Group standing out of doors showing their accomplishments in dressmaking, "Achievement Day". [Farm Girls Homecraft Club]?

Group standing out of doors, showing their accomplishments in dressmaking, "Achievement Day". Building in the background with an open door. [Farm Girls Homecraft Club]?

Group photo of girls kneeling and standing. [Farm Girls Homecraft Club]?

Group of six girls standing, holding and showing their record books and work bags. Shingled building in the background. [Farm Girls Homecraft Club]?

Thoroughbred stallion being held with a halter; shrubbery in background. Winter scene.

Bio/Historical Note: By 1910, 19 horses had been purchased by the College of Agriculture that were good work horses or suitable for student class work. Two were purebred Clydesdales. Three light horses were also purchased. One named Barney was used in the morning to deliver milk to faculty in Nutana and in the afternoon on the buggy as Dean Rutherford made his farm rounds. In 1920 the Province asked the Animal Husbandry Department to establish a Clydesdale breeding stud. This led to development of an outstanding collection of prize winning horses that became a focus of the Department. In the 1920s the Percheron and Belgian breeders also demanded support for their breeds and so they were included in the university stud and some cross breeding was undertaken. The campus horses were used for field work for all Departments, general hauling and site work for new buildings. An unofficial use was for the Lady Godiva ride across campus each fall. By the 1940s it was clear that the era of horses as a main source of farm power was over. The final stallion used in the breeding program was the imported "Windlaw Proprietor," grand champion stallion at the 1946 Royal Winter Fair.

W.J. Rae examining a dressed "Bronze" turkey.

Bio/Historical Note: Wilfrid John Rae was professor and head, Department of Poultry Science, between 1929 and 1966.

Image of Dr. Ansten Anstenson, head, Department of Germanic Languages.

Bio/Historical Note: Ansten Anstensen was born near Skien, Norway, the home of Norway's famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen. He served as Acting Lieutenant-Commander, RCNVR/Naval Control Boarding Service, in recognition of his development of strategies for expediting maritime shipping as part of the war effort. He also worked with the Norwegian Resistance in England, interviewing sailors and survivors, and conferring with King George VI. He was later named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Edna Anstensen (d. 1971), Ansten’s wife, compiled, with Fife, A Summary of Reports on the Modern Foreign Language, published in 1931. Edna Anstensen was Secretary to the Commander of Norwegian Forces in Halifax, Nova Scotia during World War II. Dr. Anstensen's doctoral dissertation at Columbia University was published as The Proverb of Ibsen. As a young teacher at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, he was one of the original translators of Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. The effort involved translating proverbs and folk expressions into English, where there often were not obvious equivalents. Dr. Anstensen founded the German Department at the University of Saskatchewan. With this background of both husband and wife, Dr. Anstensen served with the British High Commission for Germany, reviewing revisions in Germany University education in the immediate post war, post Nazi period. Dr. Anstensen was briefly a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations 15th Session, beginning in September 1960 until the fall of the government in Ottawa. Dr. Anstensen, in the name of his only child, Linda Anstensen (1935-2007), founded a bursary at the University of Saskatchewan to provide funds for a needy student of the German language. Dr. Anstensen died in Saskatoon in 1981.

Head and shoulders of William G. Sullivan, Professor and Head of Classics, 1919-1946.

Bio/Historical Note: William Godfrey Sullivan was born in 1879 in County Cork, Ireland. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, with two gold medals for academic excellence. After teaching in Ireland for five years, Sullivan joined the University of Saskatchewan as professor and head of the Department of Classics from 1911 to 1946. Sullivan also served more than once as chairman of the faculty and as acting dean of Arts and Science. He retired in 1946. Sullivan died in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1951.

Five different images of W.P. Thompson, third University President. Three portraits and two images of him sitting at a desk with a microscope, one with a pipe in his mouth.

Bio/Historical Note: Walter Palmer Thompson was born 3 April 1889 near Decewsville, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA (1910), and from Harvard with an AM (1912) and PhD (1914). Thompson came to the University of Saskatchewan as professor and head of the Biology Department in 1913. He was an important figure at the university for the next fifty years. Thompson served in a variety of administrative positions: dean of Junior Colleges (1934); dean of Arts and Sciences (1938); acting president (1942); director of Summer School (1948); and president of the University (1949). Dr. Thompson retired in 1959 and became President Emeritus. During his academic career Thompson gained international recognition for his work as a geneticist, particularly for the development of rust resistant wheat hybrids. The W.P. Thompson Biology Building, opened in 1960, was named in his honour. Upon his retirement as president Thompson was appointed chairman of the Advisory Committee on Medical Care. The recommendations of this committee were an important foundation for the provincial Medicare system. In 1967 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the first to receive this award. He was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws degree in 1960 by the U of S. Walter Thompson died in Toronto in 1970.

Head and shoulders image of Roy A. Spencer, College of Engineering, 1921-1954.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Roy Aubrey Spencer was born in 1889 in Port Morien, Nova Scotia. He came to the University of Saskatchewan from Dalhousie University in 1921 and served as assistant professor of Civil Engineering. Dr. Spencer married Marguerita MacQuarrie in 1922 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He was appointed dean of Engineering in 1944 and retired in 1953. He also served in the University Senate from 1942-1954. Roy Spencer died in 1967 in Saskatoon. Spencer Crescent, Lane, Place and Way in the Silverwood neighborhood are named for the Spencers.

