James Robbins Kidd, born May 4, 1915 at Wapella, Saskatchewan, was the son of John Kidd and Muriel Robbins. He was educated at Sir George Williams University (B.A. 1938), McGill University (M.A. 1943), and Columbia University (Ed.D. 1947). Throughout his career he also received Honorary Degrees (LL.D) from the following institutions for his contributions in the field of continuing and adult education: University of British Columbia, Concordia University, Trent University, McGill University, Laurentian University, and York University. In 1941 he married Margaret Edith Easto and they had 5 children. From 1966 to his death in 1982, Kidd held the position of Chairman of the Adult Education Department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (O.I.S.E.). He is the author of several publications including: "Adult Education in the Canadian University," "Adult Education in the Caribbean," "Financing Continuing Education," and "Adult Learning: a Design for Development."
Eliza Jane (Hughes) McAlpine was born in 1854 in Durham County, the daughter of Irish immigrant parents, John and Caroline Hughes. She married John McAlpine, a doctor, in 1876, and was the sister of Sir Sam Hughes. Eliza died in Lindsay in 1938.
Professor P. Douglas McCalla was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1942. He was educated at Queen's University, the University of Toronto and Oxford University. He taught at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, beginning in 1968. He later taught at University of Guelph for several years. During his academic career, McCalla was editor of the Ontario Series of the Champlain Society and co-editor of the Canadian Historical Review. He is the author of numerous articles and book reviews, and his books include: The Upper Canada Trade, 1834-1872, and Planting the Province: The Economic History of Upper Canada, 1784-1870. McCalla's academic awards include the Rhodes scholarship, Woodrow Wilson scholarship, Floyd S. Chalmers Award in Ontario History, the J.J. Talman Award and a Killam Fellowship.
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada (1921-1925, 1926-1930, and 1935-1948), was born in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, on December 17, 1874, the son of John King and the grandson of William Lyon Mackenzie. He was educated at the University of Toronto (B.A., 1895; M.A., 1897) and did post-graduate work in sociology at Harvard University (M.A. 1898; Ph.D. 1909). In 1900 he was invited by Sir William Mulock to become Canada's first Deputy Minister of Labour; and in 1909 he was persuaded by Sir Wilfrid Laurier to enter politics, was elected to represent Waterloo in the Canadian House of Commons, and became Canada's first Minister of Labour not holding a separate portfolio. In 1919 he was chosen to succeed Laurier as leader of the Liberal party; and in 1921 he was elected to represent North York in the House of Commons, and became Prime Minister of Canada and Minister for External Affairs. When King retired in 1948, he had held office longer than any previous prime minister in the British Commonwealth. He died, unmarried, near Ottawa, Ontario, on July 22, 1950. (taken from "The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography" fourth edition. 1978.)
M. Margaret (Marnie) McCulloch was born in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1912. Known to her family and friends as “Marnie,” she was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Malcom McCulloch and Etta McCulloch (nee Eager). McCulloch attended Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational Institute and graduated in 1934 in "Moderns" from Trinity College, University of Toronto. She avidly supported the arts in Peterborough and funded a number of scholarships and awards for local secondary and post-secondary students attending educational institutions in the City. McCulloch was involved in the cultural life of Peterborough, becoming a member and supporter of several clubs, organizations and venues: Peterborough Golf Club, University Women’s Club, Women’s Art Association, Showplace Peterborough and the Shakespeare Club. She was also a founding member of the Peterborough Theatre Guild and of a Peterborough Civic Affairs Study Group comprised of local women who took turns attending City council meetings; the Group is credited with smoothing a path for the election of the first three women to municipal government in Peterborough. McCulloch enjoyed traveling and her many hundreds of slides attest to the places visited. McCulloch married John G. Edison Q.C. in 1994; she died in Peterborough in 2003 at the age of 91. Her obituary, published in the Peterborough Examiner, 25 March 2003, describes McCulloch (Edison) as a “life long active participant, supporter and many times catalyst of art, culture, religious and educational pursuits in Peterborough.”
