Fonds MSS 25 - Charles Ernest L'Ami fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Charles Ernest L'Ami fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

CA UMASC MSS 25

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

Physical description area

Physical description

4.7 m of textual records.
63 photographs.

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1896-1981)

Biographical history

Charles Ernest L'Ami (L'Amie) was born in Ireland in 1896. His family immigrated to Canada in 1907 and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Charles L'Ami attended the Saskatoon Collegiate Institute and, after serving in the Canadian Army during World War I, assumed a position with the Saskatoon Star, thereby beginning his career in journalism. Between 1922 and 1938, he worked for the Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg Free Press, Border City Star (Ontario), and Winnipeg Mirror. In 1938, he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as press representative for the prairie region and editor of CBC Times. In 1954, he was promoted to the position of supervisor of information services. After retirement in 1961, he produced the radio program "Neighbourly News from the Prairies." From 1962 to 1977, L'Ami continued to submit radio scripts. In 1952, his novel The Green Madonna won the Westminster Prize for fiction. He lectured on journalism and creative writing at the University of Manitoba Evening Institute from 1945 to 1951.

Custodial history

The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections in 1980 and 1983 by Charles L'Ami .

On the advice of Professor David Arnason of the English Department at St. John's College, University Archivist Richard E. Bennett made the initial contact with Mr. L'Ami. The first installment of the seven boxes of the collection came to the Archives & Special Collections January 31st, 1980, all transferred from the L'Ami home at 81 Deer Lodge Crescent in St. James, Winnipeg. Another two boxes came in May 7, 1980.

After Mr. L'Ami's death in October 1981, two other acquisitions were received. The first, consisting of three boxes of manuscripts and several cartons of books, arrived January 18, 1982. The final accrual, consisting of four literary novel manuscripts, arrived a year later in March 1983 as arranged by L’Ami’s son.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of correspondence dealing with Charles L'Ami's literary work, career development and political views, literary manuscripts, short stories, dramas and poems, articles, radio scripts, letters to editors, and various resource materials such as reviews, scrapbooks and news clippings.

The Charles Ernest L'Ami collection consists of the following: correspondence dealing mainly with his literary work, career development, and personal opinions and political views; literary manuscripts to his published and unpublished novels, short stories, dramas, and poems; articles; radio scripts; letters to editors; and various resource materials such as reviews, scrapbooks, news clippings, etc.

The collection is fairly complete and representative of L'Ami the writer. Several strictly personal letters were withdrawn from the collection while being processed and returned to the surviving son, Charles A. L'Ami. Nothing was returned or destroyed that reflected L'Ami's philosophy, interpretations, or literary endeavors.

As a local writer of only modest fame, L'Ami never established a national reputation. He was, at heart, a journalist and freelance writer, an interesting blend of the old world and the Canadian prairie with pronounced conservative and traditional leanings and viewpoints. His one major success, The Green Madonna, is not well-known today and little remembered. It may well be that the collection of unpublished works and translations possess future promise for students of Canadian literature.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

There are no restrictions on this material.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

There are no restrictions on use.

Finding aids

A finding aid can be downloaded by clicking on the “Download’ link under “Finding Aid” on the right hand side of the screen.

Generated finding aid

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Alternative identifier(s)

A

1980-007

A

1980-030

A

1980-055

A

1983-006

PC

33

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Status

Draft

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Finding aid created by Rita Craven (1984). Finding aid encoded by Julianna Trivers (August 2002).
July 26, 2005 - MSS 25, PC 33 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Revised by N. Courrier (January 2019). Revised by M. Horodyski (December 2019).

Language of description

Script of description

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

Related places

Related genres