Ontario Visual Heritage Project: Greater Sudbury Outline Created: November 20th, 2006 •Modified: November 30th, 2006
Note: The outline includes updates from suggestions recorded at the November 20th, Ontario Visual Heritage Project: Sudbury Committee meeting. This meeting was attended by Jim Fortin, Dr. Oiva Sarrinen, Dr. Gerry Tapper, Dr. Matt Bray, Claire Zuliani, Mike Large, Nada Mehes-Rovinelli, Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick. This version also includes several suggestions from a meeting with Dr. Gatien Gervais and Joanne Gervais.
1. Summary:
The following is a working document created after consultation with many people (see below) from the City of Greater Sudbury, after reviewing several resources (see below) and after visiting several sites in the district (see below). This information was combined into a database of approximately 215 stories. These stories were sorted by theme, date and location, with the major stories colour coded based on themes and placed on a map of the City of Greater Sudbury. This map, along with the database, was used to create this document. This document will evolve throughout the process as video interviews are completed that may lead us into new territory. We welcome feedback and suggestions to [email protected].
2. Research Interviews:
Written summaries of the research interviews are available upon request. These interviews were conducted in July 2006.
Jim Fortin (all history) Bill Lautenbach (municipal re-greening) Dr. Peter Beckett (re-greening) Hans Brasch (former miner) Joanne Gervais (Centre Franco-Ontarian de Folklore) Dr. Gaetan Gervais (Franco-Ontarian history) Mike Slawney (Polish community) Dr. Oiva Saarinen (Finnish community) Dr. Gerry Tapper (Finnish community) Mary Stefura (Ukrainian community) Dale Wilson (CPR historian) Heather Lewis (Police Museum) Bob Michelutti (Capreol) Eileen Thompson (Capreol) Dale Pepin (Theatre) Dr. Matt Bray (CCC Historian) Nada Mehes-Rovinelli (Franco-Ontarian history)
1 3. Research Material:
A Guide to the Golden Age: Mining in Sudbury, 1886-1977. By Robert Stephenson, Michal Gauvreaus, Tom Kiley, Marie Lalonde, Nancy Pellis, and Mira Zirojevic.
A Miner's Chronicle; Inco Ltd. and the Unions. By Hans Brasch.
Bemocked of Destiny. By Aeneas McCharles.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place; A Historical Geography of the Finns in the Sudbury Area. By Oiva W. Saarinen.
Capreol: The First 75 Years. Capreol Public Library.
Home-Grown Heroes; a Sports History of Sudbury. By Frank Pagnucco.
Industrial Communities of the Sudbury Basin: Copper Cliff, Victoria Mines, Mond, and Coniston. By the Sudbury and District Historical Society.
Pioneering on the CPR. By Florence R. Howey.
Polyphony; The Bulletin of the Multicultural Society of Ontario Sudbury's People, Spring/Summer 1983, Vol. 5 No. 1
Restoration and Recovery of an Industrial Region; Progress in Restoring the Smelter-Damaged Landscape near Sudbury, Canada. John M. Gunn ed.
Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital. C. M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson eds.
Sudbury then & now; A Pictorial History. By E. G. Higgins & F. A. Peake.
There Were No Strangers; A History of the Village of Creighton Mine. By the Anderson Farm Museum.
Up The Hill; The Italians of Copper Cliff. The Copper Cliff Italian Heritage Book
Valley East: 1850 -2002. Wayne F. Lebelle ed.
Whitefish Lake Ojibway Memories. By Edwin J. Higgins in collaboration with the Whitefish Lake Indian Reserve.
2 4. Location Visits:
These are primarily locations other than those mentioned above in research interviews.
O’Donnell Roast Beds Anderson Farm Museum Flour Mill Museum/ Flour Mill Copper Cliff Museum Dynamic Earth Science North Onaping Falls Creighton Village Site Capreol Railway Museum Centre Franco-Ontarian de folklore Sellwood location
4. Greater Sudbury History Themes:
Geology First Nations French/ Jesuits / Voyageurs Lumbering CPR / Railways Mining Refining / Environment Immigration Unionization World War I/II Re-greening/ Diversification Blueberries Ghost Towns
3 5. The Outline
This outline is split into twelve sections. Twleve “chapters” which will form the storyline of the documentary and an “extras” section for important stories that do not fit into the documentary storyline. Each “chapter” is expected to be roughly 10 minutes in length, with the exception of chapter 6 and chapter 7, which are expected to be slightly longer.
Chapter 1: Star Berries
Chapter 1 uses blueberry picking to jump back and forth in time between Mrs. Howey (CPR doctor’s wife) in 1883 and the Anishnabek in the early 1600s. Howey will be used as a key character to talk about the early history of the Sudbury region. Her adventures illustrate not only the historical specifics of her own time (CPR, Lumbering, Surveying and Prospecting) but though her visits to the Whitefish Lake First Nation and Hudsons Bay Company trading post, she gives us a window into the Anishnabek and early French history of the region as well.
