Showing 14 results

Archival description
Burnett, Mary
Print preview View:

MacLachlan, Sybil M., nee Spencer

File consists of a recording of Sybil MacLachlan. Topics of the conversation include subject's Kingston Award (Andre Bieler artwork), 1975. Attendance at Ottawa Ladies' College; extra year's study to assure parents of maturity; 'tightly-rolled diploma meets ogrish Registrar' incident, Queen's registration,1922. Arrival at Avonmore Residence, 18-resident household plus 'grubbers'; single telephone, virtual absence of rules. Transfer as senior to Ban Righ, quarrels with Dean Laird over residence restrictions. Avonmore group spirit, rivalry with Hen Coop. Blowing fuses with illicit electric heaters in Avonmore rooms; primitive gas arrangements in Hen Coop (supplying heat for hair-curling irons). Formal standards of YWCA residence. Venetian Gardens dance hall; party at Superior Restaurant. Change in student spending habits: former capacity for inexpensive amusement. Bitter rivalry between Queen's, RMC men; skill required to date both simultaneously. Impersonal flavour of expanded campus; feeling that earlier years are close now because they were closer then. Wonderment how off-campus students combine study with shared-living responsibilities. Subject's room-mate problems; dishonour of perpetual appearance on 'untidy room' list. Impossible conditions for study in Old Arts Building library, housed with stinking Biology Dept. Subject's Philosophy-Psychology ordeal: Dr. George Humphrey's 'weird' Psychology course; unexpected success in Philosophy. Min Gordon's course 'The Novel'. Questionable custom of awarding salaries to student officials (Journal staff), former understanding that honour sufficed. Queen's football championship, 1922: 'amazing' campus spirit, unkempt personal practices of superstitious football heroes. Civil service exams, Grant Hall, 1926; subject's 2-year employment with Bureau of Statistics, lack of qualifications for job. Husband's transfer to Engineering Dept., Mt. AIIison Univ. N.B.: return to Ontario during Maritime Depression, partnership in lumber business, Kingston. Daughter's insistence on Queen's education, Phys. Ed. degree; grandchildren's lack of intellectual ambition, exceptional skill in sports. Grading inflation at Queen's: former pass mark set at 40,hard to achieve. Pity for present-day Arts students facing economic squeeze; former Meds students' job-seeking forays to USA (1926). Subject's father-in-law (Queen's grad, Arts 84) : //progress via Union Seminary to educational work in Middle East; erection of Old Arts Building replica, now NATO headquarters for South-East Asia; sons' births in Turkey, all sent to Queen's for higher education. Faculty kindness in inviting students out on Sundays; Kiwanis Ball; annual Students' Frolic skits, marvellous Meds production of 'Little Eva', practical joke played on star. Male-female 3 :1 ratio in subject's day. Foundation of Latin Professor Dr. ]ol iffe's reputation for meanness, sarcasm. Unfortunate instruction of French classes in English. Extensive travel since husband's retirement, husband's fluent Greek, familiarity with Turkish homeland. Father-in-law's continued voluntary residence in Turkey, WWI, return to Kingston, 1926; disIike of 'barbaric' Western funeral rites in comparison with civilised Eastern practices. Queen's 50th reunion custom of leading alumni to dinner with bagpipes. Kingston as a natural homing town for widely scattered alumni friends. Contrast between grandchildren's carefree existence, subject's more conscientious studenthood. Dubious attitude towards women's lib, 'OK to a point'; divided attitude to issue of working mothers, admiration for those who succeed. Concern for grandchildren; premature pressure exerted on children to select careers. Daughter's colourful teaching experiences in England, especially as games mistress in posh girls' school, Kensington (including students hailing from Kingston). Active involvement in Queen's Alumni, recruited by Mary Chown (1930); nostalgia for hard-working, friendly Women's Alumnae organisation, typified by heavy preparation for annual Commencement tea; suspicion that cutbacks may force return to greater personal effort on Alumni's part.

MacLachlan, Sybil M.

