A while back, the museum received an email
from Mr. B. Peabody, of Minsterly, Shropshire, United Kingdom requesting
information on a Miss Fraser, whom he believed was a teacher in Kimberley in
the early 1930s.
Mr. Peabody had purchased a trunk at an
auction near his home in the U.K., and in this trunk he had found a woman's photo
album documenting two years of her life spent in Kimberley, BC and then the remainder in the Victoria, BC area.
A search through our Museum's archived local newspaper from that era DID, in fact, turn up references to teacher Miss Barbara Fraser. The first
mention of her is found on page 3 of the 5 February 1931 edition of the Kimberley Press announcing
that Miss Fraser was training 3 school choirs "with a view to having them compete
in the musical festival" to be held in Cranbrook.
This May (2012), Mr.
Peabody kindly mailed the album to us here at the Kimberley Heritage Museum, having not been able to find any others to give the album.
How Barbara Fraser's photo album came to be in a trunk in the United Kingdom is still a mystery.
All we know of her is from a few references
in the Kimberley Press, some articles in the Kimberley School's Grade 8 Annual, called
"The Miner", and the photos in this album, ... the photo album of Miss
Barbara H. Fraser.
Oh yes. I also found her listed as a "Normal Graduate" in the membership list from September 1930 issue of the newsletter of the British Columbia Teacher's Federation.
Oh yes. I also found her listed as a "Normal Graduate" in the membership list from September 1930 issue of the newsletter of the British Columbia Teacher's Federation.
From the outside, the album is
unremarkable except that it is in very good shape - aside from the usual mouldy smell. This album style is typical of many made in the early 30s - brown leather with
string binding so you could add more pages - but inside are snippets from an unknown
life.
The photo album of Miss Barbara H. Fraser has arrived at the Museum. |
Her photo album begins with a few postcards
of her new community, Kimberley, BC where, we assume, she came to teach
elementary school, and possibly boarded with Mrs. Parsons and her son, Joe.
West end of Platzl parking lot ca early 1930s |
In the early 1930s, the Platzl parking lot
was the site of a few houses. The three houses in the foreground, one dark and
two lighter-coloured, are near where the Visitor Info Centre is now. Perhaps these houses were washed away in the Mark Creek flood of 1948!? Across from
these then across the railroad tracks - which used to run through the
centre of town - are the 3 little houses on Spokane Street which are still there, the middle one being
the current Snowdrift Cafe.
Miss Fraser liked to explore the local
wilderness areas with friends. Here they are at a cabin at the Kootenay King
gold mine up the Wildhorse.
Here is Miss Fraser with her Grade 1 and 2
pupils in their class photo in front of Kimberley Public School, aka Central
School, in the 1931-32 school year.
The next school year, it appears she
taught the Grade 5s. She also taught music and choir and entered her students in
the second annual East Kootenay Musical Festival, in Cranbrook.
The Music Festival
From the "The Miner",
the 1931-1932 Kimberley Central School
Grade VIII Annual
The second annual East Kootenay Musical
Festival was held in the Cranbrook Auditorium, April 2, 22, and 23. The
contestants of Grades VII and VIII who competed in the piano solos and duets were: Velma
Coulter, Dorothy Lloyd, Geva Bennet, Jennie Pearson and Elvira Norlund.
Archie Tait, Patricia Nesbitt, Billy
Richardson and Peter Gallpen sang. Peter and Billy were successful in bringing
home prizes.
Vivien Norton was the only one who tried in
the violin solo.
...
Our only representatives in the Kimberley
band are George Foster and Earnest Walker and Joe Parsons.
There were three choirs entered under the
leadership of Miss Fraser, Grades I, II, and III, and VII and VIII, lost
against Cranbrook. ...
Choir members from Grade VII were Irene
Paquette, Ida Beauregard, Barbara MacKay, Bessie McLaren, Annie Johnson, Isabel
Crowe, Evelyn Blayney, Helen Plant, Anna Williams, Jennie Pearson, Irene
Boardman, Christina Orr, Betty Davis, Christina Miller, Eileen Thomson, and
Jean Meadows. ...
In Kimberley we have a great pianist, Miss
Fraser, who won the championship at Cranbrook, and received 93, the highest
marks in the whole festival. She could not be criticized. The school is fortunate to have such an
artist in its midst.
_______________________________________________________________
She must have loved music herself, being an
accomplished pianist. In fact, she won the Instrumental Soloist Cup.
Miss Fraser felt strongly about music
education in schools and its benefits as she wrote in this article in the
School Annual:
Music in School
also from "The Miner "
The Musical Festival has come and gone for
another year and I am sure all those who took part in it are glad that they did
so. This is the second year that our school has taken part in the festival.
Judging by the enthusiasm that was shown by the pupils participating, there
should be little difficulty next year in bringing home more honors to our
school. The choirs are to be congratulated on doing as well, both this year and
last.
While Kimberley seems to be a city chiefly
of athletes, there are also those who can enjoy sportsmanship along an artistic
line, and the school choirs and orchestra are for the pleasure of these people.
It is to be hoped that with continued training and practice the Kimberley
Schools will be known for efficiency in both art and sport.
Music is often considered an unnecessary
part of children's education. Since the invention of the radio and
"talkies", however, music is becoming more a part of our daily
activities, just as much as reading and writing. It is only natural then that
music should be taking its place in the studies of the child. Many seem to think that music is being
introduced at the expense of other subjects but it has been found that training
in music has in many cases aided a pupil at his other studies. It is with this
in mind that I hope the pupils of Kimberley Public School will have an
opportunity to continue their work in music as they have done in the past two
years.
By Barbara Fraser
____________________________________________________________________________________
The next chapter of her photo album begins after the photo of the Cup trophy. It appears she moved to the Victoria, BC area. The next few photos are of her with fellow choristers of 'The Cecilian Singers' in 1936 and 1937,
and in the Victoria Ladies Choir. Perhaps her love of music was part of her decision to move to a larger centre, or perhaps she wanted to be close to her parents; most of the remaining photos are of her and
likely her parents and their friends on various junkets to Prince Rupert,
Vancouver, and the Gulf Islands.
The last few photos may indicate she taught at
the George Jay School in Victoria from the mid 1930s to some time in the 1940s.
George Jay School, Princess Ave., Victoria - from Miss Fraser's Album. |
That school is still there, still used as a school, and the exterior looks much
the same as it did in Miss Fraser's photos.
The last photo in her album shows people posing at the entrance to George Jay - the staff that she worked with from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s, perhaps?
If you have any information on teacher Miss Barbara H. Fraser, we would love to hear about it.
Dianne Cooper, volunteer
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