Doris Boyce Saunders was born in Winnipeg on November 16th, 1901. She graduated from Kelvin High School in 1917. Saunders then enrolled at the University of Manitoba. In 1921, she graduated with Gold Medals in both Philosophy and English. Upon graduation, she began teaching at a rural elementary school before heading to the University of Oxford. After graduating from Oxford with a Diploma of Education in 1923, she taught at both Machray Junior High and Kelvin High School. In 1925, while still teaching, she completed a Master of Arts degree at the University of Manitoba.
The next year, Saunders headed back to the University of Oxford on a Canadian Federation of University Women Traveling Fellowship, intending to enroll in a PhD program. At the time, however, Oxford did not permit women to enter doctorate programs. Undaunted, she enrolled in the Bachelor of Letters program, completing a thesis entitled “Dr. Johnson’s Knowledge of the English of the English Writers Before 1600, Excluding Shakespeare.”
In 1928, Saunders became the first female appointed to the Department of English at the University of Manitoba. In 1941, she was promoted to Assistant Professor and in 1959 became the first female full professor in the Faculty of Arts.
Professor Saunders' involvement in University life did not end in the classroom. From 1933 to 1945 she was the Dean of Junior Women and was the Registrar of University College from 1964 to when she retired in 1968. She was also the guest editor of the 1970 Manitoba Centennial Issue of Mosaic, the interdisciplinary journal published by the University.
Saunders was a long time member of the University Women’s Club and served as its president from 1943 to 1945. In 1957, she received an honourary LL.D from the University of British Columbia. The University of Manitoba also conferred an honourary LL.D upon Professor Saunders in 1994. Doris Saunders passed away in Winnipeg on May 3, 2001.
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The fonds is divided into six series. The first series, Personal, contains biographical information, including a letter diary, as well as records pertaining to her honourary degrees. The second series, Correspondence, is divided into two sub-series. The first contains general correspondence. The second sub-series consists of material related to the 1970 Manitoba Centennial issue of Mosaic.
The third series pertains to the acquisition of the Frederick Philip Grove Collection. It consists of a variety of textual records, including correspondence, research. The fourth series, Papers, Letters and Publications, is divided into two sub-series. The first sub-series consists of papers, lectures and publications written by Professor Saunders while the second sub-series is comprised of writings and publications by other people. The fifth series is comprised of research done by Saunders on a variety of books and authors. The sixth series is Photograph Collection (PC 168). It consists of 2 class photos, one from 1917-1918 and one from 1918-1919.
This collection is organized into six series:
Personal, 1935-1994
Correspondence, 1934-2001
Acquisition of the Frederick Philip Grove Collection, 1959-1981
Papers, Lectures and Publications, 1930-1988
Research, [ca.193-]- 1993
Photograph Collection (PC 168)
Doris Saunders donated the records to Archives & Special Collections in 2003.
There are no restrictions on access.
A finding aid can be downloaded by clicking on the “Download’ link under “Finding Aid” on the right hand side of the screen.
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(Includes Poetry)
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(Includes Poetry)
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(Thesis from Oxford)
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(talk given by Doris Saunders)
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(talk given by Doris Saunders)
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(talk given to the Wednesday Morning Musicale)
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(includes two newspaper articles about Snow from 1968)
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(includes 3 clippings about Robert Frost)
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(includes correspondence with Mrs. Sedat, 1988)
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(Student Essay)
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(Student essay)
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(Includes correspondence as well as magazine and newspaper articles)
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(includes newspaper articles)
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