MacDonald, Flora Isabel

File consists of a recording of Flora MacDonald. Topics of the conversation include subject's yearning for travel since childhood; freedom to hitchhike encouraged by father. Failure of Cape Bretoners to associate travel with pleasure, not work; leisure travel associated with extraregional sophisticates. Speech to Rotary Club, Cape Breton: 'utter stupefaction' of adults at notion of single woman's adventure in Europe (despite male tradition of adventure at sea). Subject's freedom from neighbourly criticism under aegis of exceptional father; father's reputation for independent critical stands. Father's 20-year seniority over mother; identification of mother with children; mother's acknowledged dependency, role as home-maker. Father's influence over children through role in community life; mother's non-involvement. Father as greatest influence in subject's life. Strong ties with Cape Breton formed by share in strong cultural identity, strict Scots-inherited sense of obligation to community. Low-profile Presbyterian guilt syndrome still evident in Ontario. Lasting religious influence of Maritime pioneers. Transfer to Ontario as 'one of the greatest culture shocks' in subject's life; Maritime sensibility (belief in voluble singing, welcoming sociability) assaulted by first Peterborough church service. Subject's first stint in Ontario, broken by frequent returns to Cape Breton; summer homing flight practised by many Cape Bretoners, including U. of T. President Sidney Smith. Several years' employment in Great Britain; return to Canada; working journey across Canada ending in BC; return to Cape Breton. To Ottawa via Montreal; ambition as secretary to join Dept. of External Affairs, with view to travel. Chance detour into Progressive Conservative headquarters en route to Civil Service Commission; acceptance of job which redirected the course of her life. Lack of previous party affiliation, despite Conservative family background; interest sparked by father's attention to political affairs, occasional election work for PCs, avid gallery attendance (Churchill and Attlee) in British House of Commons; no previous identification of political issues with personal ambition. Media contribution to subject's loss of PC leadership campaign: effect of coverage 'hammering home' subject's status as woman (through legitimate questions) to reinforce, reactivate, latent doubts in otherwise accepting persons. Subject's longlasting obliviousness to sexist discrimination: protective influence of non-interfering father, strong female-teacher role models. Absence of stumbling blocks in previous career, placement of politics into same picture. Advancement (Diefenbaker government, 1957) to post of secretary to PC National Director. Director's shift of organisational responsibilities to subject, acceptance that woman might grow in secretarial role. Frustration, acceptance, that Diefenbaker would not appoint her National Director in 1962, despite approval of her untitled work as acting director. Career doubts as partial reason for acceptance; rebellion (1963) against job responsibility, detail; trade-in of job for symbolic rucksack; 6-month hitchhiking tour from Britain to Greece. Arrangements to study French in Paris; telegram from Dalton Camp, 'Bob Stanfield ... needs you. Come home'. Subject's regard for Stanfield; re-entry into political field. Uncanny repeat of previous experience: organisational responsibility under free-reining Director; untitled responsibility during period between appointments. Appointment by Diefenbaker of inexperienced political unknown as National Director, with instructions to fire subject because of accumulated authority. Subject's final awakening to feminist anger: understanding that an utter incompetent was thought fit to replace her because he was a man. Subject's seizure of tactical advantage: abrupt leave-taking upon notice of dismissal; refusal to phase out work, melt away unobtrusively, leaving Director in jeopardy with out­raged party members, burdened with explanation of foul play. Election of subject 6 months later by overwhelming majority as PC National Secretary - poetic justice. Circumstances (lack of animosity toward subject as first woman National Secretary; freedom from sexist restraint as key person in Stanfield's leadership campaign; party solicitation of subject along with male members for conference policy papers) nearly lulling subject into secure belief that any woman could achieve power through similar effort - a belief not held now.//Subject's position as first Administrative Assistant at Queen's (Political Studies Dept.); absence of discrimination against her as woman or as non-academic. Attendance as first woman student at National Defence College: first 'smack between the eyes' as to how male­dominated certain segments of society are, e.g. the military. Pressure felt to be more energetic, resilient, than men to prove her ability. Period coming· to terms with masculine­military prejudice; male participants' vastly different perceptions of their own abilities and women's possibilities. Dilemma whether changing men's concept of her alone does any general good: whether she helps to redefine the sex in men's minds or is merely seen as an exception. Lifelong view of self as person; lack of personal identification with female vanguard, women's advocates; recent attempt at reassessment. Election as Kingston MP as 'tremendous breakthrough', given Kingston area tradition, deep political roots identified with men; comparison with first women MPs elected in Quebec, observation that they were Liberals running in automatically Liberal ridings: harder put to win nomination but almost certain to win election. Desire to enact crucial changes in federal government; certainty that Liberals are handling national problems in a disastrous way, that Trudeau does not understand Canada. PC apprehension of female candidate in Liberal Kingston riding as handicap; realisation this never proved to be so: no experience (in 6 years) of antagonism, resentment, reluctance to deal with her as woman. Observation that 'chip on the shoulder' female attitude is equally harmful, more common than too­belligerent feminist stance. Parliament as an eye-opener after encouraging Kingston experience. Agreement with Lamarsh on Parliament Hill social details: club sense of male camaraderie difficult to penetrate: women politicians will be left out unless they launch a campaign of overtures. Subject's assessment that the advantages and disadvantages of being excluded are evenly split. Equality of women politicians at the policy level. Telling circumstance that no one informed her of caucus habit of gathering at mealtimes in Parliamentary restaurant; passage of 6-8 months before she discovered it. Unwillingness to join drinking society after hours; lack of inter-office visitation. Ability to work closely with people over policy, but not in a way leading to personal friendship. Ottawa formality, inconsistent with Flora's informality; Ottawa's backward social inability to deal graciously with single women. Annoyance with discriminatory form of invitation to Governor-General's ball. Society's inclination to shove single women into a corner; subject's response of engaging more in work, becoming antisocial - rewarding but lonely. Opinion that most people act naturally, informally, don't devise artificial structures in which to act out their lives; subject's easy relations with this majority, uneasy relations with artificial elites. Feeling that many political elites did not see her as potential leader, influenced public opinion against her. Self-assessment of leadership ability; comparison of self with Joe Clark. Own asset of making people feel at ease; understanding that not always directing people is part of leadership; subtle technique of setting an example people can relate to (so persuading them that what you do is what they want done). Sympathy accorded woman running for high political office as underdog. Character variable in chance of female success in p·olitics; prophecy that Thatcher will lose election in Great Britain through excessive abrasiveness, aggression. Absence, unlikelihood, of special closeness among women MPs; preoccupation of women members with different responsibiIities; probable reliance of married women on families for support where subject relies on close friends. Subject's already established patterns of relations by time other women were elected. Subject's network of friendships in Kingston, important in maintaining constant happy touch with everyday life. Exceptionally close relationship with sisters; tremendous support at all times, especially during elections; shared attachment to Cape Breton. Women's reactions to subject's party leadership campaign: support from women under 30, over 55; rejection by almost all women 30-55. Belief that middle age spectrum (not taking social revolution for granted, as do the young; not having answered challenges such as the war, Depression, as have the elderly) are most afraid of power, change in roles. Diminishing resentment of subject's freedom as a single woman now she grows older. Unrepresentative quality of women attending political conventions; estimated less than 5% of Canadian populace active in politics. Subject's new affinity with women following leadership race as 'one of the great and satisfying discoveries' of her life: genuine affection exhibited toward her, more as a symbol than an individual, from groups ranging from radical feminist organisations to the lODE (addressed across country on a regular basis, often 3-4 times per week). Women's gladness that, now she has taken a major step, other women may follow. Disgust with superficial Chatelaine article, 'What are Women Politicians Doing for Women?', suggesting that if you haven't agitated in the House of Commons on certain issues you haven't done anything. Subject's joy in increased credibility, opportunity to address women on major critical issue of the declining century: how to dispose of nuclear waste. Understanding of nuclear waste problem as particularly relevant to women, with implications for genetics, future of all generations brought into the world. Nuclear waste as an issue which reaches all factions of women; encouragement to draw women into other issues (e.g. energy saving) where they are largely concerned and have much to contribute (but have not yet done so). Need for women to translate private concerns to community, national, global scales. Subject's odyssey up mountain of personal unawareness of women's is­ sues, down other side where women might have won her the leadership but didn't, into a valley of something better, the ability to reach women on critical issues - would she have had this had she won the leadership? Interviewer's expression of young women's need for contact with happy, adventurous, fulfilled role models. Subject's agreement, glad observation that though the mental processes mature as one grows older, one's youthful interest and excitement in life continue as one might not have expected.

