An Inventory of their Papers at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections
Inventory prepared by
Don Kroeker
University of
Manitoba Archives & Special
Collections
Winnipeg,
Manitoba
(1996)
Finding aid encoded by
Julianna Trivers
(January
2003)
Finding aid written
in English.
- July 26, 2005 - MSS 121, PC 124 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
Table of Contents
Biography of the Spencer Family
Scope and Contents of the Papers
Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Winnipeg MB R3T 2N2
Biography of the Spencer Family
Percy Spencer was born in England and came to Canada in the 1880s. He homesteaded in the Russell area, and eventually had seven children. One of his daughters, Lucy, became a R.N. in 1931. Her diaries are particularly interesting for what they reveal about women's education and careers in the first part of the 20th century. Scholars in the fields of Women's Studies and History will find much useful information in these diaries. Historians will also find the diaries of kept by Percy Spencer himself very useful. He wrote consistently and over a long period of time on the problems of homesteading.
Scope and Contents of the Papers
The Spencer collection consists of diaries, account books, photographs and ephemera depicting rural life near Russell, Manitoba. Percy Spencer wrote journal entries for thirty-five years, and his daughter Lucy kept a diary from 1920 - 1926, 1944, and from 1946 - 1959 and 1961 - 1973. The collection contains sixty bound volumes (diaries) and five farm account books. The photographs are interesting in that they depict rural life, but the accompanying documentation is fragmentary thus reducing the overall usefulness of the photos.
This collection is organized into 2 series:
- Textual Records
- Photograph Collection (PC 124)
There are no restrictions on this collection.
Donated to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections in 1996.
Detailed Description of the Collection