Showing 163 results

Born in France in 1886, Charles Bedaux moved to the United States and became a naturalized American citizen. He was a highly successful businessman in the field of management consulting. According to Jim Christy’s 1984 biography, prior to his most famous expedition in 1934 across northeastern British Columbia, he had made hunting and exploratory trips to northwestern BC in 1926 and1929, the central interior in 1931 and to northeastern BC in 1932 and 1933.

Bedaux announced his intention to cross northeastern BC with Citroën half-track trucks on May 25, 1934 in New York City. The Canadian Sub-Arctic Expedition launched from Edmonton, Alberta on July 6, 1934 and contained a formidable array of talent and beauty, including Floyd Crosby, a Hollywood cinematographer, two land surveyors, Frank Swannell and Ernest Lamarque, mining engineer Jack Bocock, a Citroën mechanic, many cowboys, as well as Bedaux’s mistress, his wife and her maid.

Due to a combination of weather, terrain and poor planning, the expedition failed and the Citroën vehicles were abandoned. Although Bedaux returned to northern BC in 1936 with plans to build a road, he did not follow through. In 1937 he hosted the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at his French chateau. Collaborationist activities with Nazi-occupied France led to his 1942 arrest in North Africa. Returned to the U.S., he committed suicide in a Florida prison in 1944.

Violet Bourchier Taylor was born in 1906 in Kispiox, BC to Hugh and Hermina Taylor. Hugh Taylor was one of the original telegraph operators of the “Trans Siberian Line”. Violet completed her primary education in Kispiox, and then moved to Prince Rupert where she lived with her relatives Sarah and Herbert Glassey while she completed high school. After finishing her schooling, she worked in Prince Rupert as a private secretary for the head master of the CNR and was subsequently transferred to Prince George in the early 1920s. A few years later she worked for the City Public Works Department.

In 1933 Violet married trucking firm owner Bob Baxter, who held the hauling contract to carry the mail and perishables between Quesnel and Prince George from 1932 to 1948. On numerous occasions during the 1940s when her husband was unable to hire drivers, Violet Baxter worked for him as a driver. Bob Baxter predeceased his wife in 1955.

Violet Baxter also worked for the Provincial Forest Service for 15 years, retiring in 1970. She had a love of the outdoors and a keen interest in the history of Prince George. Violet Baxter passed away in the Prince George Regional Hospital on January 20, 1985 at the age of 79.

Born in Gapview, Saskatchewan to Robert & Harriet Baxter, Bob Baxter came to the Prince George district in 1922 and launched on the varied assortment of careers that made his name known throughout the Central Interior.

Travelling first by wagon over the old Blackwater Road to Punchaw Lake, he trapped in the area for seven years. Following stints as brush cutter for Bellos Ranch and graderman for the Public Works Department, he later operated a garage and service station in partnership with Andy Whitehead. When fire destroyed the building in 1932, he took over the mail route between Prince George and Quesnel, making the return trip once a week. When roads improved, a tri-weekly service was initiated.
During World War II he built up a fleet of seven trucks which traveled south regularly with a varied assortment of freight. He later sold this transport business to Wade Transfer of Quesnel and took over partnership operation of the Sportsman’s Shop on George Street. After selling out there he purchased a share in the Culcultz Lake Resort.

Mr. Baxter was an enthusiastic sportsman during his residence in the B.C. Interior, as well as an active member of the Rod and Gun Club and the Trucker’s Association.

Married to Violet Bourchier Taylor in 1933, together they had four children: Allan, Fred, Dixson and Edna. Mr. Baxter passed away in his home in 1955.

George Walter Baldwin was raised in Lavoy, Alberta. He graduated from Law at the University of British Columbia in 1951. He then joined the US Air Force and served in the Judge Advocates department during the Korean War. In 1953, he returned to Canada. He came to Prince George in March 1954 to begin work as an articled student with Wilson, King and Fretwell, and was called to the Bar September 1954. He married Daphne Syson on 2 October 1954. When Baldwin became a partner in 1959, his firm became Wilson, King, Fretwell and Baldwin. Baldwin was a very active member of the Prince George community from the time he arrived until his untimely death 30 September 1987. He served as President of the Kiwanis Club, the Red Cross Society, the John Howard Society, the Cariboo Bar Association, and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. He was also involved with the Boy Scouts, St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church and the No Name Group, which contributed to the eventual establishment of the University of Northern British Columbia. In the 1970s Baldwin helped develop the CJCI radio station, and then served as Director for Central Interior Cablevision. He and his wife, Daphne, had four children.

