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Archival description
Bryce M. Taylor fonds
CA ON00370 F0426 · Fonds · 1967-1987

The fonds consists of correspondence, minutes, reports, financial records, and Bryce M. Taylor's related material of the XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee, and the Canadian Olympic Association, (1983-1988), detailing the planning for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. It also includes material from the National Advisory Council on Fitness and Amateur Sport, including correspondence, minutes of meetings, annual reports, (1986-1987). In addition, there is material from the Canadian Gymnastics Association, (1975), and proposals for athletic programmes at York University, including a proposal for football (1967).

Taylor, Bryce, 1933-1989
Fonds · 1911 - 1981

Records of the Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö [Finnish Organization of Canada], Vapaus Publishing Company (responsible for publishing Vapaus and Liekki and other publications), Suomalais-Canadalaisen Amatoori Urheiluliiton [Finnish-Canadian Amateur Sports Federation], co-operatives, and more.

Includes meeting minutes, reports, financial statements, and correspondence related to the operations and administration of these organizations. Also includes a variety of document and pamphlets related to socialism, communism, and the peace movement in Canada and worldwide.

The Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö (CSJ; Finnish Organization of Canada) is the oldest nationwide Finnish cultural organization in Canada. For over a century the CSJ has been one of the main organizations for Finnish immigrants in Canada with left-wing sympathies and, in particular, those with close ties to the Communist Party of Canada. Through the early to mid 1920s, Finnish-Canadians furnished over half the membership of the Communist Party and some, like A.T. Hill (born Armas Topias Mäkinen), became leading figures in the Party. Beyond support for leftist political causes, the cooperative and labour union movements, many local CSJ branches in both rural and urban centres established halls – some 70 of which were built over the years in communities across Canada – that hosted a range of social and cultural activities including dances, theatre, athletics, music, and lectures. The CSJ is also known for its publishing activities, notably the Vapaus (Liberty) newspaper.

The CSJ underwent several changes in its formative years related to both national and international developments. Founded in October 1911 as the Canadan Suomalainen Sosialisti Järjestö (CSSJ; Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada), the organization served as the Finnish-language affiliate of the Canadian Socialist Federation which soon after transformed into the Social Democratic Party of Canada (SDP). By 1914, the CSSJ had grown to 64 local branches and boasted a majority of the SDP membership with over 3,000 members. One year later the organization added two more local branches but membership had dropped to 1,867 members thanks, in part, to a more restrictive atmosphere due to Canada’s involvement in the First World War and an organizational split that saw the expulsion or resignation of supporters of the Industrial Workers of the World from the CSSJ.

In September 1918, the Canadian federal government passed Order-in-Council PC 2381 and PC 2384 which listed Finnish, along with Russian and Ukrainian, as ”enemy languages” and outlawed the CSSJ along with thirteen other organizations. The CSSJ successfully appealed the ban in December 1918 but dropped ”Socialist” from its name. The organization operated under the name Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö until December 1919. The SDP, however, did not recover from the outlawing of its foreign-language sections, leaving the CSJ without a political home. Stepping into this organizational vacuum was the One Big Union of Canada (OBU), founded in June 1919. The CSJ briefly threw its support behind this new labour union initiative, functioning as an independent ”propaganda organization of the OBU” until internal debates surrounding the structure of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union affiliate and the OBU decision not to join to the Moscow-headquartered Comintern led to its withdrawal shortly thereafter. In 1924, CSSJ activists including A.T. Hill helped to found the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada (LWIUC).

Inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution that toppled the Tsarist Russian Empire in November 1917, and following the founding of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) as an underground organization in May 1921, the CSSJ rapidly became an integral part of the nascent Communist movement in Canada. Reflecting this change, in 1922 the organization was renamed the Canadan Työläispuolueen Suomalainen Sosialistilärjestö (FS/WPC; Finnish Socialist Section of the Workers’ Party of Canada) – the Workers’ Party of Canada being the legal front organization of the CPC. In 1923, Finnish-Canadian Communists formed a separate cultural organization, the Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö (CSJ; Finnish Organization of Canada Inc.), to serve as a kind of ”holding company” ensuring that the organization’s considerable properties and assets would be safe from confiscation by the government or capture from rival left-wing groups. With the legalization of the CPC in 1924, the FS/WPC became the Canadan Kommunistipuolueen Suomalainen Järjestö (FS/CP; Finnish section of the Communist Party of Canada). Between 1922 and 1925, membership in the CSJ through its various transitions also doubled as membership in the Communist Party. This arrangement ended in 1925 when the FS/CP was disbanded following the ”bolshevization” directives of the Comintern. These directives demanded that separate ethnic organizations in North America be dissolved in favour of more disciplined and centralized party cells. It was hoped that this reorganization would help attract new members outside of the various Finnish, Ukrainian, and Jewish ethnic enclaves that had furnished the bulk of the CPC dues paying membership in Canada. From this point onwards, the CSJ officially functioned as a cultural organization but maintained a close, albeit sometimes strained, association with the CPC. The 1930s represent the peak of the CSJ size and influence, occuring during the Third Period and Popular Front eras of the international Communist movement. During this period CSJ union organizers assisted in the creation of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union – a unit of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of the American Federation of Labor, successor to the LWIUC – and the reemergence of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in Sudbury and Kirkland Lake. CSJ activists also helped to recruit volunteers for the International Brigades that fought against nationalist and fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Finally, in the 1930s some 3,000 CSJ members or sympathizers embarked on the journey from Canada to the Soviet Union to help in the efforts to industrialize the Karelian Autonomous Soviet. Hundreds of Finns in Karelia would later perish in Stalin’s purges.

Despite the CSJ’s active support for the Canadian war effort, the organization was still deemed to be a threat to national security by the federal government and again outlawed in 1940. All FOC properties were seized and closed. The Suomalais Canadalaisten Demokraattien Liitto (SCDL; Finnish-Canadian Democratic League) served as the FOC’s main legal surrogate until the organization was legalized in 1943. The rapid decline of the FOC following this period is apparent from the fact that of the 75 locals in operation in 1936, only 36 remained active in 1950.

Further reading:
Edward W. Laine (edited by Auvo Kostianen), A Century of Strife: The Finnish Organization of Canada, 1901-2001 (Turku: Migration Institute of Finland), 2016.
Arja Pilli, The Finnish-Language Press in Canada, 1901-1939: A Study of Ethnic Journalism (Turku: Institute of Migration), 1982.
William Eklund, Builders of Canada: History of the Finnish Organization of Canada, 1911-1971 (Toronto: Finnish Organization of Canada), 1987.

ON00421 RG 9 · Fonds · 1928-2004, predominant 1969-1993

The Canadian International Air Show fonds reflects the functions of the CIAS Executive Committee as promoters and organizers of entertaining and informative aerial displays in 20th century Toronto on a national and international level.

The records are arranged and described at the series level, and each series has an accompanying file list. The fonds consists of eight series: Correspondence (RG 9-0-1), Subject files (RG 9-0-2), Information kits (RG 9-0-3), Meeting minutes (RG 9-0-4), Corporate (RG 9-0-5), Executive Squadron (RG 9-0-6), Photographs and printed material (RG 9-0-7), and Sound and moving images (RG 9-0-8).

Textual records in the fonds consist of correspondence, reports, surveys, promotional material, flight schedules, meeting minutes, and policies related to the CIAS Executive Committee, aviation performers, air show guests and sponsors, and CNE visitors. Graphic and printed materials include photographs of aircraft and performers, photographs of CIAS functions, and informational pamphlets.

Few documents exist for the years 1928-1930, 1956, 1967, and 1968. No records exist for the years 1931-1955, and 1957-1966. When the CIAS became autonomous in 1996, they retained their administrative and operational records from 1994 and 1995. Those records, and any new records created after that date, are the property of the CIAS and are stored in the Air Show offices or in an off-site storage facility. As a result, no further accumulations of records are expected for RG9.

