File consists of the notebook of Jenny Fry, Ainley's Research assistant. The notebook contains contextual information and notes on other projects on women in the engineering field, notes on methodologies for conducting and analyzing research data, planning and information about potential interviewees, analyses of interviews, notes on lectures, inserted correspondence and other inserted material.
File consists of a covering letter for potential interviewees detailing Ainley's background, previous research and the "Critical Turning Points" research. File also contains blank interview consent forms.
File consists of lists of potential interviewees with graduation dates circled; census data on women in engineering in Canada from 1941-1991; statistical data from the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) on women in different engineering fields; and a copy of the "Critical Turning Points" project description with Ainley's notes on it.
File consists of correspondence between Ainley and IIona Schaulfer; short biographies of Monique Frize and Elsie Gregory MacGill; and a description of Alison Bowe's research project on female engineering graduates from Queen's University with an attached list of Ainley's "Critical Turning Points" project files.
The file contains photographs originally found in an unmarked and undated black binder depicting colour-coded mill equipment and machinery. Several of these images are annotated “Bell”, “Bell Asbestos”, and “National”. It is speculated that these images originate from the underground asbestos mine in Thetford Mines, Quebec operated by Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. and the National Mine in Quebec. One image appears to be, or looks similar to the new mill at Cassiar, built in 1971.
File contains photographs annotated Nordenham, presumably indicating that these images were taken in the Asbestos Corporation's plant in Nordenham Germany. The images depict bagging machinery in the mill, including a palletizer, automatic sewing machine, packer, shrinkwrap machine, glue applicator and cement bags. Some of the images include detailed annotations.
Photograph depicts large square model of the new mill building that was built at the Cassiar plant site in 1970. Model is displayed outdoors on a platform that stands on four saw horses. Machinery modeled inside the structure is colour-coded. Plant buildings and mountains in background.
Photograph depicts extreme close up of colour-coded machinery modeled inside large square model of the new mill building that was built at the Cassiar plant site in 1970.
Photograph depicts large square model of the new mill building that was built at the Cassiar plant site in 1970. Model is displayed on platform draped with green material. Machinery modeled inside the structure is colour-coded.
File contains photographs of a report completed in 1980 depicting the ambulance garage, as well as the interior and exterior of the hospital building in Cassiar, B.C. Each room is captured, as well as medical equipment such as the X-ray, audiometer, lung function apparatus, and autoclave. A doctor, two nurses, and several patients are shown. Accompanying report contains a description of the medical facilities in Cassiar including a detailed budget, description of staffing and utility requirements, and a floor plan of the facilities.
In addition there are two albums of Cassiar Hospital and Pharmacy Staff engaging in social functions. These photographs appear to be informal and depict staff parties, people at work and some of the patients, including their thank you notes to the Cassiar Hospital staff.
This file contains various aspects of the underground mine.
- Photos depicting damage to the underground mine such as fallen rocks, cracked shotcrete, twisted rock bolts and metal mesh, exposed and damaged steel structural frames, and repairs underway.
- Steel cables, chains, support arches, and custom welded rebar frames used in the structural reinforcement of the underground mine.
- Several engineering tests related to the structural damages are depicted.
- Two sets of images show a Porta Power hydraulic tool with a ready rod attached, a hand pump, as well as images of a technician testing the holding power of a rock bolt.
- Set of images documents a technician drilling cores and installing extensometer anchors, as well as grouting the anchors and connecting an extensometer. Technicians are shown inspecting damages with a ruler and rockhammer for scale.
- A set of images showcase the threaded rebar, nuts, and face plates used for rockbolts.
- Utility vehicles, yellow vent ducting, and utility pipes are visible in several images.
- Also include is an image of a man in office space, foggy night scene with a telephone pole, office desk, stack of supplies including concrete, steel cable, and spray paint, and several images of a broken piece of ore and concrete outside the mine portal.
- Several images depict miners working in the bucket of a scoop tram.
- Photos of the stramler feeder breakers, which was used in the underground mine.
- Images of ground support verifications where the deficiency of the exhaust ramp was investigated. This collection has various annotations explaining the broken shotcrete and the wire mesh installed.
- A collection of photographs depicting tunnel shotcrete failures. Each photograph has an accompanied textual annotation.
- Photos of MMD #750 Sizer equipment - assumed used in Underground Mine.
- Photos of pump used in 1335 level, wheel fan for ventilation removed from 1350 level,
- A collection of ground fall event 29 March 1989 - with annotations depicting damage
Photograph depicts chute from distance. Annotation on verso of photograph: "CASSIAR ASBESTOS CORP. LTD. MINE AND ORE CHUTE ON McDAMES MOUNTAIN".
Photograph depicts tramline in a strip cleared of trees on McDame Mountain, bucket in foreground. Handwritten annotation on recto of photograph: "1961 - 62".
