The series is composed of records from William Atkinson’s personal life. The records document Atkinson’s early life and education in England, his immigration to Canada, his social activities during the Second World War, and his life in Montreal following his forced retirement from the Royal Canadia…
The series is composed of records from William Atkinson’s personal life. The records document Atkinson’s early life and education in England, his immigration to Canada, his social activities during the Second World War, and his life in Montreal following his forced retirement from the Royal Canadian Navy in 1959. It is composed of certificates, short biographies, academic and employment portfolios, financial records, daybooks, a serialized feature of Atkinson in the Montreal’s West End Journal, invitations and memberships to various clubs.
Fonds consists of 15 boxes containing raw material and finished works by Richard Fung, as well as
works by other artists and filmmakers collected by Fung over the years in various video formats. The
fonds also contains amateur footage of events attended by Fung, recordings of television broadcasts
…
210 video cassettes (124 VHS, 2 S
VHS-C, 7 U-matic, 15 U-matic S, 1
Betacam, 19 BetacamSP, 39 MiniDV,
3 Hi8)
28 optical discs (4 DVD, 21 DVD-R, 2
audio CD, 1 CD-R)
10 audio cassettes (5 compact
cassette, 4 DAT, 1 DTRS)
51 photographs (45 colour polaroids, 6
black and white prints 20 x 25 cm)
15 slides (15 black and white 35 mm)
9.5 cm of textual records
Physical Condition
Overall in good physical condition. Tapes are playable, but a few show signs of magnetic and physical
deterioration. Photographs display physical deterioration.
History / Biographical
Richard Fung is an artist and writer born in Trinidad and based in Toronto. He holds a diploma from the
Ontario College of Art, a degree in Cinema Studies, and an MEd in Sociology and Cultural Studies, both
from the University of Toronto. He is a Professor in the Faculty of Art at OCAD University, teaching
courses in Integrated Media and Art and Social Change. His work comprises challenging videos on
subjects ranging from the role of the Asian male in gay pornography to colonialism, immigration, racism,
homophobia, AIDS, justice in Israel/Palestine, and his own family history. His single-channel and
installation works, which include My Mother’s Place (1990), Sea in the Blood (2000), Jehad in Motion
(2007), Dal Puri Diaspora (2012), and Re:Orientations (2016), have been widely screened and collected
internationally, and have been broadcast in Canada, the United States, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Richard’s essays have been published in many journals and anthologies, and he is the co-author with
Monika Kin Gagnon of 13: Conversations on Art and Cultural Race Politics (2002), later updated and
translated into French. He was a Rockefeller Fellow at New York University and has received the Bell
Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement in Video Art and the Toronto Arts Award for Media Art. In
2015, he received the Kessler Award from CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of
New York for “a substantive body of work that has had a significant influence on the field of LGBTQ
Studies.”
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 15 boxes containing raw material and finished works by Richard Fung, as well as
works by other artists and filmmakers collected by Fung over the years in various video formats. The
fonds also contains amateur footage of events attended by Fung, recordings of television broadcasts
taken by the artist, production files (including photographs and detailed documentation created during
production), correspondence, funding applications, conference programmes, and poetry.
Contains series:
1- Orientations
2- Chinese Characters
3- The Way to My Father’s Village
4- Fighting Chance
5- My Mother’s Place
6- Steam Clean
7- Out of the Blue
8- Dirty Laundry
9- School Fag
10- Sea in the Blood
11- Islands
12- Uncomfortable
13- Landscapes
14- Other works by Fung
15- Works by others collected by Fung
Access Restrictions
The fonds is open to researchers.
Conservation
Tapes have been kept in original packaging, placed in upright position, and grouped by media type when
possible in acid-free boxes. Paper files and photographs have been removed from binders and placed in
acid-free folders. Paperclips and staples have been removed. Slides have been kept in the original archival
sleeve and placed in an acid-free folder.
Arrangement
The fonds has been arranged by work, i.e., materials related to a particular work have been intellectually
grouped together in a single series. Additionally, raw materials pertaining to a particular work have been
arranged in chronological order of production when possible. Physical arrangement has prioritized
grouping similar media together while considering storage limitations.
The fonds consists of records that pertain to the life and career of William Atkinson. It documents Atkinson’s early life and work in England prior to his enlistment with the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War. It contains records from his immigration to Canada, as well records rela…
95 cm of textual records
675 photographs: b&w and col. ; 36 x 27 cm or smaller
126 photographs: b&w and col. negatives ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller
6 flags: 14.5 x 21 cm or smaller
1 armband: 36.5 x 11.5cm
1 plaque: 18 x 23 x 0.5cm
1 drawing
Extent
0.95
Physical Condition
Good
History / Biographical
William Aktinson was born on February 26th, 1916 to William and Margaret Ethel Atkinson in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. At the age of 14 Atkinson left school and took a job as an office-boy. At the age of 16, Atkinson joined the merchant service as an apprentice with F. Carrick & Co LTD of the Medensleigh Steamship Company. He was at sea for 4 years, during this time he completed his second mates foreign going certificate.
