SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): J. Nordin : retired Saskatchewan homesteader RECORDED: Burnaby (B.C.), 1972-04-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: J. Nordin was born in 1894 in Sweden and immigrated to Canada at the age of 14 with his father. Homesteaded in Saskatchewan outside Prince Albert for 30 years. Mr. Nordin discusses his life as a small time Saskatchewan homesteader. Some information about the Depression. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Lucy Moon RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-07 SUMMARY: Lucy Moon was born ca.1880 and lived in London, England before coming to Canada in 1919. She discusses life in Canada, impressions, detail on jobs (store clerk), the Depression, Vancouver in the 1930s, and Saskatoon. Duties of a store clerk in a fabric shop.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: [No documentation is available for this tape.];

CALL NUMBER: T0033:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfred George Gray's military service in India PERIOD COVERED: 1889-1918 RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-04-17 SUMMARY: Alfred George Gray came from a military family and was born in India in 1889. He came to Canada after WWI. His recollections of WWI include descriptions of horse cavalry and artillery activities, equipment used, and deprivations incurred. He was primarily in France. CALL NUMBER: T0033:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfred George Gray's experience farming in Canada during the Depression PERIOD COVERED: 1918-1939 RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-04-17 SUMMARY: Alfred George Gray describes his immigration to Canada, his expectations of the country, his impressions on arrival, his journey on the "Colonial Train", the government plan for farmers, his career as a farmer through the Depression years: his livestock, his crops, his farming methods, the selling of produce, and collective efforts of community. CALL NUMBER: T0033:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfred George Gray and enlistment in the Veteran's Guards, World War II PERIOD COVERED: 1940-1945 RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-04-24 SUMMARY: Alfred George Gray discusses the techniques of farming till 1940, when he moved to Vancouver. His brief employment on "the green chain" in King's Sawmill, before enlisting in the "Veteran's Guards" for WWII. CALL NUMBER: T0033:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfred George Gray through the Second World War and after PERIOD COVERED: 1940-1960 RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-04-24 SUMMARY: Alfred George Gray continues discussing war experiences as a private in the RCOC in England, doing vehicle recovery. He returns to Canada afterwards and talks about his subsequent jobs until age 70.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): S.R. Kirkland RECORDED: Sointula (B.C.), 1972-05-03 SUMMARY: S.R. Kirkland was born in 1904 in Ontario. Travelled as a construction worker from job to job across Canada throughout his life. Many years as a Wobblie (International Workers of the World) delegate. Description of working conditions as they were in the early part of the twentieth century and the 1930s. Talks about his activities as a Wobblie, about the organization in Canada and its objectives, etc. Also gives some of his personal political opinions.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Lizee RECORDED: Coquitlam (B.C.), 1972-04-18 SUMMARY: Marie Lizee was born in Maine, U.S.A. in 1906 and she worked on farms in Montana and Saskatchewan. She raised seven children. Discusses Depression conditions (relief, part-time work) and a cannery in Coquitlam.

CALL NUMBER: T0009:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Arni Arntzen RECORDED: Burnaby (B.C.), 1972-03-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Arni Arntzen discusses life in Sweden before 1905 when he came to New Orleans. Life in America, and coming to Canada about 1913. Worked on Grand Trunk Railway in Rockies. Taking rafts down Upper Fraser. Homestead near Prince George, and later in Saskatchewan. Prairie life in Depression. Finally came to B.C. during WWII. TRACK 2: Arni Arntzen's ideas about Canada then and now.

CALL NUMBER: T0009:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Arni Arntzen RECORDED: Burnaby (B.C.), 1972-03-22 SUMMARY: Arni Arntzen's life and his political ideas.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Beaudoin Proulx : French-Canadians in Maillardville, B.C. PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1944 RECORDED: Coquitlam (B.C.), 1972-03-28 SUMMARY: Beaudoin Proulx came to Maillardville, B.C. in 1910. Worked as a logger. Early road building, construction, first post office. Depression years in Quebec. Farming in Laurentians. Comparison of Maillardville in 1926 and 1944.

