Ada Cavendish
Ada Cavendish in an unidentified role
A famous actress of her time (1939-1895), Cavendish was known for playing Mercy Merrick in New Magdalen and Mrs. Darlington in For Love or Money, among many others. She performed and produced in the UK and toured in America, notably brining the plays of Wilkie Collins to popularity the States.
Luther McCarty
Photo taken shortly before death, May 24, 1913
McCarty was a champion American boxer who died during a match against Canadian Arthur Pelkey in Calgary in 1913. The fate of the event influenced boxing in Alberta, although it was later determined that McCarty died as a result of other causes.
Or collections include a potentially distressing photo of McCarthy, depicting men trying to revive him after his collapse. Accounts of this final fight, and the repercussions, can also be found by searching for the boxer in various newspaper articles of the BC Historical Newspapers collection.
Newspaper coverage, following fight
Laura Holland
An undated photo of Holland
Laura was awarded the Royal Red Cross medal for her work as a nurse serving the Canadian Army Medical Corps in both France and Greece from 1915-1918. Her legacy shaped children and social welfare for British Columbia. She worked to implement the Infants Act, the Adoption Act, and the Children of Unmarried Parents Act. In 1933, she became the Deputy Superintendent of Child Welfare for the province, and in 1938 the Advisor to the Minister of Health and Welfare on Social Welfare Policy position was created specifically for her.
The Laura Holland fonds were recently digitized as part of the History of Nursing in Pacific Canada collection.
Sir Tyrone Guthrie
Theatre summer school, 1955
A well-known figure in theatre around the world, Sir Guthrie pioneered radio play broadcasts for the BBC and gained fame as a stage director across the UK, including a stint as the resident producer-director at the Old Vic. After leaving the UK, he helped develop the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Laura Glenn
Switzerland, 1947
Nearly 300 images can be seen thanks to the digitized album of Laura Glenn, a chairwoman of the Canadian Red Cross Corps in Windsor, Ontario and member of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Glenn’s photos largely cover her time in Europe between 1940 and 1950, including bombed-out city views and the War Court trials in Hamburg, military events, social outings, and travels and historic sites.
David Conde
Ex.1464-1500. Treatment of prisoners of war
A Canadian born in Ontario, Conde became a U.S. citizen and gained attention as the head of the Motion Picture Department of the Civil Information and Education Section in 1945-1946. He also was known for covering the Tokyo War Crimes Trials from 1946-1947. The collection includes records from the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (1946-47) from Conde’s own research notes to photographs, ephemera and trial transcripts. Some materials are available through our digital collections, but the full fonds is in UBC’s Rare Books and Special Collections.
“Allen Sillas Wilmot and Mary Corburt”
A group portrait, presumably between 1870 and 1880
And, finally, there’s one group that’s definitely peaked our interest, and we wish we knew more about them. The album [Jock Taylor’s Travels] is believed to depict the adventures of the HMS Zealous, including this photo captioned as “Allen Sillas Wilmot and Mary Corburt.” They’re a rather smiley crew for the period. But who were they? Not all that hair is real, right? And what’s with the poses? And, most pressingly, what do the two hand signals mean?
