Queen's University 1841-1926 : 85 Years of Loyal Service

Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario: 16mm.

Library and Archives Canada: 35mm, 28mm, VHS.
"Film opens with a shot of a book cover with the title 'Queen's University, 1841-1926: Eighty-five Years of Loyal Service.' The pages of the book serve as the initial intertitles of the film recounting the history of Queen's University. The establishment of the university is ranked on the same level of importance as the opening of the first Parliament, both events taking place in Kingston, Ontario at the time of the Union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841. The humble origins of Queen's University is shown as a small institution comprising of two professors and ten male students, and its growth into one of the Great Universities of the Dominion coincides with the growth of Kingston as a city of affairs, shown in shots of the many fine buildings representing both church and state. A map of the campus area outlines the gradual construction of buildings associated with the university in chronological order, starting with the Principal's Residence in 1853 and ending with the Douglas Block Richardson Building in 1925. Film then shows one of the older living graduates of Queen's visiting his Alma Mater, who is shown to be reading the very book that the film is showing. Accompanied by a graduate of 1898 and his son who is following in his father's footsteps, these representatives of three generations of Queen's students take a walking tour of campus. The first sight they come across is an election campaign stunt, which prompts flashbacks from the older graduates about some of their past stunts, such as the incident in 1900 where students greeted Principal Grant at the train station and pulled his carriage all the way back to his residence, and another incident where students painted the 'tool house'. The three alumni also start reminiscing about past and present glories in varsity sports. Footage of football games being played at Richardson Memorial Stadium are shown, with Queen's mascot Boo Hoo the Bear leading the team on to the field. Footage of a basketball game played inside one of the halls is also shown. The youngest of the group then leads the older graduates on a tour of the Queen's campus to showcase the new facilities and technologies. Exterior shots of the remodelled Old Medical Building are intercut with interior shots of the pharmacology laboratory and the dissecting room. The all-female residence Ban Righ Hall is the next stop, where the women inside are shown taking dance lessons, dining together, and doing calisthenics in the gymnasium. Exterior shots of the Dupuis Clock and the new Douglas Library are shown. The Richardson Pathological Laboratory and the Douglas Clinic Building are also visited, with footage of students observing their professor examining a patient and a demonstration of an X-Ray machine. Tour concludes at the old Arts Building, which the older graduates remember as the site where the Arts Court used to sit and was annually rushed by the Meds and Science, as shown in a reenacted flashback. The older alumni realize the passing on of Queen's tradition through the generations, and happily join arm-in-arm with the current students in a parade procession. The film ends with an appeal by Principal R. Bruce Taylor imploring all alumni to contribute to Queen's University in order to maintain the honour of the institution. <27mn> "