accrual in 2023, described as Series 12, contains meeting minutes, correspondence, etc; arranged in chronological order (original order).
In 1987, members of the Cortes Island Old Age Pensioners' Organization incorporated the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society (currently known as the Cortes Island Senior's Society) with the following stated purposes:
(a) to operate a facility where persons aged 65 years or older, or persons between 55 and 65 years of age who are in need, can improve their health through physical and other acitivity;
(b) to operate a residential housing facility for such persons;
(c) to carry on social activities incidental to the above purposes, but not to own, operate or manage a social club.
The records of the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society provide useful insight into their process of envisioning the future of seniors' housing on Cortes Island.
Custodial History
Donated by Ruth Zwickel on behalf of the Cortes Island Senior's Society in 2013. An accrual was donated by Elinor Harwood on behalf of the Cortes Island Seniors' Society in 2021.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of material generated by the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society and includes meeting minutes, administrative records, research materials, correspondence, ephemera, maps, plans, and publications of the Cortes Island Seniors' Building Society, as well as some records of the Cortes Island Old Age Pensioners' Organization. Fonds is arranged into twelve series, following the original order of the records.
An accrual in 2023, described as Series 12, contains meeting minutes, correspondence, etc; arranged in chronological order (original order).
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Wilfred (Wilf) Michael Freeman was born October 21, 1917 in Vancouver B.C. and died December 23, 2012. He was the son of William George Freeman and Robina Steel (Manson) Freeman and brother to Elizabeth Jane May (Freeman) Ellingsen (born March 13, 1914). His grandparents were Michael and Jane Manson. Wilf grew up on Hernando Island until 1926 when the family moved to Vancouver. One of his first jobs in the early 1930s was in Powell River where, among other things, he was hand digging basements under some of the original Powell River townsite homes.
He gravitated to the logging industry, working for Sigurd Ellingsen and Eric Flescher in Phillips Arm through the late ’30’s and into the 1950’s. He was an excellent worker; strong, resourceful, thoughtful, humorous and thorough, and, as well, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Wilf and his wife, May (Spence; died 1970) moved down to Smelt Bay on Cortes in the early 1950s from Phillips Arm. He logged with Bill Mathews between 1954 and 1965 in the Von Donop Creek areas. As well, they both crewed on the seine boat “Courtenay Maid” with Pat Andrews for a few summers.
When the ferry came to Cortes Island, both Wilf and Bill worked as deckhands, always cheerful and busy throughout the trips, often chipping and repainting rust spots on the ship.
Wilf was active in many community affairs over all the years living on Cortes: among them the Ratepayers Association, the 1958 Centennial Committee, the Cortes Grapevine Telephone Assoc. (a local telephone system, 1959 - 1966), Cortes Days summer celebrations, Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc., Cortes Rod and Gun Club.
Wilf and his second wife, Nora, lived on in Smelt Bay until they moved to Willow Point, South of Campbell River, in 2002. There they lived until, on December 23, 2102, he passed away while shovelling snow in their back yard.
Custodial History
Accession 2001.001 was donated to CIMAS by Wilfred Freeman on June 16, 2001. Accession 2002.002 was gathered at Wilf Freeman's garage sale by Bonnie MacDonald and donated to the museum in June of 2002. Accession 2017.006 was donated to CIMAS by Bruce Ellingsen, Freeman's nephew, in July of 2017.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Fonds consists of records created or collected by Yendor Hurst. They include weather records of Cortes Island, copies of a treeplanting comic book ("Skreefer Madness"), ephemera and eight loose album pages containing ca. 81 photographs. It is arranged in two series: Textual records and Photographs.
Yendor (ca.1948-2005) moved to Cortes Island in 1973, after buying into Redlands Land Group, at the top of Robertson Rd. Gloria Jorg joined him in 1979. He was very involved in community activities, including the drama group, forestry committees, talent shows, drumming, oyster farming, Emergency First Aid Service, and the Whaletown Community Club. He served as webmaster for the Watershed Sentinel from 1995 to 2004.
Yendor made many trips to Ghana. He built djembe drums and had a gallery in his home featuring handmade drums, natural African products, and drum carving workshops. His import business of shea butter supported a women’s co-operative in Ghana, and helped preserve the trees.
