Honorary Secretary's Report, Annual Meeting

by Lovell C. Clark

MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 30, 1973-74 season

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The 1973-74 season of the Manitoba Historical Society commenced with a combined boat-bus tour to Lower Fort Garry, the Red River House Museum, (the home of Captain William Kennedy), St. Andrews-on-the-Red Church, and Ross House Museum. Nearly a hundred members from the Manitoba Historical Society and the Red River Valley Historical Society attended. The following day, September 16, some sixty members of the M.H.S. toured the Fort la Reine Museum at Portage la Prairie, the Manitoba Agricultural Museum at Austin, and Heaman's Antique Autorama and the Dufferin Historical Society Museum at Carman.

On September 24, 1973 a very impressive ceremony was held at Hudson's Bay House to commemorate Pierre Gaultier de la Verendrye. The chairman was Mr. Allan Turner, Saskatchewan member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Addresses were given by Councillor Kenneth J. Galanchuk; by the Hon. Peter Burtniak, M.L.A., Minister of Highways, on behalf of the Province of Manitoba; by Dr. E. C. Shaw, President of the Manitoba Historical Society, who gave the historical background of La Verendrye's career; and by the Hon. James A. Richardson, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence, on behalf of the Federal Government, who unveiled the plaque. The dedication was delivered by Father Noel Delaquis, Chancellor of St. Boniface Diocese, and choral selections were sung by the Children's Choir of La Verendrye School.

Two Council meetings were held during the year, October 16, 1973 and March 26, 1974, both at the Monarch Life Building Auditorium, 333 Broadway Avenue. In addition, there were seven meetings of the Executive Committee, May 17, 1973 to March 14, 1974 inclusive.

During the winter the following papers were presented at general meetings of the Society:

October 23 - Mr. R. C. Wheeler, Associate Director of the Minnesota Historical Society, on "Whitewater Archaeology and the North American Fur Trade"

November 13 - Mr. S. W. Horrall, Historian of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ottawa, on The North-West Mounted Police and the Liquor Traffic, 1874 to 1905;

December 11 - a joint meeting with the Jewish Historical Society at which Miss Sybil Shack spoke on The Immigrant Child in the Manitoba Schools in the early Twentieth Century;

January 12 - the Sir John A. Macdonald Anniversary Dinner at the Fort Garry Hotel, at which Dr. W. L. Morton, past President of the Manitoba Historical Society, spoke on Two Young Men - Charles Mair and Louis Riel;

February 19 - Professor O. L. Mallory, of the University of Winnipeg, with an illustrated lecture on the archaeological excavations at South Indian Lake;

March 19 - Mr. Richard Huyda, of the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, with an illustrated lecture on The Work of H. L. Hime, Photographer with the Hind Expedition of 1858;

April 16 - Mr. Brian McKillop, Queen's University, on The Socialist as Citizen: John Queen and the Mayoralty of Winnipeg, 1935.

All meetings were well attended and were received with great interest. As programme chairman, I wish to record my thanks to the participants and to the ladies who provided refreshments. This evening we are privileged to hear Mr. James A. Jackson, author of The Centennial History of Manitoba, on Manitoba Railways and the Origin of the School Question.

Mr. J. W. Chafe's Extraordinary Tales from Manitoba History, which was published under the auspices of the Manitoba Historical Society in association with McClelland and Stewart, appeared in August 1973.

Mention should also be made of the excellent work carried on during the year by the Committee on Historic Buildings and Sites. The Committee, chaired by Mr. E. C. Nix, compiled an inventory of historical and architecturally significant buildings, and managed to salvage various articles deemed worthy of preservation from buildings which were about to be demolished.

Macdonald House has, of course, occupied much of the attention of the Society during the year. In addition to the invaluable work of Mr. J. A. Chivers and Mr. George Walker, special thanks should be given for the tireless efforts of our president, Dr. E. C. Shaw, Dr. W. Steward Martin, and last, but certainly not least, Miss Kathleen Richardson and Mrs. Kathleen Campbell. Mr. Donald Barry Fair has been engaged as Director-Curator of Macdonald House (or “Dalnavert”). The official opening will take place on June 18.

Since March 1st the Society has been fortunate to secure the services as Executive-Director of Mr. Gordon Curll. The present membership of the Society is 883.

Page revised: 29 October 2022