MacDonald, Flora Isabel

Judge, Audrey

File consists of a recording of Audrey Judge. Topics of the conversation include Judge family descent. Town of Prescott, Ontario, during mother's time; career of father. United Empire Loyalist phenomenon; subject's attachment to monarchy, disapproval of Levesque, Quebec separatist movement. Educational root of Quebec's problems: too many professionals, too few businessmen. Bilingual policy problems. Poor parent-child relations in today's materialistic society. WWI: subject's initial desire to return home; radio mania, inability to escape news of developments. Town collection of relief funds during Depression; trusting strangers then as one does not now. Volunteer work. Homeowners' change to locking their doors; low crime rate during Depression, reasons for upsurge: security of unemployment insurance, excitement of television, present lack of religious upbringing.//'Live for the moment' attitude contrasted with drive, ambition of subject's young neighbours. Queen's campus,1922; Levana Society treatment of female smoker; formality of dress. Parents' encouragement of subject's studies. Hen Coop residence; subject's awe of electricity; the official Hen Coop 'lrrecluck' yell. Amusing accounts of Professors Roy, Conacher, Brovedanni, Min Gordon. Attendance at College of Education, Toronto. Hart House as a male preserve; Victoria Residence. Subject's ridicule of incongruous male fashions, concern that sexes should be 'equal but different'. Women's career restrictions in early 20th century; subject's latent interest in interior decorating; furniture and paintings crafted by parents. Interviewer's wonder at subject's lack of feminist resentments.

