Fonds consists of material that was gathered by Thompson as she researched island history for museum exhibits and local history albums. It includes land title information about Cortes Island properties going back to the original Crown Grants, correspondence and notes about Cortes Island history, photographs, maps and ephemera.
Fonds is arranged in five series: Land Titles Research; Historical Information; Maps; Photographs; and Ephemera.
30 cm of textual records
40 photographs
12 maps
2 CDs
History / Biographical
Doreen (Huck) Thompson, 1944-2006:
Doreen’s grandparents, William Edward Huck and Mabel Wells Huck, arrived on Cortes Island in 1915. Widowed in WWI, Mabel and her four children left Cortes for Vancouver in 1923. Her son Harry, Doreen’s father, returned to Cortes in the 1930s. He married Edith Launchbury in 1937 and had two children, Doreen (b.1944) and Ed (b.1945, d.1993). Doreen and Ed were raised in Whaletown and attended school there and at Manson’s Landing.
Doreen graduated from Vic High in Victoria before marrying Bob Thompson in 1962. From 1961 to 1963, Doreen lived in Teakerne Arm in a floathouse Bob had built on the shore of the Whaletown Lagoon and then moved to the shores of Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. Her children were born in 1964 (Janny) and 1965 (Debby). In 1970 the family and the house moved to Cortes Island where both daughters attended school to Grade 10.
Doreen spent a few years living in Alberta and Victoria in the early 1980s and then returned to Cortes Island. Doreen developed a deep knowledge of the history of the island and she devoted considerable time to preserving, gathering and sharing her own and others knowledge of the island through her volunteer work at the Cortes Island Museum and Archives.
Doreen was one of the founders of the Cortes Island Museum. She curated four exhibits at the Museum, including “Windows on Whaletown” in 1999, “Von Donop Inlet”, the commercial fishing portion of “Celebrating Wild Salmon”, and “Memories of Manson’s Landing”. She researched and created albums which combine photographs, reminiscences and clippings to document the history of various island areas, such as Green Valley and Whaletown. The Doreen Thompson Exhibit Gallery at the Museum commemorates her contributions.
Doreen was making a fourth cross-Canada road trip from Cortes to Newfoundland when she was killed in a car accident near Fort McLeod, Alberta on August 1, 2006.
Custodial History
Material was stored at the museum or collected from Doreen Thomas' house.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of material that was gathered by Thompson as she researched island history for museum exhibits and local history albums. It includes land title information about Cortes Island properties going back to the original Crown Grants, correspondence and notes about Cortes Island history, photographs, maps and ephemera.
Fonds is arranged in five series: Land Titles Research; Historical Information; Maps; Photographs; and Ephemera.
Photograph of four boys including Harry, Jack and Bill Huck. They are barefoot and in overalls, playing with home-made bows and arrows, in front of the unfinished log Huck house at Hell's Half Acre. Dated to 1916 by Doreen Huck.
Photograph of four boys including Harry, Jack and Bill Huck. They are barefoot and in overalls, playing with home-made bows and arrows, in front of the unfinished log Huck house at Hell's Half Acre. Dated to 1916 by Doreen Huck.
Photograph of five young women seated in a dugout canoe on the big lake in Green Valley. Identified by Doreen Thompson as Pete (Margaret) Middleton of Braeside, Meg Robertson of Burnside, Dorothy Huck from Hell's Half Acre and Gladys Merrick.
Photograph of five young women seated in a dugout canoe on the big lake in Green Valley. Identified by Doreen Thompson as Pete (Margaret) Middleton of Braeside, Meg Robertson of Burnside, Dorothy Huck from Hell's Half Acre and Gladys Merrick.
Photograph of Dorothy Huck holding an infant, Mary Agnes Tait, at the Tait's home in Green Valle; Billy Tait is in the background. There is no caption for this photograph; identification is from Doreen Thompson in the Green Valley album.
Photograph of Dorothy Huck holding an infant, Mary Agnes Tait, at the Tait's home in Green Valle; Billy Tait is in the background. There is no caption for this photograph; identification is from Doreen Thompson in the Green Valley album.
Photograph of two children on a donkey. In the background a vegetable garden, picket fence and buildings at Braeside can be seen. (See also #2001.001.161, #2001.001.173 & #2001.001.174. Identifications by Doreen Thompson.)
Photograph of two children on a donkey. In the background a vegetable garden, picket fence and buildings at Braeside can be seen. (See also #2001.001.161, #2001.001.173 & #2001.001.174. Identifications by Doreen Thompson.)
Photograph of (L to R) Dorothy Huck, Helen Starr, Dorothy Robertson, Margaret Huck, Billy Huck and Violet Stoney on a woooden dock in Delight Lake (the small lake in Green Valley). Last names identified by Doreen Thompson.
Photograph of (L to R) Dorothy Huck, Helen Starr, Dorothy Robertson, Margaret Huck, Billy Huck and Violet Stoney on a woooden dock in Delight Lake (the small lake in Green Valley). Last names identified by Doreen Thompson.