Note: CIAS programmes can be found in series 4 of C 31, Exhibition Place Printed Material Collection.

Canadian Exhibition Air Shows, Inc.
ON00421 C 31 · Collection · 1879-2017

The Exhibition Place Printed Material collection is an amalgamation from many sources, brought together from stray materials, through culling projects and from subsequent acquisitions. This artificial collection was created to make these materials accessible to researchers and staff, as previously they were scattered and unrecorded.

The Collection is comprised of 4 series based on format: Exhibition Place General Printed Material, Exhibition Place Newsletters, Exhibition Place Posters, and Sports Programmes. Within the General Printed Material and Newsletters series, items are catalogued at the file level and are arranged chronologically. The Posters series is catalogued at the item level and are arranged chronologically. The Sports Programmes series is catalogued at the file level and arranged alphabetically by subject, then chronologically.

Exhibition Place
ON00421 RG 5 · Fonds · 1946-1987, predominant 1975-1987

The records of the Exhibition Stadium Corporation, RG 5, are arranged and described at the series and sub-series levels and consist of 5.4 metres of textual and photographic material, one bound volume, and 72 architectural plans and sets of plans. The fonds documents the operation, management and maintenance of Exhibition Stadium, by the Exhibition Stadium Corporation and its Board of Management, from 1975 to 1987.

The fonds is divided into 6 series: General Manager's Files, Traffic and Stadium Operations Manager's Files, Board of Management Files, General Ledger, Photographs, and Architectural Plans.

Exhibition Stadium Corporation
James G. Perrin fonds
ON00421 MG 3 · Fonds · 1964-1981

The fonds documents the activities of James Perrin as a member of the Canadian National Exhibition Association Sports Committee, and his public relations work on behalf of the Canadian National Exhibition's Sports and Agriculture Departments.

The fonds is divided into five series. This arrangement reflects the original order of the records as they were maintained by James Perrin. MG 3-0-1, Sports Committee Files, consists of agendas, minutes, correspondence, questionnaires, registration forms and photographic prints pertaining to the Canadian National Exhibition Association, Power Boat Committee, a sub-committee of the Sports Committee.

Series MG 3-0-2, CNE Publicity Files, consists of correspondence, news releases, and photographic prints documenting the promotion of various CNE events such as Aquarama, Dog Swim, Mayor's Bathtub Derby, Horse Show, Dairy Princess, and the Miss CNE contest by James G. Perrin & Associates.

Series MG 3-0-3, Photographs, consists of photographic prints of the Miss CNE contest, and various waterfront activities. Series MG 3-0-4, Scrapbooks, consists of two volumes, dated 1975-1980 and 1980-1981, containing photographic prints, newspaper clippings, and printed material. Series MG 3-0-5, Artifacts, consists of one item, a 1971 CNE Bathtub Derby trophy awarded to James Perrin in appreciation of his work on behalf of the competition.

Perrin, James G.
Fonds · 1890 - 1894

The fonds consists of photographic negatives featuring members of the Patteson family. Most of the photographs on the glass plate negatives were taken by Rose MacInnes (nee Patteson) and feature the Pattesons on their estate in Eastwood, Ontario (the former Admiral Henry Vansittart property). The film negatives feature Daisy (Christine Millicent) Moss (nee Patteson) and her son Pat (Thomas) Moss.

It is arranged into the following series and subseries:

Series 1: Glass Negatives - Eastwood
Series 2: Film Negatives - Pat & Daisy Moss

MacInnes, Rose Louise
Rental Department fonds
ON00421 RG 11 · Fonds · 1952-1998

The Rental Department fonds, RG 11, is arranged and described at the series level, with an accompanying file list for each series. The fonds consists of four series: Subject files (RG 11-0-1), Show & event lists (RG 11-0-2), Building reports (RG 11-0-3), and Photographs (RG 11-0-4).

