Date Range

1028-2011

Description Level

Fonds

Creator

Marion Biggs

Physical Description

12 cm of textual records

History Biographical

Marion Phyllis Biggs (1909-2013) grew up on a Beynon Ranch near Drumheller (Rosebud area). She graduated from the Drumheller Business College in 1936 and in 1939 moved to Lethbridge to found the Lethbridge Secretarial College. She run the business until she retired. In her later years she dedicated most of her time to painting and was an active member of the Lethbridge Sketch Club. She was also involved with the Lethbridge Symphony as a musician. The Lethbridge Secretarial College was founded by Marion Biggs in 1939 as a member of Business Educators' Association of Canada. The institution offered Secretarial, Stenography, Cleritype, Typewriting, Bookkeeping, and Machine Calculation. For several decades, Marion Biggs operated the business and served as Principal until its closure in 1964. Following the closure, she became the principal at the Henderson School of Commerce until her retirement in 1970. Marion Biggs's study of drawing and painting began with a correspondence course from the Art Instructions Schools in Minneapolis in 1969. In 1970 and 1973, she attended short summer sessions at the Banff School of Fine Art. Since 1968, Marion Biggs was a member of the Lethbridge Sketch Club. Her works were exhibited in local galleries and in Frame/Craft Gallery in Edmonton. In 1978, one of her paintings was chosen to tour Canada with the Canada Nature Art Exhibition; another in 1986 by the Alberta Art Foundation. Many of Marion Biggs paintings are found in private collections throughout Canada. Marion Biggs worked mainly in landscape genre using acrylics and colored pencils.

Custodial History

The materials an accruel by Sue Wilkie, estate executor, given in 2023

Scope and Content

20231036/01 Misc. legal records (Estate Accounts, Personal Directive, Wills) 2004-2015 20231036/02 Collection of Poems Ca. 1980 20231036/03 Small Keepsakes (Card, Certificate, Notes, Pamphlet, Photos) 1928-1989 20231036/04 Letters for 100th and 202nd Birthdays from Various Government Officials 2009-2011 20231036/05 Diploma, Certificate, and Awards 1939-1980 20231036/06 Inventory and Accounts for the Estate of Mabel Florence Biggs 1971 20231036/07 Letters and Cards from Family 1991-1999 20231036/08 Family History materials 1997?-2013? 20231036/09 Photos of Marion 2006-2007 20231036/10 Appraisal of Myrtle (Bud) Biggs’s Property 1991 20231036/11 Memorial Guestbook and Photos 2013 20231036/12 Concert Programs and Music Exams 1929-1976 20231036/13 Motion Regarding the Estate of Mabel Florence Biggs 1999-2000 20231036/14 Pamphlets for Lethbridge Secretarial Collage 1954-1962 20231036/15 Portraits of a Man and Woman Taken in London Ca. 1870 20231036/16 Coin Purse

Accession No.

20231036

Collection

Archive

Less detail