Photograph depicts towers and bucket in foreground, plantsite midground in valley, opposite mountains in background. Handwritten annotation on recto of photograph: "GENERAL VIEW VISIBLE TOWERS ARE IN #1 SECTION PLANT IN BACKGROUND". Photograph was glued to cardboard backing with the annotation: "1962".
Handwritten annotation on recto of photograph: "MINE DRY ON LEFT". Photograph was glued to cardboard backing with the annotation: "1962".
Gravel road in foreground, mountain in background. Sign over road reads: "CAUTION TRAMLINE CROSSING".
Photograph depicts towers and buckets in distance. Gravel road in foreground winding through hills of dirt. Handwritten annotation on recto of photograph: "#1 SECTION". Photograph was glued to cardboard backing with the annotation: "1962".
Photograph depicts fan-driven air system used to transport fibre throughout the mill system. It is believed that this photograph was taken on the top floor of the mill. Handwritten annotation on verso of photograph: "1961".
Photograph depicts a man near the diesel-fired burners of the ore dryers. The large pipes and valves above were part of the fuel supply system fed by Cassiar's fuel tank farm which also supplied the power house generators. The dryer section of the mill received ore from the crushing plant by tramline and truck. These burners blasted the ore with hot air, and dried ore to desired moisture content before it was sent to the dry rock storage building and stored for mill use. Handwritten annotation on verso of photograph: "1961".
File contains photographs documenting the construction of Cassiar's new mill building. Photos depict early excavation, foundations, framework, construction of all seven stories, sheeting, siding, and roof tarring. Also included are photos depicting the large model of the mill, as well as construction work done on the tramline. Photos taken inside the mill depict flooring work, and milling machinery including feed chutes, screens, fans, wheelabrators, control panels, electrical panels, conveyor systems, vacuum systems, and the fan-driven air system that transported the fiber. Many photos depict construction workers, building supplies, worksites, and equipment including cranes, bulldozers, tractors, hauling trucks and trailer flatbeds. Some photos depict aerial views from the new mill and feature the plantsite, tramline, mine road, mountains, and valley.
Item is a photograph of a self-dumping log barge in action.
File consists of minutes from "Critical Turning Points" meetings; lists of potential interviewees with graduation dates circled; inventories of taped interviews; a list of interview questions; a consent form for Erika Korbely; and a description of a video program, entitled, "Discovering Our Potential: Women in Engineering: An Inspiring Look at Non-traditional Careers for Women."
File consists of Ainley's ethics approval form for the University of Northern British Columbia to which the description of "Critical Turning Points" submitted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is attached.
File consists of lists of information about interviewees interviewed by Ainley's research assistant, Jenny Fry.
File consists of lists of contact information about potential interviewees, some of which contain short biographies; correspondence relating to interviews; notes; a budget report for "Critical Turning Points"; and a blank copy of the questionnaire sent to female engineering graduates from Queen's University by Alison Bowe.
File consists of two articles: "Women Becoming Professional Scholars: Historians and Physicists" and "The Early History of Women in University Physics: A Toronto Case Study."
File consists of and handwritten notes and lists of female scientists, divided according to discipline and arranged into categories based on generation, with an indication of whether or not they had been interviewed.
Item is an interview completed for a Canadian Studies 390/391 course at Simon Fraser University about the life and career of Margaret Benston.
Item consists of recordings of music by Saami people.
Sarah Glassey stands looking down into what appears to be a camera, forest on hillside in background.
File contains set of images taken in Faro, Y.T. Annotation on photo envelope reads: “Visit to / CYPRUS ANVIL / FARO Y.T. / SEPT 1975 / BY DALE CARIN / R. WILSON.” Images depict the pit mine operated by Cyprus Anvil Corporation, including a grader, ore hauling truck (likely a Wabco), an explosives transport truck, and unidentified equipment including an electrical utility box and some type of rotating wheel in the mill building.
Photograph depicts large square model of the new mill building that was built at the Cassiar plant site in 1970. Model is displayed on green material set on a platform in snowy area. Machinery modeled inside the structure is colour-coded. Mountain in background.
Photo depicts workers at construction site of Cassiar's new mill building.
Photograph depicts dump truck under power lines and tramlines on gravel road. Buckets hang on line, mountains in background.
Photograph depicts a man in work clothes and hard hat standing with hands placed on the first of many tram buckets hanging in a line. Steel beam framework of station building rises above him. Handwritten annotation on recto of photograph: "[F1?] LOADING STATION EL. 5800". Photograph was glued to cardboard backing with the annotation: "1962".
File includes six aggregations of photographs which have been assembled in this file in order to maintain the integrity of each group by keeping the photos arranged together, though each group features operations pertaining to multiple files in this subseries. Includes groups featuring photos from 1961, 1965 1971, a helicopter trip, a community album, and a workplace album. Photographs depict images pertaining to the following operations at Cassiar, B.C.: mining, milling, maintenance, labratory tests, and tramline and town operations. Images featuring operations of the company town include the grocery store, bank, churches, school, library, lounge, pool, theater, community center, outdoor recreation, hospital, dentist, cafeteria, bus route, residences, air strip, firehall, laundromat, park, police, and newspaper.