Daphne Syson met George Baldwin when both were students at UBC. They married 2 October 1954, and moved to Prince George in October of that same year. Soon after her arrival, Daphne became Secretary of the Alaska Music Trail Concert Association, later renamed the Prince George Concert Association. At the same time, she also served as Secretary for the Prince George Historical Society and the Studio Society. She remained on the executive of the Alaska Music Trail group for ten years, serving as President for two. She was Charter Member of the Canadian Federation of University Women, and later served as President. When the oldest of Daphne's four children wanted to join the Brownies, she became Brown Owl for four years, then served three years as a District Commissioner. After serving as both member and Chairman of the Public Library Board, Daphne served as a member of the Mayor's Task Force to study the direction of libraries in Prince George. She was later appointed Director of the BC Library Development Commission. She served as Director of the Community Interest Account of Radio Station CJCI, was member and chairman of the Prince George Heritage Commission, and was later appointed Director of the BC Heritage Trust. She was a Director of the Prince George Community Foundation. In 2001, she was appointed Director of the UNBC foundation by the Provincial Government. Throughout her time in Prince George, she was extensively involved with St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church.

Ronald James (a.k.a. R.J. or Ron) Baker received his BA in 1951 and his MA in 1953 both from the University of British Columbia. With his education complete, Ron Baker went on to make significant contributions to the establishment of the community college system in Canada both as an educator and as an administrator from the early 1950s right through to his retirement in 1999. He also contributed greatly to the field of linguistic studies, most notably for the Prince George region, through his 1960-1961 examination of the Carrier language in the Nadleh Whuten (Nautley – Fort Fraser) Reserve on Fraser Lake in Northern B.C. R.J. Baker began his career in education as a lecturer (1951-1955; 1957-58) in the Department of English at the University of British Columbia (UBC); eventually advancing to the positions of Assistant Professor (1958-63) and Associate Professor (1963-65). It was during his UBC tenure in the 1960s that Ron Baker was asked to became one of the chief contributors to John B. Macdonald's report, “Higher Education in British Columbia and a Plan for the Future” (The University of British Columbia: 1962) This report led directly to the government's decision to establish a second university- Simon Fraser University- in the Lower Mainland. On November 14, 1963, the newly established Simon Fraser University (SFU) hired R.J. Baker as its first Director of Academic Planning. After assuming his duties on January 1, 1964 he went on to became the head of SFU's English Department on December 10, 1964: a position he held from 1964-1968. Throughout his SFU tenure, R.J. Baker also served on the provincial Academic Board for Higher Education, established to advise the government on applying the recommendations of the 1962 Macdonald Report. In 1969, Ron Baker left Simon Fraser University to become the first President of the University of Prince Edward Island, a post he held for nine years. On July 4, 1978 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to higher education. In addition to his work in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, he was a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the AUCC, served the maximum period allowed on the Canada Council and was the President of the Association of Atlantic Universities. He was also President of the Association of Canadian University Teachers of English and the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, and served on the executives of the Canadian Linguistic Association and the Canadian Council of Teachers of English. In January 1990, he was asked by the government of British Columbia to write a preliminary report on the establishment of a university in the northern part of the province – a university eventually established as the University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Baker has since retired and now lives in Surrey, British Columbia. [excerpt from Ron Baker fonds, Appendix: “Autobiographical Sketch” by R.J. Baker, courtesy of Simon Fraser University Archives and Records Management Department.]

