We applied for and received a Manitoba Heritage Grant which provided matching funds for hiring a summer student and purchasing supplies. The student, Taliah Klippenstein, worked 260 hours from late May to late September. Her work, under the supervision of volunteer Gwenna Moss, was largely sorting and cataloguing a backlog of files and printed material, most of which had been moved from Toronto to Winnipeg. The material catalogued filled 12 archive boxes, and the catalogue is 19 pages in length. This material is stored with the Archives of Manitoba Northwest Ontario Conference of the United Church of Canada located at the University of Winnipeg. Under the terms of the agreement CCS retains control of the materials in storage. In return we have a safe and secure place for our historical records. We were fortunate in having the guidance and support of Diane Haglund, Conference Archivist, throughout this project.
Additional work was sorting and arranging photographs and scrapbooks which had accumulated through the years. Many of these were used in preparing the displays for the 120th anniversary. This event provided us with the opportunity to identify some of the photographs. Work remaining to be done is to put these photos into archive-quality photo holders (purchased through the grant), labeling them as much as possible. The anniversary call for memorabilia and archival material resulted in the donation of new material which we were pleased to receive. These donations add to the picture of student life through the years. We prepared a book containing the citations for all the Companions of the Centre along with a photo of the individuals.
Finally, the summer student spent the last portion of the summer photocopying and printing minutes. We are close to the goal of having a complete set of council and committee minutes since the move to Winnipeg ready to be placed in storage.
Gwenna Moss