CALL NUMBER: T0096:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Niels Madsen : a soldier of the working class PERIOD COVERED: 1899-1925 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-08-10 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Niels Christian Madsen was born in 1899 and discusses growing up in Denmark. Schooling and farm work. TRACK 2: World War I. Army training, Additional schooling. Emigration from Denmark. Farmer's helper in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. Logging and other jobs. CALL NUMBER: T0096:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Niels Madsen : a soldier of the working class ; a Danish farmboy RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-08-11 SUMMARY: Niels Madsen discusses working on the farm, going out on his own, pulp camps and cardwood cutting, painting grain elevators, Winnipeg to Edmonton with horse teams, experiences with con men in boomtown, 1928. Trip to B.C. and work in the woods and mines. Summary of jobs to 1937 when he left for the Spanish Civil War. Description of departure from Canada and trip through France. CALL NUMBER: T0096:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Niels Madsen : a soldier of the working class ; memories of the Spanish Civil War RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-08-14 SUMMARY: Niels Madsen discusses crossing the Pyrenees to Spain. Setting up camp. Volunteering for immediate action and encounter. International machine gun battalion. Goes on to describe various actions and encounters -- anecdote commentary. Hopelessly lost situation. Story of capture. Beating in P.O.W. camp. Useless war. Release to Canada. CALL NUMBER: T0096:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Niels Madsen : the on-to-Ottawa trek PERIOD COVERED: 1929-1935 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-08-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Niels Madsen discusses joining the labour movement and the Communist Party; conditions at Britannia Mines; Bill Bennett; organizing the relief camp workers' union; protest riot in Vancouver, the On-to-Ottawa Trek. TRACK 2: The On-to-Ottawa Trek continued; the Regina riot; Arthur Evans and other leaders; results of the trek. CALL NUMBER: T0096:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Niels Madsen : union organizer PERIOD COVERED: 1930-1950 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-08-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Niels Madsen discusses joining the Communist Party, 1930. Prospecting for gold on the Fraser River. TRACK 2: Work in logging camps. Organizing for the I.W.A. End of affiliation with the I.W.A. and the organization of a Canadian union. Strikes on the Queen Charlotte Islands.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Charlie Pepper : economic survival and the Depression - a prairie odd-jobber's experience RECORDED: Golden (B.C.), 1972-11-05 SUMMARY: Charlie Pepper was born in 1908 and discusses his childhood on the ranch; engineering for missions; being a "Jack-of-all-trades" during the Depression; Alert Bay, British Columbia; businesses; electronics technician; and movie theatres.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Agnes Jane Power RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-07 SUMMARY: Agnes Jean Power was born in 1890 and discusses her early life in India; age 17-22, spent in England; and her move to Canada including Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Attitudes, the Depression. Comparison between India, England and Canada.