John Backhouse was born in Liverpool, England and acquired his higher education in England at the Newcastle School of Librarianship, and in the United States, at the University of Oklahoma. Backhouse worked extensively as a professional librarian, and gained experience in both public and academic libraries. In 1980, Backhouse began his political career in Prince George as a member of City Council, where he served as an alderman for six years. During this time, Backhouse also served as Chairman of the Senior Citizens' Building Committee and was instrumental in the development of the current Senior Citizens' Activity Centre at Fourth Avenue and Brunswick Street. John Backhouse was elected Mayor of Prince George in 1986 and served in this capacity until 1996. During this time, the City of Prince George underwent many important changes including, the establishment of the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), the creation of the new Parkwood Place shopping complex, the Civic Centre and the Multiplex – new initiatives in which Backhouse was heavily involved. John Backhouse also served as a Director on the Board of B.C. Transit, and was a member of the B.C. Forest Sector Strategy Committee, the Minister's Advisory Council on Housing, and the UNBC Facilities Committee. In 1992, John Backhouse was elected vice-president of the Yellowhead Highway Association for the B.C. Caucus, afterwhich he served as the Northern Commissioner of British Columbia. He and his wife Vicky are now retired and reside in Prince George.

Dr. Joselito (Lito) Arocena [1956-2015], was a geochemistry professor at UNBC [1994 – 2015], was a founding member of the Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC and UNBC’s first Canada Research Chair (2001). He had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, held a master’s degree from the University of Philippines, a licentiate in soil science from the State University of Ghent and a doctorate in soil genesis and classification from the University of Alberta. Dr. Arocena collaborated internationally with universities in Spain, France and China and held an adjunct professorship with Wenzhou University in China.

As of December 2014, he had authored 105 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 56 of which held the names of NRESi as co-authors.

T.M. (Mike) Apsey graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1961 with a degree in forestry. After holding various positions in the private sector, he became Deputy Minister of Forests for British Columbia in 1978. After six years, he became President and Chief Executive Officer for the Council of Forest Industries, 1984-1998. In 2002, Mike was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Vivian Antoniw (nee Wright) was born on 24 December 1918 in Virden, Manitoba to John and Edith Wright. In 1964 she received her B.Ed (Secondary) from UBC through a Double Art Major in Drawing and Painting, Design and Ceramics and then went on to pursue her M.Ed (Fine Arts) from the Western Washington State University which she received in 1975. From 1959-1988 she taught various art programs in Kitimat, BC (1959-1980) and Prince George, BC (1984-1988). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she participated in numerous one person art shows, group exhibits and juried art shows and was a member of the famous Milltown Painters (6) group. Her work has been collected by various private individuals as well as by Canfor Pulp Mill (Prince George), the Prince George Tourist Bureau, Grace Anglican Church (Prince George) and the Ukranian Catholic Church (Prince George) among many others. Vivian Antoniw was primarly a watercolourist who also worked in oils & acrylics. Her themes were inspired by nature and she enjoyed painting the “various moods” as she called them, of Prince George, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Prince Rupert, Smithers, Kitimat, Jasper, Vancouver and Victoria. Environmental issues such as the disappearance of the Monarch Butterfly, diminishing sea life and the loss of habitat were also a personal concern of hers which was often reflected in her art. Vivian Antoniw passed away in Prince George, BC in 2003.

Marianne (Marika) Ainley (nee Gosztonyi) 1937 - 2008 was born on December 4, 1937 in Budapest, Hungary. She started out her adult life as a chemist after receiving her diploma in industrial chemistry from Petrik Lajos Polytechnical College of Chemistry in Budapest in 1956. She immigrated to Sweden in 1956 to escape the unrest accompanying the failed Hungarian Revolution, and then to Montreal, Quebec in 1957.

In Montreal, she worked as a laboratory technician during which she studied aesthetics, music appreciation and literature at Sir George Williams University (now part of Concordia University) from 1961-1964, earning a bachelor's degree in English and French literature. In 1966, she became a research assistant at Loyola College (now part of Concordia) in the Chemistry department under Dr. Thomas Nogrady. She worked under Dr. Thomas Nogrady from 1966-1969 and 1973-1974, taking a hiatus for the birth of her son during which she developed her interest in birding and pottery. Between 1967 and 1969, she studied pottery under Grace Atkinson and Rai Nakashima at the Potter's Club in Montreal. She exhibited some of her pottery at the Potter's Club in the Montreal Studio Fair. In 1974, she became a laboratory instructor in the Chemistry Department at Loyola College where she worked until 1978.

