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Title: Stobie Family fonds.
Dates: 1898-2005.
Extent: 4.1 m of textual records and other material.
Biographical sketch: William Stobie was born June 1, 1911 in London, England. He obtained a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto and briefly did graduate work at the University of Illinois before returning to the University of Toronto to continue course work for a Ph.D. in English. In 1938, Stobie married Margaret Roseborough, also a Ph.D. student in English. That year he obtained an appointment to the faculty of De Pauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. The couple next moved to Missouri where William taught at the University of Missouri and Margaret taught at the Christian College for Women. In 1944, they embarked on a two-year stint at University. In 1946, both Margaret and William joined the English Department of the University of Manitoba as Assistant Professors. William's area of expertise was nineteenth-century English writers. He participated in a lecture for University on Air in 1947 on the poet, Frank Scott. William was the President of the Winnipeg Little Theatre Group between 1955 and 1958. William was active in the university unions and was President of the staff association of UMSU during the Harry Crowe affair. William sat on several university committees including the University College Building Committee. He attained the rank of Associate Professor and Full Professor in 1967. He was the Director of Summer and Evening session from 1965 to 1976. William Stobie retired in 1976 after thirty years with the English department. He died on July 18, 2007.
Dr. Margaret (Peg) Roseborough was born in Vermillion, Alberta on February 26, 1909. She received a B.A. from the University of Alberta in 1930. Margaret was awarded an Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.) Overseas Fellowship and did an Honours Degree in English at King's College University of London in 1932. She returned to Canada completing an M.A. in 1934 and a Ph.D. in 1937 at the University of Toronto. The following year she published An Outline of Middle English Grammar with MacMillan's and taught at Victoria College. In 1938, she married William Stobie. The couple moved to De Pauw University in Indiana in 1938. From there, they moved to Missouri where Margaret returned to teaching at Christian College, a Women's Institution. William and Margaret Stobie taught at Cornell University for two years from 1944 to 1946 before joining the English department at the University of Manitoba. Margaret was forced to retire from teaching with the inception of the nepotism law in 1950. She spent the next several years acting, producing, and directing local theatre as well as working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in various dramatic roles and as a book reviewer on Critically Speaking. In 1958, she took an appointment at United College, but resigned in protest over the dismissal of Harry Crowe at the end of the year. In 1959, she was hired by St. John's College. From 1962 to 1965, she was on the executive of the College's Chapter of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (C.A.U.T.). In 1966, she attained the rank of Full Professor. Two years later, she became a member of Senate and, in 1971, she was appointed to the Research Grants Committee and Research Board. Margaret was the first woman appointed to the academic panel of the Canada Council and was a board member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. She wrote two more books, A Critical Study of Frederick Philip Grove (Twayne Publisher, 1973) and The Other Side of the Rebellion (1986). She was appointed to Professor Emeritus in 1975. Margaret Stobie died July 15, 1990. The University of Manitoba holds a lecture in Dr. Stobie's memory.
Custodial history: The first three accessions of the fonds were donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by William Stobie in 1998, 2003, and 2004. The 2008 accession was donated by William Stobie's estate.
Scope and content: The 1998 accession (A.98-51) is separated into seven series. The first pertains to Margaret Stobie's research with the Bunji dialect (1965-1969). The second concerns the North Studies Project (1965-1977). William Stobie held a two-year term as President of the Winnipeg Little Theatre Co. and Margaret acted, directed, and produced plays for the company. The third series relates to the theatre company and includes its merging with Theatre 77 to create the Manitoba Theatre Centre (1950-1982). The fourth series deals with William Stobie's involvement with the University of Manitoba's academic unions (1949-1976). The fifth series relates to William Stobie's committee work while at the University of Manitoba (1948-1975). The sixth series contains information on Professor Harry Crowe's dismissal from United College (1958-1959). Theatre, ballet, and concert programmes make up the final series (1936-1979).
The 2003 and 2004 accessions (A.03-92, A.04-94) consists primarily of Margaret Stobie’s research and publication drafts along with a photographic collection of Margaret and William Stobie’s early years. The textual records are divided into six series consisting of publication drafts, correspondence, research, biographical information, publications, and miscellaneous materials. The photographic collection consists of 77 photographs, 4 albums, and 18 photo negatives.
The 2008 accession (A.08-20) consists primarily of William Stobie's papers and correspondence, Margaret Stobie's research notes and drafts for book projects, along with a photographic collection of primarily early photographs of, and by, William Stobie. The textual records are divided into 11 series consisting of biographical materials, correspondence, academic writing/manuscripts - Margaret Stobie, miscellaneous writing - William Stobie, academic writing - William Stobie, class notes - William Stobie, lecture notes - William Stobie, academic reference materials, research notes - Margaret Stobie, publications, and oversized materials. The photograph collection consists of 206 photographs and 77 negatives. The tape collection consists of one audio-cassette.
Restrictions: Some correspondence is restricted.
Accruals: Further accruals are expected.
Related material: Margaret Stobie fonds (MSS 13, PC 109, TC 2, TC 24 (A.80-17, A.86-47).
Finding aid: A printed finding aid for the 1998 accession is available in the Archives reading room and on-line finding aids are available at the links below:
MSS 159, PC 177 (A.03-92, A.04-94)
MSS 159, PC 177, TC 136 (A.08-20).
Digitized Material