Black History Month featured fonds: Gerald A. Archambeau

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Anna St.Onge
Detail from a page of Gerald Archambeau's scrapbook, featuring a photograph used to identify him as a tradesperson. Written around the pasted down image are the words "I WAS A TRADESMAN IN OLD MONTREAL."

Page from personal scrapbook by Gerald Archambeau

One of most recent donations from the community is a small cache of documents relating to the life and family genealogy of Gerald A. Archambeau.

Gerald A. Archambeau is a Canadian citizen (b.1933) who emigrated from Jamaica to Montreal in 1947. He was the first black adolescent to join the Canadian Naval Cadets in Montreal in 1948, and the first black telegraph messenger to work for the Anglo American Telegraph Company. Archambeau worked as a passenger car attendant for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway in the 1950s. From 1967 to his retirement in 1993, Archambeau worked worked as a station attendant for Air Canada at the Malton (now Pearson International) airport.

Archambeau wrote an autobiography of his experiences as an immigrant to Canada.  Titled “A Struggle to Walk with Dignity: The True Story of a Jamaican-born Canadian“, the book covers his experiences working on railways and his efforts to reform labour conditions for porters working in the rail industry. Part of his donation included scrapbooks of biographical information documenting his experience leaving Jamaica, settling in Montreal and his experience of race relations, labour issues and politics in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

First page of a personal scrapbook created by Gerald Archambeau detailing aspects of his personal history and philosophies. Includes magazine clippings and illustrations, a black and white portrait of Archambeau in a suit and tie, and includes many phrases and quotes with a central inscription "[message from the chairman] THIS IS MY BOOK, AND MY OPINIONS SO READERS OF MY BOOK BE KIND."

First page of a personal scrapbook created by Gerald Archambeau detailing aspects of his personal history.

The archives also contains genealogical information related to Archambeau’s paternal grandfather Herbert T. Thomas’ and includes Thomas’ own memoirs The Story of A West Indian Policeman, or, forty-seven years in the Jamaica constabulary from 1927.

These materials may be of interest to researchers studying the immigrant experience in Canada, labour history (particularly in the areas of transportation) and colonial history of Jamaica.

Link to finding aid here.

Link to earlier story about donation here.

 

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Sad songs say so much : love lost, betrayed and prevented

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Anna St.Onge

As a companion post to our teeth-achingly sweet post about Valentine’s Day from 2012, here are a selection of songs from the John Arpin Sheet Music Collection featuring scorned lovers, sad sops, shallow cads, and general romantic ne’er do wells.

If you’re looking for something more romantic for Valentine’s Day browsing, do not proceed with this post, dear reader.  Instead, view our posts of sugar-sweet pop songs from the 1910s  or our posts from an #AskArchivists event on twitter in 2012 for #loveheritage.

Bring Back My Lovin’ Man

Link to sheet music here.

Link to a 1912 recording by Ada Jones here courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Telltale hearts

If You Talk in Your Sleep Don’t Mention My Name

I can see that you are married | And you know I’m married too! | And nobody knows that you know me and nobody knows that I know you and, if you care to, we’ll have luncheon | Ev’ry day here just the same | But sweetheart if you talk in your sleep | Don’t mention my name.

Link to sheet music here and here.

Link to a 1911 recording of the song here.

She’s A Patient of Mine

Link to sheet music here.

I’m a-leavin’ song complete with shout-out to the President and a customizable lyric

Maybe I’ll Come Back

I will come back when the elephants roost in the trees, I will come back when the whales make love to the bees | I will come back when the sun refuses to shine | And President Taft is a cousin of mine | I will come back when the fish walk a round on two feet | And promenade up and down [any local street] | When the show has turned from white to blue, Then maybe I will come back to you, Yes maybe I’ll come back to you.

Link to sheet music here.

Bridal Brawls: beware the scorned gang of lovers

They Gave Me Something To Remember Them By

They all gave me something to remember them by, Just a token of their esteem | They kept it hidden till after the weddin’ | Then they presented it to me. | Just what I got, I never knew But the doctors said, “If you pull through, You will have one eye in instead of two.” | That was something to remember them by.

Link to sheet music here.

Stop the Wedding March

Cancel that wedding march and play a funeral dirge right now | When I see that gal and her yellow pal | There sure will be some row. | I’ll carve him like a Christmas fowl | There’ll be a massacre | Cancel the wedding march and play a funeral dirge for me.

Link to sheet music here.

Gothic Melodrama

Ashes of Roses


Ashes of Roses once so red | Clear is their meaning, Love is Dead. | Wildly my heart is singing, Over and over again.|  There could be no Ashes of Roses now, | Had you not loved me then.

Link to sheet music here.

Emo-much?

I am wearing a mask of gladness

I am wearing a mask of gladness that is hiding a broken heart |The game that you played was a “love masquerade” | And you were untrue from the very start | I still love you dear tho’ you’ve shattered my pride | You played angel then devil like Jeckyll and Hyde | I am wearing a mask of gladness that is hiding a broken heart

Link to sheet music here.

Sad Sack Love Songs

Now She’s Anybody’s Girlie

Now she’s anybody’s girlie | Anyone who dines, and buys the finest wines; | When the lights burn late and early | She’s anybody’s little girl but mine. |

Link to sheet music here.

Every Girl I Get The Other Fellas Steal

Every girl I get the other fellow steals | That’s the reason why I always sigh | My own pal steals my gal | Takes her right away, doesn’t leave her stay | I’m awf’lly angry boys, I don’t know what to do, | Tell you, boys, you don’t know how it feels | I feel blue, so would you, For ev’ry girl I get the other fellow steals.

