Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Howard Newns Reed fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
- Sound recording
- Object
- Graphic material
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Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
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
0.64m textual records (incl. 41 books)
20 sound recordings : 19 CDs ; 1 audiocassette
15 objects : dowsing rods, etc.
2 photographs : 1 b&w ; 1colour
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Howard Newns Reed was born in London on April 28, 1914 to Morris and Emmaline Reed. He studied at the London Hospital Medical School and became an optometrist, graduating in 1941. During the Second World War, medical practitioners were being called up to utilize their skills as part of the armed forces. Reed opted to join the Colonial Medical Service in Africa where he was stationed in Tanzania until returning to England in 1946. Shortly afterwards, Reed moved to Winnipeg to open an optometry clinic. Though the collection of spiritual science material in his Winnipeg home would become immense, it wasn’t until 1963 that Reed came into contact with Spiritualism. Shortly after his mother’s death, Mary Wright, a medium who was married to Reed’s father’s cousin, contacted Reed and told him that she had experienced a vision of his mother, who instructed her to write to Howard and say how sorry she was that in life she did not know of Spiritualist communication with the departed. Reed became intrigued, but it wasn’t until 1970, on a trip back to England, that Reed decided to attend a Spiritualist sitting. This, in turn, led to his attendance at a Spiritualist church service which impressed Reed and stoked both his spiritual and scientific curiosity, leading to more and more research and dabbling. Before his death in 2010, Reed collected approximately 3,000 books related to spiritual science, many of which were donated to the Survival Research Institute of Canada (SRIC) between 2000 and 2006.
Custodial history
The first accession (A10-107) was donated to the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections (UMASC) by the estate of Howard Reed in 2010, with Walter Meyer zu Erpen (President, SRIC), acting as the transferring agent. The second accession (A15-69) was also transferred by SRIC, in 2015, from materials donated by Howard Reed from 2000-2006, and by his estate in 2010; the materials removed from books that were donated to SRIC were removed and sorted by Walter Meyer zu Erpen.
Scope and content
This fonds consists of two accessions in eleven series: the first is composed of books and other publications, materials removed from those books, CDs, and artifacts relating to dowsing (stored in an oversize box); the second is composed of several unpublished works of George W. Meek (ca. 1984-96), correspondence and other materials removed from Reed's books still held at SRIC, publications, and sound recordings.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Walter Meyer zu Erpen (Survival Research Institute of Canada, President)
Arrangement
The fonds was arranged in part with the transferring agent in accordance with specifications he provided. The two accessions have been kept separate.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no restrictions on access to this material.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
There may be restrictions on the reproduction of some of the material. Users must abide by relevant copyright legislation.
Finding aids
A finding aid can be downloaded from this description.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
This fonds is one of a series of fonds and collections transferred to the Archives by Walter Meyer zu Erpen, President of the Survival Research Institute of Canada. It is related to the various other Psychical Research and Spiritualist Collections that the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections has attracted since it acquired the Hamilton Family fonds (MSS 14). It is particularly related to the Walter David Falk fonds (MSS 443), as Howard Reed and Walter Falk were close friends.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
General note
Separation Statement:
(A10-107) Various textual materials (bookmarks, certificates, brochures, correspondence) were removed from the books donated in this collection. Those deemed to have archival value were placed in a separate folder and the rest were discarded. One each of the two copies of The Cameron Aurameter in Action (1982) and A Letter to Robin: A Mini-Course in Pendulum Dowsing, 10th Rev (2001) were also removed from the collection and offered back to the transferring agent.
(A15-69) Audiovisual material was removed from 2 books and placed in their own folder: 1 audiocassette from the “The Property” movie/TV show proposal, and 1 CD from “Songs of the Soul”. Newspaper clippings were photocopied and discarded on 22 June 2015.
Alternative identifier(s)
Electronic Records
Standard number area
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Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Rules for Archival Description (RAD)
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created by Jarad Buckwold on 25 February 2013.
Revised by Samantha Booth, June 2015.
Quality checked by Mary Grace Golfo-Barcelona on 07 June 2017.
Language of description
- English