President's Report to the Directors, Year 1963

The report reads: "The Company's sales in 1963 showed a decline of 5.6% in gallons and 6% in value. In spite of this, the net profit is $119, 706.03; down 3.8% from 1962. Increased competition from heavy advertising campaigns by the larger companies and a substantial upward trend in the sales of imported wines are the two main factors for our reduction in sales. Sales through all retail wine stores in Ontario are declining due to the large number of Liquor Control Board of Ontario Stores which have been opened in the past year. The 1963 vintage was very successful amounting to over 500,000 gallons raising our total inventory to well over a million gallons for the first time in history. By holding our overhead down and keeping the quality of our products at a high level, we hope to show a better profit in 1964.

Report on the Expenditure of the Welland and Burlington Canals, 1830

This copy is signed in the upper left hand corner by Mr. Dickson. Mr. Robert Dickson was one of the directors of the Welland Canal Office. The report covers meetings which were held: January 15-16, and 19 of 1830. The meetings were attended by Messrs. Blacklock, Mackenzie, Woodruff, Longley and Hopkins. Balance sheets are also included within the report. The report of the Welland Canal Company for 1829 is also included within this document, and this is dated December 31, 1829. Names at the end of the 1929 report are members of the Welland Canal Office and they include: John Henry Dunn, president; Henry J. Boulton, vice-president and William Allan, George Keefer, John J. Lefferty and Robert Dickson who were directors The report is dated January 26, 1830, and submitted by Thomas Horner, chairman of the Commons House of Assembly.

Niagara-Welland Power Company Limited fonds, 1833, 1852, 1904-1906, 1909, n.d.

The Welland Power and Supply Canal Company Limited, established in 1893 and incorporated in 1894 with a capital stock of $500,000. The aim of the company was to harness the natural water supply of the Niagara and Welland Rivers. In 1898 the Canadian Electrical News published a report by Henry Symons, QC outlining the main project of the company. This project involves the construction of a canal from the Welland River to the brow of the mountain at Thorold, a distance of 8 miles; the construction at Thorold of a power house, and from Thorold to Lake Ontario, a raceway by which to carry water into the lake. The estimate for the machinery to generate 100,000 horse power is £125,000; for transmission line to Toronto at a voltage of 10,000….The total estimate therefore amounts to £2,452,162, or roughly speaking, $12,000,000. Source: Canadian Electrical News, August 1898, p. 172. In 1899 the company officers petitioned the federal government desiring a name change to the Niagara-Welland Power Company Limited. Officers of the company were Harry Symons, President; Charles A. Hesson, Vice-President; and M.R. O’Loughlin, James B. Sheehan, James S. Haydon, Frederick K. Foster, directors; John S. Campbell, secretary-treasurer. The company’s head offices were located in St. Catharines, with a New York (City) office on Broad Street. In 1905 and 1909 the company petitioned the federal government for additional time to construct its works, which was granted. The company had until May 16, 1915 to complete construction. John S. Campbell (1860-1950) was a graduate of the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. During his university years John began his military career first in "K" Company, Queens Own rifles and then later as Commanding Officer of the 19th Lincoln Regiment, from 1906 to 1910. Upon his return to St. Catharines John Campbell served as secretary in the St. Catharines Garrison Club, a social club for military men begun in 1899. After being called to the Bar, he became a partner in the firm of Campbell and McCarron and was appointed to the bench in 1916, serving until retirement in 1934. Judge Campbell served as an alderman for several terms and was the mayor of St. Catharines in 1908 and 1909. He also served as the first chairman of the St. Catharines Public Utilities in 1914. John S. Campbell was married to Elizabeth Oille, daughter of Jerome B. and Charlotte (St. John) Oille. The family home "Cruachan" was located at 32 Church St.

Competition to represent McDonald's begins

Correspondence from 1978 between Terry O'Malley and Gary Reinblatt, Assistant Vice-President, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd. regarding McDonald's account.

Competition to represent McDonald's begins

Correspondence from 1978 between Terry O'Malley and Gary Reinblatt, Assistant Vice-President, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd. regarding McDonald's account.