Link to sheet music here.

The Passive Aggressive Pursuer

If I don’t get you I’ll get your sister

If I don’t get you, I’ll get your sister | And she’s as sweet as you | If you don’t watch out some day, you’ll miss her, | And then you’ll miss me too | Oh your sister’s charming, she’s without a flaw | But I’d make a better husband than a brother-in-law | If I don’t get you I’ll get your sister | Then you’ll only be my sister-in law.

Link to sheet music here.

Bitter Tears

I’ll Be Smiling When You’re Crying

I’ll be smiling when you’re crying, | I’ll be happy when you’re sad | There’ll come a time some day when you’ll be longing for the old love you once had | You’ll never really know just what I’ve gone through | Until you love someone who doesn’t love you | Then I’ll be smiling when you’re crying | Smiling all the while.

Link to sheet music here.

…when all hope is gone, sad songs say so much.

Just a Little

Link to sheet music here.

All on account of you

Link to sheet music here.

After a Tear Comes A Smile

Link to sheet music here.

It’s awfully hard to say good bye to someone you love

Link to sheet music here.

I’m Just Pining For You

Link to sheet music here.

My Dreams Are Now No More of Thee

Link to sheet music here.

Sources:

Aplin family fonds F0151. Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University Libraries.  Finding aid available at: http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000151.htm. Digitized content available at: http://archives.library.yorku.ca/exhibits/show/lettershome/aplin.

“National Jukebox LOC.gov.” ; available from : http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/ ; Internet; accessed 14 February 2013.

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Traditional Christmas Greeting Cards: Mrs. Gutgesell’s mail-order catalogue from 1928

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Anna St.Onge

Gift label from Mrs. Gutgesell's Christmas novelty gift book.

In light of the approaching holidays, here’s a selection from our Special Collections, a mail-order catalogue for Christmas cards from 1928.  Provided to church and benevolent organizations,  Mrs. A.A. Gutgesell credits her seventeen years in the novelty business that “…enable me to develop a line of merchandise which cannot be equalled for material, individuality, workmanship and price.”

Operating out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, it is clear that Gutgesell’s company focused on the market provided by community organizations involved in fund-raising. See for example an advertisement placed in the Boy Scouts of America magazine “A Boy’s Life” here.

Advertisement for Mrs. A.A. Gutgesell's boxed Christmas cards in Boy's Life magazine, 1928

The catalogue includes numerous samples of greeting cards, labels and party favours for order by mail. Trends in graphic design, fashion, gender roles, gift-giving and culture are evident in this time capsule of commodified tradition.

“Everyone uses Christmas Cards, Enclosure Cards, Seals, Ribbon and Tissue Paper at Christmas time, and you will realize the great convenience of ordering by this method at your own leisure, in your own home, and away from crowded stores.”

 

Catalogue record available here.

For more information about the historical development of greeting cards and specifically Christmas cards, see:

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National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Anna St.Onge

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.

Established in 1991 by Parliament, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal.

As well as commemorating the 14 young women whose lives ended in an act of gender-based violence, December 6 provides Canadians with an opportunity to reflect on continued violence against women in our society, remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence and work towards meaningful change in our community.

Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student
Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student
Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student
Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the finance department
Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student
Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student
Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student
Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student

Portrait of 14 victims of the Montreal Massacre. (Canadian Press). Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2011/12/06/620-mtl-polyvictims1-cp.jpg.

 

Portrait of 14 victims of the Montreal Massacre. (Canadian Press). Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2011/12/06/460-mtl-polyvictims-2.jpg.

Additional resources on activism, research, resources at York University Libraries:

Biographical information about victims

“Montreal Massacre Victims – Montreal – CBC News”, December 4, 2009. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2009/12/04/montreal-massacre-victims.html.

Research Guide for Violence Against Women

This guide was designed to help the York University community research the available information on violence against women and in doing so, be further inspired to end it.

Marilou McPhedran archival fonds 

Lawyer Marilou McPhedran worked on a number of projects for the Metropolitan Toronto Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) s in the 1990s, including its involvement with the May-Iles inquest and other legal cases, public safety audits for the Royal Bank and the Toronto Transit Commission, an Ontario Women’s Justice Network project, and the production of METRAC publications on stalking and domestic violence.

Description of materials available here.

 Gail Singer archival fonds (F0462)

Gail Singer is a film maker who developed and directed a number of documentaries regarding violence against women and domestic violence, including You Can’t Beat a Woman! (1997) and Loved Honoured and Bruised (1980).

List of relevant materials available here.

 Women, social justice, and Canadian trade unions collection

Since the 1970s, the Canadian union movement has produced extensive documentation on equity-related issues. This material often had an ephemeral existence as unions lacked resources to preserve and provide access to the documents. In order to promote access and to raise consciousness about important union sources, Professor Linda Briskin, a feminist and union activist, began collecting these documents in the 1970s. The collection deals with equity in collective bargaining units, including issues of sisterhood and solidarity, education, human rights, anti-racism, aboriginal issues, affirmative action, violence against women, and the impact of technological change.

List of materials available here.

CBC Digital Archives : resources on The Montreal Massacre

Selection of television and radio broadcasts regarding the murders.

Sources:

“Montreal Massacre Victims – Montreal – CBC News”, December 6, 2009. Web. 4 December 2012. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2009/12/04/montreal-massacre-victims.html.
“National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women | Status of Women Canada.” Web. 5 December 2012. Available at: http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/vaw-vff/index-eng.html .
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