Opening • Anishinabek pounding blueberries on rocks • The blueberries are used to coat meat (see Champlain notes from 1615) • The rocks on which they are pounding the blueberries have the look of Gossan about them • Cut to Opening Montage Montage
Post –Montage • Come up to a close up of another blueberry plant • A white hand enters the frame to pick the berries • We see that it is Mrs. Howey, and her friends picking the fruits o Inter-cut with interview about how Natives and Early Settlers alike used the Blueberry (Jim Fortin, Representative from Whitefish First Nation, Dr. Roger Spielman) . Natives used rocks to dry blueberries . Pounded blueberries and rubbed them into meat . Anishinabek seasonal land use – 13 month cycle • Cut back to picking, while picking, Mrs. Howey notes how she knows that the natives like blueberries o Mrs. Howey discusses her first trip to the Whitefish Lake Trading Post, and the nearby “Indian Village” o Mrs. Howey’s voice-over as scene she describes unfolds: . “To return to our first visit, we spent the afternoon visiting the Indian village, about two miles distant, at the far end of Whitefish Lake. We paddled down of course. It consisted of a few log huts and a number of wigwams, some covered with skins but mainly the large sheets of birch bark. They were scattered about, just any
4 place, on a large, level grassy clearing. As our canoe scraped on the wide sandy beach, we, were greeted by about a dozen dogs, setting up such a din, barking and yelping and almost jumping into our canoe; whereupon the inhabitants came popping out of wigwams and huts, full of curiosity, but as they came near they assumed their characteristic dignified manner and came forward smiling a welcome none of them being able to speak English then. The were Indians all right, dark and long black stiff looking hair, but I was disappointed, as at Sturgeon Falls, that there was no war paint or feathers.” o Interview Subjects Discuss: . Iroquoian Wars: • French Fur Trade • Perpetuation of Native Stereotypes as societies composed wholly of “Warriors” • Were they really “wigwams” that Florence Howey was seeing at the Whitefish Village? . Return of Anishinabek to Sudbury Area post Iroquoian wars – 1670’s . Establishment of Whitefish Lake Hudson’s Bay Company Post - 1824 . Robinson-Huron Treaty 1850 • Establishment of Whitefish Reservation • Discuss the “right to expropriate minerals from native lands” clause in Robinson-Huron Treaty. Where does this clause come from? (Lake Superior mineral disputes) • The parties of the second part further promise and agree that they will not sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any portion of their Reservations without the consent of the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, or other officer of like authority, being first had and obtained. Nor will they at any time hinder or prevent persons from exploring or searching for minerals, or other valuable productions, in any part of the Territory hereby ceded to Her Majesty, as before mentioned.” • Back to the Howey group, they have now finished picking and are returning to their campfire, the group begins to discuss the near arrival of the railroad o Mrs. Howey notes how her husband, Dr. Howey, has been very busy this summer – many people being crushed by falling rocks, etc. o Others agree, note that the railroad should arrive in Sudbury in the early winter • Interview: CPR Discussion ( Dale Wilson, Jim Fortin, Dr. Matt Bray, Others? ) o Reasons for trans-national railway o Explain the reason for the founding of Sudbury, the reasoning behind the name of “Sudbury,” describe the naming of Lost Lake (Ramsay Lake) . Show Ramsay and surveying party looking really lost
5 o Discuss earlier Salter Magnetic Deviation while Surveying 1856 . Rewind 30 years to 1856, showing Salter looking equally lost and confused in same location as Ramsay was – his compass spinning about o Discuss Alexander Murray coming on behalf of the Canadian Geological Survey . Cut to Alexander Murray in same location as Salter and Ramsay, acknowledging spinning compass, Murray bends down and picks up a piece of rock o Cut to Murray writing report and voice-over: . “Previous to my visit to Whitefish Lake, I had been informed by Mr. Salter that local attraction of a magnet had been observed by himself while running the meridian line and he expressed it to be his opinion that the presence of a large body of iron ore was the immediate cause. When therefore, I came to the part indicated by Mr. Salter, I made a very careful examination not only in the direction of the meridian line but for a considerable distance on each side of it, and the result of my examination was that the local attraction, which I found exactly as described by Mr. Salter, was owing to an immense mass of magnetic trap. Specimens of this trap given to Mr. Hunt for analysis and the result of the investigation shows that it contains magnetic iron ore and magnetic iron pyrites generally disseminated throughout the rock, the former in very small gains: titaniferous iron was found associated with the magnetic ore, and a small quantity of nickel and copper with the pyrites.” • Cut Back to Howey and co. around fire discussing rumours of someone discovering copper off of the CPR o Howey’s Friend: “Have you heard? We’re all going to be rich” o Howey:
6 the rocks in this vicinity contained anything more valuable than just rock. They rambled around among the hills every day, with small canvas bags slung over their shoulders, with little hammer handles sticking out of them; returning with samples of rock which they tested for mineral or whatever they might find, but without much result. Little they dreamed of the wealth hidden in our rocks. They were keeping their secret for a while longer. Dr. Howey embraced the opportunity to show them some bits of rock, which he had picked up thinking they looked interesting. They tapped them with their little hammers examined them with magnifying glasses and tested them with acids. The verdict was: “Faint traces of copper -- not sufficient to be of any value.” There was no higher authority in the land than these learned men, so that settled it, and I was glad to throw the stones away; they had cluttered up my window sill long enough.” • Fade to Black
Chapter 2 : C.P.R. and Lumbering
Chapter 2 uses Mrs. Howey’s hospital as a setting for the discussion of the different ethnicities of workers who were recruited to work on the CPR. We will learn about the early community developing in Sudbury, and what the lives of these workers may have been like. The chapter ends with a discussion of the growing lumber industry in Sudbury, and of those who arrived following the Free Land and Homestead grants.
