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 comprises records of the Southern Cortes Community Association. It includes minutes and agendas of meetings, correspondence, financial records, administrative and legal documents, and reports on projects and activities.
Original groupings of documents in files have been maintained with the exception of general correspondence, which has been grouped by date.
Files have been arranged into eleven series: Minutes; Financial records; Administrative records; Correspondence; Events; Newsletters; Dental clinic project; Show Business; Manson's Hall renovation; Ephemera; and Committee minutes and reports.
The Southern Cortes Community Association (formerly known as the Manson's Landing Community Club) is a Registered Charity incorporated in 1956 under the Societies Act. The object of the society is to promote services and programs of a recreational and/or educational purpose within the community.
A primary responsibility is operating and maintaining Manson's Hall, a center for Cortes community activities. The original Hall was built in 1922 on land donated by Frederick Froud. A major expansion and renovation project completed in 1980 added space for the post office, playschool, cafe, offices, a pottery studio and a library to the original hall. A further expansion in 1986 added space for a medical clinic.
Programs include sponsoring a licensed playschool, a Parents & Tots program, a Summer Youth Recreation Program, a thrift store, and the annual Cortes Day at Smelt Bay. Manson's Hall is a venue for the Cortes Seniors Society's programs, and for group meetings, entertainment events and a variety of regular wellness and exercise activities led by local residents. The Hall houses the post office, a community kitchen, a thrift store, and a playschool. Over the years, it has provided space for many services to start, such as the Cortes Health Centre, North Island College and Cortes Community Radio. The SCCA also owns and manages the Manson's Landing cemetery, and provides space for the Strathcona Regional District's skate park.
Custodial History
Records in Accession 2001.001 were kept at their homes by various Board members. When an office was opened in Manson's Hall, the records were consolidated and then donated to CIMAS by Cathy Cambridge on behalf of the SCCA.
Records in Accession 2007.001 were in the possession of May Ellingsen and were donated to CIMAS in 2007 by Andy and Susan Ellingsen.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises records of the Southern Cortes Community Association. It includes minutes and agendas of meetings, correspondence, financial records, administrative and legal documents, and reports on projects and activities.
Original groupings of documents in files have been maintained with the exception of general correspondence, which has been grouped by date.
Files have been arranged into eleven series: Minutes; Financial records; Administrative records; Correspondence; Events; Newsletters; Dental clinic project; Show Business; Manson's Hall renovation; Ephemera; and Committee minutes and reports.
Fonds consists of textual records generated by the Whaletown Women's Institute organized into seven series: Minutes, Financial Records, Administrative Records, Reports, Projects, Correspondence and Notes.
The Whaletown Women's Institute (WWI) began in 1920 as the Friendship Circle. In 1923 it became a branch of the Women's Institute, a community service organization for women with the goals of fostering the skills of rural women, improving their lives and works, and celebrating their achievements. During its years of activity, the WWI was very active in working for local improvement. Some of their projects included initiating a library service, donating books to the school, arranging for regular visits of a doctor and dentist, hosting an annual Christmas party and providing gifts for all the Whaletown children, maintaining the cemetery, fund-raising for a school playground, financing firefighting equipment and installing an emergency telephone network. The WWI was disbanded in 1963.
Custodial History
These records of the Whaletown Women's Institute were held by Gilean Douglas, a past officer in the WWI and author of a history of the Women's Institutes in Canada. Upon her death, they went into the possession of her literary executer, Gillian Milton, who turned them over to the Cortes Island Women's Institute. They were subsequently returned to her custody, and donated to CIMAS.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of textual records generated by the Whaletown Women's Institute organized into seven series: Minutes, Financial Records, Administrative Records, Reports, Projects, Correspondence and Notes.
Fonds consists of records of the Cortes Emergency First Aid Service (CEFAS) including the constitution, meeting agendas, correspondence, survey responses and attendant schedules. It is arranged in three series: Administrative Records, Correspondence and Survey Responses.
In 1988, concerned members of the Cortes community formed the Cortes Island First Aid Society (CIFAS). They were trained in basic first aid and provided volunteer service to the island for the next four years. A retired industrial ambulance was procured by Sully and Marg Sullivan and outfitted with some medical equipment. Prior to this people were transported in private cars and trucks.
In 1992, the British Columbia Ambulance Service opened a station on Cortes which continued and expanded that service, and CEFAS was dissolved.
Custodial History
Bonnie MacDonald held these records from the time of her involvement in the founding of CEFAS; she donated them to CIMAS.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records of the Cortes Emergency First Aid Service (CEFAS) including the constitution, meeting agendas, correspondence, survey responses and attendant schedules. It is arranged in three series: Administrative Records, Correspondence and Survey Responses.