Yendor died in an accident in 2005, when his safety belt broke as he was limbing branches high up in a tree.
Custodial History
Records were donated to CIMAS by Gloria Jorg in 2006.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created or collected by Yendor Hurst. They include weather records of Cortes Island, copies of a treeplanting comic book ("Skreefer Madness"), ephemera and eight loose album pages containing ca. 81 photographs. It is arranged in two series: Textual records and Photographs.
9 photographs : b&w
2 photograph booklets : b&w ; 9 x 9 cm
History / Biographical
Frederick (Fred) Hawkins (1866-1952) and his wife Doris (1906-1959) settled in Manson's Landing in 1908. The Hawkins family lived across from the entrance to Manson's Lagoon at the Spit in a house originally built by Horace Heay (at the end of Taka Mika Rd). Fred lived there until his death in 1952; he is buried in the cemetery in Manson's Landing. Doris died in Powell River in 1959.
George Hawkins, son of Fred and Doris Hawkins, was born in 1928. He had two brothers, Bill and Bob. George and Bob Hawkins both moved to Powell River, in 1947 and 1955 respectively; Bill was killed in a logging accident in 1972.
Custodial History
Donated by Craig Hawkins, July 30, 2016.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of black and white photographs dating from the 1950s, showing people and scenes from Manson's Landing.
Fonds consists of the personal, business and research records of May and Elmer Ellingsen. Textual records include personal and business correspondence; financial and legal records; information about local history; records and newsletters of various community organizations; records created by John Manson and by the St. James Ladies' Guild; maps; ephemera; and clippings about Cortes Island people and events. Fonds also includes photographs of the Manson family and other island people and places, and cassette tapes of oral history and music.
Fonds is arranged in 14 series: Correspondence; Financial records; Elmer Ellingsen records (business and personal); May Ellingsen personal records; Local history subject files; John Manson records; St. James Ladies' Guild records; Community organizations and services records; Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society records; Maps; Ephemera; Clippings; Photographs and Audio tapes.
Records from Accessions 2017.003 and 2019.002, which were processed after the other material had been arranged, have been interfiled.
3 meters of textual records
726 photographs
21 audio cassette tapes
Extent
252 cm
History / Biographical
Elmer Ellingsen (1913-2002) was born in North Vancouver to Sigurd and Gladys Ellingsen. After graduating from high school, he took a short course in business at Sprott Shaw College. In the early 1930s Elmer worked in logging and became a strong supporter of the trade union movement. He also had classical piano training in school, later turning to popular music; he played for many dances and parties until well into his eighties.
May Ellingsen (1914-2012) was born in Vancouver to George and Robina Freeman. Her maternal grandfather, Michael Manson, was the first person to pre-empt land on Cortes Island, in 1886. May grew up on Cortes and Hernando Islands until grade six, then moved to Vancouver with her family to finish her schooling.
May and Elmer met on Cortes in 1935 and were married on August 1, 1936. They built a float house and spent the next ten years in the Loughborough Inlet/Phillips Arm area where Elmer worked in his father's logging operations. While there, their children Shirley (1939), Bruce (1940) and Andy (1941) were born. In 1946 they moved to Von Donop Creek, where Elmer formed a logging partnership with Mike Herrewig and Scotty McKenzie. In 1950, he formed a new partnership with Erne Anderson for logging in the Whaletown area, and moved the floathouse to Manson's Landing lagoon. Two years later their floathouse was moved to its present location on Hague Lake.
After travelling from home to various logging operations, Elmer retired from logging. He bought a D8 Caterpillar tractor, backhoe and gravel truck and worked for the next forty years excavating, delivering gravel and moving things. He often worked with BC Hydro and BC Tel on pole installation, repair and maintenance.
Both Elmer and May were very active in community life. They sponsored weekly movie nights through the 1950s and square dancing in the sixties. May's many involvements included the Ladies' Guild, Women's Institute, Ratepayers Association, Post Office, Vancouver Regional Library development and Cortes Island Days. Elmer was a leading promoter of bringing ferry and hydro service to the island; he helped renovate Manson's Hall in the late 1970s, lobbied for road paving and helped initiate the Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc. in the 1980s. Both were founding members of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society.