• We come up on the hospital, Mrs. Howey is busy helping patients, and administering medicine o The beds are full of patients of different ethnicities o As we steady-cam through the room, we get a taste of 4 or 5 conversations in different languages • Intercut- with Interview: (Dr. Oiva Saarinen, Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Jim Fortin, Dr. Gerry Tapper) o Discussing CPR recruiting people from Europe and Quebec as early as 1874 o Montage of others discussing how their families came to work for the CPR . Finnish, Italian, French, etc. . Discuss early influence of Jesuits – St. Anne of the Pines • Mrs. Howey: “As yet there were no church buildings in our town, but the Roman Catholics, to whom the credit is due of usually being the first voice heard crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Gospel, had applied to the government for lot five in the township of McKim and were clearing a spot on the north side of the creek, on which to build a church. Father Nolan and Father Coté were superintending the construction, a very difficult job, for although it was rustic, built of logs, much of material required had to be shipped from Montreal, and delivered by the C.P.R., at the foot of the lake an brought up on a raft. A two-storey building was raised, the
7 upper part was used as a chapel, and the lower for a school, where all denominations attended, paying fees to meet the necessary expenses to pay Miss Maggie Smith’s salary, the first school teacher.” o Discuss the life of the railway worker and what the early town of Sudbury would be like: . Temporary buildings . Prostitution . Bootlegging • Mrs. Howey in a voice-over describes scene as it unfolds: o “ One day, Judge McNaughton asked me if I would like to come into his office and see his trophies…They proved to be an array of many inventions used by the bootleggers for smuggling liquor, which had been discovered and confiscated…There were… cans with a tube down the center filled with oil or vinegar, or some other lawful commodity, but the space around contained nothing so innocent, there was even a hollow cane. The most amusing was a big rubber doll with a very lifelike head, which had been carried carefully wrapped up and apparently sleeping, all the way to the end of the iron, by a woman whose husband worked on the road. It was a very profitable business if they were not caught a small flask would sell for ten dollars. After the track was laid if was possible to do business on a much larger scale. It was brought up in kegs on the working train, supposed to contain oil or syrup or something lawful, but for safety’s sake and by prearrangement, as the train slowed down coming in, the kegs were rolled off down ‘the dump’ where an accomplice would be waiting to hide them in the bush for future reference. Sam May was supposed to meet and inspect the train, but of course there was nothing doing.” • Interviews discussing: (Dale Wilson, Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Jim Fortin, Bob Michelutti, Eileen Thompson) o The arrival of the Train in Sudbury in November of 1883 o In 1885, the train crew move on, and Sudbury’s population dwindles – but lumbering saves the city o With the arrival of the train, the lumbering business was bolstered – easy transport o Lumbering experts discuss: . Chicago Fire of 1871 • Discredit the myth of the impact of this fire upon the Sudbury region. Emphasize the importance of the railway in opening up the regional lumber industry. . Early lumber attempts – places logged (ie, Wanapitei) and routes used for floating logs to Georgian Bay . Destination of early logs: American Saw Mills . Ontario Outlaws Export of Logs to US – 1898, Ontario Milling Industry booms . Discussion of how big the industry was . Discussion of who was coming to work at the mills (many French)
8 o People also came with the intention of farming due to the Free Lands and Homestead Act, but before that could occur, trees had to be cleared . There was a symbiotic relationship between the Farmer and the Lumberman (farming in summer and lumber camps in winter) o Cut to imagery of men working in hot field, sweating, being bitten by bugs o Close up of mosquitoes biting mill man
Chapter 3: Yellow Fever
• Opening shot, John Gamgee contemplating hunk of iron • Cut to John Gamgee and his refrigeration experiments, with Samuel Ritchie at his side o Gamgee asks Ritchie “Ritchie, did you ever notice the meteorites at the Smithsonian Institute?” . Ritchie says he has . Gamgee responds, “Well, we have no metallic iron on earth produced by nature in that form, and those meteors have all fallen from the skies, or have come from some other world. They nearly all contain nickel. Tomorrow we will send over to Philadelphia and get some, and try it…try this metal as an alloy with iron, and see if we can imitate nature in duplicating the meteorite, as we are trying to imitate nature in the production of artificial cold for the yellow fever patients.” o Shots of nickel, iron, and ammonia o The two acting somewhat like “mad scientists” • Cut in Interview: (Dr. Matt Bray, Metallurgist?) o Explaining who Gamgee was and what he was doing: . Gamgee was developing a refrigeration ship for the US senate, that was to help people who were afflicted by Yellow Fever in the southern US (as transmitted by mosquitoes) . Gamgee needed to devise a stronger metal to withstand the weight and pressure of his massive refrigeration unit . He came up with “nickel steel” (8% nickel and iron) – stainless steel . Ritchie had met Gamgee in a Washington Hotel by chance . Ritchie was an Ohio carriage maker, come to Washington to sell his sewer pipe products . However, Gamgee fought with the senators over the price of the operation, the weather cooled, and the yellow fever victims were declining – Gamgee and Ritchie lost the deal, returned to their respective homes • End scene on a shot of a hunk of nickel, men leave, door shuts, black out