Judge, Audrey

Judge, Audrey

File consists of a recording of Audrey Judge. Topics of the conversation include range of technological achievements witnessed since 1900; childhood refusal of fairground airplane ride, 'Of course I didn't take a ride, I was scared to death'. Thrilling comic ride to Prescott CPR station with car salesman and prospective customer (1907). Embarrassing encounters as member of car-owning family with owners of horsedrawn buggies: buggy-owners' fear, not of cars but of horses' frantic reaction to cars; girl-driver's emphatic terror, 'Oh I was scared blue!'. Family origins, Judgeville, Ontario. Local have-not animosity; automobile advertisement showing happy car-owning family, envious stay-at-home carless neighbours; playmate's poignant indication of latter, 'That's the side we're on'. Father's imported Massachusetts roadster, subject's lackey seat at back; chase given by excitable dogs. Early radio programming: 'Amos and Andy' favourite; popularity of 'homespun' show material; fascination of soap opera serials. Personal preference for radio because of music programming; preference of TV audience for violence, distasteful perversion; loathesome experience tuning in to recent show, 'Are You in the House Alone?', expecting clean murder mystery, discovering tale of sexual harrassment. Popularity of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, Mazo de Ia Roche's Whiteoaks of Jalna. Approval of technical innovations, belief that quality of life has improved. Inferiority complex regarding traditional 'male' skills (e.g. furnace-firing), encouraged by father; convenient progress to carefree oil, gas (each advance considered dangerously daring at the time). Approval of inclusion of technical courses in female students' curriculum. Experience teaching English to unenthusiastic male and female Commence students; failure of high school commercial department after founding of Brockville commercial college (able to guarantee jobs.) Financial security as only child of well-off parents, ability to leave off teaching at will. Controversy over razing of former Prescott town hall (transformation of high school building into civic headquarters); erection of high school atrocity 'the palace', one of many schools planned by inadequate school inspector. Overexpansion of educational institutions at all levels, Queen's excepted; loyalty of Queen's students in subject's day, good feeling between students and Kingston community (and churches), students as town royalty. Number of Prescott contemporaries proceeding to Queen's; number of subject's students sent to Queen's (probably more after legislation requiring school attendance till age 16). University attendance as no longer a distinguishing attribute; numbers of students attending trade schools. High proportion of female to male university students in subject's day, levelling to approximately equal proportions while she was teaching.//Contempt for education for status' sake; loss of human potential through improperly directed individual ambitions. Discussions with young students during WWII; wrath provoked by student's racist comment; innocent narrowmindedness of student community ('those kids didn't know the first thing about things'), impression that fathers didn't relate WWI experiences to sons. Students' restless desire to enlist; boy student's ardent response to sight of King and Queen at Ottawa Parliament Buildings, followed by enlistment, army death in transport; large number of local youth killed at war. Contagion of wartime restlessness; temporary war-work as filing clerk for Draft Board (Toronto); amusing correspondence with man summoned in his sixties, and with elusive draftdodger; 'circus' aspect of filing room (huge women manoeuvring on tiny stools, decked out in jewels worn for safekeeping); feeling of doing something worthwhile. Application to Prescott war plant, vivid description of staff personalities; desperate idleness as inspector of worker absenteeism; unwilling acceptance of timekeeping job following male worker's forthright refusal of it (speculation on women's sense of duty). Greater effort, compared with previous male timekeeper, to 'do right' by employees (speculation on women's sense of responsibility). Age range of female employees, corresponding with range in dignity. Prescott plant as only site of wartime depth-charge production outside British Isles. Concern for workers' complaints; belief that the happier the worker (the better the product),the better the chances of winning the war. Childcare during WWII: first, children with 'keys around their necks'; later, babysitters (no daycare). Pity for let-down experience of factory women let go to make way for returned veterans: 'things would be a little more dull for them'. War plant as an amicable melting pot of ages, personalities, nearby com­ munities; extension of Kingston commuter boundaries following arrival of DuPont, RCA. Domestic life for women as time-and-a-half responsibility; rare ability to handle motherhood together with career; childcare seen as a woman's role, careerism as best pursued by non-mothers. 'Sissy' degeneration of men as result of female advances into male' territory.

