The Archives of Dalhousie Alumni Association: A Guide
Collection Number: UA-32Collection processed and finding aid created by a student in the Archives class, School of Library and Information Studies, April 2004
Finding aid edited and electronic version prepared by Kathryn Harvey, February 2006
Collection Level Description
Title: Dalhousie Alumni Association fonds
Dates: 1872-1988, bulk 1914-1945
Extent: 1.2 metres of textual records and other materials
The Dalhousie Alumni Association began when a group of Master and Bachelor of Arts students met after spring convocation on April 26th, 1871 to discuss the possibility of starting such an association. At that meeting, it was decided that the Association should be controlled by a committee consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Rev. J. H. Chase was selected as the first President, and J. J. Cameron was chosen as Vice-President. J. G. MacGregor was elected Secretary, and H. MacD. Scott, Treasurer. The Association’s stated purpose was to promote the best interests of the University and to foster affection for all students of Dalhousie. The Association was formally incorporated in April of 1876. Meetings were held every April between 1872 and 1885.
In 1886, the Alumni Association became enmeshed in the effort to find a new site for new buildings for a library, a museum, a school of medicine, a school of technology and art, residence halls, a gymnasium and society buildings. A Committee consisting of Dr. MacGregor, D. A. Murray and C. H. Cahan met with the Board of Governors for Dalhousie University in order to urge that a large site be chosen. The Board of Governors ignored the suggestions of the Alumni and this led to some hostility. In September of 1887, new college and university buildings were opened.
The Alumni Association continued to aid the University. In 1890, the Alumni Association co-sponsored a campaign to raise 50 thousand dollars for the university. In 1892, the Association donated 110 dollars for the newly formed Faculty of Science. In recognition for this, in 1893, the Alumni Association was granted two seats on the University Board of Governors. It was also that year that the Alumni Association was asked by the University Board to raise 4000 dollars per year over the following five years from among the alumni for the University. In 1896, the Alumni Association completed the raising of the Dalhousie Guarantee Fund. The Association continued to raise money during other campaigns: for example, in 1910, the Association voted to raise 1500 dollars for an assistant professorship for the Faculty of Biology. This amount was guaranteed again to the Board of Governors in 1912, 1913 and 1914.
Annual Meetings continued to be held every April. Besides this, the membership in the Association continued to grow. In 1903, there were 278 members; by 1907, there were 531. Branches of the Association were also forming: one in Cape Breton was operating by 1902 and another formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1907. In 1909 a sister Association, the Alumnae Association, was formed.
In 1914 to 1918, the Association had the task of ascertaining the names of those students who had gone to fight during the Great War, obtaining photographs of them from their families, and recording their services and fates. As well, the Association raised over 17 thousand dollars for the purpose of an Overseas Stationary Hospital Unit. The Association decided at its annual meeting in 1916 that a Memorial Hall should be built as part of MacDonald Library, then under construction.
The Association was heavily involved in the organization of the Centenary Celebration for Dalhousie University in 1918. Letters were sent out to all living alumni and lists of those attending were carefully compiled. The Alumni Association also invited many Canadian and American universities such as Cornell to send delegates and representatives to the event. Canadian political leaders such as the premier of Nova Scotia and Prime Minister MacKenzie King were also invited. The event proved to be very successful.
In 1920, the Alumni Association again organized a major campaign for the University, which was known as the “Million” Campaign. The effort continued for several years as the Association was responsible for ensuring all monies that were pledged were duly paid.
The practice of charging annual dues was abolished in 1967, and donations to the Association became voluntary.
During the Second World War, the Alumni Association again kept records of students who were serving in the different branches of the armed forces overseas. Lists of those students who served were prepared and published in the Association organ, the Alumni News.
In 1947, the Dalhousie Alumni Association and the Alumnae Association merged into one, but the new organization created a Women’s division to advocate on behalf of female students of the University.
Between 1972 and 1974, the Alumni Association was involved with the possibility of Dalhousie University merging with the Nova Scotia Technical College. This effort was not successful. However, in 2000, the Dalhousie Alumni Association did merge with the TUNS Alumni Association. Presently, there are over 80 thousand members of the Association, with at least 20 000 living in Halifax alone. There are chapters of the Association in major Canadian cities such as Toronto and Ottawa.
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History of the Dalhousie Alumni Association.
s.l.: n.p., February, 1937.
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The Dalhousie Alumni Association fonds (Accessions 38-87, 68-87 and 74-87) were donated by Heather Maxon of the Alumni and Fund Office to the Dalhousie University Archives between April and October of 1987.
