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 conveyors at the Kitimat sandhill gravel pit.
Photograph of Anderson Creek gravel pit showing Lima shovel loading euclid and white trucks. Man standing near one of the trucks. Houses visible in back on left.
Bud Powell is a longtime resident of Kitimat and former smeltersite resident. He worked for Alcan.
Custodial History
Donated by Bud Powell.
Scope and Content
Photograph of Anderson Creek gravel pit showing Lima shovel loading euclid and white trucks. Man standing near one of the trucks. Houses visible in back on left.
Photograph of looking S.E. dumping concrete by bucket for bottom slab transformer repair pit in electrical repair shop. Transit mix truck at left, dumpcrete centre. Footing for buildings 154 and 155 background.
Bill was one of the superintendents with Saguenay Kitimat.
Custodial History
Donated by Joanna Gallacher
Scope and Content
Photograph of looking S.E. dumping concrete by bucket for bottom slab transformer repair pit in electrical repair shop. Transit mix truck at left, dumpcrete centre. Footing for buildings 154 and 155 background.
Jamieson came to Kitimat from Vancouver to work on the Alcan project in 1952. With his first pay cheque he bought a small "Pony Kodak" camera at the local store (Hudson Bay?), and started taking coloured slides of the Kitimat from 1952-1953. Left Kitimat at the end of August 1953 to move to Montreal.
Scope and Content
Slide of ski hill priority 3 neighbourhood A at townsite of Kitimat.
Photograph of a man up on a bit of a hill. There appear to be the handrails for stairs behind him. Powerlines above him, and some trees in the background.
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 up on a bit of a hill. There appear to be the handrails for stairs behind him. Powerlines above him, and some trees in the background.
Photograph of panoramic view of Anderson Hill camp. New bunkhouses on the left, old bunkhouses, Anderson Creek bridge at the back, a bit of trailer court on the right.
Photograph of panoramic view of Anderson Hill camp. New bunkhouses on the left, old bunkhouses, Anderson Creek bridge at the back, a bit of trailer court on the right.
