Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1937-1997] (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
ca. 10,000 photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Boyd Waddell, 1920-1998, was born and raised in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He began an apprenticeship in photography in 1937 at the Swift Current Advocate and Sun. In 1940 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as an aerial photographer, spending most of his time at Goose Bay, Labrador and Suffield, Alberta. He married Freda Crum, 1917-2009, of Calgary at Suffield. On his discharge Waddell worked for the Alberta Government Publicity Bureau and McDermid Studios in Edmonton. The Waddells then operated the Pauline Photo Studio at Brooks, Alberta. In 1950 they moved to Calgary where Waddell joined the Department of Veterans Affairs as a medical photographer at the Colonel Belcher Hospital. He also freelanced extensively, showing his work in several major exhibitions, including images from several trips to the Canadian Arctic. Waddell received an Alberta Achievement Award in 1980. He was a member of the Biological Photographic Association and was a founder of the Alberta Medical and Biological Photographic Association. He was also a member and director of the McDougall Stoney Mission Society and did photography for the organization. He was a trustee and chairman of the Last Post Fund and the Veterans Field of Honor. He and his wife Freda had two children, Brent and Wendy (Sorensen).
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Freda Waddell, 2003 and Mrs. A. MacLachlan, 2004.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of photographs taken by professional photographer Boyd Waddell. Images include views taken in Swift Current, Saskatchewan while he was a photographic apprentice; views of Labrador and Suffield, Alberta taken while he was an aerial photographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force; family views after his marriage to Freda Crum and the birth of their children, Brent and Wendy; and views taken while he was a freelance photographer. His major clients included the Calgary Highlanders, the Gyro Club and the Jaycees; and he also took photographs for the McDougall Stoney Mission Society of which he was a member and director.
The fonds includes enlargements of photographs he took during trips to the Canadian Arctic during the 1970s, however the negatives for these are not included in the fonds. There are also no negatives in this fonds for the Pauline Studio which he operated in Brooks, Alberta from 1946 to 1950; or for his work for the Alberta and federal governments. Aside from the enlargements of his Arctic trips (PB-897) and some smaller prints relating to family, time in Swift Current and the air force (PA-3594), the fonds consists primarily of negatives. Some of these are black and white sheet film negatives 4” x 5” or smaller (NA-5643); but the majority are 35mm black and white and colour negatives which are located with a small amount of textual records (M8929).
The textual records include documents, biographical information, and correspondence relating to the life and photographic career of Boyd Waddell; and notes and identification relating to his photographic collection.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital content is available: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Package/2R3BF1S3C8KNE
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Waddell, Freda (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, May 29, 2018