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 consists of the personal records of Gilean Douglas which were produced and received during her personal and literary activities. There is some material dating from Douglas's early life, but the bulk of it dates from 1948 to 1993 and directly concerns her life on Cortes Island. Because of Douglas's involvement in the public life of the island, and her interest in local history, her papers contain a great deal of information about the political, community and social life of Cortes Island, particularly the Whaletown area. Fonds is composed of eighteen series: Manuscripts; Correspondence; Literary Records; Regional Director for Area I (Cortes Island); Women's Institute; Women's Auxiliary of the Anglican Church; School District #72; Whaletown Community Club; Channel Rock; Research; "The Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission; Journals and Notebooks; Illustrations and Sketches; Ephemera; Clippings; Maps; Albums; Photographs.
1.9 m of textual records; ca. 2,352 photographic records (1147 prints : b&w and col. - ca. 560 negatives : b&w and col. negatives ; 35 mm and 14 x 11 cm or smaller - 645 slides : col. slides ; 35 mm); 1 cm of graphic material; 8 maps.
Extent
1.9
History / Biographical
Gilean Douglas was born in Toronto, Ont. In 1900. Orphaned at the age of 16, she began to work as a free-lance writer and photographer. Over her lifetime her work appeared in more than 200 publications, often published under pseudonyms (Grant Madison, Armoral Kent and Jill MacLean). Douglas published eight books of poetry and three books of non-fiction, and, from 1961 to 1992, wrote a regular column, “Nature Rambles”, for the Victoria Times-Colonist.
In 1939, following the collapse of her third marriage, Douglas moved from Ontario to an isolated cabin in the mountains near Hope, B.C. Her first two books of nature writing (one published under the name Grant Madison) document her life there. Her cabin was destroyed by fire in 1947 and two years later she moved to a 138-acre waterfront homestead on Cortes Island with her fourth husband, Philip Douglas, (née Major). Her marriage ended in 1953, but she remained there until her death in 1993. Her home at Channel Rock was isolated, with no road access and no electricity. Douglas had a large garden, and supplemented her writing income by selling produce and plants. She was a volunteer Weather Observer for Environment Canada for 33 years, receiving several awards for her service. Starting in the 1960s, her writing centered increasingly on her life at Channel Rock. Her "Nature Rambles" columns and book "The Protected Place" reflect her life on the island.
During her years on Cortes Island, Douglas took a leading role in community affairs and local politics. She held office in several community organizations and acted as a school trustee. As a member of the Women's Institute, she held local, district, provincial and national office, edited a book on its history, and was awarded a Life Membership in 1989. Douglas was a member of the first Cortes Island Advisory Planning Commission and represented Cortes on the Regional Board of Comox-Strathcona as Alternate Director from 1968 to 1973 and as Director from 1973 until 1977.
List of Book Publications:
1952 Now the Green Word (Wings Press, Mill Valley, Ca.)
1953 Poetic Plush (The Story Book Press, Dallas, Texas)
1953 River For My Sidewalk (by “Grant Madison”; J. M. Dent & Sons, Toronto, Ont.)
1954 The Pattern Set (Quality Press, Montreal, Quebec)
1959 Modern Pioneers (a history of the Women's Institute, ed. by Douglas; Evergreen Press)
1967 Seascape With Figures (Prairie Press, Iowa City, Iowa)
1973 Now In This Night (Harlo Press, Detroit, Mi.)
1978 Silence Is My Homeland (Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, Pa.)
1979 The Protected Place (Gray’s Publishing, Sidney, B.C.)
1982 Prodigal (Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, B.C.)
1984 River For My Sidewalk (by Gilean Douglas; Sono Nis Press)
1985 Kodachromes at Midday (Sono Nis Press)
1992 Seascape With Figures - Poems Selected and New (Sono Nis Press)
Custodial History
Upon Douglas’ death in 1993 her papers were gathered from her house by her literary executor, Gillian Milton. Douglas’ will directed that her papers and photographs be turned over to the University of British Columbia (Douglas’ primary beneficiary), after being examined and used for literary purposes including publication or biography. Accordingly, Milton inventoried the records, and with Andrea Lebowitz made use of them for a biography and anthology of the writings of Douglas, "Gilean Douglas: Writing Nature, Finding Home" (Lebowitz and Milton, Sono Nis Press, 1999). The textual records were turned over to University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections in December 1999; the photographic records in 2002. By agreement with UBC, the records and photographs which have to do primarily with Cortes Island were turned over to the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society (Manson's Landing, B.C.) in 1999.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the personal records of Gilean Douglas which were produced and received during her personal and literary activities. There is some material dating from Douglas's early life, but the bulk of it dates from 1948 to 1993 and directly concerns her life on Cortes Island. Because of Douglas's involvement in the public life of the island, and her interest in local history, her papers contain a great deal of information about the political, community and social life of Cortes Island, particularly the Whaletown area. Fonds is composed of eighteen series: Manuscripts; Correspondence; Literary Records; Regional Director for Area I (Cortes Island); Women's Institute; Women's Auxiliary of the Anglican Church; School District #72; Whaletown Community Club; Channel Rock; Research; "The Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission; Journals and Notebooks; Illustrations and Sketches; Ephemera; Clippings; Maps; Albums; Photographs.