Chapter 4: Bemocked of Destiny
9 • Imagery: Aenaes McCharles tapping a birch tree, makes porridge with the sap, then takes a swig of sap. He is in the bush, prospecting, with an associate. o Mrs. Howey: [Thom Flannagan’s rocks] created quite an interest and many pockets were worn out carrying pretty pebbles, and window sills in the boarding houses were piled with chunks of rock big and small, but after Dr. Selwyn’s visit and his discouraging report on the samples he had tested, the excitement died down, and we heard nothing more of prospective wealth in our hills. However, the idea had gone abroad and some hopeful prospectors came in to see for themselves. The result was that Tom Murray of Pembroke applied for a lot somewhere in McKim Township, under the Mining Act. This started the excitement afresh. Sudbury was inundated with prospectors, from all directions and all distances, though most of them who took up claims were our old acquaintances, James Stobie, Fred Eyer, Henry Ranger, William McVittie, Reynaldo McConnell, Phil Green, [and Aeneas] McCharles. • McCharles Says to his partner: “The usual talk as to the benefits of a variety of food is mostly nonsense.”, and hands partner the cup of birch sap, he takes it begrudgingly, faining a look of satisfaction o McCharles is constantly talking to his assistant, who never gets a word in edgewise • Cut in Interview: (Jim Fortin, Dr. Matt Bray, Dr Wallace, others?) o Who is Aenaes McCharles? o Discuss Prospectors and what they are looking for o Discuss how many there are • Scene: McCharles is talking to his assistant as they traipse through the woods, the assistant is burdened down with a huge pack, McCharles has a small sac: o “In fact, it was not the nickel mines that first drew public attention on a wide scale to the Sudbury district as a new and remarkable mining center, but the discovery of the Vermillion gold mine, in the township of Denison, on the main nickel range, in the fall of 1887, and which created the wildest kind of a speculative mining boom there for the next year or more...” • Cut in Interview: (Jim Fortin, Dr. Matt Bray, others) o Discuss Vermillion Gold Mine o Set up idea that prospecting and getting a mine started wasn’t easy: • Back to McCharles and assistant, assistant is clearly struggling with huge pack: o “Northern Ontario is one of the hardest countries in the world to explore. There are no roads nor trails that pack horses can be taken on, and the canoe routes are few and far apart, and seldom convenient to the mineral ranges. All supplies and outfits must be carried on men’s backs through the trackless woods and swamps and over rocky hills to no end. The season for this is very short, being only about four months of the year, leaving out fly time, when it is positive torment to stay in the bush. Then in the spring the low ground is flooded with water from the melting snow, and during the rest of the season the undergrowth of bushes, ferns and wild grass is so thick that no one can see where to step half the time, and the heavy dew keeps it wet til noon. In short, more poor fellows have lost
10 their lives trying to find mines in the Sudbury district than have made fortunes there.” • Cut in Interviews: o Many Prospectors failed o Discuss McCharles character and future contributions to the city • Back to McCharles, talking to assistant, who appears near death from load: o “The Sudbury district is not a poor man’s camp. A few big companies are going to make all the money there is in mining there. It takes large capital to work nickel mines, and if a prospector happens to find a good body of ore, the only thing he can do with it is try and sell it.” • McCharles continues talking as they walk away, back to camera, he presents a monologue that fades away before it is finished: o “I have been thwarted, disappointed, bemocked of destiny ever since my boyhood days; nearly all the desires of my heart have been denied me; and, except for a few short years, the gates of this world’s happiness have been inexorably shut against me. But, nevertheless, I have contrived, in one way way or another, to snatch from fate perhaps more of the real wine of life than most of men, and I can still laugh and chat and enjoy myself whenever I chance to meet a congenial friend. I have also succeeded, after a long and desperate struggle, in making a lucky strike in mining at last. But at my age now, and with the most of my loved ones in the grave, it is only the wished for come too late.” • Fade to Black
Chapter 5: Businessmen from Ohio
