A photo of the Alcan display. It reads, "A World Wide Company" with alcan logos on either side. There is a man dealing with a client? up front, and a man seated in the background with his back to the camera.
A photo of the Alcan display. It reads, "A World Wide Company" with alcan logos on either side. There is a man dealing with a client? up front, and a man seated in the background with his back to the camera.
A man playing the accordion at the trade fair opening. There is a large map behind the man, as well as another individual sitting in a chair with a pen in his hand.
A man playing the accordion at the trade fair opening. There is a large map behind the man, as well as another individual sitting in a chair with a pen in his hand.
James McNay was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 31, 1907. Between 1951 and 1953, he worked in the payroll department for Alcan. He had to leave his wife Effie and his two young daughters, Margaret and Diane, aged 6 and 5 in 1951, at home in Surrey, B.C., during his 3-4 month stints in Kitimat. To fill some of his free time and show his family where he was and what Kitimat was like, he spent many hours walking in the area with a 35mm Kodak camera. He photographed the scenic beauty of the area and parts of the construction of both the smelters and the town. He died in Surrey on August 7, 1983.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret McNay. Images were taken by her father and sent to their family in Surrey in the 1950s.
Scope and Content
Slide showing opening to the Kitimat Yacht Club basin. Sailboats and the Alcan dock in the distance.
From the years 1953-1958, Mike Kinnear took photos during his school years, until graduation, while working for Fred Ryan Ltd. after school and holidays. Photos for him was a hobby, and he took many photos of the smelter and townsite as it grew around him. Mike also took a number of photos for the Kitimat Northern Sentinel, during the Ken Brumley and Pixie Meldrum years as editors. Mike and his family left Kitimat in 1958, but he spent the best part of 40 years in the photographic field, mainly in the retail/wholesale part of the photo industry.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret and Mike Kinnear.
Scope and Content
Photograph of a man on a motor boat. Boat is in the bay behind the Alcan smelter. Functioning potlines can be seen behind. Image has a pink tint.
Smelter Site Looking East. Foreground, perforated Concrete Pipe for Ground Master Ditch. Middleground, Pre-cast Concrete Yard with Storage Stacks at right. Structural Steel partially complete in Service Buildings Lines D to M. Footings for Pot Line 2 at right.
Smelter Site Looking East. Foreground, perforated Concrete Pipe for Ground Master Ditch. Middleground, Pre-cast Concrete Yard with Storage Stacks at right. Structural Steel partially complete in Service Buildings Lines D to M. Footings for Pot Line 2 at right.
Alcan smelter employees returning to work after layoffs due to a tunnel closure in Kemano. (Rock fall in Kemano tunnel: 65' long, 140' high, 125 cubic yards of material had moved. Tunnel closure caused Alcan plant closure. Took a "dewatering" of tunnel to repair rock fall). Employee Eric Burr first through gate.
Alcan smelter employees returning to work after layoffs due to a tunnel closure in Kemano. (Rock fall in Kemano tunnel: 65' long, 140' high, 125 cubic yards of material had moved. Tunnel closure caused Alcan plant closure. Took a "dewatering" of tunnel to repair rock fall). Employee Eric Burr first through gate.