MSS SC 64

Title: Gordon Lane Shanks fonds

Dates: 1970?

Extent: 3 cm of textual records

Biographical Sketch: Gordon Lane Shanks was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on April 3, 1891. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a B.Sc. in civil engineering in 1912. He then began work at the Dominion Bridge Company in Winnipeg, as a draftsman. He tried enlisting with the Signal Corps of the Royal Canadian Engineers in August 1914, but was refused due to weak eyesight. He then joined service with the Canadian Discharge Depot, in Buxton, England. In August 1917, Shanks enrolled in Class 20 of the Royal Engineers Officer Cadet Battalion at Newark, England, and was posted to the Third Reserve Battalion, Royal Engineers, that winter. He finally did active service from May 20, 1918 until the end of the war, at the General Headquarters Defenses in Normandy as a Second Lieutenant. He then spent the remainder of 1918 inspecting the French canal system and devising means to repair it. From 1921 to 1951, G. L. Shanks worked with various petroleum companies in Mexico, Missouri, Texas and Illinois. From 1951 to 1954, he lectured at the University of Southern California. He worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers flood control project in Los Angeles County from 1954 until he retired in 1963.

Custodial History: The fonds was donated by Gordon Lane Shanks in March 1971 to the Faculty of Engineering, and was held in the University of Manitoba's rare book room until 1978 when the University of Manitoba Archives was established.

Scope and Content: The fonds consists of two folders. Folder 1 contains the first half of the unpublished manuscript of The Autobiography of Gordon Lane Shanks. Folder 2 contains the second half of the autobiography, six manuscript poems written by G. L. Shanks, and the manuscript of his photo-play "The Hope of the World". A manuscript (45 leaves) of Old Winnipeg as I Knew It, by G. L. Shanks, is stored as FC 3396.4 S5.

Source of Supplied Title: Title based on provenance of fonds.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.

Finding Aid: Finding aid is currently unavailable.