CALL NUMBER: T0099:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - king and country RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-08-25 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses his early childhood in England; educational opportunities; family life; influence of father; loss of religion; stupidity of WWI; bakery apprenticeship; farm work; preparing for emigration; reasons for choosing Canada; first impressions; farm work in Saskatchewan. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - the real Canadians RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-08-25 and 28 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses farming in Saskatchewan; Prince Albert; travelling across the prairies working for different farmers; harvesting; tending horses; homesteading with brothers; north to Edmonton; to Vancouver in the spring of 1924; lumber camps; fall of 1924; back to the prairies; first of two bakeries; trips to England; comparison of Prince Albert and Cutknife, Saskatchewan; people and conditions. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - co-operation and confrontation RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-08-28 and 29 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses bakery operation in Cutknife, Saskatchewan to 1928; idea for a co-op; trips to England; move to Australia; strikes in Australia; differences between Australian and other workers; successes in organizations; tactics in Australia; 1928-1930; getting "leaded" and leaving Australia. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - paternalism rebuked RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-08-31 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses the Depression in Canada's west; the effects of the Depression on the people of the prairies; the beginnings of camp organization (unemployed camps) in B.C.; leaders; conditions; tactics; incidents; responses; camp to camp around B.C.; 1930-1935; blacklist from camps; work attempts; riding the rails; unemployed strikes for better conditions; confrontation in Vancouver; McGeer vs. unemployed; police against the unemployed; the continuing organization; etc. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - unemployed on the loose RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-01 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses organizing B.C. camps; changing names for camps; incidents; conditions; action co-ordination between camp organizers; the role of the Communist party and the C.C.F.; preparing for the On-to-Ottawa Trek; organization and plans; move to Vancouver; the story of the Vancouver strikes, incidents, leaders, attitudes of police, unemployed and citizens. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0006 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - On-To-Ottawa RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-07 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses the On-to-Ottawa Trek from Vancouver to Regina; organization; events; activities of the food detail; problems; successes; Regina riot; attitude of the people and the police day by day; Regina; events of the riot; government response; return to B.C. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0007 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - Prince Rupert organization RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-08 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses the return from the Ottawa Trek; organizing tasks assigned by the Communist Party; the interior, Prince George to Prince Rupert; organizing methods, problems, results; setting up a framework for self-perpetuating leadership; anecdotes; resistance; success; departure from Prince Rupert against orders; return to Vancouver. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0008 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - feeding the internationals RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-11 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses life in Vancouver; forced holiday; out to camp at Tree Valley; conditions, etc; blacklist relief; disastrous farm work attempts; organizing Fraser Mills; the call for Spanish War; volunteers off to Spain; trip and arrival; story of the war in Spain. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0009 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - the war years in Spain RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-13 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton continues his description of the Spanish Civil War; financing training; morale; role of the Communist Party; capture by the Fascists; conditions in prison camps; activities etc; release and repatriation; specific battles; personalities; horrors of capture and imprisonment. CALL NUMBER: T0099:0010 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Humanity vs. authority : the life of Perry Hilton - old struggles, new patterns RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-09-15 SUMMARY: Perry Hilton discusses the period from the end of the Spanish Civil War to his retirement in the 1960s. Feelings after Spain; the coming of the Second World War; logging in the interval; joining up; difficulties due to the Spanish War background; service in England; struggle for housing on return to Vancouver in 1945; hand logging from the mid-1940s to retirement -- methods, places, problems, etc.

CALL NUMBER: T0106:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a study of experience in a rich and full life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-10-27 SUMMARY: This interview was made using a "free expression" technique departing from the standard question and answer format. Marie Townsend was born in 1903 and speaks of her early life homesteading on the Saskatchewan prairie and covers that period of her life from her earliest memories up to the flu pandemic of 1918. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a study of experience in a rich and full life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-02 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend discusses her family life in detail including: homes, pioneer necessities, social activities, meal preparation, neighbours, festivals, religion in family. Many anecdotes are included. The "pioneer equality" of men and women is to be noted. Parental attitudes towards education are also mentioned. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : attitudes and personal character formation in early life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-06 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend speaks of the influences in her early life from grandparents, parents, and community. Childbirth, marriage, and funeral customs are all discussed. Social attitudes in the community circa 1910 are mentioned. Marie Townsend establishes a good feeling for her home life and the lifestyle of the times. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a convent schooling and nursing training RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-09 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend talks of her high school education and the routine of convent life. She attended the Ursuline Academy in Regina from the age of 13 to the age of 16. She then took training at the Grey Nuns Hospital in Regina and graduated as a nurse at the age of 19. This was followed by a post graduate course at Pense, Saskatchewan. She tells of her training as a nurse (1919-1921). CALL NUMBER: T0106:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : combining career and children in the 1920s and early 1930s RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-10 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend compares attitudes between her generation and her mother's generation concerning childbirth and home making. Differences in social attitudes and child raising are also discussed. Marie worked as a dressmaker and a hairdresser in Pense, Saskatchewan, and earned her living as a dressmaker in Regina. She talks of the hair, cosmetic, and dress styles of the period. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0006 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend RECORDED: [location unknown], 1973-01-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Marie Townsend discusses the Depression of the 1930s and her move to Regina where she was a dressmaker. She recalls the On-to-Ottawa Trek, the Regina Riot, and refusing to go on relief. She had two children. The move to B.C. in 1940 at her doctor's suggestion and living in a Japanese house in Surrey during the internment. She discusses how everything was sold that had belonged to the Japanese, and how the people were carted away like cattle in trucks. Marie also boarded teachers during the 1940s, prior to her move to Essondale in 1945. As a nurse she worked extensively with mental patients, and discusses methods of treatment including lobotomies. TRACK 2: Marie Townsend discusses mental illness, nervous breakdowns, strait jackets, medication, isolation, shock treatment, hairdressing mental patients, and public opinions. After having two strokes and recovering in bed for seventeen months Marie returned to nursing, as a private nurse for mostly cancer patients, until 1970. She compares the times of old with those of 1973, evaluating living conditions and values.

