Alice E. Brown

Historian.

As a little child in western Manitoba born into one of the earlier pioneer families of the Souris and Glenwood District, I was always conscious that everything has a history and that we are part of it. I joined my Dad, Guy Hetherington, and his friends searching the banks of the Souris River in a southwesterly direction for traces of the remains of old fur trading posts. My marriage to Morley Brown of the Treesbank district enhanced my fort searching enthusiasm as he was a true expert on the locations of the Souris Mouth posts and cemeteries. With the coming turmoil of World War Two, our lives were changed forever with Morley's enlistment in the Air Force. When peace returned we settled in Winnipeg to raise our family.

In the late 1940s I joined the Historical Society and a long and happy association began. The membership at that time was not very large, but in terms of their dedication to the cause of making the history of our province widely known and appreciated, they exerted a force out of all proportion to their numbers and resources. They supported the Margaret McWilliams awards, the books of research on pioneer ethnic groups, the establishment, in 1956, of the Manitoba Pageant as a publication to encourage young people's interest in provincial history, and, of course, always maintaining the Transactions as a record of the research papers given at our public meetings.

By the time we were entering the very significant decade of the 1960s we had the help of a part time secretary. Stimulated by the coming of the year marking our country's first century there were dinners and patriotic celebrations and more of our established activities became regular events. I was our president in 1967 and cherish memories of those times. By then our John A. Macdonald dinner in January was an established institution and our history oriented field trips in spring and fall were regular well patronized events.

The years roll by perhaps all too quickly but our beloved society maintained its record of progress. In 1979 we were one hundred years from our first beginnings as a society and at that time we started a program to recognize farms and other properties that had survived and continued to be owned by the first family that had claimed title. It is good to see the pride in being so long a part of Manitoba that is felt by the many continuing owners.

1982 marked the end of my almost forty years in Winnipeg. Morley and I returned to our deep roots in southwestern Manitoba where we established our retirement home on the banks of the little stream that David Thompson called Five Mile Creek. We are less than a mile from the group of fort sites known as the Souris Mouth forts.

I will always keep the keenest interest in the dear Society and its pride and joy Dalnavert. As long as my health holds I will come to events as often as I can as I did when my grandson Jamie Brown was speaking at the 2002 January dinner. I am so glad that Jamie cherishes our history too, and is in a position to do something about it with the creation of his series of history television programs.

May the Manitoba Historical Society long survive in its continuing growing state of excellence and advancement.

In 1970, she was awarded a Manitoba Centennial Medal by the Manitoba Historical Society for her work in the cause of promoting Manitoba history.

Her articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Early Days in Souris and Glenwood
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 10, 1953-54 Season

When the Province of Manitoba was Born
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 2, January 1957

Rivalry in the Fur Trade - Excerpt from Simpson's Athabasca Journal
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 3, Number 3, April 1958

Honorary Secretary’s Report - 1961
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 17, 1960-61 Season

Fort Douglas Recaptured - From Miles Macdonell's Journal and the Narrative of John Tanner
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 7, Number 2, January 1962

A Brief Chronology of Events Relative to Lord Selkirk's Settlement at Red River, 1811 to 1815
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 7, Number 3, April 1962

Chronology of Events in the History of the Red River Settlement
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 8, Number 1, September 1962

Excerpts from the Journal of Colin Robertson
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 8, Number 1, September 1962

Honorary Secretary’s Report - 1962
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 18, 1961-62 Season

Honorary Secretary’s Report - 1963
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 19, 1962-63 Season

Profile revised: 14 June 2009