Fonds RC0158 - George Stephen Vickers fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

George Stephen Vickers fonds

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    Level of description

    Fonds

    Reference code

    RC0158

    Edition area

    Edition statement

    Edition statement of responsibility

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    Statement of scale (cartographic)

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    Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

    Dates of creation area

    Date(s)

    • 1912-[2011] (Creation)

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    50 cm of textual records
    2 compact discs

    Publisher's series area

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    Archival description area

    Name of creator

    (1913-1993)

    Biographical history

    George Stephen Vickers, was born on 19 December 1913 in St. Catharines, Ontario, the son of William Vickers and Jane E. Vickers (nee Rooke). After attending St. Catharines Collegiate Institute, he entered McMaster University and took his B.A. (Hons.) in English and History in the spring of 1936. While at McMaster, he also took a few courses in Fine Art, where he met Elizabeth Smith. In the fall of 1937 he entered the graduate program in Fine Art at Harvard University. In the summer of 1939, he sailed to Europe to begin his doctoral studies but had to return with the outbreak of World War II. On 3 June 1940, he married Elizabeth Smith, and until 1942, they lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where their daughter, Hannah, was born. They would have a son, Daniel, in 1952.

    In 1942, they returned to Canada, where Stephen became a machinist in Hamilton and then joined the Canadian Signal Corps. Between 1943 and 1945, he served as a corporal at Camp Vimy in Barriefield, Ontario, mainly as an instructor. At the war’s end he was discharged, and he returned with his wife and daughter to complete his Ph.D. at Harvard. In 1946, however, he was offered a permanent position in Fine Art at the University of Toronto. He dedicated his career to teaching – both graduate and undergraduate – and to building the Fine Art Department at Toronto. He also played a role in designing the first secondary school program in art history for the province of Ontario and was the primary author of Art and Man (1964), the first high school textbook in art history published in Canada. He retired in 1980. On 1 November 1993 he was struck by a car near his home. Two days later he died of a massive coronary at St. Michael’s Hospital.

    Custodial history

    Scope and content

    The fonds consists primarily of Stephen’s correspondence with Elizabeth. There are a few letters from her to him and additional letters with other correspondents. There is also some of his and Elizabeth's academic research and writing, as well as documents from their lives. There is a useful biography of key people written by Daniel Vickers that will provide context for the documents. The fonds is arranged in three series: correspondence; writings; and other documents.

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    The first accrual (34-2011) was acquired from Daniel Vickers and Hannah (Vickers) Fournier in 2011. The second accrual (2013-028) was donated by Daniel Vickers in July 2013.

    Arrangement

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      Script of material

        Location of originals

        Availability of other formats

        Restrictions on access

        Access restrictions: Restriction on Box 4, File 25 has expired.

        Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

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        Related materials

        Accruals

        No further accruals expected.

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        Standard number

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        Control area

        Description record identifier

        RC0158

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        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

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          Script of description

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            Accession area