CALL NUMBER: T0089:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alex Fergusson : living on the left - a maritimer in B.C. RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-11 SUMMARY: Alex Fergusson was born in 1903, and lived in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He recalls life in Nova Scotia and the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Life in Vancouver. Discusses early jobs and early union associations. Describes life of a migratory worker in the prairies, B.C., and the U.S. Pacific northwest during the early 1920s. Mentions the One Big Union and the Industrial Workers of the World and their activities at the time. CALL NUMBER: T0089:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alex Fergusson : living on the left - the Wobblies PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1930s RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-13 SUMMARY: Alex Fergusson discusses his odd jobs on the west coast from B.C. to California. The spread of the Industrial Workers of the World among migratory workers. The tactics used to organize and the resistance put up by the employers. Factions in the movement, the Communist influence and the split in the I.W.W. Conditions and pay on the job and improvements due to Union activity. Primarily concerning 1920-1925, but some talk of the 1930s. CALL NUMBER: T0089:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alex Fergusson : living on the left - adjusting to disability PERIOD COVERED: 1920s-1930s RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-18 SUMMARY: Alex Fergusson discusses the changes in his life from a 1924 or 1925 shingle mill accident in which he lost an arm. Difficulty in changing, return to school and job as an executive for the Industrial Workers of the World Union. Return to mill work, the change from physical labour to sales work. Labour and socialist activities in the 1920s and 1930s. CALL NUMBER: T0089:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alex Fergusson : living on the left - the Depression and after RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972-07-18 SUMMARY: Alex Fergusson continues recounting activities in the 1930s including the early years of the C.C.F. Activities of the Communists. C.C.F. Quebec convention regarding conscription and the polarity in the C.C.F. Communist philosophy, reasons for participating in a socialist movement.

SUMMARY: "CBC Monday Evening" was a multi-part series that included documentaries and interviews on the arts, along with drama and serious music. The first part of this episode, "Recital", features two musical; selections that were written in Canada in the first half of the century and performed at the 1974 CBC Music Festival. The musical pieces include two trios, both composed in 1907 -- one by Alexis Cont;ant, and a piano trio composed by Healey Willan. Musicians include Linda Lea Thomas on piano, Gerald Jarvis on violin, and Ian Hampton on cello. The second part of the episode, "Letters To R.B.Bennett;", features two series of letters sent to Prime Minister R.B. Bennett in the years 1930-1935, stating conditions of unemployment, hunger, foreclosure and despair, and the subsequent replies from R.B.Bennett's office. One correspondent, a man, seeks employment; the other, a woman, seeks assistance and states her family problems. The actors include Neil Dainard, Peter Haworth, Daphne Goldrick, and R;obert Clothier. The third part of the episode, "Six Bergerettes", features six bergerettes from Lower Canada, originally collected by Marius Barbeau, and arranged for the 1928 Folk Festival by Sir Ernest Macmillian. This type of music included laments and folk songs. The vocalists are: Phyllis Mailing, Steven Hendrickson and Donald Brown, with Simon Strutfield conducting.