Mary Margaret McCulloch and her parents were long-time contributors to Trent University. In 2001, they were honoured in a room-naming event held at the University’s Otonabee College. The plaque, hanging in Room 204, includes additional information about McCulloch and reads as follows:
“This room is named in honour of Mrs. Margaret (McCulloch) Edison and her parents Dr. J. Malcolm and Mary Etta (Eager) McCulloch. Margaret Edison served as Private Secretary to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Division 3 in Ottawa. “Marnie” returned to Peterborough after the war and was the Deputy Local Registrar at the Peterborough Court House. The community and her church were enriched by her commitment to volunteer work. Dr. McCulloch was a public school principal and then became a medical doctor. He practiced for 59 years in Peterborough and was a founding member of the Peterborough Clinic. Mrs. McCulloch was a teacher. She and her husband were both actively involved in their church and the community.”
Brian Marsh McFadzen was born in Sudbury Ontario in 1945. He was educated at Queen's University having a B.A. in Political Studies and Economics and a M.A. in Political Studies. Now retired, he taught at Fleming College in Lindsay, Ontario from 1969 to 2000.
Martha Ann Kidd (nee Maurer) was born October 15, 1917 and resided in Peterborough, Ontario. She married Kenneth E. Kidd in October 1943. A well known and respected local historian, she was also known for her talents as an author and artist and was an authority on architecture, particularly the architecture of the Peterborough region. Martha Ann Kidd was chair of the Old Buildings Committee of the Peterborough Historical Society and a member of the Peterborough Historical Society, Peterborough's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee, and Trent University's Friends of the Bata Library. She died on July 30, 2012.
Catharine Parr Traill was born in Rotherhithe near London, England 9 January 1802 as Catharine Parr Strickland. She was the fifth child of Thomas and Elizabeth Strickland. She was sister to Eliza, Jane Margaret, Susanna (later Susanna Moodie), Samuel and Agnes. In 1832 she married Lt. Thomas Traill. She emigrated with her husband to Upper Canada when the opportunity provided itself and they settled near the Otonabee River near Peterborough, Upper Canada. Together they had nine children. Catharine wrote a number of works on pioneer life in Upper Canada such as The Backwoods of Canada (1834), Canadian Crusoes (1853), The Female Emigrants Guide (1854), Canadian Wild Flowers (1868) and Studies of Plant Life in Canada (1885). She also kept a journal and in it she wrote down ideas and sketches for future writings. The Old Doctor (1985) was probably written between 1835 and 1840 when John Hutchinson, a native of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, was practising medicine in Peterborough, Upper Canada. Before emigrating Catharine had published a number of children's books and stories in England. Catharine Parr Traill died 29 August 1899. (Taken from: Forest and Other Gleanings. Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 1994.)
The Trent University Broadcast Board Committee was created in 1968. It was designed as a joint Senate-Congress Committee comprised of three students and three faculty members. The Board was responsible for the Trent University Radio Service. During the 1968-69 academic year, the radio service was run by thirty-five students and faculty and produced a series of programs which were broadcast on Sunday evenings through the facilities of CHEX-FM. The series was an experiment to determine if radio service from Trent would be adventageous for both the University and the Peterborough Community. The results of the experiment were a success and the Radio Service was expanded the following academic year to AM radio through CKPT-AM. The main function of the Broadcast Board was to approve annual budgets and gain approval for the budgets from the appropriate University bodies. The Board was also responsible for choosing the Radio Service Manager and selecting its own Chairman. The Broadcast Board was designed in a similar fashion to the Publication Board which monitored the University newspaper, "The Arthur".
Julie Johnston, née Dulmage, is an internationally known author of children’s novels, plays, and short stories. Born in 1941, Johnston was raised in Smith Falls, Ontario. She then moved to Toronto to attend the University of Toronto where she received her degree in Occupational Therapy in 1963. She married her high school sweetheart, Dr. Basil Johnston, in the same year. After a few years of working in hospitals in Perth and Kingston, followed by adventures in Europe, they eventually settled in Peterborough, Ontario in 1970. At this time, Johnston stepped away from her career as an occupational therapist to raise their four daughters, Leslie, Lauren, Melissa, and Andrea.
Her love of writing began at a young age, writing school plays and short stories that lead to neighbourhood productions for her daughters and their friends. Johnston eventually began taking classes at Trent University in 1975 and graduated with a degree in English in 1984.