• Scene opens with a businessman from Ohio shaking hands with Metcalfe and McAllister (scene shot from behind business man), Mrs. Howey is doing the voice-over: o “So the fame of our riches was spread abroad in the States, and presently [a business man from] Akron, Ohio arrived accompanied by a couple of other capitalists and bought out Metcalfe and McAllister’s claim, (for which they had paid $1,200 for 120 acres) for $10.00 per acre, and Metcalfe and McAllister thought they were lucky. • Mrs Howey doing housework. o Just then we got orders to move to North Bay as it was to be a division point, and many men were employed there. The business man was needing a house for himself and offices for his staff, so our house was just what he wanted.” • There’s a knock at and Mrs. Howey’s door, she opens it, and it’s Ritchie o Ritchie asks Mrs. Howey if she could be away by the next night o Mrs. Howey answers that she could not possibly pack everything in one night o Ritchie offers to buy all of their things that cannot fit into their trunks o Mrs. Howey agrees and the items of the house are sold to Ritchie for $200
11 • Mrs. Howey departs with the line (V.O.): “The business man was Samuel Ritchie, and his business was The Canadian Copper Company, formed in 1886.”
Chapter 6: Three Problems
• Cut to Interviews Discussing: (Dr. Matt Bray, Jim Fortin, Dr. Wallace, others?) o Formation of the Canadian Copper Company . Mines involved . Investors involved . Ritchie’s Role in the company (and other companies, i.e. COR) . The fact that everyone believes copper to be the mineral of primary importance from the mines • Ritchie Sends Car Loads of Ore to Be tested . The results lead to 3 problems: • The Ore was full of Sulphur • They cannot separate nickel from copper • No market for nickel o Interview subjects allude to the idea that Ritchie would not be beat, and found answers to all of these problems • Ore Full of Sulphur o Interview Subjects Discuss: . Roast Beds • Copper Cliff is established • The First Roast Bed and Smelter are established in Copper Cliff in 1888 o Discuss what a roast bed is o Show pictures of beds o Possible animation to illustrate process • Back to Interview subjects stating that the sulphur issue was solved, next you needed to figure out how to separate the Copper from the Nickel and ore o Interview Subjects to discuss: . The Orford Tops and Bottoms Process • Illustrate with pictures . Enter Mond’s Carbonyl process • Show Mond trying to sell process to everyone (possible re- enactment) . Canadian Copper Company refuses to buy Mond’s Process . Mond purchases Levack, Garson, Kirkwood, Frood, North-Star, Victoria, and Worthington Mines to make Mond Nickel in 1898 • So there are now 2 methods of separating Copper and Nickel, so now the only problem is the lack of a market o The scene opens with Ritchie meeting a man in an American Naval Uniform o Cut to American/Spanish war imagery of Spanish fleet sinking, only a single American sailor killed . Strong Sound-scape behind images
12 o Interview Subjects Discuss: . Ritchie approaching the American Secretary of the navy, Benjamin Franklin Tracy, and persuading him to investigate the military potential of nickel . In 1891, CCC receives American government contract for nickel product for Naval Armaments • In 1898, the USS Main (armour plated) explodes in Havana, sparking the Spanish-American war. • The nickel-steel armaments are really proven during the Spanish/US war when the whole Spanish fleet is sunk, and only a single American sailor is killed. • Ritchie sends a big block of nickel to exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 o Interview Subjects Discuss: . What were the World Fairs? Why is it important that Ritchie was there? . Who was there, i.e. Canadian Copper Company, Thomas Edison • What was Thomas Edison working on that might require Nickel? When did Edison come to Sudbury? o Inter-cut McCharles conversing with Edison in Sudbury office, some voice-over: . “When Thomas A. Edison visited the Sudbury district in the summer of 1901, he used to call at my office or den almost every day for a week or more. His father was a Nova Scotian, and his mother a Scotch woman, Elliott by name, but he was born in the state of Ohio. In his manner and talk, and especially in his quiet repose, he had very little of the typical American character, and was a big, well-made, handsome man, with a fine large intellectual face, but rather deaf, and one had to speak loud to make him hear. I have never met a more interesting man to talk and listen to. When thinking, he would look down and begin to pull his right eyebrow with his finger and thumb in an abstracted way, as if he did not know that he was doing it. He hated snakes awfully, and nearly the first thing he asked me was if they were numerous in that part of Northern Ontario. He was very glad to hear that we had only a few harmless garter snakes on the nickel belt. He told me that he had not made very much out of all his work, and also that his greatest invention was the incandescent light, which is now in use in all the cities and towns of the whole civilized world.” o Interview Subjects Discuss: . Why Edison Came (working on storage battery that used nickel) . Why did he visit Aenaes McCharles? . What he did here (surveyed, drilled) o Scene: Edison using dip needle, walking over rough land o Interview Subjects Discuss:
13 . Edison’s needles showed strong magnetic attraction . He drilled extensively . Hit quick sand, gave up . Went home to US . Was Edison’s visit important to the development of Sudbury? • What happens to Richie in 1891? (Fired) Why? • A Nickel Cartel secured the CCC a place in the Market in 1895 o Canadian Copper Company, Orford Copper Company, Le Nickel o How important was this Cartel?
