Group Photograph - St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, Form 3, 1919 - Heritage Collections Elgin-St. Thomas

History / Biographical: Caroyln Curtis was a local artist reknowned for her water colour works, and for paintings and etchings of historic buildings in and around St Thomas. She was born in St. Thomas, Ontario in 1903 to James D. Curtis and Dora Ferguson Curtis. She attended Wellington Street Public School and the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, from which she graduated in 1922. She graduated from Alma College in household science in 1924, and then enrolled at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Ontario, graduating in Commercial Art four years later. After graduation, Carolyn taught handicrafts at various organizations including the YWCA, Girl Guide camps, and at Alma College. During the Second World War, she accepted work inscribing honour rolls and lettering for government issued documents. For many years, she also inscribed the names of Alma College graduates in script on their diplomas. She eventually developed an interest in black and white etchings and water colours, and pursued additional training. These styles became her signature work, and her greeting cards featuring her artwork became collectors' items. Curtis died in 1995. Her work can be found in the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa, at the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre and in many private homes. Information summarized from the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre's biography of Curtis.

Scope and Content: A group photograph featuring a school group, Form III, dated October 1919. Carolyn Curtis identified the following individuals on the reverse of the photograph: Top row, from left to right: Albert Foster, Frank Roulston, Harold Lumley, Henry Vair, Peter Fulton, Charles Cross, Herman Vincent, Fred Cassidy, Leman Wright and Allan Shannon. Second row, from left to right: Donald Pressy, Robert Belbin, Charles Lay, James Morneau, Walter Tracy, Harold Slauston, Cyril Farley and Percy Chantler. Bottom row, from left to right: Charles Law, Lillian Dowler, Charlotte Wilson, Dr. Voaden, Carolyn Curtis, Leora Tanner, and Donald McDonald.