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The fonds consists of records relating to the administration and governance of the association; correspondence carried out on behalf of the Association; events such as the amalgamation of Dalhousie University and the Technical University of Nova Scotia, various university campaigns, Dalhousie Centenary celebrations; association-sponsored activities such as memorials and tributes, track and field meets, and reunions; graduate and alumni lists; photographs of alumni who served in World War I; and press stories about the Association.
Administration and Governance / 1872-1987
Correspondence / 1918-1945
Events and Association-sponsored Activities / 1918-1945
Graduate and Alumni Lists and Diary / 1866-1945
Photographs / 1914-1919
Press / 1929-1946, predominantly 1929-1945
Files are arranged alphabetically unless otherwise indicated.
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Issues of the Alumni News and other Alumni Association publications are available in the Dalhousie University Reference Files (MS-1-Ref).
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All records are open.
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[Identification of item], Dalhousie Alumni Association fonds, UA-32, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Combined Series and File Level Descriptions
Date:1872-1987
Extent: 17.5 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series consists of minutes, laws and bylaws, annual reports, reports by the president, correspondence, membership forms, financial records and account books.
File Level Descriptions
Association Executive Records
Folder -
3.1
Minutes
1872-1884
Consists of two minute books--one containing the original constitution and by-laws; the other containing records of the Association Executive.
Folder -
11.1
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1885-1935
Covers January 6, 1885-May 13, 1935. Some handwritten and some glued into one scrapbook. Includes reports and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 3, #135).
Folder -
11.2
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1951-1954
Covers May 8, 1951-April 24, 1954. Typewritten pages glued into one scrapbook. Includes newspaper clippings, by-laws, reports, and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, #85).
Folder -
12.1
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1954-1958
Covers May 6, 1954-May 12, 1958. Typewritten pages glued into one scrapbook. Includes newspaper clippings, by-laws, reports, and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, #86).
Folder - 12.2
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1958-1962
Covers September 17, 1958-October 30, 1962. Typewritten pages glued into one scrapbook. Includes newspaper clippings, by-laws, reports, and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, #87).
Folder - 13.1
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1963-1967
Covers January 8, 1963-November 1967. Typewritten pages glued into one scrapbook. Includes by-laws, reports, and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, #88).
Folder - 13.2
Board of Directors' Agendas and Minutes
1967-1973
Covers November 15, 1967-June 26, 1973. Typed sheets are glued into one scrapbook. Includes some reports and correspondence.
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, #89).
Folder - 1.3
Miscellaneous Financial Records
1890-1893, 1960
Includes Alma Mater Endowment Fund Plan, ca. 1960
Association Records
Folder - 3.6
Account Books
1910-1912, 1917-1918, 1962-1982
Folder - 3.5
Administration Binder 1
1967-1971
Includes minutes of meetings, committee reports, correspondence, notices of annual meetings, membership lists, committee membership lists, etc.
Folder -
3.3
Administration Binder 2
1965-1975
Includes minutes of meetings, committee reports, correspondence, notices of annual meetings, membership lists, committee membership lists, etc.
Folder -
1.1
Annual Meetings and Reports
1887-1893, 1901-1911, 1934-1940, 1979-1987
Folder - 3.4
Committee of Seven Records
1928-1930, n.d.
Folder - 9.5
Convocation programs, song sheets, form letters, financial statements, and miscellaneous notices
1900-1949
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, Vol. 112 #1).
Folder - 1.2
Laws and By-Laws
1885-1902, 1933, 1972, n.d.
Folder - 3.2
Membership Invitations and Forms
1889
Folder - 9.6
Miscellaneous correspondence, song sheets, financial statements, and minutes
1950-1979
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, Vol. 112 #2).
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Date:1918-1945
Extent: 20 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains correspondence regarding administration of the association, subscriptions, information requests and updates, and photograph acquisition requests.
Arrangement:
Within the files correspondence is arranged in alphabetical order by correspondent surname.
File Level Descriptions
Folder -
2.1
Subscription Correspondence
1938, 1943-1944
Folder -
2.2
Subscription and Information Correspondence
1944-1945
Folder - 2.3
Subscription and Information Correspondence
1945-1946
Folder - 2.4
Subscription and Information Correspondence
May-Sept. 1946
Folder -
2.5
Subscription and Information Correspondence
Nov.-Dec. 1946
Folder -
2.6
Letters and Lists-Great War Memorial Book Project
1919-1921, 1929-1930
Folder - 5.2
Photograph Acquisition Requests A-L
1917-1931
Some photographic prints included.
Folder -
5.1
Photograph Acquisition Requests M-W
1917-1931
Some photographic prints included.
Folder - 1.4
Miscellaneous Correspondence
1899, 1918-1945, n.d.
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Date:1918-1945
Extent: 20 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains information related to the amalgamation of Dalhousie University and the Technical University of Nova Scotia, various university campaigns, the Dalhousie Centenary celebrations, World War I, buildings and memorials on campus, track and field meets, reunions and sponsored events.