Chapter 7: A Sudburian’s Life for Me
• With the nickel market beginning to boom, many people are drawn to Sudbury for work in the mines o Interview Subjects Discuss: (Dr. Matt Bray, Hans Brasch, Oiva Saarinen, Jim Fortin, Mike Slawney, Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Mary Stefura, Zuliani?) . The kinds of people who were coming to work as miners: • Immigrants, i.e. Finns, Pols, Italians, Ukrainians, French, etc. o i.e. the Zuliani story . Safety Issues for Miners: • Safety equipment not required • Using Dualin to break up roast beds • The instability of dynamite o Stories of having to keep dynamite warm in boots o The explosive lovers story – Groom kills bride with dynamite • Long 12 hour underground shifts • Mine Collapses o i.e. the Worthington Mine collapse -1927 . (no one dies, but makes real the danger of mining) . Quality of life for Sudbury, Copper Cliff and Shanty Town residents • Discrimination by CCC o Housing hierarchy according to social status . Health and Safety Issues for Residents: • Roast Bed Sulphur Fumes • Story: Women calling home husbands from smelters through thick Roast Bed sulphur fog • Roast Beds moved to O’Donnell – away from White collar Copper Cliff residents 1915 • Discuss how INCO Doctors believed and told patients sulphur was good for the health . Discuss Effect of Roast Beds on Farms: • Bleaching of plants, farmer’s crops killed from sulphur
14 • Certain farmers and townships bought out, closed off for settlement by mining companies • In 1911 a large flour mill is built in Sudbury for all of the grain that is expected to be reaped from local farms, only to close in 1913 due to the death of the crops via sulphur • Discuss the establishment of the Sudbury Horticultural society in 1912, which promptly ended after sulphur killed all of their plants. • Were some farms able to survive? . Was everyone a miner? • Discuss the continued significance of the lumber industry in support of and on its own from the emerging mining industry. • In spite of the aforementioned health and environmental issues related to mining, the industry still serves to create a great deal of economic wealth for the region, as not only blue collar workers are attracted to the area, but aristocrats as well: o Interview Subjects Discuss: (Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Nada Mehes-Rovinelli) . Count Frederic Romanet du Caillaud • Eccentric French Count is attracted by mines, and enjoys many summers in Sudbury • Buys a great deal of Sudbury real-estate (including land that would become Bell Park) • Builds a grotto for ailing wife on town hill . Sacred Heart College is opened in 1913 • Evolves out of the earlier Jesuit school at St. Anne of the Pines • A classical college opened by the Jesuits • Was given degree-granting power • Taught exclusively in French • Discuss the continuing influence of French culture in Sudbury • The college was a foundation of University of Sudbury and Laurentian
Chapter 8: Big Business and Back Room Deals
Interview Subjects: Dr. Matt Bray, Dale Wilson, Dr. Wallace, Jim Fortin
• In the same year of the opening of Sacred Heart, War takes hold of Europe • Cut to Imagery of WWI o Archival Film footage of WWI • Cut to Interview Subjects Discussing: o How nickel sales sky rocket because of nickel-steel used in armaments . At the same time the automobile industry was also flourishing, i.e. the Model T began production in 1907
15 • Nickel-steel enables the industry, it could not work without it o Discuss the formation of the INCO Company of Canada and the evolution of the Nickel Cartel . International Nickel Company is created in 1902 (amalgamation of CCC and Orford) . They run into problems with the advent of WWI, i.e. the S.S. Deutschland Incident • US is neutral • German submarine comes to NY port during the war to collect nickel-steel from Canadian mines • Royal Commission on Nickel in Canada to have nickel processing done on Canadian soil o Discuss the establishment of the British American Nickel Corporation o Discuss the Mond/INCO merger of 1929 • In 1928, a new player shows up, Falconbridge o Interview subjects discuss: . Rapid growth of nickel market . Enough room for new competition . Falconbridge finds giant ore body on Edison’s old claim, meters below his drilling attempts • WWI spawned other mining Industries in the area: • Discuss how the war saved the Sellwood Community – the iron ore mine was at its peak with 600 employees during WWI o But the mine eventually proved not to be viable, was shut down and re- opened a number of times, but eventually failed o The establishment of Capreol as a division point on the railroad in 1913 (thanks to Frank Dennie) with bigger facilities than those of Sellwood really signaled the death knell for the town – many people moved to Capreol or further (Box Car Houses) o There now remains no trace of the town
Chapter 9: A Miner’s Rights (working title)
Interview Subjects: Dr. Matt Bray, Hans Brasch, Oiva Saarinen, Jim Fortin, Mike Slawney, Mary Stefura, Union Historians? Dr. Mercedes Steadman, Dr. Mary Powell?