Bio/Historical Note: Born into the large musical McQuarrie family of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1892, Marguerita (Rita) Spencer studied piano, organ and cello at Halifax Ladies’ College and at McGill University. From 1918-1921 she trained as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. In 1922 Rita married Dr. Roy Spencer; they moved to Saskatoon, where he taught engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. During World War I she accompanied silent movies; she also played troop concerts then and during World War II. She continued her studies in Saskatoon under Helen Davies Sherry, Lyell Gustin, and others. She performed on a weekly CBC program and with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and headed the Saskatoon Women’s Musical Club and the Musical Arts Club. Of Rita's nearly forty compositions, she is best known for Prairie Suite No. 1 and 24 Preludes; but many of them appeared on music festival programs and conservatory exams throughout Canada. Partly blind in old age, Rita used a tape recorder and transcriber. She received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal and recognition in international music sources. Rita Spencer died in 1993 in Saskatoon at age 100.

Eight students putting together a stage set.

Head and shoulders of W.P. Thompson, third University President, wearing an academic gown.

Bio/Historical Note: Walter Palmer Thompson was born 3 April 1889 near Decewsville, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA (1910), and from Harvard with an AM (1912) and PhD (1914). Thompson came to the University of Saskatchewan as professor and head of the Biology Department in 1913. He was an important figure at the university for the next fifty years. Thompson served in a variety of administrative positions: dean of Junior Colleges (1934); dean of Arts and Sciences (1938); acting president (1942); director of Summer School (1948); and president of the University (1949). Dr. Thompson retired in 1959 and became President Emeritus. During his academic career Thompson gained international recognition for his work as a geneticist, particularly for the development of rust resistant wheat hybrids. The W.P. Thompson Biology Building, opened in 1960, was named in his honour. Upon his retirement as president Thompson was appointed chairman of the Advisory Committee on Medical Care. The recommendations of this committee were an important foundation for the provincial Medicare system. In 1967 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the first to receive this award. He was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws degree in 1960 by the U of S. Walter Thompson died in Toronto in 1970.

Head and shoulders image of Frank H. Underhill, Department of History, 1914-1927.

Bio/Historical Note: Frank Hawkins Underhill was born in 1889 in Stouffville, Ontario, He was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford where he was a member of the Fabian Society. He was influenced by social and political critics such as Bernard Shaw and Goldwin Smith. Underhilln taught history at the University of Saskatchewan from 1914 until 1927 with a long interruption during World War I during which he served as an officer in the Hertfordshire Regiment of the British Army on the Western Front. He also taught from 1927 until 1955 at the U of T. He left there due to a dispute with the administration and later joined the faculty at Carleton University. During the Great Depression, Underhill joined several other left wing academics in forming the League for Social Reconstruction. He was also a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and helped write its Regina Manifesto in 1933. Underhill joined the editorial staff of the leftist Canadian Forum in 1927 where he wrote a column of political commentary called "O Canada" from 1929 on and served for a time as chair of that journal's editorial board. Despite these progressive leanings, Underhill had a conservative view of the historical profession and impeded the careers of several women historians. During World War II, Underhill moved away from socialism and became a left-wing liberal continentalist. He remained a committed anti-imperialist and was almost dismissed from the U of T in 1941 for suggesting that Canada would drift away from the British Empire and draw closer to the United States. Underhill’s struggle with the university became a landmark in the history of academic freedom in Canada. Underhill's most important writings are collected in the 1960 book of essays, In Search of Canadian Liberalism. In the essays Underhill covered many Canadian concerns such as politics before and after the Canadian Confederation, relations with the United States and Britain and assessments of the actions of Canadian public figures. Underhill's other notable works include Canadian Political Parties, 1957; The Image of Confederation, 1964; and Upper Canadian Politics in the 1850s, 1967. Underhill was a strong supporter of the United States during the Cold War. He also became a supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada, particularly once his long-time friend, Lester Pearson joined the government. In his later years, Underhill served as a lecturer and Chair of the Department of History at Carleton University in Ottawa. He received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree in 1962 from the U of S. In 1967 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Underhill died in 1971.

Head and shoulders image of Dr. Manley J. Champlin, College of Agriculture, 1920-1951.

Bio/Historical Note: Manley J. Champlin was born at Cresco, Iowa, and worked for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture before coming to the University of Saskatchewan in 1920. He succeeded John Bracken as professor and head of Field Husbandry until retirement in 1950. He spent a year (1930) in special work at the University of California at Berkeley. During Dr. Champlin’s tenure as head, he would be part of two major happenings in the department; the establishment of the Saskatchewan Field Husbandry Association; and the beginning of graduate teaching in Field Husbandry. Dr. Champlin died while hunting at Galt, Ontario in September 1963. The Professor Manley J. Champlin Memorial Bursary in Plant Sciences is awarded to one undergraduate year 3 or 4 student studying plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.