File Level Descriptions
Amalgamation
Folder -
4.1
Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Technical College
1972-1976
Includes clippings, booklets, letters and pamphlets.
Athletics
Folder - 8.3
Maritime Interscholastic Track and Field Meet - Correspondence
1928-1929
Folder - 8.4
Maritime Interscholastic Track and Field Meet - Correspondence
1929-1930
Folder - 8.5
Maritime Interscholastic Track and Field Meet - Entry forms and Participation List
1929
Folder - 8.6
Maritime Interscholastic Track and Field Meet - Scrapbook
1928-1929
Scrapbook contains press clippings covering the event.
Folder - 8.7
Maritime Interscholastic Track and Field Meet - Meets
1930-1939, 1940s
Includes "Brief History of Alumni Athletics" (1 p.) by Mrs. Ella Macintosh?
Campaigns
Folder - 4.2
Early Campaigns
1875-1911
Includes 2 financial account books and 28 donation cards for fund to develop a School of Mines.
Folder - 4.3
Subscriber and Payment Lists for 1912 Extension Fund Campaign
1912-1926, n.d.
Folder - 4.4
Dalhousie 1920 "Million" Fund Campaign-Correspondence
1916-1920, n.d.
Folder - 5.3
Dalhousie 1920 "Million" Fund Campaign
1920, n.d.
Includes 2 committee fold-out charts and some quite detailed occupation information about residents in Halifax, arranged by street.
Folder -
5.4
Lists of Subscribers
1912-1921, n.d.
Folder - 6.1
Gymnasium Fund Campaign
1928, 1932-1933
Folder - 6.2
Fund Raising Literature
1914?, 1939, 197-?, 1981-1983, n.d.
Dalhousie University Centenary
Folder -
6.3
Dalhousie Centenary Committee-Financial and Account Records
1919-1920, n.d.
Includes 3 chequebooks
Folder - 1.5
Delegation Lists and Letters
1919?
Letters from various institutions concerning official representatives and lists of these delegates.
Folder - 6.4
Dalhousie Centenary-Correspondence Regarding Attendance
1919, n.d.
Letters to and from alumni regarding attendance and lodging at the Centenary. Includes invitation cards.
Folder - 6.5
Dalhousie Centenary Committee-General Correspondence
1919
Includes invitations, telegrams and requests for programs for the Centenary.
Folder -
1.6
Letters and Press Releases
1919
Contains copy to different local, national and U. S. newspapers regarding the Centenary Celebration.
Folder -
6.6
Calendars, Programs, Notices and Flyers
1919
Includes a copy of "One Hundred Years of Dalhousie 1818-1918," copies of the official invitation to the "Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of Dalhousie University, 188-1918," and copies of the "Programme of Centenary Celebration," a programme of the cultural events held as part of the centenary, and a booklet entitled "A Brief History of Dalhousie University and a Story of the Centennial Celebration of the "Little College" by E. M. Murray.
Great War
Folder - 6.7
Great War-Correspondence
1915-1920
This file contains letters regarding the compilation of a list of those students serving during the Great War, letters of inquiry from outside institutions, other universities and the Military.
Folder - 1.7
Great War-Enlistment Rolls and Rolls of Honour
1915-1918, 1929, 1931, n.d.
Includes 42 cards concerning students who died during the Great War.
Memorials
Folder -
8.1
MacDonald Memorial Library and Memorial Cenotaph
1919-1920
Includes one blueprint and one photograph.
Folder -
8.2
MacKenzie Bust
1976-1977
Includes newspaper clippings and 4 photographs.
Reunions
Folder - 7.1
Reunions
1924-1966
Includes letters, notices, programs, pamphlets, song-sheets and publications regarding reunions held in 1924, 1929, 1938 and 1966.
Sponsored Events
Folder -
8.8
Notices and Advertisements
1898-1988
Includes notices for various events and trips sponsored by the Association.
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Date:1866-1945
Extent: 14.5 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains a variety of graduate lists--some are organized by faculty, others are organized by class, location, minority status, and level of achievement or prominence.
Folder - 7.9
Class Officers - 1890-1938
1929, 1939, n.d.
Folder - 8.9
Diary of an Alumnus
Jan. 1936-1943
Formerly housed at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia (MG 17, Vol. 112 #5).
Folder -
7.10
Football Teams - 1888-1928
n.d.
Folder -
7.2
Graduate and Alumni Lists -
1866-1920
n.d.
Folder -
7.3
Lists by Class -
1866-1914
n.d.
Folder -
7.4
Lists by Class - 1915-1944
n.d.
Folder - 7.5
Lists by Location - 1870-1938
1933-1937, n.d.