• The result of having a large, multinational immigrant work force: o Political/Religious/Social differences . i.e. The May Day Parade Riot of 1932 • Interview Subjects Discuss: o The May Day Parade Riot o White vs. Red Finns and Ukrainians . Discuss the difference between communism and socialism – is the word “communist” over used? Why?
16 . The effect that different political affiliations had on miners at work and on the streets . i.e. Discrimination based on beliefs/ethnicity: The firing of numerous Finns due to fears of communist associations, such as Mr.Maki, and the re-hiring of Mr. Hill the next day (Hill is a translation of Maki) o Fear of Communism . Why People might fear that (Russian Revolution, propaganda, pro- capitalist governments) • Depression in North America o Sudbury is generally shielded from effects of depression, but there are attempts to begin unions . Many attempt to begin unions in mines • If companies heard of your involvement with a union, you would be fired immediately • It was the depression, so if they fired you, they could get someone else to take your job very easily o Many things were happening to distract people from depressive environment . i.e. There was a lot of live theatre and other entertainments . i.e. Moosie the Moose and Silver the Moose (racing moose captured in 1939) . i.e. Queen visits Sudbury in 1939 • Discuss the Myth that Elizabeth was the first women in the mines. Who was the first women? Why were women kept out of the mines? • World War II o Women begin work in surface positions at Inco. In 1942 for the war effort o Discuss the impact of WWII on Inco and Falconbridge o More Attempts to begin unions . This time, attempts work because workers are needed during war effort . In 1944 Mine Mill Union begins at Inco. And Falconbridge
Chapter 10: Cold War / Stainless Suburbia
Interview Subjects: Dr. Peter Beckett, Dr. Matt Bray, Hans Brasch, Ted Szilva, Leo May? Potato growers? Blueberry pickers? NASA Historian? Dr. Dave Pearson (Geology)?
• Montage: 1950’s magazine imagery of Stainless Steel home appliances, end montage with the Big Nickel o Interview Subjects: . Discuss what happens after WWII with the use of Nickel, and all of the different objects where stainless steel is used, i.e Lunch Boxes . Discuss Leo May Lunch Boxes
17 • Built for safe storage of lunch and a sturdy seat as well for miners – made of steel . Once again, people from all over Europe are called to Sudbury for work in the mines, • i.e. Hans Brasch o Hans will discuss safety and the improving working conditions in the mines in this period. • There are many clubs and sports teams set up by ethnic populations, many sponsored by Inco and Falconbridge o i.e., Dave Komonen – Winner of the Boston Marathon . An icon of Sudbury, which coalesces well with the post-war stainless steel fever is: the big Nickel - 1964 • Ted Szilva will speak about his project . Discuss booming nickel economy . In 1971-72, INCO/ Falconbridge’s combined workforce hits a high of 28 000 men • Switch to discussing how the 1971 production boom and the production of the prior century steadily amplified local environmental problems o Interview Subjects: . Please discuss what you remember of Sudbury in the early 1970’s, and earlier environmental issues • i.e. Barren lands, thousands and thousands of hectares • i.e. the Champion Potato Grower from Hanmer from 1948 o how the Sulphur killed everything that grew, except the blueberries o The bumper crop for blueberries was in 1924, during the roast bed period – they loved acid in the soil, other plants did not . Discuss the effect of sulphur on green plants . Discuss effects of sulphur on lakes . Discuss ensuing effects of barren of landscape on population and economy (i.e. many did not want to work here) • Sudbury Image Issue o Sudbury had an image problem o Became known as the “moonscape” after visit from NASA astronauts in 1971 . Astronauts had come to study the shatter cones, not to walk on “moonscape,” but this was not the story portrayed by the media o The Astronauts had come to study, what was the relatively recent science of the “Astrobleme Theory” from 1962 . Robert Dietz’ idea that the Sudbury Basin had been formed from the impact of a meteor, not a volcano as had previously been thought . Lake Wanapitei also identified as a meteorite depression . Discuss the connection between the newly formed Laurentian University and the recognition of the Sudbury basin as an Astrobleme o Sudbury was labeled as a moonscape, not only because of the proliferation rocks but because of the baron lands
18 . This sent off alarm bells – people chose to act
Chapter 11: Environmental and Cultural Re-greening
Interview Subjects: Everyone interviewed will be asked about their recollections of Sudbury in the 70s and the difference now, Dr. Peter Beckett, Bill Lautenbach, Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Dr. Matt Bray, Jim Fortin, Bob Michelutti others?)
