Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1890-1960, predominant 1920s-1940s (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
ca. 3000 photographs. -- 1 cm of textual records
Added for Kirst series:
1,492 photonegatives
53 photoprints
17 contact sheets
1 cm of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William John Oliver, 1887-1954, was born in Ash, Canterbury, Kent, England where he was a butcher's apprentice. He became interested in photography after winning a camera. In 1910 he emigrated to southern Alberta and worked as a teamster at Strathmore. In the following years he began his photography career working as a camera assistant at the Frederick B. Cooper Photographic Studio in Calgary. Later in 1911 he began working for the Morning Albertan and in 1912 opened the W.J. Oliver Photographic Studio. He also joined the Calgary Herald as staff photographer.
The studio became extremely successful and his work eventually took him outside the Calgary area. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s he took many photos of the Calgary Stampede, and travelled across Canada taking photos and films for the National Parks Branch, Fox News and others. In 1936-1937 he was official photographer on Michael Lerner's big game hunting expeditions to Africa and southeastern Asia, and in 1939 accompanied Lerner to Alaska. William wound down his photographic activities in the 1940s and in 1942 sold the studio to Walter Cadman who had joined his staff in 1923. He then devoted his time to his Diamond L ranch in the Millarville area. He and his wife, Marjorie Beatrice Martin, 1896-1993, whom he married in 1920, had three daughters, Joan (Cavers), Doreen (Huffman), and Audrey-Jean (Langford).
For further information see W.J. Oliver, Life Through a Master's Lens / Sheilagh S. Jameson. - Calgary : Glenbow Museum, 1984.
Repository
Archival history
The Calgary Stampede photos were bought from the studio in the late 1950s by the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company for the Horsemen's Hall of Fame. After Carling O'Keefe Breweries bought the company it closed the Hall of Fame and transferred the photos to the Glenbow.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Purchased from E.W. Cadman and gifts of Carling O'Keefe, Marjorie Oliver and Joan Cavers, 1958-1982.
The Kirst series was donated by the Estate of William and Frances Kirst in 2022.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of photographs of Calgary streets, events, institutions, personalities and businesses including Calgary Brewing and Malting Company (1906-1944); the Calgary Stampede, events and contestants, and native peoples (1910s-1940s); outdoor activities in Vermilion Lakes, Waterton, Banff and Jasper taken for the Parks Branch (1928-1936); the Oliver family and the Diamond L ranch (1890, 1910-1944); Lerner hunting trips to Africa, southeast Asia and Alaska (1936-1939); and farms, ranches and the oil industry in the Calgary area (1910s-1920s). Includes maps produced for Oliver by his guide, Ralph Rink, for his photographic expedition from Lake Louise to Jasper (1928); and miscellaneous business letterheads and share certificates.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on 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
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
The original photos of the Oliver family, the Lerner expeditions, and photos taken for the Parks Branch are held by Marjorie Oliver, Doreen Huffman and Audrey-Jean Langford.
Existence and location of copies
Digital content is available
Reference prints from the original negatives are also available.
Related units of description
Photocopies of other W. J. Oliver records, including business correspondence (1919-1940) and radio broadcasts (1937-1947), are in the Sheilagh Jameson fonds at Glenbow. Other Oliver records are held by Library and Archives Canada.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Note
There are glass plate and nitrate negatives in this fonds.
Note
NA 3680, some of NA 3164, and perhaps other negatives are copies of prints we have.
Note
The Oliver records in the Jameson fonds are in M 8119, files 266, 269-274.
Note
Most of the PCs are from several collectors.
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
April 2024 - Check the ND-8 accession record for the location and #s of broken and unbroken glass plates.