2004-05 Board of Trustees

The 2004-2005 Board of Trustees. Pictured here from left to right are: Front Row - Val Fleming; Dr. Patricia Teal; Wendy Staff; Dr. Norris Walker, Chair; Dr. David Atkinson, President and Vice Chancellor; Dr. Val Jaeger; Donna Scott; and Steven Lalinovich. Middle Row - Mike Farrell, Secretary to the University; Rudi Kroeker; Brandon Larry, President, Brock University Students' Union; Dr. Terry Boak, Vice-President, Academic and Provost; Mitzi Banders; Geeta Powell; Dr. Sid Segalowitz; Tom Gauld; Karin Jahnke-Haslam; and Dr. Mohammed Dore. Back Row - David Edwards, Immediate Past Chair; Bruce Wormald; Willy Heldbuechel, Vice-Chair; Brad Clarke; David Howes, Vice-Chair; Mark Steinman; Peter Partridge; Michael Sidenberg; Angelo Nitsopoulos; Steven Pillar, Vice President, Finance and Administration; Ron Dubien, Chief Information Officer. Absent from photo - Dr. Raymond Moriyama, Chancellor; Eleanor Ross; Jagoda Pike; Dr. Mary Frances Richardson; and Nick Brown.

Decew Site Tour

Members of Brock University's Founders Committee and the Ontario Advisory Committee on Univesity Affairs tour the Decew site along with Premier John Robarts on June 5, 1963. Premier Robarts had just announced provincial assistance totalling $393,000 for the Brock University project. Pictured here from left to right are Dr. Deeks, Brock University Vice President; Premier Robarts; and James Allan, Provincial Treasurer.

Gwladys Cunningham fonds, 1933-1934, 1940, 1942-1968, n.d.

Gwladys Cunningham was the Secretary-Treasurer of the Lincoln N.D.P. Ladies Group as well as involved in the CCF [Co-operative Commonwealth Federation] branch in Thorold. Additional Cunningham family members may also have been involved in the activities of the Thorold Branch. The Thorold branch of the Ontario division of The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation held its first meeting on June 15, 1933 at the home of Mark Kriluck. The branch became an official unit of the CCF when it was granted a charter in August of that same year. Officers elected at the annual meeting in October were W.G. Campbell, President, Jane Griffiths, Vice-President, James Logan Secretary and Mark Kriluck Treasurer. In 1960 the CCF voted to officially change their name to The New Democratic Party. The branch later became known as the Lincoln and Welland Riding Association of The New Democratic Party. Rare publications directly related to the CCF and the NDP remain with the fonds. Some publications were removed and placed in the general stack collection. See below for a list of books that were removed from the fonds and placed in the general collection.

Horton Family collection, 1912, 1919, 1924, n.d.

Dr. William Hamilton Merritt, Jr. was born in 1865 and died in 1924. He was the son of Jedidiah Prendergast Merritt and Emily Prescott, grandson of William Hamilton Merritt. In 1892 he was married to Maud Claudman Hudson of Memphis, Tennessee and had a daughter and a son. During World War I he commanded the 14th battery at Flanders and after becoming ill served as part of the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance, 3rd Canadian Division, serving at a military hospital in Orpington, Kent, England and in 1917 at a military hospital in France. Dr. Merritt served as alderman and mayor for the city of St. Catharines, Ont. He was also a vice-president of the Imperial Bank of Canada, and served on the board of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. A memorial service was held in St. Thomas Church, St. Catharines, Ont. on April 24, 1924.

James D. Tait Company Limited Fonds, 1890-1939 [non-inclusive]

James D. Tait (1836-1907) came to Canada in 1855 from Scotland. He worked in the dry goods business until he established the James D. Tait Company in 1864. The business was first located on Ontario street and specialized in furs. The business expanded to include dry goods and dress-making. After the building was destroyed by fire, Tait established and expanded the business into the Prendergast building on the corner of St. Paul and William Streets. James D. Tait died in 1907 while on vacation in Muskoka. In 1912 upon the resignation (or removal) of Benjamin Brick and Arthur Harbour, Stanley G. Smith joins the company as a director and secretary-treasurer. 1918/1919 vice-president E.J. Dignum dies. 1919 S.J. Inksater becomes a director of the company (His stock was purchased by the J.D. Tait Co.) By the 1930s the business, still in the same location, was under the leadership of Malcolm Stobie, President, Samuel J. Inksater, Vice-President and Stanley G. Smith, Secretary-Treasurer. The James D. Tait Company Limited ceased operations on 17 August 1933. The 1935 St. Catharines city directory records John Stobie, a former manager of the James D. Tait Company, operating a dry goods business at the same location, but with one-third the size of the original store space.