Encouraged to pursue a writing career, Johnston began submitting short stories to writing competitions in Canada. In 1979 her first submission was a play titled “Frost” that won first prize in the Ottawa Little Theatre’s annual Canadian Playwriting Competition, sparking her pursuit of a career in writing. The next two decades were full of positive experiences and many challenges. Johnston was signed to Stoddart Publishing and published her first novel “Hero of Lesser Causes," which won a Governor General’s award for Children’s Literature in 1992. Her next novel, "Adam, Eve and Pinch-Me," was published in 1994 and also won the Governor General’s Children’s Literature award. Stoddart Publishing eventually dissolved, and Johnston published five more books with Key Porter Publishing. These books were titled, "The Only Outcast," "Love You Like a Sister," "In Spite of Killer Bees," "Susanna’s Quill," and "Accidental Lives."
In addition to two Governor General’s awards, Johnston has many other accolades that she earned during her career. She was awarded an Honourary Degree of Letters from Trent University in 1996. She also won Mr. Christie’s Book Award and the Violet Downey Book Award for "Hero of Lesser Causes" in 1993. Johnston also served on review committees and gave numerous workshops and speeches, including the Margaret Laurence Lecture at Trent University in 1997.
Robert Romaine, along with two brother-in-laws, established the Peterborough Review in 1853 in Peterborough, Ontario. Romaine was editor and publisher at the "Review" until 1864. In 1853 he also wrote a paper on the subject of ploughing and pulverizing by steam power, and in 1868 became the first librarian of the Peterborough Mechanics Institute, the forerunner to the Peterborough Public Library. In 1870, he headed, along with others, a gas company which introduced the first gas street lights to the city. In 1877 he was a member of a committee which was appointed to look at possibilities for a waterworks system for the city of Peterborough.
Bruce Hodgins was born in 1931. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario; his Master's degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and his Doctoral degree from Duke University in North Carolina. Before he became a professor at Trent University he was a history professor for 3 years at the University of Western Ontario. He taught at Prince of Wales College at Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. While he was in Charlottetown he met Carol, his future wife. By 1963 they had two sons. In 1965 he joined the faculty of Trent University and he taught Canadian Politics. From January to June of 1979 he was an Acting College Head. From 1980 to 1984 he was the Department and Program Head of History and from 1986 to 1992, and 1995, he was Director of the Leslie M. Frost Centre. Bruce's parents established the Wanapitei Wilderness Camp on Temagami. He became the camp's director in 1971 and played a major role in running and developing it. Bruce is an active member in a canoeing organization in Peterborough that also includes other members of the Trent and Wanapitei communities.
Although the Bookstore Committee reported to the Office of the President (1963-1971), it also reported prior to 1965 with both the Academic Planning Committee and the Campus Planning Committee. It subsequently was a sub-committee of the Board of Governors (1966-1968), then the Senate (1972-2001). The next recorded iteration of the committee was as a Senate sub-committee (2013-2016). In 1985, there was a Task Force on Bookstore Services and Management, reporting to the Office of the Dean.
The Association of Teaching Staff (ATS) was proposed by Professor T.H.B. Symons in 1964 and an Organizing Committee was struck. R.L. Edwards served as Chairman of the committee from 1964 to 1966. ATS was created in 1967 and existed until the union was formed in 1981. The purpose of the Association was to promote scholarship, the welfare of the University and of its academic staff, and in affiliation with the Canadian Association of University Teachers and with the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, to contribute to the advancement of the standards of the Canadian University community. (taken from the Constitution, RG 15 Box 1 Folder 1). In 1981, certification was granted, and in 1983 the ATS became the Trent University Faculty Association (TUFA). TUFA represents Trent University academic staff and professional librarians.
Stephen Bocking joined Trent University in 1994 as a professor of environmental policy and history. Before this, he briefly taught at the University of British Columbia and York University. He studied at the University of Toronto and received a PhD in the History of Science. Bocking’s research focuses on the roles and meanings of science in environmental politics, examining them both historically and through case studies. Up until 2016, Bocking was the director of the Trent School of Environment where he led the undergraduate environmental unit. Bocking served as chair of the President’s Environmental Advisory Committee during the 2000s and was very involved in the proposed Trent hydropower project of Locks 22 and 23.
In 2002, The President’s Environmental Advisory Committee (PEAC) was re-classified as the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) under the facilities and grounds umbrella. The Environmental Advisory Board was comprised of faculty, staff, and students, a college head, a vice-president, and the director of physical resources. In 2002, the members were Stephen Bocking (Chair), Jeremy Brennan, Trudy Kirschner, Rob Loney, Ava Richardson, Naomi Tschirhart, Laura Anderson, Peter Dillon, Elizabeth Eberhardt, Charmaine Eddy, Sarah Harvie, Michelle Lee, and Natalie Stephenson.