Custodial History
Records were collected from the home of May and Elmer Ellingsen by Andy and Susan Ellingsen and by Bruce Ellingsen and donated to CIMAS. There are eight accessions in this fonds: 2007.001, 2007.002, 2007.003, 2007.005, 2008.002 and 2010.001, 2018.002 and 2019.002.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the personal, business and research records of May and Elmer Ellingsen. Textual records include personal and business correspondence; financial and legal records; information about local history; records and newsletters of various community organizations; records created by John Manson and by the St. James Ladies' Guild; maps; ephemera; and clippings about Cortes Island people and events. Fonds also includes photographs of the Manson family and other island people and places, and cassette tapes of oral history and music.
Fonds is arranged in 14 series: Correspondence; Financial records; Elmer Ellingsen records (business and personal); May Ellingsen personal records; Local history subject files; John Manson records; St. James Ladies' Guild records; Community organizations and services records; Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society records; Maps; Ephemera; Clippings; Photographs and Audio tapes.
Records from Accessions 2017.003 and 2019.002, which were processed after the other material had been arranged, have been interfiled.
Fonds consists primarily of photographs and slides taken by Mary Weiler. Textual records include correspondence, several issues of the "Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission, and material about Victor Von Donop, for whom Von Donop Inlet is named.
Fonds is arranged in five series: 1: Photographs, 2: Correspondence, 3: Von Donop, 4: Ephemera, and 5: Books.
In April of 1947 Otto and Mary Weiler were recently returned from London, and they were war weary---Mary was recovering from tuberculosis, and Otto from injuries sustained in the army, and like most people in those days, they were left strapped by the Depression and the War--- but they had a dream. They chartered a boat, and traveled up the BC coast, seeking a place where they could live---in their words---"a happy, romantic, bohemian life".
Otto John—always known affectionately as Ottie---was born in Victoria, BC on March 27, 1903, to a well-to-do mercantile family. His grandparents, John and Christiana Weiler, arrive in Fort Victoria in the early 1850's from Germany by way of San Francisco, where they established a successful furniture factory and other businesses. Reminders of the Weiler family still exist in Victoria, most notably the six-story Weiler Building at the corner of Broad and Government streets, originally a grandly-appointed department store, and the Weiler cenotaph in Ross Bay cemetery.
Mary was born Mary Agnes Campbell on March 13, 1915, in Enderby, BC. Her grandparents were pioneers who arrived in the North Okanogan to farm in the 1880's. The family moved to New Westminster in 1921. After high school Mary studied nursing at the Royal Jubilee hospital in Victoria, and then departed for France, having decided to work her way around the world. When war broke out, however, she was evacuated from France at Dunkirk, and immediately joined the British army. She served a nurse in London for the duration of the war, and here she met Ottie, a major with the Canadian Scottish regiment. There were married in 1943, and both went back to their respective postings with the army, looking forward to the day when they could live together.
When Ottie and Mary sailed into Whaletown Bay, they were immediately enchanted by the house on the point, half-built and occupying 5 rocky acres of waterfront. They were urban and idealistic, and ready to throw themselves into life on a remote island. At first they turned their hand to fishing commercially. Their boat was twelve-foot clinker built inboard; a salmon license cost a dollar. In 1949 they were hired by Cece Stubbs to manage the Whaletown Store. When Gary and Velma Bergman bought the store in 1956, Ottie was offered the position of Whaletown postmaster, a job he held until a few months before his death.
Mary was an artist—a talented and serious one. In spite of the isolation of Cortes Island in those days, she made a name for herself as a British Columbia artist of note, showing her work widely and selling internationally. Her studio was the dining-room table, surrounded by a swirl of children, and her paintings and prints were created in the midst of the gardening, fishing and canning necessary to country survival.
Ottie was a writer---he had been a journalist before the war---and was a passionate gardener, fisherman, hunter and forager who tirelessly explored the trails and homesteads on the north end of Cortes, and beachcombed all his firewood.
They were both dedicated to community service. Ottie was Justice of the Peace, a thoughtful counselor once famously referred to by Gilean Douglas as 'a Justice who really practiced peace' and he also served on the boards of the Whaletown Community Club and other organizations for many years. Mary acted as a community nurse, as well as teaching First Aid classes, holding monthly clinics, and canvassing for the Canadian cancer society. She taught annual art classes and workshops for adults and children, and in the late '60s, she and Ottie opened a summer art gallery in their Whaletown home---the Garden Gallery---as a showcase for local artists and craftspeople.
