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“MB Williams: Living & Writing the Early Years of Parks Canada” was created by Alan MacEachern under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
This refers only to the text and does not include any image rights. Please click on an image to view its individual rights status. The landing page images are found in each chapter.
From left to right: MB’s mother Sarah, sister Eva, and MB at Grand Bend, Lake Huron, Ontario. Photographer and date unknown.
From left to right: MB’s mother Sarah, sister Eva, and MB at Grand Bend, Lake Huron, Ontario. Photographer and date unknown.
Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of MB Williams.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
Commissioner James Bernard Harkin, MB’s boss. Photograph by Yousuf Karsh, 1937.
Commissioner James Bernard Harkin, MB’s boss. Photograph by Yousuf Karsh, 1937.
Yousuf Karsh fonds / Library and Archives Canada, Accession 1987-054
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB Williams (seated left-hand corner of the second row from the bottom—note small “x”) was a member of the first group of women to graduate from the University of Western Ontario, in 1900. This photo also includes those who graduated in 1901 and 1902, so may date from 1902.
MB Williams (seated left-hand corner of the second row from the bottom—note small “x”) was a member of the first group of women to graduate from the University of Western Ontario, in 1900. This photo also includes those who graduated in 1901 and 1902, so may date from 1902.
Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of M.B. Williams. Photographers: Shannon & Brockenshire, 201 Dundas St., London Ontario, “MB Williams and the first female graduates of the University of Western Ontario, ca. 1902.”
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB’s house on Queens Avenue, London, Ontario (post-1949)
MB’s house on Queens Avenue, London, Ontario (post-1949)
Photographer and date unknown.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
An undated photograph of MB Williams
An undated photograph of MB Williams
M.B. Williams fonds, Library and Archives Canada, R12219-0-3-E
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
A photograph from the Associated Screen News Ltd. of Montreal of MB Williams, ca. 1929. The company produced travel films in cooperation with the National Parks Branch.
A photograph from the Associated Screen News Ltd. of Montreal of MB Williams, ca. 1929. The company produced travel films in cooperation with the National Parks Branch.
M. B. Williams fonds, Library and Archives Canada, R12219-0-3-E.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB (seated, in white), J. B. Harkin (seated at right, under lamppost), and others gather at Jasper Lodge in August 1923.
MB (seated, in white), J. B. Harkin (seated at right, under lamppost), and others gather at Jasper Lodge in August 1923.
Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of MB Williams.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
A portrait of MB Williams’s family, 1881. In the back row are father David Williams, brother Ernie (“Stalky”), and mother Sarah (Longley) Williams. In the front row are sister Eva (“Brownie”) and MB (“Fuzzy”).
A portrait of MB Williams’s family, 1881. In the back row are father David Williams, brother Ernie (“Stalky”), and mother Sarah (Longley) Williams. In the front row are sister Eva (“Brownie”) and MB (“Fuzzy”).
Photograph by Frank Cooper, London Ontario, “Family, 1881.” Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of M.B. Williams.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
“Rockies Scene, 1920.” A photograph from one of MB’s 1920s research trips in the Rocky Mountains.
“Rockies Scene, 1920.” A photograph from one of MB’s 1920s research trips in the Rocky Mountains.
Courtesy of Sylvia Watson.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB Williams picnicking during a research trip in the Rockies in the 1920s
MB Williams picnicking during a research trip in the Rockies in the 1920s
Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of MB Williams.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB Williams—sixth row from the bottom, second from the left—at the Polytechnic Party, Pilatus Kulm, Switzerland, on 7 September 1909
MB Williams—sixth row from the bottom, second from the left—at the Polytechnic Party, Pilatus Kulm, Switzerland, on 7 September 1909
Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson, grandniece of MB Williams.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB Williams and her sister Eva (“Brownie”) from 1892
MB Williams and her sister Eva (“Brownie”) from 1892
Photograph by Frank Cooper, London Ontario, “MB and Brownie, 1892.” Photograph courtesy of Sylvia Watson.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney), photographed by Yousuf Karsh
Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney), photographed by Yousuf Karsh
Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Acc. no. 1987-054, PA-164228. No restrictions on use. See http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem….
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
MB Williams: Living & Writing the Early Years of Parks Canada
This exhibition tells the story of Mabel “MB” Williams, an extraordinary, ordinary woman who became devoted to national parks and engendered that devotion in others. Historian Alan MacEachern documents her role in shaping the philosophy of Canada’s Dominion Parks Branch (the precursor to Parks Canada) in the early to mid-twentieth century. Digitized photographs and letters from Williams’s life, her guidebooks and other publications, and audio interviews with Williams herself reveal her influence on, and love for, Canada’s national parks.
Alan MacEachernAbout the author