In October 1938, Atkinson began his service with the Royal Naval Reserve as a sub lieutenant. In 1942, Atkinson was appointed to commission and command the HMS “Manitoulin” which was being built in Ontario. He stayed in Canada for a year serving with the Royal Canadian Navy, until he was recalled to England for another command. While residing in Canada, he completed his Masters Foreign Going Certificate. In 1944, Atkinson applied for a transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve, which was rejected on the basis that he was not a Canadian citizen. In 1945, he was promoted to the rank of acting Lieutenant Commander with the Royal Navy. In 1946, Atkinson made a second request to transfer to the Royal Candian Navy Reserve, which was once again denied. It was recommended to him to reapply once he had officially immigrated to Canada. In 1947, Atkinson retired from the Royal Naval Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Atkinson immigrated to Canada in 1948 with hopes of joining the active list of the Royal Canadian Navy. He arrived in Montreal and presented himself before the Royal Canadian Navy authorities, but due to the decline of naval jobs during the postwar period, he was added to the retired list of the HMCS “York”. During this time, Atkinson was forced to seek out employment alternatives. Atkinson found job as a Night Manager of Childs Restaurant, located on 238 Yonge Street, Toronto. He supplemented his income by writing short stories for magazines, and delivered a 3 part broadcast entitled the “Emigrant’s Report” for the BBC Toronto Office. In March 1950, Atksinson left Childs Restaurant for the position of Resident Manager at the Glen Gordon Manor Inn in Blenheim, Ontario.
In 1951, Atkinson requested to be transferred to the RCNR’s active list through an application for a short service appointment. He was granted the role of Area Recruiting and Public Relations Officer for Western Ontario on the HMCS “Hunter”. This appointment was followed by a similar role in British Columbia on the HMCS “Discovery”. From 1954 to 1955, Atkinson completed the Junior Officer’s Technical and Leadership Course on the HMCS Stadacona, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was later appointed as First Lieutenant Commander of the HMCS “Quebec”. In 1956, Atkinson was dispatched to Vietnam and served as a Naval Advisor to the Canadian Delegation to the International Truce Commission.
In 1958, Atkinson returned to Canada, where he served as a Staff Officer in Ottawa. At this time, the Navy and the RCMP had begun its targeting of gay officers and recruits. After being subjected to RCMP and Canadian Naval Intelligence interrogations over the span of 10 months, Atkinson was given the option to be fired or to resign “voluntarily”. Atkinson submitted his resignation and was “Honourably Discharged” with the position of Lieutenant Commander in November 21, 1959. Atkinson would have qualified for a full pension on August 1, 1961, if he had been allowed to complete his ten years of service.
Following his forced resignation from the Royal Canadian Navy, Atkinson returned to the hospitality business. He managed a number of golf clubs in Quebec and Ontario. These clubs included the Kanawaki Golf Course, the York Downs Country Club, the Islington Golf Club, and the Brampton Golf Club. From 1961 to 1965, Atksinson owned a coin laundry service company called the “Coin Wash Limited”, located at 730 Charlevoix Street, Montreal. Atkinson spent a short period of time working at the Southern Palms Hotel located in Barbados from 1969 to 1970. He supplemented his income with acting and modelling which lasted until the 1990s, and was featured in commercials and shows, from a Bell Telephone Commercial, La Femme d’Aujourd’hui, Night Heat, and the Littlest Hobo.
Atkinson served as the President of the Sprucewood Court Condos located in Agincourt, Ontario, where he resided for over 15 years. In 1988, Atkinson moved to 19 Maple Street, Ajax, Ontario, where he lived until his death on January 17th, 2000.
Throughout his life, Atkinson had an interest in writing. From 1939 to 1946, he was enrolled in the London School of Journalism’s Short Stories’ Writer’s Program, which conducted its courses via correspondence. Atkinson submitted a number of works of fiction and non-fiction to various publications. This included a piece that was submitted to The Reader’s Digest and The Body Politic, that dealt with his interrogation and forced resignation from the Royal Canadian Navy.
In 1991, Atkinson made a request for his military personnel records from the National Archives of Canada under the Privacy Act. This search yielded a number files relating to his service, performance, medical, and dental records. However, the search did not result in any records from the RCMP or Canadian Naval Intelligence interrogations that pertained to his sexuality, which he was subjected to for 10 months.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of records that pertain to the life and career of William Atkinson. It documents Atkinson’s early life and work in England prior to his enlistment with the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War. It contains records from his immigration to Canada, as well records relating to his work in the restaurant and hospitality business upon his arrival. The fonds is also composed of records from his time with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) through the 1950s, and contains some material related to his forced retirement from the RCN on the basis of his sexual orientation. The fonds includes records from his return to the hospitality business, along with material from Atkinson’s writing and work in the entertainment business. The fonds is composed of correspondence, services records, certificates, photographs, press clippings, and short stories.