Sullivan Agent Confesses, [1948]

The National Seaman’s Association was a labour recruiter hiding behind a union-like name. It was run by H.N. McMaster who collected fees from companies and dues from workers. With McMaster in charge, shipping interests could claim that their seamen had a union, but ship-owners were free to push their vessels and their workers to the breaking point. In 1935, the members on the Great Lakes decided to strike. One year later, they created their own union and amalgamated with a Montreal-based independent body to create the Canadian Seamen’s Union headed by a ship’s cook who became a union leader, John Allan Patrick “Pat” Sullivan. By the late 1940s, almost all sailors on Canadian ships were CSU members. Right from its inception in 1936, Communists were prominent among the leaders of the union. Sullivan had been recruited to the Communist party that year and the union had a close rapport with the party. On June 8, 1940, Pat Sullivan was arrested because of his affiliation with the Communist party. He was incarcerated until March 20, 1942. No charges were laid, no bail was set and there was no trial. After his release, Sullivan was elected second vice-president of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada. In 1943, Percy Bengough was elected as president and Sullivan was elected as secretary treasurer of the TLC while maintaining his role as president of the CSU. On March 14, 1947 Sullivan made a shocking announcement that he was resigning from the CSU and the Labor-Progressive Party. He claimed that the CSU was under the full control of the Communists. Within a month of this announcement, he emerged as the president of the Canadian Lake Seamen’s Union. Ship-owners never really reconciled themselves to having their industry unionized, and in 1946 there was a seamen’s strike in which the union won the eight-hour day. In 1949, the shipping companies had a plan to get rid of the union and were negotiating behind their back with the Seafarers International Union (SIU). In a brutal confrontation, led by Hal Banks, an American ex-convict, the SIU was able to roust the CSU and take over the bargaining rights of Canadian seamen. On July 15, 1948, Robert Lindsay, who was Sullivan’s Welland business agent said that to the best of his knowledge, Sullivan’s outfit, the CLSU, was under the control of some of the Steamship Companies. Lindsay had heard that there was a movement to get rid of Bengough of the Trades and Labour Congress as well as elements of the CSU. He also had heard that the CLSU wanted to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor. Lindsay’s allegations raised the questions: Were the ship-owners powerful enough to oust Percy Bengough because he supported the seamen? Could the CLSU get an affiliation with the American Federation of Labor? and Would the American Federation of Labor actually affiliate with a union that was siding with employers against a locked-out union?

Letter - Frederic Nicholls (Canadian General Electric) to W.B. Rankine, 17 December 1897

A letter from 2nd Vice President and General Manager of Canadian General Electric Company, Frederic Nicholls to W. B. Rankine regarding a bid for contract. The letter mentions that the bid for two alternating generators for the Canadian side of Niagara Falls was won by Westinghouse Eletric and Manufacturing Co. Nicholls also mentions that there will be other opportunites to win contracts as more machines are required. Nicholls also implies that Westinghouse may have bid under cost in an effort to secure the first of many contracts with the Canadian Niagara Power Company.

Letter - John Diefenbaker to Sean O'Sullivan, 17 November 1967

The letter mentions that Diefenbaker had just received a letter from O'Sullivan. Diefenbaker mentions that he will be leaving for New York where he will be honoured with the Shevchenko award at the World Conference of Free Ukrainians. He is being recognized for bringing world attention to the denial of freedom to Ukraine and to the Baltic States. He joins a list of past recipients that include: President Truman, President Eisenhower and Vice-President Humphrey.

Photograph - Baie Comeau, Last Railway Spike

A photograph of the "last spike in the Baie Comeau railway. Photo shows, left to right; A.I.Cunningham, managing engineer of the Ontario Paper Company driving the spike: V.G. Younghusband, vice president of the Foundation Company of Canada; R.W. Shaver, construction manager for the paper company; K.W. Bash, general superintendent, Foundation Company; and His Lordship the Bishop of Quebec.

Directors Meeting November 28, 1896 and By-Law No. 14 & 15

The meeting included an election of officers which resulted as follows: John Reid, President; Geo Barnes, Vice President; Geo. Barnes, Man-Director; J. Evans, Secretary. There are also two more by-laws (14 and 15) signed by both G. Barnes and J. Evans.