Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1977-1989 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Approximately 1m of textual records and photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Beth (Mary Elizabeth) Southcott, née Woolger, 1923-2004, was an amateur artist and art writer based in the Clarkson area of Mississauga. She was interested in visual art throughout her life, taking courses as a child at the (then) Art Gallery of Toronto and the Ontario College of Art, and later serving as the director of Visual Arts Mississauga. Southcott became interested in Indigenous art as an outcome of a course she took at Erindale College (now University of Toronto Mississauga) in 1975. Her book The Sound of the Drum is an original contribution to the historiography of Anishinaabe art and its reception by settler audiences.
Archival history
Material constituting this fonds was donated by Beth Southcott to the Mississauga Public Library's local history collections ca.1992. Following a collection review, the fonds was transferred to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2022.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Transfer from Mississauga Public Library, 2022
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of research materials generated in preparation for Southcott's book The Sound of the Drum: The Sacred Art of the Anishnabec (Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1984). The following artists are documented in the fonds: Allen Angeconeb, Del Ashkewe, Carl Beam, Leland Bell, Benjamin Chee Chee, Shirley D. Cheechoo, Blake Debassige, Noel Ducharme , Don Ense, Rhonda Franks, Ril Gaiashk, Tom Hill, Robert Houle, Alex Janvier, Francis Kagige, Goyce Kakegamic, Morley Kakepetum, Eleanor Kanasawe, Josh Kakegamic, Norman Knott, John Laford, Mel Madahbee, Norval Morrisseau, Hugh Mckenzie, Johnson Meekis, Daphne Odjig, Martin Panamick, Carl Ray, Tim Restoule, Michael Robinson, Allen Sapp, James Simon, Arthur Shilling, Roy Thomas, Randy Trudeau, and Saul Williams.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
An inventory of the fonds is available on request. Please contact the reference desk for information.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
22 February 2023
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Provisional description created by Amy Furness, 22 February 2023.