Gilean Douglas fonds at the University of British Columbia Library (Special Collections)
Cortes Island Ratepayers Association fonds
Gorge Harbour Community Hall fonds
Whaletown Community Club fonds
Whaletown Women's Institute fonds
Regional Director of Electoral Area I (Cortes Island) fonds
Copyright
Copyright for Douglas's published writings is held by the University of British Columbia. Permission to use Douglas's manuscripts for publication purposes must be obtained from the University of British Columbia or from Gillian Milton, literary executor for the estate of Gilean Douglas.
Arrangement
Wherever possible, Douglas’ system of arrangement has been retained, and original groupings of material have been maintained. Other material has been arranged according to type.
The Cortez Bay Women's Auxiliary (of the Anglican Church) was founded in November, 1951, around the same time that chapters were formed in Whaletown and Manson's Landing.
Custodial History
Donated in 1990 by Sheila Stoppa, the daughter of Ellen Musclow, who was the secretary/treasurer of the organization.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one minute book containing minutes of meetings of the Cortez Bay Womens' Auxiliary.
Fonds consists of a minute book and an accounts book of the Whaletown Church Hall Building Fund Committee, documents written by Canon Alan Greene setting out the history, responsibility and terms of use for the Church Hall, and a cover letter for the Certificate of Title from the Land Registry Office.
In 1919, the settlers of Whaletown decided to raise the funds necessary to erect a combined church and hall, to be used for both secular and religious purposes. The new building was attached to the first Whaletown school building, which was then used as a kitchen and dressing room. At this time, the parcel of land on which the school stood, at the corner of present-day Carrington Bay and Harbour Rd. in Whaletown, was deeded to the Diocese of Columbia by Mrs. Alice Robertson, and part of the property was set aside for a cemetery.
After a church was built in Whaletown in 1950, the Church Hall continued to be used for social events. In 1952 the Whaletown Community Club took over responsibility for the Gorge Hall, which then replaced the Church Hall as the main venue for weddings, dances, meetings and parties for both the Whaletown and Gorge Harbour communities. In 1953, the Whaletown Women's Institute signed agreements with both the Whaletown Community Club and the Columbia Coast Mission to assume responsibility for the use and upkeep of the Church Hall and cemetery. The Church Hall was used for a few more years. It was decommissioned in about 1957 and later dismantled.
Custodial History
Canon Alan Greene of the Columbia Coast Mission was involved in the project to build a new Church Hall, and wrote the document setting forth its history and terms of use; envelopes indicate the material was in his possession. Found in a box on the archives shelves; provenance unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of a minute book and an accounts book of the Whaletown Church Hall Building Fund Committee, documents written by Canon Alan Greene setting out the history, responsibility and terms of use for the Church Hall, and a cover letter for the Certificate of Title from the Land Registry Office.
1999.002 Whaletown Women's Institute fonds
2003.003 Whaletown Community Club fonds
2009.001 Island Women's Club fonds
2011.001 Dorothy Huck Whalley fonds
Fonds consists of the records of the Whaletown Community Club from 1951 to 2016. The first accession (2003.003) consists of records from 1951 to 1985 and includes minutes of general and executive meetings, correspondence, administrative records including the original constitution and bylaws, financial records and reports on projects and functions sponsored by the organization. Files from Accession 2003.003 are described in five series: 1) Minutes; 2) Correspondence; 3) Financial; 4) Administrative Records; 5) Subject Files.
Accruals in 2017 (#2017.009) and in 2023 (#2023.008) comprise records of the Whaletown Community Club from 1985 to 2018, including minutes of executive and general meetings, financial statements, correspondence, and records of projects and programs. The material was kept in binders; it has been placed in folders maintaining original order, and described using the above five series.
The beginning of the Whaletown Community Club is unclear as almost all the Club's records were destroyed in a fire in 1950; the earliest records still existing date from 1948. (See Gilean Douglas fonds, Series 8). The WCC became a registered society in 1953 when the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society disbanded and turned ownership of the Gorge Hall over to the Whaletown Community Club.
