Miriam Green Ellis Archive
Agricultural journalist, feminist, and suffragist, Miriam Green Ellis (1879–1964) liked to align herself with the common folk, straying away from “writers who never leave home except to go to Archives and write over again the things that were done by our grandfathers.” It is perhaps surprising then that Ellis left her archival collection of photo albums, holograph and typewritten manuscripts, an illustrated diary, keepsakes, letters, books, and published newspaper articles to Bruce Peel Special Collections. Ellis’s generous donation presents a unique view of the Canadian West in the early twentieth century by an influential figure who created friendships with notable Edmontonians such as judge and suffragist Emily Murphy, writer Nellie McClung, and aviator Wop May. An exceptional feature of the collection is Ellis’s magic lantern slides (photographs transferred to glass plates and hand painted), many of which were part of a well-documented trip to Aklavik in 1922 and illustrated her “Land of the Midnight Sun” lectures across Canada.
Getting started: Most student researchers will want to employ a series of keyword searches in the University of Alberta Library catalogue in order to find relevant print and digital materials in all U of A library locations and collections, including the Peel library. Researchers can identify materials that might be of interest using the collection’s finding aid (awaiting editing). For more information about research in the Peel library, see Finding and Requesting Peel Library Materials.
Further resources: The Ellis Archive is explored in an online exhibition which shows Ellis leaving her mark in the male-dominated profession of agricultural journalism. The Peel library also mounted a major in-house exhibition and published an award-winning book/catalogue, Miriam Green Ellis, Champion of the West (2013) by Patricia Demers, who also wrote Travels and Tales of Miriam Green Ellis (PN 4913 E44 A3 2013).
Collection Formats: 20th Century, Books, Correspondence, Ephemera, Manuscripts, Newspapers, Photographs -- click to see other collections with this format
Ellis with camera, "Out west in the weekly," The Slug editorial supplement, Family Herald and Weekly Star, Oct 1951 (96-91 MGE 11.IV).
Hand-coloured glass slide of a woman making snowshoes (96-91 MGE S1).
Hand-coloured glass slide of a boat maneuvering the rapids (96-91 MGE S1).
Photo from album of the horse patrol at Salt Springs (96-91 MGE 1.III).
"Everybody Talks" from untitled photo album; left to right: Jack McClung, Nellie McClung, Miriam Green Ellis, and Wop May (96-91 MGE 1.II).