BU archivist shines spotlight on the work of Brandonites in documentary
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/05/2018 (2877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A longtime archivist at Brandon University is set to debut a documentary on the work of well-known Brandonites this weekend at the Evans Theatre.
Tom Mitchell, archivist emeritus at BU, will screen his latest five-part series, “In the Archives,” on Saturday after spending nearly half a year researching, filming and producing the documentary for public audiences.
Each episode is based on material stored at the S.J. McKee Archives at BU and the Daly House Museum, including pictures of Baldur in 1900, J.D. McGregor’s photos of the Yukon gold rush in the late 1980s, as well as a collection of images of the Strand Theatre during the Second World War.
Underlying the historical theme of the documentary, Mitchell’s aim is also to teach the viewer something about archiving itself.
“I’ve always wanted to … get people to understand that archives are important,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell, a former history teacher at École secondaire Neelin High School, joined BU in 1980 and the university archives in 1996, teaching courses in Canadian history throughout his time there. He retired in 2011 and has been an archivist emeritus at BU since 2012.
Mitchell has been published in several journals and books and has produced four previous documentaries, each focusing on a pivotal moment in Brandon’s history.
With “In the Archives,” Mitchell hones in on the work of Millwood photographer Edward Walker and his use of glass plate negatives, the nostalgia present in Lawrence Stuckey’s photos of the prairie landscape, and how Brandonites experienced the Second World War from home at the Strand Theatre.
At only eight to 10 minutes an episode, the process was different for Mitchell compared to his previous documentaries, but he said it allowed him to be more selective of the material he wanted to use.
The hard part came in trying to create a narrative arc to each episode and giving the audience a sense that the story was heading in the right direction.
The hope with “In the Archives” is that it will not only shine a light on the cultural fabric of Manitoba, he said, but also expose more people to public history and the work of archivists.
“A lot of the time, people think a piece of paper is a piece of paper, a photo is a photo,” Mitchell said. “But a lot of what archivists do is figuring out what you’re looking at and why it has archival value.”
All five episodes will be shown at the Evans Theatre on June 2 starting at 2 p.m. Entry is by donation.
The documentary will also be available for subscribers to Bell MTS through Stories From Home.
» mlee@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @mtaylorlee