Archives and Special Collections at the U of M Libraries acquired three significant additions to its holdings of historical collections documenting the people and history of Manitoba and the Prairies:
- More than a dozen carte-de-visite photographs and
other related material documenting the 1885 North West Rebellion were
acquired from U of M graduate Ken Hayes. The photographs include a
portrait of Gabriel Dumont, the leader of Louis Riel's armed forces during
the Rebellion; and photographs of the Regina courthouse, jail and police
barracks where Riel was imprisoned, tried and executed.
- Through a Montréal bookdealer, Warren Barker, 17 letters were
acquired which were written by the Reverend Henry Budd, the first ordained
native minister in the Church of England in North America, to his
superior, the Reverend John Smithurst, from 1841 to 1851. These letters,
written by Budd at The Pas and Cumberland House, provide a wealth of
information on the activities at these church mission stations.
- One of the Archives' most extensive and historically valuable collections is the papers of former U of M chancellor and Winnipeg Free Press editor, John W. Dafoe. The collection was greatly enhanced by a donation from his grandson, Christopher Dafoe, of over 300 never-before-seen letters written by John Dafoe to his wife, Alice, over a period of 30 years, from 1909 to 1940. The letters include some he wrote while attending the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and the 1920 Imperial Press Conference.
