I spent my summer down in the Canadian Angus Association basement sorting through old photos, trophies, microfilms, herd books, and outdated floppy disks. I’ve seen everything from the pedigrees of the first Canadian Angus cattle to photos of past board members and staff with awesome 80s haircuts. It was so interesting to see how Angus and their owners have changed over the years.
One particular highlight of the summer was coming across a filing cabinet full of old letters and original bylaw amendments dating back as early as 1910! Another cool find was an album full of pictures from the Queen Mother’s visit at the 1985 World Angus Forum in Edmonton. It was also very interesting to see old photos of Junior members who have grown up and still raise Angus!
The Canadian Angus Association has come a long way since its incorporation in 1906. We have established good relationships with countries on nearly every continent; we have seen an impressive number of families reach the milestone of having raised Angus for 50 years; and we have implemented numerous programs to promote the Angus breed in Canada. All of this is plainly visible in the documents, photos, and artefacts we have stored in our basement!
At present, we are working towards having a large part of our archives preserved permanently at the Glenbow Museum & Archives in Calgary. That way, rather than sitting in boxes in our storage room, important pieces of our Association’s history will be organized and accessible to the public. On behalf of my colleagues at the office I would like to thank everyone who has sent us photos or newspaper clippings over the years that we still use today to help tell the story of our Association’s history.
Posted by Amanda Suhan
Feedback: amanda1@cdnangus.ca
