During the Depression you needed something beautiful in life to get you out of the depression: the feeling, you see.
[S. Alec Gordon oral history interview, 1975 (CABHC: BOHP 16)]
In the summer of 1932, eleven young men took a canoe journey from their hometown of Belleville, Ontario, up the Trent-Severn Waterway to Peterborough and Clear Lake. One of the party, Alec Gordon (1905-1989), wrote a diary of the group's experiences, took photographs and later wrote music inspired by the trip. In this online exhibit, we can travel along with the party and even listen to Alec's music.
The other people on the canoe journey with Alec Gordon were:
Robert 'Bobs' Bell (1915-?)
Arthur Lloyd 'Art' Cole (1916-2004)
Joseph Lawrence 'Joe' Hitchon (1912-1987)
Cecil Charles Ling (1913-2006)
Franklin Burkett Martin (1916-2009)
Elton Blakley McMurray (1914-1986)
Ralph Morden (1894-1968)
Jack Barrymore Morgan (1914-1993)
Donald Berkley 'Don' Ridley (1913-1971)
Bob Summers (?)
The original materials used to create this exhibit are:
TR 3700 Journal of the trip by S. Alec Gordon
2019-034 Album of photographs by S. Alec Gordon
BPL/Albums/1 Recording of an organ recital by S. Alec Gordon, with music inspired by his travels in Ontario
