The digitization of this finding aid was made possible - in part or entirely - through the Canadian Culture Online Program of Canadian Heritage, the National Archives of Canada and the Canadian Council of Archives.
| Fonds/Collection Number: | F0241 |
| Title: | Walter Pitman fonds |
| Dates: | 1948-2011 |
| Extent: | 7.3 m of textual records ca. 50 photographs |
| Biographical Sketch/ Administrative History: | Walter Pitman, teacher, journalist, administrator, author, and social activist, was born on 18 May 1929 in Toronto, Ontario and educated at the University of Toronto where he completed his B.A. and M.A. in 1952 and 1954, respectively. He has been a member of the House of Commons (1960-1962) and the Ontario Legislature (1967-1971); Dean of Arts and Science (1972-1975), Trent University; President of Ryerson Polytechnic University (1975-1980); Director of the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (1987-1991); Director of the Ontario Arts Council (1980-1986) as well as a reporter for The Toronto Star (1971-1974). He is active in the voluntary sector and has been Board Chair on diverse Canadian associations including Energy Probe and Project Ploughshares. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada (1992) and Member of the Order of Ontario and has received honorary degrees from McGill, York, Trent and Brock universities as well as numerous awards for his work pertaining to the arts in Canada. He has written several books examining Canadian arts and culture including "Louis Applebaum : a passion for culture" (2002), "Elmer Iseler : choral visionary" (2008), and "Victor Feldbrill : Canadian conductor extraordinaire" (2010). |
| Scope and Content: |
Fonds consists of material that documents Pitman’s career as a politician, educator, writer and social activist. It includes personal and professional correspondence, notes and speech materials, newspaper clippings and other material related to his years spent as a Member of Provincial Parliament and as a Member of Parliament as well as his unsuccessful leadership campaign for the federal New Democratic Party in 1971. It also includes his Toronto Star writing files, numerous files pertaining to his education activities both at the provincial and federal levels with a special emphasis on arts education, records that document his tenure as President of Ryerson Polytechnic University, his activities as chairman of Project Ploughshares, his work with the Arts Education Institute of Ontario, as well as an extensive collection of notes, drafts and final copies of speeches delivered by Pitman to a variety of organizations including Elderhostel. The fonds includes correspondence, notes, interview notes, drafts and research material related to his books on Louis Applebaum, Elmer Iseler, the lives of Harry Freedman and Mary Morrison, and Victor Feldbrill, as well as notes and drafts of his as yet unpublished book, "Breakthrough: A Canada For The Twenty-First Century." |
| Restrictions on Access and Use: | No restrictions on access. |
| Finding Aid: | File list available. |
| URL of Finding Aid: | http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/submissions/fonds/ON00370-f0000241.pdf |
| Accruals: | The fonds comprises the following accessions: 2002-056, 2004-028, 2008-041, 2009-049, 2011-031. Further accruals may be expected. |
| 2002-056 2004-028 2008-041 2009-049 2011-031 |
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| Related Records: | Related records may be found in the Louis Applebaum fonds (F0254). |
| Immediate source of acquisition: | Donated by Walter Pitman in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. |
| Subject Access Points: | Pitman, Walter Applebaum, Louis, 1918- Iseler, Elmer, 1927- |
| Provenance Access Points: | Pitman, Walter |
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Date of creation: 2003/01/17 Date of last revision: 2012/02/02 |
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