Fonds 96 - Mac Smee fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Mac Smee fonds

General material designation

  • Graphic material

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Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

96

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1941-1942 (Creation)
    Creator
    Smee, Horace Herbert (Mac)

Physical description area

Physical description

150 photographs : b&w negative
131 photographs : b&w print

Publisher's series area

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(April 22, 1922-August 6, 1995)

Biographical history

Horace Herbert (Mac) Smee was born on April 22, 1922 in Edmonton, Alberta. He married Joan Eilleen Smee (also of Edmonton) in Fairview, Alberta. They had two sons, Barry Smee and Martin Smee.

In 1941, he began working for the Northern Transportation Company as a chief steward and was sent to the Northwest Territories. His first job was to paint the S.S. "Mackenzie River" in Fort Smith, which he then rode up the Mackenzie River as far as the Mackenzie Delta. On his return to Fort Smith, he was transferred to the S.S. "Distributor" and made two trips on this vessel. The first trip he acted as steward to Margaret White. After his service with the Northern Transportation Company, he returned to Edmonton and joined the Air Force, which he left in 1943.

The Smees moved to Prince George, British Columbia, where Mac Smee operated two independent theatres, before moving to Vancouver in 1947. In Vancouver, Smee managed movie theatres including the Strand, Orpheum, Victoria Road Theatre, and the Regent. He served as the Secretary of the Famous Players Theatre Managers Association of BC.

Around 1954, the Smees moved back to Edmonton. Mac Smee joined the Hudson Bay Company, where he worked until retiring in 1982. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Mac, Joan and Martin Smee operated a family business, The Plate Connection, an award-winning collectors’ plate and doll supplier.

Smee died on August 6th, 1995 in Edmonton.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The photographs in this fonds document multiple trips down the Mackenzie River (Dehcho) on both the S.S. Mackenzie River and the S.S. Distributor. The images document the communities visited along the river, and in particular the barge supply route for the Canol Project from Waterways (Alberta) to Norman Wells (NWT) and members of the United States Army 388th Engineer Battalion working on the pipeline project.

Notes area

Physical condition

Arrangement

Some photographs were received as part of a scrapbook, while others arrived loose in envelopes. Items 0001 through 0052 have been kept in the order they arrived in the scrapbook. Archivists have rearranged items 0053 through 0163 to follow Mac Smee’s journeys from Fort Smith to Tuktoyaktuk. These photographs were taken on multiple journeys down the river. They have been consolidated and arranged geographically to represent one journey.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Of the 150 negatives and 131 prints, 118 have corresponding negatives or prints within this collection. There are 13 prints with no corresponding negatives, and 32 negatives with no corresponding prints.

Restrictions on access

No access restrictions.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

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Related materials

Accruals

Rights

No copyright restrictions. Photographs are in the public domain.

Alternative identifier(s)

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Standard number

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Description record identifier

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Rules or conventions

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

  • Latin

Sources

Acquisition area