In 1979, upon the recommendation of a colleague to look into the History of Science Program (Histoire et de sociopolitique des sciences) at the Universite de Montreal, Ainley applied and was accepted. While attending the Universite de Montréal, Ainley was employed as a research assistant in the History of Science Program at Concordia and completed Cornell University's certificate in ornithology. She graduated with a Master of Science in 1980 from the Institut d'histoire et de sociopolitique des sciences of the Universite de Montreal upon the completion of her thesis on the history of American ornithologists, "La professionnalisation de l'ornithologie Americaine, 1870-1979." Ainley continued her research in ornithology while completing her PhD at McGill University, graduating in 1985 upon the completion of her dissertation, "From Natural History to Avian Biology: Canadian Ornithology, 1860-1950."

Shortly after completing her PhD, Ainley received a grant to write a biography of zoologist William Rowan. In the same year, she applied for and received post-doctoral funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which she spent at McGill studying the history of Canadian women in science. She also co-curated "the Bicentennial of J.J. Audubon" exhibition at McGill University. In 1986, she secured multi-year funding (from 1986-1988) as an independent scholar through the Women and Work Strategic Grants program for "Women and Scientific Work in Canada, I."

In 1988, she became a lecturer at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University and, in the following year, received her second Women and Work strategic grant for "Women and Scientific Work in Canada, II," which funded her research until 1992. In her first semester at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, while developing a course on historical and contemporary perspectives of women, science and technology, she recognized a dearth of material on the subject and solicited a series of essays, which became "Despite the Odds: Essays on Canadian Women and Science." Ainley edited the book, published in 1990, and contributed a chapter and bibliography. In the same year, she became a visiting scholar in the women’s studies at Carleton University as well as a researcher for and curator of the "Canadian Achievements in Science" historical photograph exhibition at Concordia University. Upon returning to the Simone de Beauvoir Institute in 1991, she became the principal and a half-time associate professor of women’s studies. She began work as a co-investigator on another SSHRC funded project, "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," on women in the field of engineering in 1993. In the same year, she received a grant to publish her biography of William Rowan, entitled, "Restless Energy—A Biography of William Rowan, 1891-1957."

In 1995, Ainley accepted a position as a professor and the chair of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Northern British Columbia, serving as chair until 1998 and as a professor until 2003. In 1999, Ainley became the president of the Canadian Women's Studies Association, of which she was a member since 1988. In 2000 and 2003, Ainley was a visiting professor at the Centre for Social Science Research at the Central Queensland University. In 2001, Ainley was a visiting scholar at Auckland University's Institute for the Study of Gender; she received associate professor emeritus status from the University of Concordia; and received the "Teaching as if the World Mattered" award from the Biology as if the World Mattered Research Group in Canada. In the same year, she received a SSHRC grant for her research project, "Re-explorations: new perspectives on gender, environment and the transfer of knowledge in 19th and 20th century Canada and Australia."

During her time at the University of Northern British Columbia, Ainley began her magnum opus, originally titled, "Overlooked Dimensions: Women and Scientific Work at Canadian Universities, 1884-1980." The book drew on her previous research, including research from her Women and Work SSHRC grants and "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," as well as oral history projects completed by other researchers and institutions. The book provides an overview of the history of women and scientific work at Canadian universities. It was posthumously published as Creating Complicated Lives: Women and Science at English-Canadian Universities, 1880-1980 by the McGill-Queen's University Press in 2012.

She continued her artistic pursuits and birding at the University of Northern British Columbia. She studied watercolour under Jennifer Ferris, Barry Rafuse and June Swanky Parker, drawing under Mary Richer and acrylics under Marlene Roberts between 1997 and 2001. She exhibited works at a variety of venues in Prince George from 1997-2000, including an exhibition at the Prince George Art Gallery in 1999, and exhibitions at the British Columbia Festival of Arts from 1998-2000. She was part of the Artists' Workshop in Prince George from 1997-2004. She served on the University of Northern British Columbia Arts Council between 1998-2004, curating two exhibitions on Canadian achievements in science in 1996 and 1997. She was voted elective member of the American Ornithologists' Union 1996, having joined in 1972 and having been a centennial committee member from 1982-1983.

In 2004, Ainley moved to Victoria where she became an adjunct professor of Women's Studies at the University of Victoria. In 2005, she received professor emeritus status from the University of Northern British Columbia and joined Studio Madrona, an artist group, with whom she exhibited work in Goward House in Victoria in 2005.

On September 26, 2008, Ainley passed away after a battle with cancer.