SUMMARY: "CBC Monday Evening" was a multi-part series that included documentaries and interviews on the arts, along with drama and serious music. This item, "Letters To R.B.Bennett", features two series of let;ters sent to Prime Minister R.B. Bennett in the years 1930-1935, stating conditions of unemployment, hunger, foreclosure and despair, and the subsequent replies from R.B.Bennett's office. One correspo;ndent, a man, seeks employment; the other, a woman, seeks assistance and states her family problems. The actors include Neil Dainard, Peter Haworth, Daphne Goldrick, and Robert Clothier.;

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): First woman ordained in the United Church of Canada PERIOD COVERED: 1900-1975 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1975 SUMMARY: Reverend Lydia E. Cruchy discusses childhood in France and England. Teaching in Saskatchewan. Ordination, 1936 (first woman). Executive Secretary of Committee on the Deaconess Order and Women Workers.; Other Saskatchewan pastorates, 1943-1962. D.D., 1953. The Church in Saskatchewan during the Depression. Work with New Canadians. Activities in retirement.;

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Norma McIntyre : growing up in Saskatchewan in the Great Depression PERIOD COVERED: 1930-1940 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1975 SUMMARY: Norma McIntyre discusses the Depression in Saskatchewan. Farm life and organizations. Home life. Transportation. Catalogues. Clothing. Effects of the Depression. C.C.F. strength in the province. Churches. Social life. Doctors. Relief response to the Depression.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): An active life in the United Church in B.C. PERIOD COVERED: 1890-1975 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976 SUMMARY: Reverend R.W. Hardy was born in 1890 and spent his childhood in Ontario. He attended the University of Toronto and served in World War I. Edinburgh University. Ordained and married in Whitby, 1921. Pastorates in Saskatchewan and B.C., including Cranbrook and Kitsilano. Secretary of Conference. St. George's, South Fraser. Changes in Christian Education. Changes in the Church. Church's role in the Depression. Retirement activities since 1955. The Church in the future.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Saddler from Saskatchewan : the full life of John George PERIOD COVERED: 1880-1977 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: John George was born on January 29, 1878 and discusses his childhood in Lincolnshire and farm jobs. Learning saddle and harness business. Why he decided to leave England and come to Canada in; 1904. First jobs as saddler and farm worker. Marriage in 1907: first bridal couple in Viscount. Children and homesteading. The Great Depression and issuing relief. Moved to Saskatoon in 1938 to work ;as a saddler for cartage firms. Choir activities. TRACK 2: More on choir activities in Saskatoon. How her came to return to university to study geology at the age of 94.;

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Hazel Toppings : overcoming a handicap PERIOD COVERED: 1903-1977 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Hazel Toppings was born in Ontario in 1903. Moved west that same year and grew up on a homestead near Wadena, Saskatchewan, after 1907. Schooling and teacher training. Teaching experience. Marriage and life on a Kipling, Saskatchewan farm in the 1930s. Adoption of three children. Her life as a handicapped person. Move to B.C. TRACK 2: More comments on Kipling, Saskatchewan. Volunteer activities in the United Church and the Handicapped Club. Special facilities for the handicapped. Death of her husband in 1973. Travel. Her son, Earle Toppings, discusses his work at CJRT-FM and Ryerson Institute. Description his mother's illness and the way she dealt with life as a paraplegic.