Photograph depicts the diesel-fired burners of the ore dryers. The large pipes and valves above were part of the fuel supply system fed by Cassiar's fuel tank farm which also supplied the power house generators. The dryer section of the mill received ore from the crushing plant by tramline and truck. These burners blasted the ore with hot air, and dried ore to desired moisture content before it was sent to the dry rock storage building and stored for mill use. Handwritten annotation on verso of photograph: "1961".
Photographs depict construction of the new mill, each taken from approximately the same distance and featuring two different angles of the building. Construction work progresses from framework to sheeting and siding. Vehicles, piles of building supplies, and a construction trailer are often in foreground, mountains in background. It is believed that these photographs were taken during a labour dispute. Each photo has been annotated on recto with the date and time of day, and some document the number of workers on site. Annotations include: "2 days work", "work gets less & less", "not much for 4 men", "very little done - less than usual low performance", "0° - 20° weather must have thickened their blood".
Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Ltd opened a second mine in 1967 at what became the one-industry town of Clinton Creek, Y.T. File contains photographs depicting different areas of operations at Clinton Creek. Locations include the mine, plant, town, tailings pile, main office, the 40 Mile River, and surrounding area. Town photos depict the grocery store, cafeteria, medical clinic, school, auditorium residential area, Connell Street and power house. File also includes aerial photographs and images depicting forest fighting, photographers capturing the tailings pile, asbestos samples, mining machinery, staff offices, and operations in the mill, lab, and garage.
Additional photographs integrated into file depict Clinton Creek's surrounding area, and three slides of a tailing pile explosion believed to be Clinton Creek.
File consists of correspondence between Ainley and the editor of the University of British Columbia Press, Jean Wilson; an abstract and descriptions of chapters submitted to the University of British Columbia Press; style guides from the University of British Columbia Press; an author handbook from the University of British Columbia Press; and a pamphlet on symbols used for proofing text.
Item is an interview about Allie Vibert's career, her involvement with the International Federation of University Women and her activities at Queen's University, during which she pushed for the enrolment of women into the Faculty of Medicine.
Item is an excerpt from a presentation on economics and immigration that details the globalization, the future of economics and how women can play a roles in the future of technology and engineering.
Subseries documents "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," a study funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) strategic grant. The study was broken up into four projects: "Women in Engineering: A Historical Overview," a project based on analyzing statistical and demographic data to establish a statistical profile of women in engineering; "The Explorers: Early Women Engineers," a project based on conducting oral histories and examining archival material to establish the reasons for early engineers choosing their careers; "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies, a project based on using semi-structured interviews to analyze reasons for women departing from their degree programs; and "Women's Exit from the Engineering Profession," a project based on open-ended unstructured interviews of former male and female engineers to analyze their reasons for leaving the profession. Ainley was a co-investigator on the study, along with the principal investigator, Peta Tancred, and co-investigators Susan Whitesides and Gillian Rejskind, and was involved in all the projects, except, "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies." Subseries consists of audio tapes and transcripts from interviews with female engineers, questionnaires from a project on Queen's University female engineering graduates by Alison Bowe, research notes, articles, conference proceedings, brochures and correspondence.
File consists of academic and non-academic articles by Peta Tancred and others; a draft manuscript by Ainley, entitled, "Feminist Perspectives on Women, Science and Engineering in Canada"; correspondence; a description of the context of the interviews and research project conducted at Queen's University by Alison Bowe on female graduates of engineering; and a report from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) about the task force on women in the sciences and engineering.
File consists of a report by the Canadian Committee on Women in Engineering, entitled, "More Than Just Numbers" with correspondence, notes and other material inserted; a report, entitled, "Alberta Women in science and Technology"; proceedings from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's 1992 conference on women in science and engineering, entitled, "Advancing Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics" with articles and other material inserted; a booklet by the Commission on Women from the University of Minnesota, entitled, "Mentoring for the 1990s and Beyond...: new perspectives on an old way to move ahead"; and an information pamphlet on women in the sciences from the University of Minnesota.
File consists of correspondence relating to questions to be asked to interview participants; requests for information about women engineers; and other material providing background information on the demographics of engineering from professional and university alumni associations.
File consists of reports and articles with demographic information about women in engineering and recommendations for increasing the amount of women in engineering.
File consists tables, reports and other sources containing demographic information on female engineers in Canada; conference proceedings from the 9th Kingston Conference of the Canadian Science Technology Historical Association in Kingston, Ontario for Ainley's presentation, "Traditional Knowledge, Gender and the 'Spread of Western Science,' - a Reappraisal of Basalla's model"; correspondence relating to "Critical Turning Points"; and a list of the contents of Ainley's "Critical Turning Points" project files.