Catherine Ross was the owner and Director of Camp MI-A-KON-DA between 1979 and 1998.
Margaret Doxey (nee Roberts) was a professor in the Department of Political Studies at Trent University from 1967-1991 (Chair 1974-1982). Dr. Doxey earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of London and a Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Laws at University College London. Dr. Doxey’s main research area was economic sanctions, and she published prolifically in the fields of economics and law.
Dr. Doxey lectured at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa prior to her PhD and went on to teach at Wellesley College in the United States and the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, in addition to Trent.
Dr. Doxey also wrote poetry and fiction in both her professional and private lives. Animals were a recurring theme.
Trent University was the first post-secondary Canadian institution, and second in North America, to establish a department for the study of Indigenous peoples and knowledges. The Department was established in 1972, although an earlier effort, the “Indian and Eskimo Studies Program,” had been underway since 1969. Trent created the first BA degree in Native Studies in 1972 and added a BA honours program in 1978. A diploma program in Native Management and Economic Development was created in 1980. Graduate studies began in 1985, with a masters program in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies through the Frost Centre in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. In 1999, the first Indigenous Studies PhD program began. The Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies was launched 2017.
The Trent University Native Association was established in 1969 and Doug Williams was the first President.
Thomas Alexander Stewart Hay was born in Peterborough on August 14, 1849, the son of Thomas Hay of Seggieden, Scotland, and Anna Maria Stewart. Anna Maria was the daughter of Thomas A. and Frances Stewart, pioneer settlers in Douro Township. Hay married Elise Roux, of Montreal, June 27, 1881. Hay was a civil engineer by profession. He learned a great deal from his uncle, George Stewart, who was also an engineer. Hay was a charter member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. He was a Mason and he accomplished much in his career, working for the Midland Railway, the Trent Canal (where he assisted in the design of the Peterborough lift lock) and the City of Peterborough, as a City Engineer. In this capacity, he designed the Smith Street (now Parkhill Road) bridge at Inverlea, and aided in parkland development in the city. Hay was the first President of the Peterborough Historical Society, the active curator of its museum, and the author of "A Short History of Peterborough," an appendix in E.S. Dunlop's edited version of Frances Stewarts' letter "Our Forest Home." Hay died on March 28, 1917, leaving his wife and two daughters Frances Isabel and Helen.
The Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society was established November 24, 1978. The reason for forming the Historical Society was to try and save the old mill for which Millbrook was named after. The society helped mark the 100th birthday of Millbrook village with a historical display at the Masonic Lodge. They produced a four-page tabloid entitled "Millbrook Messenger" after an early newspaper. The tabloid contained articles of historical interest with photographs of the railway station, the Deyell monument, the fire of 1960 and three of the several mills in the Village. The Society helped organize Historical House tours in the township. In 1985 the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society received a Heritage Award. In 1990 the Society produced and published "This Green and Pleasant Land: Chronicles of Cavan Township". Not only does the Historical Society provide a source of fundraising for historical projects it also acquires, preserves and makes available for research historical items and artifacts from quilts to furniture and from wills, deeds, debentures to marriage and birth certificates, photographs, diaries and other records. (Taken from: This Green and Pleasant Land: Chronicles of Cavan Township. The Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society, 1990.)
The Aboriginal Strategy Circle in the Kawarthas (ASCK) evolved from the Urban Aboriginal Strategy Circle (UASC) which was formed in the spring of 2005. UASC was brought together by the local Aboriginal organization, Whitepath Consulting and Counselling Services, and was comprised of such members as Trent University Native Studies Department, the Ontario Metis Aboriginal Association, Peterborough Social Planning Council, and other organizations. ASCK was focused on identifying the needs of Aboriginal Peoples in the Peterborough and Kawarthas area. The goals of ASCK are listed as follows:
- To provide opportunities for Aboriginal people to share their thoughts, ideas, experience and opinions that could affect positive change in the future
- To strengthen and support the capacity of current and developing Aboriginal organizations through partnerships and training
- To facilitate communication and provide information-sharing among Aboriginal organizations and to advise City and County service providers on how best to support Aboriginal people
- To research, prepare and provide educational information on topics related to the issues identified through consultation with Aboriginal people
- To develop a fund and criteria for long-term projects and/or needs of Aboriginal people.