Textual records in the fonds consist of correspondence, lists, floor plans, reports, and contracts related to the various shows and events coordinated by Rental Department staff, including picnics and other summer events, trade shows, sporting events, holiday events, and concerts. These events took place in buildings across the grounds, including the Coliseum and Annexes, the Horse Palace, the Automotive Building, the Horticultural Building, the Queen Elizabeth building, and the Grandstand. Graphic and printed materials include show pamphlets, brochures, and exhibitor kits, and photographs of various shows, and the CNE.
Few documents exist for the years 1953, 1964-1967, and 1987-1995. No records exist for the years 1980-1983 and 1993-1995. No further accruals are expected.

Rental Department
Sports Department fonds
ON00421 RG 7 · Fonds · 1879-1981, predominant 1962-1980

The fonds consists of correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings, reports, proposals, telegrams, entry forms, programmes, and work orders concerning the annual production of the CNE sports programme and the year-round administration of the stadium and other CNE sports facilities. The materials also include lists and information regarding competitors, results of competitions, press releases sent out by the Sports Department during the CNE, news clippings, the research material and manuscript of the book "Fair Sport", maps of waterfront competition layouts, photographs, CNE ephemera, artifacts, primarily, crests, badges and ribbons awarded to competitors, and scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings of CNE sporting events.

The fonds is organized into eight series: Sports Managers Files - George N. Duthie, RG 7-0-1; Sports Managers Files - Gordon R. Walker, RG 7-0-2; Sports Managers Files - Douglas J. Gerrard, RG 7-0-3; Sports Managers Files - Patrick M. Martin, RG 7-0-4; Sports Coordinators Files, RG 7-0-5; Sport Administration Files - Bill Leveridge, RG 7-0-6; Waterfront Sports Maps, RG 7-0-7; Sports Scrapbooks, RG 7-0-8.

Series RG 7-0-2 is further arranged into sub-series, as is series RG 7-0-6. The original order in which the files were maintained has been preserved, except in the case of series RG 7-0-7 in which no discernible original order existed. In this case, a logical arrangement was imposed on the maps comprising the series.

George Duthie's records prior to 1962 are missing with the exception of the marathon or Pro-Swim records, which cover 1927 to 1963. His records from 1964 until his death in 1968 are also missing. The CNE has no accessions for Kenneth Twigg, but some of his records can be found in the Sports Coordinators files and the files of Gordon Walker, especially in the sub-series containing Walker's Stadium files.

Gordon Walker resigned in early 1977 and Doug Gerrard was not appointed until June 20, 1977. Gerrard appears to have used Walker's files for the brief period spanning his appointment to the end of the 1977 CNE. As a result, Walker's materials also contain some of Gerrard's records.

Sports Department
ON00421 C 32 · Collection · 1971-1978

The collection consists of photographic negatives and transparencies documenting various trade shows held at Exhibition Place and associated events held at other locations, such as publicity photo shoots and galas. Included are images of the Boat Show, the Canadian National Business Show, the Flower Show, the National Home Show, the International Electric and Electronic Conference and Exposition, the Manufacturers’ Opportunity Show, the Canadian National Pool and Patio Show, and the Sportsmen Show. Photographs depict crowds walking through the shows; performances, ceremonies and competitions that were held at the shows; models and notable personalities; exhibitor booths; show signs displayed on the exterior of the buildings where the shows were held; and various displays of items and events relevant to each show. Also included are portraits of William Mallatratt (Chief General Manager of Exhibition Place from 1976-1981), his house and his retirement party (before he became Chief General Manager), which took place during the Home Show of 1976.

Photographs were arranged by the creator alphabetically by show name. This arrangement was maintained and, where necessary, some refiling was done. The files in this collection consist of negatives and transparencies that were kept together in labelled envelopes containing between 2 and 200 photographs. This file structure has been kept, although the negatives and transparencies have been rehoused in new envelopes. The titles written on the original envelopes have been transcribed and recorded in a note in each file’s description; however, descriptive titles have been supplied as the file titles if the original titles were not complete or correct. Many photographs are labelled with numbers used by the creator to maintain control over the negatives. These creator numbers, when they exist, have been recorded in the alpha-numeric designations note for each file.