Subseries contains materials relating to Dr. Ainley's research on women in the fields of science and engineering. Ainley dedicated much of her career to this topic, which resulted in a number of publications. Subseries includes material relating to the submission and editing of Ainley's chapter, "Marriage and Scientific Work in Twentieth-Century Canada: the Berkeleys in Marine Biology and the Hoggs in Astronomy" in "Creative Couples in the Sciences" about the experiences of two scientific couples: Edith and Cyril Berkeley and Frank and Helen Hogg. Materials for this publication include correspondence, edited manuscripts, permissions form templates and a call and instructions for submissions. This subseries also includes research material for a review of Margaret Gillett and Ann Beer's book, "Our Own Agendas: Autobiographical Essays by Women Associated with McGill University," including notes, correspondence and short biographies of women from McGill University. Subseries also contains research on Canadian women in science including photocopied archival materials from various Canadian universities. This subseries also contains materials relating to Ainley's book, "Creating complicated lives: women and science at English-Canadian universities, 1880-1980" and Ainley's chapter, "Soaring to New Heights: Changes in the Life Course of Mabel McIntosh" in "Great Danes." Subseries consists of research relating to women in the Royal Society of Canada and on individual women scientists and engineers. Research materials consist of photocopies of published and archival research materials, correspondence, and applications for grans and ethics reviews. This subseries also contains approximately 80 overhead transparencies from presentations.
Subseries contains research materials related to a talk given by Ainley and Tina Crossfield at the 7th Kingston Conference of the Canadian Science and Technology Historical Association in Ottawa, Ontario in 1991, entitled, "Scientists vs. Government Experts: The Wood Buffalo Controversy, 1920-1990." The material appears to have been in the process of being developed into a publication. Subseries consists of articles, including an edited article entitled, "Scientists vs. Government Experts: The Wood Buffalo Controversy, 1920-1991." Subseries also includes photocopies of correspondence, photocopied transcripts of House of Commons proceedings, Microfiche Report Series #104: "Dual Allegiance: the history of wood buffalo national park," notes, and a publication.
Subseries contains material relating to an uncompleted book of correspondence between Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and Doris Huestis Speirs, tentatively titled, "A Special Affinity: The Correspondence of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and Doris Huestis Speirs." It was to be co-edited Ainley and John Sabean. The subseries predominately consists of research material and correspondence relating to the writing and publishing of the book, correspondence between Lawrence and Speirs, and correspondence between Ainley and Speirs relating to travel and ornithology publication recommendations. It also contains archival reproductions of correspondence between Speirs and Roy Ivor and between Speirs and George Watson.
Subseries contains material relating to Dr. Ainley's research on ornithology beginning in Ainley's graduate research and her early post-doc career. This subseries includes drafts of Ainley's Masters thesis "La Professionnalisation De L'Ornithologie Americaine, 1870-1979" (The Professionalization of American Ornithology, 1870-1979) for the University of Montreal and drafts of her PhD thesis "From Natural History to Avian Biology: Canadian Ornithology 1860-1950" for McGill University. Thus subseries also includes materials related to an uncompleted monograph about the history of the first 100 years of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). The project was originally proposed to the centennial committee of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1979 and was to be completed by Keir Sterling and Charles H. Blake. Ainley was invited to join the project in 1981, shortly after which Charles Blake passed away. In 1987, the project was abandoned, but was then revived in 2003 for the 125 year anniversary based on a revision of the original manuscript and new additions to cover the period of 1983-2008, before being abandoned for a second time. Subseries also contains the research materials for Ainley's chapter in "Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science, 1789-1979," entitled, "Field Work and Family: North American Women Ornithologists, 1900-1950." The article details the experience of female ornithologists, focusing on, among others, Margaret Morse Nice and Althea Sherman. Subseries consists of photocopied and hand-copied correspondence between Margaret Morse Nice and Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, between Nice and William Rowan, and between Nice and Althea Sherman.