Judge, Audrey

Hardy, Alison Taylor

File consists of a recording of Alison Hardy. Topics of the conversation include interviewer's Virginia background; Queen's graduates, embassy members, living near Arlington. Surname difficulty identifying women graduates of Queen's in Dept. of External Affairs. Respective choices of Elizabeth Way, Gail Sellers,to leave Dept. for motherhood, marriage; Sellers' 'brain power', happily forfeited career. Dept. regulation that women must surrender jobs upon marriage (altered 1955). Distinction between married women continuing work in Ottawa, later development of married women serving abroad with Dept. husbands (difficulty posting couples to identical area). john Sharpe. Hardy's 'educational' position in Dept. Press Office, close contact with people from all Dept. divisions. Anne Lagey (sp?). Current statistics of 3-4 thousand examination applicants for estimated 10 Dept. openings. Chaotic expansion of Dept. following ww11; hurried recruitment of personnel for new missions, etc. Lament of pre-War staff over impersonal Dept. atmosphere resulting from expansion; similar lament voiced today. Changes in Dept. housing: development from 1-13 buildings after WWII; recent centralization, decentralization schemes. Cross-Canada regional representation as one factor in Dept. recruiting programmes. Normative system of hiring women preferred by Public Service to quota hiring system: principle that proportion hired should reflect proportion of applicants. Revision of examination questions favouring male Anglophone applicants. Lack of discrimination against Canadian women diplomats by foreign diplomats, attributed to career basis of Canadian foreign service. Career security, absence of competition in foreign service, freeing women from pressure of comparison with males. Women's sometimes curious, prying reaction to Hardy's single career status; absence of overt resentment, jealousy. Boles' contention that, in the past, women's naivete kept them from seeing how they worked harder than men to achieve the same posts. Hardy's experience as sole Wren (W.R.N.S.) officer-delegate sitting on regular Navy committee: total shock of female presence to all-masculine Navy state of mind. Naive attitude of Latin American diplomat (1940s) unable to conceive of women as equal colleagues not sex objects; changing attitude to women diplomats abroad as well as at home. Boles' blatantly amusing treatment as sole woman diplomat at officers' luncheon in Columbo.//Hardy's position as single woman entering service at 33; relations with colleagues. Hobbs' rapport with male colleagues, infrequent contact with women socially or at work. Hardy's uninhibited outspokenness, attributed to influence of executive mother, sisters, lack of brothers, attendance at women's college. Boles' encouragement from father to attend university; mother's support, voiced over sisters' disapproval, of youthful entrance into External Affairs, departure for Moscow. Hobbs' early love of camping, travel; almost involuntary entrance into External Affairs during frantic war years - selection based on ability to type. Agnes McCloskey as generous, autocratic Dept. character; grateful, affectionate, humorous tributes from Hobbs, Hardy. Women's assumption of officers' work without officers' status during WWII; expansion of Dept., creation of first class of women officers (including Elizabeth MacCallum) following WWII, preventing common phenomenon of women 'stepping down' to accommodate men. Change in employee attitudes since WWII: emphasis on work itself giving way to emphasis on salary, benefits. Hardy's job in External Affairs as direct result of personal enthusiasm combined with naive style of government administration; contrast with administrative efficiency today. Hobbs' only recently awakened interest in Dept. promotional procedures. Controversy over public servants' right to strike: Boles' belief in government as an essential service, opposition to striking rights; Hardy's belief in compulsory arbitration. Hardy's belief that employee restlessness stems partly from job­specialized boredom; conclusion that old haphazard arrangements sometimes suited employees better. Better financial conditions following administrative reorganization: failure of old Dept. to adjust salaries according to escalating foreign costs of living. Dept. practice of seconding employees to other departments to increase career opportunity, mobility. Coincidence of new foreign postings with summer break in educational season; mobility resulting from change in assignments. Dept. emphasis on officer adaptability, breadth of experience; intentional development of generalists while acknowledging the value of specialists in certain areas. Foreign service career as a way of life rather than a part of life; satisfying personal involvement, sometimes dangerous degree of self-identification. Development of self through service abroad; unsuitability of indecisive or impressionable persons for foreign service; tolerance, open-mindedness, as requisite personality traits. Hardy's disabused assumption that U.S. Congress would function Iike Canadian Parliament. Difficulty adapting to ideologically abhorrent postings, e.g. Apartheid South Africa. Possibilities of interviews with specific officers returning from South Africa, Tanzania, Hong Kong, New York.