CALL NUMBER: T3529:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Syd Thompson : recollections of years as a labour organizer : part 1 PERIOD COVERED: 1930-1939 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978-06-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: In an interview with Colleen Bostwick, Syd Thompson discusses his personal background. Recollections of first working experiences. Life in a relief camp in Ontario during the Depression. Coming to Vancouver in the 1930s. Experiences with the relief camp workers' union. Comments on the relief system in Vancouver. TRACK 2: Comments on the differences between the CCF and the Communist Party of Canada. Attitudes and political ideas of single unemployed men in Vancouver during the Depression of the 1930s. Organized labour and political action. Anecdotes about life in various relief camps in western Canada. Comments on the effects of the relief camp system. (Cont'd on T3529:0002) CALL NUMBER: T3529:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Syd Thompson : recollections of years as a labour organizer : part 2 PERIOD COVERED: 1935-1935 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: (Continues interview of 1978-06-12) Syd Thompson comments on the effect of the Depression of the 1930s on the labour movement in Canada. The inadequacies of the capitalist system. Organizing in the relief camps in Alberta. Anecdotes and stories related to experiences in prison. TRACK 2: (Continuation of interview, 1978-08-21) Further comments on organizing in relief camps. Description of conditions in relief camps in B.C. Social life and conditions during the Depression. Leaving the Communist party. Other experiences during the Depression. CALL NUMBER: T3529:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Syd Thompson : recollections of years as a labour organizer : part 3 PERIOD COVERED: 1935-1940 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Syd Thompson describes his experiences in the army during the Second World War. Memories of movies he went to during the 1930s. General comments on class divisions in society and the lack of a proper division of wealth. The effect of the Depression of the 1930s on Thompson's later life. Recollection of the On-To-Ottawa Trek. TRACK 2: Recollections of experiences while organizing in a relief camp at Banff. Other memories of organizing on the prairies. Hobo jungles in B.C. during the Depression. Comments on his children and expectations for their lives. (End of interview)

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Eileen Sufrin : steel workers organize in B.C. and Ontario RECORDED: White Rock (B.C.), 1978-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Sufrin's interest in unions began with her involvement as a CCF youth activist during the Depression. She began to organize with the CCYM's trade union committee in Ontario. She was involved in the 1940-41 organizing in the banks, which reached workers as far as BC and culminated in the strike in Montreal. This strike was defeated and the drive collapsed. She continued as an organizer for the steel workers, coming to Vancouver in 1943 to train officers of the union and initiate "Steel", the union's western press. She was involved in political struggles with the LPP leadership in the unions, worked for a CCF perspective in the labour movement, and was active on the Vancouver and District Labour Council. TRACK 2: She later returned to Ontario where she led a campaign to organize Eaton's 9,600 person workforce. The drive was only defeated by 600 votes, and this because of a delay by the Labour Relations Board in certification. She returned to the USWA and worked with their office workers department. She participated in numerous campaigns, including Continental Can. Issues that were important to women in the campaigns she led included: equal pay and job classification; unionization; job ghettos; childcare and maternity leave. She always encouraged women to be active union members and officers.

CALL NUMBER: T3693:0001 PERIOD COVERED: 1899-1979 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1979 [summer] SUMMARY: Her birthplace; recalls her education; cruel teacher; living in Vancouver with her mother; Orma's working, embroidery, babysitting, cleaning fish; moving out to Commercial Drive; married at the age of 20 talks of her daughter; impression of life in the East End; experiences and impressions of hoodlums and muggings; description of her apartment; impression of the area on First Church; drunkards; drinking; more on her daughter; Orma's friends.

CALL NUMBER: T3693:0002 PERIOD COVERED: 1899-1979 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1979 [summer] SUMMARY: Born in 1890 in Ontario; moved to Winnipeg at the age of 8; her mother; living with aunt; living on farm; got hurt at school; teacher threw her down the stairs; from ages of eight to twelve spent in hospital; sewing experience; Vancouver with mother; effects of the Depression of the family; babysitting; left home at age 18; her daughter and marriage; miscellaneous concerning her health and doctors; comments on her life in general her activities.

