Narrow Results By
Interview with Ron Baker by Kathy Bossort November 27, 2015 - Track 6
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory640
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1950-2015
- Length
- 0:10:17
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Dr. Ron Baker’s discussion about the choice of branding SFU the “engaged” university at the time of its 50th Anniversary, and the need for university Presidents to fund raise. He talks about the relationship between UBC and SFU, and the reasons for hostility t…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Dr. Ron Baker’s discussion about the choice of branding SFU the “engaged” university at the time of its 50th Anniversary, and the need for university Presidents to fund raise. He talks about the relationship between UBC and SFU, and the reasons for hostility towards UBC in the 1950s, especially from interior BC communities.
- Date Range
- 1950-2015
- Length
- 0:10:17
- 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 six of interview with Dr. Ron Baker
Track six of interview with Dr. Ron Baker
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS196-013/MSS196-013_Track_6.mp3Burnaby Mountain sod turning
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription11934
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- October 7, 1957 (date of original), digitized in 2020
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Film and Video collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 film reel (1 min., 22 sec.) : acetate, b&w, silent ; 16 mm
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a silent CBUT News item from October 7, 1957 titled "Burnaby Mountain Sod Turning". The film documents the memorable occasion of the Burnaby Mountain Centennial Project with Lieutenant Governor Frank M. Ross providing a brief address to the attendees before taking a shovel to turn…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Film and Video collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 film reel (1 min., 22 sec.) : acetate, b&w, silent ; 16 mm
- Material Details
- Label around film container reads: "CBUT NEWS ITEM of October 7, 1957 "BURNABY MOUNTAIN SOD TURNING" ( Duncan) on permanent loan to Burnaby Centennial Comm."
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a silent CBUT News item from October 7, 1957 titled "Burnaby Mountain Sod Turning". The film documents the memorable occasion of the Burnaby Mountain Centennial Project with Lieutenant Governor Frank M. Ross providing a brief address to the attendees before taking a shovel to turn the sod. Other attendees identified include, Councillor Sam Hughes of the Centennial Committee and British Columbia Recreation Minister, Honourable Earl C. Westwood. This event marks the development of a portion of Burnaby Mountain park including the erection of a Centennial building which opened in 1958. The film footage captures views of Burrard Inlet from the mountain top as well as newly erected roads on Burnaby mountain. According to the Burnaby Adverstiser (Vol. 25 No. 27 - October 10, 1957 p.1), Lieutenant Governor Frank M. Ross provided a brief address for the sod turning ceremony which is quoted; "What Burnaby has undertaken is not merely to celebrate the Centennial observance, but it has started something which will last down through the years and provide a lot of pleasure for future generations."
- History
- This event marks the beginning of a Centennial project to develop a park and erect a pavillion as part of the British Columbia Centennial in 1958. In October 1956, a Burnaby Centennial Committee was appointed to govern over the project with the Reeve and Council at the head of the committee. Councillor S.E. Hughes was appointed as Chairman and W.M. Morrison as Vice Chairman with the organizational structure to include the provision for Honorary Vice Chairman, secretary, treasurer, advisory staff and representative delegates from community groups and working committees. In September 1957, the Centennial Committee submitted detailed plans for a proposed building to be located on the Centennial site on Burnaby Mountain together with a recommendation to create a Building Committee as part of the Centennial Committee. In November 1957, the Burnaby Centennial Committee recommended that the new road from Badger Street and Hastings Street to the Burnaby Mountain site be named Centennial Way. January 1958, councillors Mather and Jamieson were appointed to the committee by council to replace former council members that were no longer in office. Councillor Mather was appointed as Vice Chairman. CBUT station was owned by CBC and was first broadcast on December 16, 1953. "In 1975, the CBC consolidated its Vancouver radio and television operations into one building. Prior to this, CBC's Vancouver radio properties – CBU (690 AM), CBU-FM (105.7) and CBUF-FM (97.7) – had operated from a separate studio facility at 701 Hornby Street, within the basement of the Hotel Vancouver. Together, those stations formed the basis of the Regional Broadcast Centre at 700 Hamilton Street, a few blocks east of its previous radio and television facilities.
- Responsibility
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
- Accession Code
- HV971.30.2
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- October 7, 1957 (date of original), digitized in 2020
- Media Type
- Moving Images
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Copyright is held by CBC
Images
Video
Burnaby Mountain sod turning, October 7, 1957 (date of original), digitized in 2020
Burnaby Mountain sod turning, October 7, 1957 (date of original), digitized in 2020
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Moving_Images/1971_0030_0002_001.mp4Interview with Aili Topalian by Eric Damer October 11, 2012 - Track 4
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory422
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1937-1979
- Length
- 0:10:15
- Summary
- This portion of the recording pertains to Aili (Rintanen) Topalian's memories of her early life in Burnaby. Aili discusses family friends, Maplewood flats in North Vancovuer, the waterfront at Burrard Inlet, owning Bantam Roosters and an Alsatian dog. She mentions some of the more challenging aspec…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the recording pertains to Aili (Rintanen) Topalian's memories of her early life in Burnaby. Aili discusses family friends, Maplewood flats in North Vancovuer, the waterfront at Burrard Inlet, owning Bantam Roosters and an Alsatian dog. She mentions some of the more challenging aspects of Crabtown.
- Date Range
- 1937-1979
- Photo Info
- Aili Rintanen (later Topalian) holding cat, next to her sister who has a rooster in her arms, [1937]. Item no. 337-003.
- Length
- 0:10:15
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Interviewer
- Damer, Eric
- Interview Date
- October 11, 2012
- Scope and Content
- Recording is an interview with Aili (Rintanen) Topalian conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, October 11, 2012. Major theme discussed: growing up in Crabtown.
- Biographical Notes
- Aili Rintanen (later Topalian) came to British Columbia in 1936 from a homestead near Burnt Lake, Alberta. After a few months in Vancouver and then a Burnaby apartment, the Rintanens moved to a house on the Burrard Inlet. The family lived over the water, in a house built on a deck, secured to the top of pilings that were sunk deep into the sand. Aili's mother Aune Rintanen found work at a fish and chip shop in downtown Vancouver and her father Gus Rintanen worked in a nearby mill. Aili and her sister Trudi (later Tuomi), attended school in Burnaby. For nine years the Rintanens created a home for themselves in an area now called Crabtown, although no one living there called it that.
- Total Tracks
- 4
- Total Length
- 0:39:00
- Interviewee Name
- Topalian, Aili Rintanen
- Interview Location
- Interviewee's residence
- Interviewer Bio
- Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed master’s and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. In 2012, Eric worked for the City of Burnaby as a field researcher and writer, conducting interviews for the City Archives and Museum Oral History Program.
- Collection/Fonds
- Community Heritage Commission Special Projects fonds
- Transcript Available
- None
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
Images
Audio Tracks
Track four of recording of interview with Aili Topalian
Track four of recording of interview with Aili Topalian
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS171-028/MSS171-028_Track_4.mp3