• Starting in the early 1950s, both Inco and Falconbridge begin “agricultural” programs to bring some plant life back, primarily to company properties. Many of these efforts failed, but a few were successful o Discuss early company efforts at re-greening o Discuss/ show bits from the film “Rye on the Rocks” • Everyone realizes that sulphur and acid rain are a big issue, with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring helping to spark environmental movement in the 1960s. • Super stack begun in 1969, completed in 1972 in time for UN Stockholm Conference • Re-Greening Experiments begin in 1973 with the Department of Lands and Forests and the Newly Formed Laurentian University (1960) o Peter Beckett and Bill Lautenbach will discuss these experiments and their results • VTAC - After experiments, a municipal re-greening operation is began in 1974 o Big layoffs occur in the late 1970’s from INCO and Falconbridge – a recession hits, there are a series of strikes and 10 000 layoffs o In 1983 the planting of trees is begun by VTAC and a banner year for the group is had – 3 000 temporary employees (including laid-off miners and students) are hired to plant and lime • Lake Restoration begins in 1989 • The Re-Greening effort brings together people from all walks of life and all ethnicities – it shows Sudbury’s true colours . 10 million trees planted . The Potatoes are back . Lakes are retuning to normal
Chapter 12: Diversification
The final chapter will continue to build upon the foundation that the re-greening initiative laid to ensure the future wellbeing of the region, a future that was very much in doubt following the Inco and Falconbridge layoffs in the late 1970’s. This chapter will discuss the economic diversification of Sudbury and the creation of the mining technology sector, the establishment of Sudbury as a global education centre for the mining community, and the solidification of Sudbury as the regional metropolis of Northern Ontario.
Interview Subjects: Peter McBride, Dick DeStephano, Dr. Matt Bray, Dr. Gaetan Gervais, Joanne Gervais, , Dr. Jean-Charles Cachon? OTHERS REQUIRED
19 • Discuss why re-greening was necessary to the future wellbeing of the city, and how it laid the foundation for regional economic diversification: o The development of the Mining Services Cluster (many downsized specialists start their own companies to serve the mining industry in NA and abroad) . Developing/ exporting mining technology . Creation of a global education centre for the mining community o The creation of Science North in 1984 . NASA’s Continued interest in Sudbury . The role that Science North plays in Sudbury as an educational centre o There was a French Cultural Renaissance going on at this time as well, and in 1975 the Franco-Ontarian Flag was first introduced at University of Sudbury, and recognized by the Franco-Ontarian Emblem Act in 2001 . Discuss how three Jesuits (Lemieux, Cadieux, ____) who taught at the Sacred Heart College, developed a pride of memory and pride of place, which eventually resulted in a French Cultural Renaissance o The Regional Metropolis, providing services to North-Eastern Ontario . Health Care and Education . How successful have these initiatives been? Was this a pre- destined path or is there something else going on here? • Cut to an elderly Mrs. Howey, back on her island on Lake Ramsay, writing the final pages of her book: o “We remained in North Bay for three years, then returned to Sudbury, and found a great Change had taken place. We came here for a little while, and here we are yet. Many people have come and gone. They alight for a short time and then flit away. Very few of the old timers are left. Many have gone to their heavenly home. I have never really wanted to go back south, and now I never shall. I have good friends here, such friends as I am sure I should never find again, and I have no greater desire now than to end my days in their midst. o Text: Mrs. Howey passed away at her home in Sudbury in 1936 at the age of eighty.
Other Stories
North Ontario Separation Movement Father Germain Lemieux M.C. Biggar – Disappearing Mayor of Sudbury Railway School Box Cars (Capreol) Beginning of Lively Sauna / Sweat Lodge Connection A.Y. Jackson Paints in Sudbury
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