Hardy, Alison Taylor

Gvozden, Y. Marlene, nee Jones

File consists of a recording of Marlene Gvozden. Topics of the conversation include TAPE ONE Factors influencing personal character: environment, innate qualities, position within family; secondary effort in own activities to prove herself capable to older family members. Environmental lesson from Saskatchewan ranch life, 'always get back and ride the horse that just threw you', applicable to riding, sister's long childbirth labour, exams, everything: 'you just don't give up'. Father's opinion that university was unnecessary for nubile young daughter; enrolment in secretarial course at parents' behest; compliance with course only because one degree was better than nothing; aggressive, ruthless approach of perfectionist instructress: 'I took a long time to rebuild myself after that experience'. Suggestion by Norwegian classmate that subject apply to Dept. of External Affairs; success in exam, acceptance by interviewer as young but exceptional. Father's willingness to advance funds for trip to Ottawa; realisation his attitude to her abilities was changing. Early desire to attend university, enlistment of mother's aid to petition father; mother's timidity in face of husband, acceptance of hometown minister's fear of reputed U. of Saskatchewan 'non-virgin club' as excuse for dropping the whole idea. Year in Ottawa, Carleton course in Canadian government, awaiting age of majority; secretarial posting to Oslo with Dept of External Affairs, under challenge to live up to responsibilities. Norway as an excellent first posting for a young member, sane, sensible, hygienic. Life-long indebtedness to Ambassador and Mrs. R.A. MacKay for encouragement and familial support; Mrs. MacKay's appreciation of personal intentions underlying appearances, 'balm to my soul' in company of small, unsupportive female staff; continuing impulse to live up to MacKays' faith in her, repay kindness by similar kindness to needy persons she encounters. Dr. MacKay as permanent delegate to UN, author of The Unreformed Senate of Canada . Embassy position as political education, social finishing school; previous superficial interest in politics; pleasure in work shifted onto her shoulders by 'reprehensible' incompetent boss, felt as 'a marvellous opportunity' for personal expansion. Father's motto, 'keep your mouth shut, your eyes and ears open'; helpful in Norway, not at university where 'you have to learn to ask questions: if you don't, you're at a disadvantage'. Comfort of MacKays' familial affection in times of loneliness. Subject's 'have-not' reverence for university degree status; enrolment at Queen's (aet. 24), 'let­ down' experience of not knowing what to do with it once she arrived there. Intervention of Dean Bryce to secure residence accommodation; love of Ban Righ atmosphere, regretted transfer to Adelaide Hall. Residence life as a corrective for subject's 'lone wolf' tendency; student interaction as a major contributing factor to university experience. Intellectual timidity, exclusion from 'hard-core intellectual achieving group' of contemporaries; disadvantaged feeling ('I felt my Saskatchewan antecedents') amongst intellectual student gathering at home of favourite professor Douglas LePan; social affinity with young professors' wives, awkward in view of inferior social status.//Participation in Queen's initiation 'nonsense' in effort to fit in; preference for more mature McGill community, enrolment at Queen's because of lower tuition rate, small town environment similar to Oslo. Subject's youthful dignity, not discarded till late twenties; importance of being young once, discarding inhibitions; 'if you don't do it on schedule, you have to come back'. Western Canadians as informal, 'unfettered', compared with Ontario's 'staid Protestants'; 'different flavour' deriving from roughneck element in prairie settlers, combined with European element; striking quality of WASP given names and surnames encountered at Queen's. Subject's Ontario relations. Triumph of redeeming herself in father's eyes through Norwegian experience; father's acceptance of subject as adult confidante, pride in her university achievement ('he cried through the entire graduation ceremony'). Cultural intermarriage among Westerners (none of self or 3 siblings married a WASP Canadian); agreement with Queen's Prof. Lower that 'the real Canadian came from the prairies'. Western anti-Quebec sentiment as a recent phenomenon, based on resentment of federal economic injustices. Vast national improvement in French-language education, increased student broadmindedness. Protest of 'redneck' label applied to Saskatchewan farmers. Horrid year in Grenoble, France; rudeness, cultural chauvinism, provincial self­importance of the French contrasted with French Canadian warmth, hospitality; admiration for French sense of humour, eloquence, 'the last people remaining who strive for elegance in their everyday speech'. Strong desire that Quebec should not separate, that Canada become a 'brilliant hybrid society' of English Canadian pragmatism, French Canadian creativity. Distinction between desperate 'daily bread' complaints from prairies, maritimes, and anguished cultural complaint of Quebec; sympathy for Quebec born of own experience as foreigner, appreciation of constrained deprivation of forced speech in a second language; difficulty of expressing humour in a foreign language, loss of a critical social and personal faculty. Childhood unawareness of prairie political movements (CCF); prairie farmers' strong individualism, father's luck and pride as 'the self-made man'; European/Ontario emigrant's attachment to his farm as his castle; defensive power of virtual motto, 'Get to hell off my land'. Husband as Yugoslavian Jew; doubts of Queen's acceptance of Jewishness; father's unprejudiced good sense, despite minimal education; national differences, 'in Washington, half the street is intermarried; in Saskatchewan, intermarriage meant a Catholic and a Protestant'. Dislike of sister's joke about doubtful acceptability of husband to sister's United Church associates. Jewish problems of assimilation; easiness of subject's marriage thanks to husband's orphan status, seniority, and subject's age (31), family eagerness to marry her off. First impulse to shrug off prejudiced comments, second thoughts, 'How will my child cope with this? What if these people get the upper hand?'; attempt to inform son of noble Jewish heritage. Father's expansion of cattle-ranching activities during Depression, ungrading of scrub herds by purebred interbreeding; consequent conception of marriage partners as breeding partners, 'the fact that my husband is a Jew and does have obvious intellectual stature definitely influenced my decision to marry him'. TAPE TWO Similarity of maternal instinct in subject and wild range cattle, sense of community with cows. Fulfilment of independent desires before marriage, consequent abiIity to settle down; memory of previous satisfied interests as a supportive mental resource throughout motherhood. Motherhood as subject's vocation; rage (aet. 25) against recurring menstrual periods, when she might have been actively child-bearing; rejected temptation to satisfy maternal longings as single parent. Strong recommendation of motherhood, fear that careerists sacrifice motherhood 'to rather banal alternatives'; acceptance of career-motherhood combinations, condemnation of housework as idiot work. Concept of son as her contribution to society, 'something"worthy of me and humanity'. Cultural differences with husband over son's upbringing: husband's rejection of child-rearing role, excessive regard for cleanliness; positive role as responsible adult male, 'something for Robin to measure himself up against'. Delayed role-reversal therapy in interviewer's parents' marriage. Age-gap of 16 years between subject and elder husband; husband's forceful personality, subject's lack of energy to resist him as well as cope with new baby, shift in marital balance as child grows older . Feminist slander of children as cause, not result, of mothers' lack of successful careers. Subject's admittedly elitist concern that middle­class people are ceasing to reproduce themselves in sufficient quantities. Influence of Queen's economics course, Prof. Frank Knox: 'nothing takes place in this world until there is a margin', realisation that one child was all she could handle while retaining a margin of personal energy; teaching job as a practical extension of maternal feelings, allowing both retention of sanity and financial reimbursement. Satisfaction of personal contribution to son's excellent vocabulary. Hereditary basis of mental sanity. Queen's student lack of interest in Viet Nam war (1960s); personal desire to ignore suffering she couldn't remedy; ambition to serve third world countries in Canada after raising son. Strong sense of Canadian identity, thwarted desire to work for Canadian unity; sense of exile, wasted ability in USA, lack of desire to contribute to American society; residence in US because of husband's unacceptability (as foreigner) to Canadian employers. Dislike of ignoble anti-American element in Canadian nationalism; gratitude for decent treatment at hands of Americans; partiality to Canada notwithstanding, 'I was an Expo hostess with a vengeance'. Dedication to Expo effort shared with French Canadian supervisors; fanatic 'sergeant-major' role disciplining junior hostesses. Expectation that she will survive husband, future plan to return to Canada (not to severe prairie climate); tenacious loyalty of evacuated Norwegians resettling northland settlements burned by retreating German army (1945). Attendance at Norwegian summer school, discovery of self as 'auditory learner'; single expression breakthrough into Norwegian speech cadences, similar experience learning French.//Period 'at loose ends' after university, feeling she should be married; extensive travel through Europe, Middle East, return to Canada; employment with beloved French Canadian film distributor; Expo job. Marriage, emigration to Brazil, acquisition of Portuguese language; transfer to California awaiting job opening; husband's difficulties as strong-willed intellectual sans university degree, 'nobody believes in natural ability anymore'.

