Photograph of six women with logging equipment, beside a house; behind them is water and another island. The women are standing beside a log; holding crosscut saws, a maul and an axe.
Photograph of six women with logging equipment, beside a house; behind them is water and another island. The women are standing beside a log; holding crosscut saws, a maul and an axe.
Photograph of a wood shingled house with attached sheds. A child is standing on the porch, next to a washing machine. Coulours on the print are yellowed.
Photograph of a wood shingled house with attached sheds. A child is standing on the porch, next to a washing machine. Coulours on the print are yellowed.
Photograph of two houses. George and Marjorie Griffin's house is in front; pilings for an addition can be seen on the right. Marjorie Griffin is painting the window frames. The house was completed in about 1955/1956 and demolished ca. 2012. To its right and slightly above it is a cottage built by Griffin for his son George and wife Joyce.
2 photograph prints: b&w;16.5 x 11.5 cm (A) and 9 x 6.5 cm (B)
Scope and Content
Photograph of two houses. George and Marjorie Griffin's house is in front; pilings for an addition can be seen on the right. Marjorie Griffin is painting the window frames. The house was completed in about 1955/1956 and demolished ca. 2012. To its right and slightly above it is a cottage built by Griffin for his son George and wife Joyce.
Photograph of a small shingled house in its yard with Gilean Douglas' caption: "Herbert Emerson Wilson lived here when writing and running a sawmill in Blind Creek".
2 photograph prints: b&w; 16.5 x 11.5 cm (A) and 9 x 6 cm (B)
Scope and Content
Photograph of a small shingled house in its yard with Gilean Douglas' caption: "Herbert Emerson Wilson lived here when writing and running a sawmill in Blind Creek".
Photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Daniels standing in the yard of a white house (see 1999.001.660). Beside the walkway is a willow tree and border of shrubs and flowers.
1 photograph print: b&w; 16 x 11 cm (A) and 9 x 6.5 cm (B)
Scope and Content
Photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Daniels standing in the yard of a white house (see 1999.001.660). Beside the walkway is a willow tree and border of shrubs and flowers.
Photograph of the Hayes family house at the head of Cortes Bay. To the left on the beach is a smaller house; to the right a line of laundry is hanging, and a small building (outhouse or smokehouse?) is further to the right. In the foreground some logs are piled on the rocky beach. (same as #1999.001.653)
Photograph of the Hayes family house at the head of Cortes Bay. To the left on the beach is a smaller house; to the right a line of laundry is hanging, and a small building (outhouse or smokehouse?) is further to the right. In the foreground some logs are piled on the rocky beach. (same as #1999.001.653)
This collection consists of ten photograph albums (binders) compiled and annotated by May Ellingsen. The albums contain both original and reproduced photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island. They are accompanied by captions and additional textual information such as pre-emption records, reminiscences and newspaper clippings. Most of the photographs date from the early decades of the 20th century, depicting homes and buildings, pioneer families, community activities, schools, wharves, boats, logging and marine activity. Fonds consists of two series: Series 1 (The May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Vol. 1-9, Accession 2004.003) and Series 2 (The Manson Family Album, Accession 2004.002).
Ten photograph albums (binders) containing 152 original photographs and 482 reproductions.
History / Biographical
May Ellingsen was born on March 13, 1914 to George and Robina Freeman. Her maternal grandfather, Michael Manson, was the first person to pre-empt land on Cortes Island, claiming a quarter section on Gunflint Lake in 1886. May spent her childhood on Hernando Island, where her family homesteaded and logged, and on Cortes Island, where she attended the log school at Manson's Landing.
In 1936 May married Elmer Ellingsen. They spent the next ten years in the Loughborough Inlet/Phillips Arm area while Elmer worked for his father's logging operations. During those years their children, Shirley, Bruce and Andy, were born. In 1946 the family moved to Von Donop Creek, where Elmer was logging. In 1950 they moved their float house, built at the time of their marriage, to Manson's Landing Lagoon and two years later, to its present permanent location on Hague Lake.
May and Elmer devoted much time and energy to building their community. Amongst her many community activities, May ran the library at Manson's Hall. She had a strong interest in local history, researching the history of land pre-emptions on the island, collecting and annotating photographs from pioneer families and recording interviews with old timers. She was a founder of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society; the archives reading room is named in her honor. Historical materials and artifacts gathered by May formed the kernel of the museum's collections and archives.
Custodial History
May Ellingsen created the albums in the 1980s, and kept adding to them throughout the 1990s. She kept them at the Manson's Landing library and then at the museum from 1999. She officially donated them to CIMAS in 2004.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of ten photograph albums (binders) compiled and annotated by May Ellingsen. The albums contain both original and reproduced photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island. They are accompanied by captions and additional textual information such as pre-emption records, reminiscences and newspaper clippings. Most of the photographs date from the early decades of the 20th century, depicting homes and buildings, pioneer families, community activities, schools, wharves, boats, logging and marine activity. Fonds consists of two series: Series 1 (The May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Vol. 1-9, Accession 2004.003) and Series 2 (The Manson Family Album, Accession 2004.002).
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