Folder - 7.6
Lists by Faculty - 1909-1945
1938, 1946, n.d.
Lists alumni from faculties of Nursing, Education, Household science, Dentistry and Music.
Folder - 7.7
Lists by Faculty - Law - 1885-1943
n.d.
Folder -
7.8
Lists by Faculty - Medicine - 1874-1944
1929, 1935,1938, 1940-1943, n.d.
Folder -
9.1
Lists by Minority Status
n.d.
Included are lists of religious sisters; Jewish graduates (1926-1941); women graduates of the arts and sciences (1885-1900), of law (1918-1941), of medicine (1894-1939), of dentistry (1919-1924), of Dalhousie (1885-1917); and women honorary degree recipients (1927-1942), includes biographical sketch of each.
Folder - 9.2
Prominent Graduates and Achievers
Included are lists of 1931-1932 award winners, Dalhousians engaged in schools in the US, honorary degrees awarded (1892-1937), and Dalhousians who have achieveed some prominence in public life (listed by profession).
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Dates: 1914-1919
Extent: 117 photographs
Scope and Content:
The series contains photographs of Dalhousie students who fell during the Great War (1914-1918). The prints were made from the photographs for use in a planned war memorial between 1929 and 1931.
Arrangement:
The photorgaphs are arranged alphabetically by the alumnus' last name.
File Level Descriptions
Photographs
File -
10.1.1
Bennett, Carl Norwood
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.2
Billman, Ralph S.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.3
Billman, Walter Melville
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.5
Campbell, George Henderson
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.4
Cunningham, George Alan
1914-1917
b&w print
File -
10.1.6-7
Cutter, John Geoffrey
1914-1918
2 b&w prints - one cardboard mounted
File -
10.3.
Dalhousie Alumni members in World War I - plates for war memorial publication
-
File -
10.1.8-9
Dawson, Lieut. Howard C.
1916-1918
2 b&w prints
File -
10.1.10
Dick, Stephen John
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.11
Dickey, Capt. Horace Arthur
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.12
Evans, Lieut. Cyril A.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.13
Foster, William Gore
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.14
Godfrey, Capt. Alexander Taylor and Lieutenant Ralph Phalen
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.15
Grierson, Vernon Arthur
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.17
Jardine, David
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.3
Kirk, Pte Oscar Howe
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.23
Knight, Harold (?) S.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.27
Layton, Lieutenant Francis Paul Hamilton
1914-1916
b&w print
File -
10.1.26
Livingstone, David
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.16
Livingstone, Major Charles Donald
1914-1916
b&w print
File -
10.1.25
Macaskill, Lieut. W. R.
1916-1917
b&w print
File -
10.1.22
MacCuish, K. A.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.28
MacDonald, Alexander James
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.4-5
Macdonald, Robert
1914-1918
1 b&w print; 1 b&w postcard
File -
10.2.10
MacLean, Neil Archibald
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.6
MacLeod, John Owen
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.2
Maxwell, Major G. H.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.24
McCleave, H. A.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.1.18-21
McIver, Arthur P.
1914-1918
3 b&w prints; 1 glass plate negative
File -
10.2.11
McLean, Capt. Thomas Malcolm
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.8-9
McLean, Dr. Walter Leonard
1914-1918
1 b&w print; 1 glass plate negative (broken)
File -
10.2.7
McLean, T. Gordon
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.12
Moseley, H. A.
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.1
No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, British Expeditionary Force
1914-1918
b&w postcard
File -
10.2.13
Pineo, Capt. Henry Hoyt
1914-1916
b&w print
File -
10.2.16-17
Roche, C. J.
1914-1918
2 b&w prints
File -
10.2.15
Seaman, Alex McFarlane [?]
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.18
Smith, H. A. ?
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.19
Swanson, John Kims
1913-
b&w print
File -
10.2.20-22
Sylvester, George M.
1914-1918
3 b&w prints
File -
10.2.23
Ward, N. Claude
1914-1918
b&w print
File -
10.2.24
Wilson, George W.
1917-
b&w print
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Date:1929-1946, predominantly 1929-1945
Extent: 8.5 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series consists of correspondence with various newspapers and newspaper editors concerning happenings at Dalhousie, newspaper clippings, press typescript copy and copy for publication in the Association’s own magazine, Alumni News.
File Level Descriptions
Folder -
9.3
Press Clippings
1975, 1983-1984
Includes clippings regarding achievements of former students and various Dalhousie events, including visit by Prime Minister P. E. Trudeau.
Folder -
9.4
Press Copy
1929-1946, n.d.
Includes a large number of obituaries.
Folder - 10.4
Press Releases, Copy and Newspaper Correspondence
1929-1931, n.d.
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