Gvozden, Y. Marlene

Graham, Ann Herrick, nee Hunt

File consists of a recording of Ann Graham. Topics of the conversation include experience of isolation in Quebec Francophone community; personal growth through forced self-reliance. Volunteer organisation of English-language lending library; contrast of amateur challenge with banal work as regular library aide. Special interest in children's literature, employment in public school system. Major illness, 1977. Resumption, reassessment of career together with satisfying volunteer work with the elderly; recognition that society values most the salaried worker; inclination to follow volunteer interests, conflicting desire that her work be recognized as socially productive. Personal history: 3-year general BA at Queen's; clipping-service work for Dupont Corporation; difficulty in becoming pregnant; YWCA and local community library services; birth of first daughter, 1960. Scarcity of libraries in Quebec prior to 1960s; fees exacted for public education beyond elementary school level, numerous grade-school drop-outs in consequence. Educated family background, natural assumption she would attend university. Husband's job transfer to USA; subject's ambivalent feelings about removal from Quebec; desire for civic participation, acquisition of US citizenship. Fast pace, avid materialism of American life-style. Mother as teacher, Queen's graduate (1923). Enjoyable time at Queen's, limited graduation outlook; opinion that female stereotyping was and still is strong; disappointment that liberated daughters tend to lose ambition during teens; strength of female sexual drive. Anger at removing with husband to US, even though it was a conscious choice, a wise decision.//Happy marriage; support received from school community during illness. Advisability of living in the present, learning not to postpone pleasure. Interest in 'Haven' support system for persons dealing with life-threatening illnesses; desire to continue work with children and the elderly. Women's movement as it benefits the young, incurs guilt in mothers who have finished raising their children; My Mother, Myself; Passages. Sexual hang-ups of subject's educated mother, inability to prepare subject for menstruation; lack of sex education in subject's upbringing contrasted with wealth of material now available; Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Subject's handling of own daughters. Opinion that women discuss emotional issues more readily than men; early envy of male freedom qualified later by realisation of male repression, restrictions; male liberation groups. Comparison of Quebec, sexual revolutions: both difficult, both bound to resolve themselves into something healthier. Anglophone enthusiasm for acquiring French language in Quebec; regret at having lived in Quebec in a WASP ghetto. Absence of class­consciousness at Queen's. North American political, social causelessness following WWII; similar lull after 1960s. Budgeted upbringing during Depression; mother's ability to afford maid, freedom from children. WWII rationing: social equality, cohesion, happiness. Changes witnessed in Quebec: expansion of education into technical fields; successful family-planning practice, prompting women to reconsider traditional Catholic roles. Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Graham, Ann Herrick