CALL NUMBER: T3593:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Gladys Hilland : IWA officer, Local 1-217 - World War II RECORDED: Surrey (B.C.), 1979-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Hilland grew up in Saskatchewan where she participated with her brother in the Farmers Unity League, an organisation of farmers allied with the Workers Unity League, which fought farm foreclosures. She married and moved to BC with her husband to look for work, becoming a waitress and a domestic. She took a job with a BC Forest Products sawmill as soon as women were hired, and worked at Sitka, piling lumber and as a sawyer. She was active in unionising the plant, arguing for the workers to leave the company union and join the IWA. She was elected secretary-treasurer of Local 1-217 of the IWA and served in that capacity until the split in 1948. She was one of the most prominent women in the labour movement in that position. As secretary-treasurer, she continued to organize for the union, speaking to IWA workers and helping them organize in their plants. TRACK 2: She was involved in the 1946 march to Victoria during the strike, and participated in numerous labour lobbies to Victoria. The post-war period and the Cold War led to hostility to the LPP leadership of the IWA. The leadership, dissatisfied with the drain of dues into the International, led a breakaway, forming the WIUC. Mrs. Hilland went with the WIUC. CALL NUMBER: T3593:0001 [cont'd] RECORDED: Surrey (B.C.), 1979-07-17 SUMMARY: During her term as an IWA officer, she fought for the payment of workers according to the job performed, not according to race or sex. Her own experience confirmed a belief that women were competent at all physical and intellectual tasks.

CALL NUMBER: T3603:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): May Martin : industrial organization in the hotel and restaurant industry, 1940s RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1979-07-23 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: May Martin (nee Ansell) came from Capetown. She left school at the end of grade 9 and worked as a grocery clerk, hotel worker, and waitress. She moved from Canada to the U.S.; then to Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, and Windsor, where she stayed until 1941. She then drove west with her husband, searching for work. Her first interest in the HREU came as a result of working in a restaurant where the women union organisers were being harassed by the boss. She went down and joined the HREU and worked in the union houses. She moved to the Yukon in 1942 and organised for the HREU in Whitehorse. In 1944 she was elected business agent upon her return to Vancouver. Mrs. Martin was a strong proponent of industrial organisation, although the HREU was a member of the craft-oriented TLC. From 1945 to 1946, the HREU signed a master agreement with the majority of restaurant employers and began to organise the hotels. The union helped to establish a new and better minimum wage law for women, as well as restrictions on women working late hours, which forced the employer to furnish better shifts. TRACK 2: Mrs. Martin attended the 1946 convention of the union at which the syndicates threatened the internal opposition and retained control of the International. Mrs. Martin and other Canadian delegates were physically threatened, and the opposition leader was shot. Soon after this, the International organised to remove her and Emily Watts, despite membership protests. CALL NUMBER: T3603:0001 RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1979-07-23 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: In 1946, before she was removed, Mrs. Martin spoke on the radio defending a woman's right to a job and a union, as a union member and official. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is a magnetic track to a documentary. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the accompanying societal struggles are documented through archival footage and interviews with people who took part. Specific topics covered include the work relief camps, the On-to-Ottawa Trek, and the birth of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

RECORDED: Williams Lake (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mr. Canton was born and schooled in Ontario. During the Depression, he rode the rails, and then got a job in the forest industry. He arrived in Vancouver in 1938 and worked for a short time, but returned to Ontario and worked in mining until the war, when he spent four years in the service. After the war, he gained employment with the BC Forest Service.

RECORDED: Abbotsford (B.C.), 1981-07 SUMMARY: The trials and tribulations of a pioneer school teacher. Pearl was one of sixteen children. Her father immigrated to Canada and took up a homestead in Saskatchewan, where Pearl was raised. She recalls school and home life and the Depression. She taught school in Saskatchewan and later in Port McNeill BC, and retired in 1975.

RECORDED: Kamloops (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mr. Gibbs worked as farm labour on the prairies until he moved to BC during the Depression. He had a small ranch at Forest Grove before joining the Forest Service. He was a ranger at Alexis Creek for many years.