Fonds - Celia File fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Celia File fonds

General material designation

    Parallel title

    Other title information

    Title statements of responsibility

    Title notes

    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)

    • 1894-1973, predominant 1914-1961 (Creation)

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    1.3 m textual material 1 scrapbook 7 photographs Some items are fragile due to acidity. Scrapbook has some tape or glue damage.

    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

    (1887-1973)

    Biographical history

    Celia B. File (1887-1973) was born Celia Vandervoort, daughter of Charles Wilbur Vandervoort (1864-1943) of Napanee, Ontario and his first wife, Frances Roblin.

    At one time, her father was Sheriff of Lennox and Addington. Celia graduated as a teacher in 1905, but positions were scarce. She accepted a job teaching on Tyendinaga Mohawk Reserve, near Deseronto, Ontario. She was deeply interested and involved in Mohawk history and issues. In 1908, she married Herbert Clifton File (1883-1963), a local farmer.

    In 1926, Celia File started at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree. At the urging of Duncan McArthur, she did not go to the College of Education as she intended but instead earned a Masters in Canadian history, which was a rare achievement for women of her generation. She was subsequently hired by Napanee Collegiate during the Depression. When she asked the Ontario Teachers’ Federation for support with an appeal, she was branded as a trouble-causer. A period of illness was used as an excuse to fire her. Financial necessity forced her to leave her husband in Napanee and accept an appointment at Oil Springs, Ontario, then in Alveston, Ontario and finally in Thamesville, Ontario, where she became a principal.
    During her time in Oil Springs, a fire destroyed all her papers, including the manuscript for a book on Molly Brant. She never found the energy to re-write the book. On the closing of the Thamesville School, Celia File returned to Napanee where her husband had found work at a canning factory. Retirement was never free of financial problems, but she did enjoy her favourite hobby, gardening. She was able to earn extra income when the Napanee Beaver hired her to write a gardening column.
    Celia File was hired by the Belleville Intelligencer because of her contacts on the Tyendinaga Reserve. As well as writing, Celia File volunteered with the [Mental Health Society] with the Lennox and Addington County Hospital Building Committee, joined the Lennox and Addington Historical Society, and did genealogical research on both the File and Vandervoort families. Celia File enjoyed a life-long friendship with Bernice Loft Winslow (1902- ), the poet of the Mohawks. She was also an acquaintance of artists C.W. Jefferys and Orval Madden and of the writer, Wallace Havelock Robb. When she and Herbert celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, the Robbs were guests of honour. Mrs. File lived to become a well-known and respected citizen of Napanee. She died in 1973.

    Custodial history

    Scope and content

    The collection consists of the personal papers of Celia File from first teaching days through post-secondary education, later years of teaching and into her retirement. Included are a small amount of personal correspondence and family mementos. A slim file contains a few letters from her brother, Wilber C. Vandervoort (1893-1915) who died at Sanctuary Wood. Later correspondence includes letters from Bernice Loft Winslow (1902- ). There is a collection of ephemera representing her interests, including the Lennox Horticultural Society, Navy League, Napanee Collegiate Players, Lennox and Addington Association for [Mental Health] and the Lennox and Addington County Hospital. Also in this fonds is some genealogical research into the File and Vandervoort families and a large number of essays written by Celia File’s Napanee students, mostly on history topics. Fonds is comprised of the following series: Early days and Vandervoort family memorabilia Queen's University, Class of 1929 Teaching and superannuation, 1929-1954 Family research, File and Vandervoort families Correspondence,1923-1973 Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Mental health research and reporter's steno pads, Hobbies and associations Scrapbook of Frances Roblin Vandervoort (died 1894) and History essays by students at Napanee Collegiate, 1939-1940.
    Some files closed for privacy restriction, please contact the archivist for more information.

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Estate of Celia File, 1973

    Arrangement

    Language of material

      Script of material

        Location of originals

        Availability of other formats

        Restrictions on access

        Open

        Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

        Permission of the Lennox and Addington Historical Society is required for commercial use. Author copyrights may exist for some of the manuscripts in the collection.

        Finding aids

        Detailed inventory prepared in 1985.

        Associated materials

        Related materials

        Accruals

        None expected

        Alternative identifier(s)

        Standard number

        Standard number

        Access points

        Subject access points

        Place access points

        Genre access points

        Control area

        Description record identifier

        Institution identifier

        Rules or conventions

        Status

        Level of detail

        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        Language of description

          Script of description

            Sources

            Accession area