Gertsman, Lillian, nee Coplan

File consists of a recording of Lillian Gertsman. Topics of the conversation include education of son, daughters. Roots in Ottawa, attendance at Ottawa Ladies' College; father's decision that subject should attend Queen's. Social life at Queen's. Difficulty adapting to co-educational system, inability to graduate; completion of degree by correspondence work, summer school, 1967. Queen's off-campus residence, 61 West Street, shared with 12 women. Eluding residence restrictions by attending supposed dramatic rehearsals. Close friendship with roommate, denial that female friendship is potentially closer since initiation of women's movement. Cigarette-smoking at Queen's - chain-smoking father's disapproval. Marriage, 1940; husband's chemical degree, work in metallurgy. Pleasure in children's successful education; daughter's university teaching career, cut short by staff cutbacks. Subject's view that she was not confined, discriminated against as a female student. Lack of discipline, disciplinary abilities, in subject's character. Enjoyment of Ottawa Teachers' College. Regretted lack of participation in Queen's extracurricular programmes, clubs. Lack of career-motive in attending Queen's. Distressing anti-Jewish prejudice against subject at Queen's; subject's belief that people's faults are individual not racial . Involvement in B'nai Brith, Council of Women of Ottawa, Red Cross, Elizabeth Fry Society, etc. International travel accompanying husband on professional trips; closeness of people in post-war England; reporting impressions for articles in Journal; special enjoyment of India, Mexico. Husband as a moderate hemophiliac. Support from Jean Royce during early study difficulties. Spirit of Queen's Alumni. Subject's favourable attitude to women's movement: Interval House, support for women in politics, belief in judging people on individual merit irrespective of race or sex; Charlotte Whitton, Flora MacDonald. Subject's serious but naive stand for Ottawa Board of Education, 1972. Belief in testing abilities, trying new things: international success of Anne Harris, sculptor,in career started in her forties. Importance, satisfaction, of committee-president roles; failure of Students' International House, Ottawa, through inability to secure president. Ottawa as an embassy city. Spontaneous nature of committee career, volunteer-work; lack of future plans; love of youthful activity, dancing; fear of aging. National Art Gallery art history programme. Subject's Anne Harris pieces. Women's problems coming to terms with mastectomy operations. Friendship with Nigerian student.

Gertsman, Lillian

Earl, Olga, nee Somerville

File consists of a recording of Olga Earl. Topics of the conversation include influence of minister, Queen's graduate high school teachers, Scottish family heritage, in decision to attend Queen's; feeling that it was not uncommon for women to attend university. Unrealized ambition to attend Somerville College, Oxford: father's death before graduation, death of brother in Ypres gas attack, 'it just didn't seem right to go.' Parents' approving support of Queen's venture; YWCA residence shared with young women from Glengarry County (M.&M. Govan, Grace Grant Campbell, authoress of stories based on Glengarry); thrill of visiting Glengarry County, familiar from Ralph Connor stories of childhood: 'I felt that I was stepping into a magic world.' Teaching in St. Thomas, Ottawa; recommendation of Civil Service work by Hon. T.W. Carruthers, Minister of Labour; successful Civil Service exam; employment as Carruther's Assistant Secretary. Position as first Librarian, Dept. of Health and Welfare; controversial head of Dept. who roused Canadian indignation- 'he pooh-poohed the idea of Santa Claus.' Occupational therapy course; position as craft therapist to returned soldiers in Massey-Treble convalescent home, Toronto. Co-operative spirit of women at home during WWI, employment in munitions factories; devastating impact of young men's deaths 'just at the time when youth was ready to ... get out in the world and do anything'. Engagement at Queen's, unhappily broken off (on account of fiance's war­resistance) after brother's death in battle; marriage to next fiance much later, 'long after he was a widower.' Enrolment in librarian's course (U. of T.), employment with U. of T. library; promotion to Dept. of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine; position as librarian to new School of Hygiene, as secretary to Director Dr. J.G. Fitzgerald. Role as guinea pig for various Dept. tests, including draft test conducted by Dr. Charles Best. Position in Public Health Library, Ottawa. Marriage to widower Dr. Earl, grown-up stepchildren; numerous war-related deaths in subject's family;//sister's family. Opinion that the world is improving. Husband's position as first biology professor at Simon Fraser Univ., first Dean at York Univ.; work starting summer courses in Bermuda, Hamilton, opening biological station with Dr. Kearn; positions as Acting Head, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, and as Dean of Arts, Queen's University. Enjoyment of Lennoxville, Opinicon. Lack of career interest in library work despite enjoyment of it, support of husband understood as 'the thing to do'; pleasant burden of entertaining staff, students every Sunday, 'I didn't do any work after I was married, I was too busy.' Thought of teaching when she first entered university. Delightful work in U. of T. Dept. of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine library. Dismay at increase in student/professor ratio at Queen's, televised instruction in Biology courses. Subject's security throughout Depression, 'it didn't affect my life at all'; decision to sell car to needy doctor, partly because he was a Queen's grad. Sense of connection with Queen's University, lack of connection with U. of T.; fine Queen's Alumni Association in Toronto. Approval of equal pay, equal opportunities for women; feeling that children need their mother; approval of increased domestic responsibilities for men. Unawareness of discrimination against women; disapproval of Queen's discrimination against female Med School applicants; lack of contemporary interest in women's suffrage movement. Ingrained Conservative politics, admiration for local Conservative Minister of Labour; apolitical nature; childhood chant,'Tories live in glory/And Grits live in spit'; amalgamation of St Thomas Liberal and Conservative daily papers, double editorial perspective. Teaching excellence acquired by Queen's students through custom of summer-teaching out west; men's option of summer fire-ranging; sonnet received from fire-ranging fiance. Continued distress at broken engagement with unenlisted fiance; chance meeting later in U. of T. medical library.

Earl, Olga

Results 1 to 10 of 14