Ottie and Mary had four daughters---Christina, born March 23rd, 1951; Brigid, born June 6th, 1953; Alexandra (who, however, has always gone by the nickname “Johnny”) born May 5th, 1955; and Sarah, born September 27th, 1958.
In 1973 Ottie died after a short illness, and Mary didn't want to stay in their dream home without him. In 1974 she sold the house and said farewell to Whaletown. Mary Weiler went on to many more adventures—studying, travelling, and always making art---and died in Victoria in1999.
[by Brigid Weiler, March 10, 2016]
Custodial History
This material was created or collected by Mary and Otto Weiler and donated to CIMAS by their daughter Brigid Weiler. The first accession was in 2003 (Accession #2003.002). There are two accruals: #2009.002 and #2017.001.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists primarily of photographs and slides taken by Mary Weiler. Textual records include correspondence, several issues of the "Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission, and material about Victor Von Donop, for whom Von Donop Inlet is named.
Fonds is arranged in five series: 1: Photographs, 2: Correspondence, 3: Von Donop, 4: Ephemera, and 5: Books.
The CIMAS audiovisual collection consists of sound and video recordings on various media. Subject matter includes interviews with residents of Cortes Island and nearby islands, events which occurred on the island and musical and theatrical performances by island artists and groups. Material is arranged in three series according to physical type: Audio tapes; CDs and DVDs, and VHS tapes. Items which do not have accession records have been given an arbitrary FIC (Found In Collection) number depending on their date of processing.
The CIMAS audiovisual collection consists of sound and video recordings on various media. Subject matter includes interviews with residents of Cortes Island and nearby islands, events which occurred on the island and musical and theatrical performances by island artists and groups. Material is arranged in three series according to physical type: Audio tapes; CDs and DVDs, and VHS tapes. Items which do not have accession records have been given an arbitrary FIC (Found In Collection) number depending on their date of processing.
This fonds comprises records of four Cortes Island women's service organizations, including minutes, financial records, administrative records, correspondence, photographs, ephemera and artifacts. It is arranged in four sous-fonds according to the creator of the records: Whaletown Women's Institute (2009.001.1); Whaletown Women's Auxiliary of the Anglican Church (2009.001.2); Cortes Island Women's Institute (2009.001.3); and Island Women's Club (2009.001.3). Related material in CIMAS archives may be found in the Whaletown Women's Institute fonds (1999.002), the Gilean Douglas fonds (1999.001), and the May and Elmer Ellingsen fonds (2007.001).
The Island Women's Club was formed in 2000, when the members of the Cortes Island Women's Institute withdrew from the British Columbia Women's Institute in order to focus their efforts locally. It was the successor to previous women's service organizations on Cortes, local branches of the Women's Institute and the Anglican Church Women's Auxiliary. Activities included awarding bursaries to graduating high school students, contributing to school projects such as printing yearbooks, sponsoring sports teams and building playground equipment, supporting the community halls and organizing memorial teas on behalf of bereaved families. They disbanded in 2016.
Custodial History
After they disbanded, records of the Whaletown Women's Institute and the Whaletown Women's Auxiliary passed into the hands of the Cortes Island Women's Institute and its successor, Island Women's Club, who donated them to CIMAS in 2009. The organizational records created by the Island Women's Club were donated to CIMAS in 2018.
Scope and Content
This fonds comprises records of four Cortes Island women's service organizations, including minutes, financial records, administrative records, correspondence, photographs, ephemera and artifacts. It is arranged in four sous-fonds according to the creator of the records: Whaletown Women's Institute (2009.001.1); Whaletown Women's Auxiliary of the Anglican Church (2009.001.2); Cortes Island Women's Institute (2009.001.3); and Island Women's Club (2009.001.3). Related material in CIMAS archives may be found in the Whaletown Women's Institute fonds (1999.002), the Gilean Douglas fonds (1999.001), and the May and Elmer Ellingsen fonds (2007.001).