The activities of the Club are carried on chiefly within the Whaletown postal area, and are intended to promote the interests of the community in matters of general welfare, to sponsor recreational and sports activities, and to hold land and premises necessary for Club activities. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the Club was a channel through which Whaletown residents organized health and educational services and lobbied for better roads, hydro and ferry service, as well as sponsoring social events. From 1978 until 2010 it sponsored the Whaletown National Enquirer, a monthly community newspaper.
A main function of the Whaletown Community Club is the maintenance of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall. Originally built in 1933, it has been renovated several times and serves as the main venue for community functions in the Whaletown area. Until 1953, when the lease was turned over to the Whaletown Women's Institute, the Club maintained the Church Hall, which was owned by the Columbia Coast Mission and stood at the corner of Carrington Bay and Harbour roads. Before 1958 the Club held most of its meetings in the Church Hall.
Since 1958, when the Whaletown Women's Institute disbanded, the WCC has maintained the library in Whaletown (originally the Farmer's Institute building; now the Louisa Tooker Library) and the old and new Whaletown cemeteries. The Anglican Diocese transferred the title of the two Whaletown cemeteries to the WCC in 2012. In 1964 they acquired the lease for the last remaining piece of Crown land with access to Gorge Harbour, to preserve it as a park. They have leased the former Whaletown school property from the School Board since the school was closed in 1973, and purchased the schoolhouse for the sum of $1.00 in 2010.
Custodial History
Records were acquired directly from the Whaletown Community Club in 2003 (Accession 2003.003), 2017 (Accession 2017.009) and 2023 (Accession 2023.008). A few records were separated from the Cortes Island Ratepayers Assn. fonds in 2004 (records for both organizations had been kept in the same filing cabinet in the Gorge Hall).
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the records of the Whaletown Community Club from 1951 to 2016. The first accession (2003.003) consists of records from 1951 to 1985 and includes minutes of general and executive meetings, correspondence, administrative records including the original constitution and bylaws, financial records and reports on projects and functions sponsored by the organization. Files from Accession 2003.003 are described in five series: 1) Minutes; 2) Correspondence; 3) Financial; 4) Administrative Records; 5) Subject Files.
Accruals in 2017 (#2017.009) and in 2023 (#2023.008) comprise records of the Whaletown Community Club from 1985 to 2018, including minutes of executive and general meetings, financial statements, correspondence, and records of projects and programs. The material was kept in binders; it has been placed in folders maintaining original order, and described using the above five series.
Photograph of the opening of St. Mary's Hospital. Standing on the verandah are Bishop Heathcote, giving the opening address; behind and to his right is Rev. Dr. John Antle.
Photograph of the opening of St. Mary's Hospital. Standing on the verandah are Bishop Heathcote, giving the opening address; behind and to his right is Rev. Dr. John Antle.
Photograph of a family standing on the deck of their float. Captioned by Douglas: "This is a new float house still unfinished, but one window box is already in place and planted. Boxes for float house flowers are made before the first nail goes into a new house."
Photograph of a family standing on the deck of their float. Captioned by Douglas: "This is a new float house still unfinished, but one window box is already in place and planted. Boxes for float house flowers are made before the first nail goes into a new house."
Photograph of a scene described on the back (probably by Rollo or Kathleen Boas) as "gathering patients for clinic off float house - carriage being taken aboard." A man is loading a baby carriage from a float covered with coils of cable, boom chain and oil drums. The camp outhouse is behind the boat.
Photograph of a scene described on the back (probably by Rollo or Kathleen Boas) as "gathering patients for clinic off float house - carriage being taken aboard." A man is loading a baby carriage from a float covered with coils of cable, boom chain and oil drums. The camp outhouse is behind the boat.
Photograph labelled on the back: "Rendezvous Patrol. Dr. B. Hall and Dr. R. Rose, the dentist, with their black bags, getting ready to go aboard the "Rendezvous". They are being taken to Whaletown for their monthly visit to the Mission clinic."
Photograph labelled on the back: "Rendezvous Patrol. Dr. B. Hall and Dr. R. Rose, the dentist, with their black bags, getting ready to go aboard the "Rendezvous". They are being taken to Whaletown for their monthly visit to the Mission clinic."
Photograph of the Clinic building in Whaletown, with the Rectory to the right and a picket fence at the edge of the dirt road in front of the buildings.
Photograph of the Clinic building in Whaletown, with the Rectory to the right and a picket fence at the edge of the dirt road in front of the buildings.