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Interview with Ron Baker by Kathy Bossort November 27, 2015 - Track 4
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory638
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1963-1970
- Length
- 0:11:00
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Dr. Ron Baker talking about Dr. Shrum’s attraction to the mountain top as site for university and his grand ideas for the university, including scholarships for an athletic program. He also talks about how original SFU faculty was more West Point Grey centered…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Dr. Ron Baker talking about Dr. Shrum’s attraction to the mountain top as site for university and his grand ideas for the university, including scholarships for an athletic program. He also talks about how original SFU faculty was more West Point Grey centered and preferred to commute from the North shore, and how this changed for new faculty who settled in Burnaby and Coquitlam.
- Date Range
- 1963-1970
- Length
- 0:11:00
- Subjects
- Academic Disciplines
- Planning
- Transportation
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
- Interviewer
- Bossort, Kathy
- Interview Date
- November 27, 2015
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of an interview with Dr. Ronald James Baker conducted by Kathy Bossort. Ron Baker was one of 23 participants interviewed as part of the Community Heritage Commission’s Burnaby Mountain Oral History Project. The interview is mainly about the founding of Simon Fraser University from the perspective of SFU’s first faculty member and Director of Academic Planning, Ron Baker. Ron Baker talks about John B. Macdonald’s report on higher education in BC (1962) and how it lead to the provincial government’s decision to establish a new university and to put it in the Burnaby area. He tells stories about how the site on Burnaby Mountain was chosen; about the building of the campus; and about the challenges of planning the academic structure of the university. He also talks about the attraction of creating with little interference an institution trying out new ideas and tells stories about his working relationship with Gordon Shrum. He considers the problems created by building universities in out of the way places and the ideas such as UniverCity for dealing with SFU’s isolation.
- Biographical Notes
- Ron Baker was born in London, England, in 1924, and served in the Royal Air Force during WW2. He emigrated to Canada in 1947 and studied at UBC where he obtained a BA degree (1951) and MA degree (1953) in English Language and Literature. He served on the faculty of the UBC English Department beginning as a lecturer in 1951 and advanced to positions of Assistant Professor (1958-63) and Associate Professor (1963-65). He was a contributor to John B. Macdonald’s 1962 report “Higher Education in British Columbia and a Plan for the Future”, and continued to make significant contributions to the establishment of the community college system in Canada throughout his career. In 1963 the newly established Simon Fraser University hired Ron as its first Director of Academic Planning, serving also as first head of SFU’s English Department. In 1969 Ron left SFU to become the first President of the University of Prince Edward Island, a position he held until 1978. In 1978 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to higher education. Ron has contributed to many organizations, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, on Canada Council, and as President of Association of Atlantic Universities and the Association of Canadian University Teachers of English. In 1990 Ron Baker was asked by the government of BC to prepare a preliminary report on the establishment of the future UNBC in Prince George. Now retired Ron Baker lives in the Edmonds area of Burnaby.
- Total Tracks
- 7
- Total Length
- 1:33:46
- Interviewee Name
- Baker, Ronald J. "Ron"
- Interview Location
- Ron Baker's home in Burnaby
- Interviewer Bio
- Kathy Bossort is a retired archivist living in Ladner, BC. She worked at the Delta Museum and Archives after graduating from SLAIS (UBC) in 2001 with Masters degrees in library science and archival studies. Kathy grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and, prior to this career change, she lived in the West Kootenays, earning her living as a cook for BC tourist lodges and work camps. She continues to be interested in oral histories as a way to fill the gaps in the written record and bring richer meaning to history.
- Collection/Fonds
- Community Heritage Commission Special Projects fonds
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
Audio Tracks
Track four of interview with Dr. Ron Baker
Track four of interview with Dr. Ron Baker
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS196-013/MSS196-013_Track_4.mp3Cecil Lee business records series
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15033
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1970-1980, predominant 1970-1979
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Series
- Physical Description
- 12 cm of textual records + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of business records collected and created by Cecil Lee while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chinese mandarin oranges. Records include correspondence, photographs, documentation regarding …
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Series
- Physical Description
- 12 cm of textual records + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of business records collected and created by Cecil Lee while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chinese mandarin oranges. Records include correspondence, photographs, documentation regarding travel within China along with export and import information, contracts, financial reports, credit applications, Chinese trade fair information and ephemera.
- History
- Kelly Douglas and Company Limited was founded in 1896 as a wholesale grocery business. In 1946, its headquarters moved from Vancouver to Burnaby and a manufacturing plant and warehouse were built on the site at 4700 Kingsway. During the nineteen seventies, Kelly Douglas and Company Limited and the Produce Department of Western Commodities Limited were located on this site. In 1986, the building was demolished and the produce department of Kelly Douglas was relocated to 6451 Telford Burnaby and the head office to 808 Nelson Street, Vancouver. In the nineteen seventies, Cecil Lee worked as a produce buyer for Kelly Douglas & Company Ltd.and Western Commodities. In the mid-1970s, Lee was asked to oversee the import of Chinese mandarin oranges into Canada. Until that time, mandarin oranges had come from Japan and were sold in the winter, especially at Christmas. When the Japanese market could no longer keep up with demand, Kelly Douglas & Company looked to China. The company relied on Lee’s cultural knowledge to build this very profitable part of their business. Cecil Lee designed the cardboard Chinese mandarin orange box to replace wooden container
- Subjects
- Foods
- Agriculture - Fruit and Berries
- Accession Code
- BV019.6
- Access Restriction
- Subject to FIPPA
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproductions subject to FIPPA
- Date
- 1970-1980, predominant 1970-1979
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of series
- A large portion of these records are subject to FIPPA, contact Burnaby Village Museum for access