Michael Carkener (1949- ) has lived at 757 Sutil Point Rd., Manson's Landing on Cortes Island since ca. 1978. The house at that address was originally built by the Froud family in 1914. Frederick Froud donated a portion of his land for Manson's Landing Community Hall and St. James Church in the 1920s.
Custodial History
Photograph #2013.002.001 was found by Michael Carkener when he moved into the house at 757 Sutil Pt. Rd; the others were collected by his wife, Janice Piche, in the 1980s, probably from the Fretwell family. Michael Carkener donated the collection to CIMAS in 2013.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of twenty-four photographs depicting Cortes Island scenes and people, and one folder containing a letter and ephemera.
"Cortes Island Workbook: A guide to Business and Employment Opportunities in Rural and Remote Communities" is a 130 page resource manual. Researched and written in 1984 by a group of eight island women, it contains a description of the the community, economy and rural lifestyle on Cortes, and ideas for finding or creating a business. Each chapter divider page has an illustration by Brigid Weiler.
Binder #2 also contains a letter announcing the end of the project with list of contributors.
This Resource Manual is the result of a Canada Works project grant, and was researched and written by a group of eight Cortes Island women over a five month period.
Custodial History
This binder is one of two copies of the Workbook kept at the Louisa Tooker Library in Whaletown. It was donated to CIMAS by Brigid Weiler, librarian and president of the Whaletown Community Club.
The second binder was donated to CIMAS in 2023 by Bernice McGowan, librarian of the Louisa Tooker Library for the Whaletown Community Club.
Scope and Content
"Cortes Island Workbook: A guide to Business and Employment Opportunities in Rural and Remote Communities" is a 130 page resource manual. Researched and written in 1984 by a group of eight island women, it contains a description of the the community, economy and rural lifestyle on Cortes, and ideas for finding or creating a business. Each chapter divider page has an illustration by Brigid Weiler.
Binder #2 also contains a letter announcing the end of the project with list of contributors.
This collection consists of photographs of Jalmar Olson, his house and garden in Gorge Harbour, and Whaletown. Textual records include a hand-written account of J. Olson by his grand-daughter, Judy (Alderson) Gerwing, and a photocopy of a letter to J. Olson from the Meteorological Division of the Dept. of Transport (Small fonds box 1-18).
7 photographs : b&w ; 10 x 15 cm
3 photographs : colour ; 15 x 10 cm
1 file of textual records
History / Biographical
Jalmar Olson (Apr 30, 1869-Feb 29, 1964) was born in Sweden. He emigrated to Canada in 1906 and moved to Cortes in the 1930s. He had a house and garden in Gorge Harbour at what is now 509 Whaletown Rd. Olson was a Weather Observer for Transport Canada until 1949, when he moved off-island for health reasons.
Custodial History
Donated to CIMAS by Judy Alderson Gerwing, the grand-daughter of Jalmar Olson, Sept. 27, 2013.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of photographs of Jalmar Olson, his house and garden in Gorge Harbour, and Whaletown. Textual records include a hand-written account of J. Olson by his grand-daughter, Judy (Alderson) Gerwing, and a photocopy of a letter to J. Olson from the Meteorological Division of the Dept. of Transport (Small fonds box 1-18).
These photographs depict people ((Needs ID) and houses in Whaletown Bay, to the west of the present-day ferry landing. They are labelled "Whaletown B.C., my Dad's place".
2 loose pages from a photograph album containing 15 black and white photographs
History / Biographical
(Obituary from the Powell River Peak: http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/12/04/community/obituaries/doc50b6568a6c710870190038.txt)
Annabelle Jane Smith (née Graham), April 10, 1940 – November 19, 2012
Annabelle passed away in Quesnel, BC. She is survived by her daughters Darlene (Dan) Johnson and Paulene Smith, and two granddaughters Brittney and Brooke. She also leaves behind her sisters Penny (Harold) Tuck, Bonnie Skoropad, and Marilyn (Jim) Schmor, brother Robert and many nieces and nephews.
Custodial History
These photographs were mailed to CIMAS in 2008. There is no signed donation form.
Scope and Content
These photographs depict people ((Needs ID) and houses in Whaletown Bay, to the west of the present-day ferry landing. They are labelled "Whaletown B.C., my Dad's place".