Вильям Бейкер признан национальным историческим деятелем за уникальную коллекцию цветных снимков жизни萨斯качевана

An influential promoter of Saskatchewan's co-operative movement is credited with capturing more than 10,000 colour slide photographs that document prairie life in the mid-twentieth century, including in the southwest.  William Everett Baker, better known as Everett Baker, took photos in communities across the province that are still valued today, including Swift Current, Eastend, Val Marie, Maple Creek, Gravelbourg, Davidson, Aneroid, Dollard, the Saskatchewan Landing, Shaunavon, Bracken, Saskatoon, and Regina. He was designated as a national historic person in 2025. Growing up over a century ago According to Parks Canada, he was born in Minnesota in 1893 and raised on a farm, eventually moving to a farm near Aneroid in 1918 alongside his wife, Ruth Hellebo.  Baker worked his way up in the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association before selling his farm in 1924 to help found and manage the Aneroid Co-operative Association.  From 1937 to 1957, he worked as a field man for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, helping to organize producer and consumer co-operatives, and educating communities.  Visual records of a bygone era The co-operative and agricultural enthusiast began taking colour slide photos in 1939, documenting co-operative businesses, the unique landscape, events, historic landmarks, fairs, small towns, and Metis, First Nation, and rural communities.  Related Stories: Southwest History: Geraldine Moodie, trailblazing photographic records Southwest History: Floods of '52 Southwest History: Heritage Tower, housing low-income seniors for 50 years Parks Canada says he showed his colour slideshows at community meetings, which were adopted by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as a cutting-edge form of media presentation.  Baker travelled to other regions of the province with slide photos and slides for field men to use in their talks, and worked as the photographer for the Country Organization Department at the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool headquarters in Regina from 1945 to 1948,  He published a series of his photographs in a collection called Bits of Saskatchewan in Colour: Trails and Traces of Rupert’s Land and the North-West Territories as seen from 1940-1955 in 1955. The American-born photographer retired in 1957, and the same year helped to establish the Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society, and served as the organization's first president for the next six years.  "Everett Baker was a master at capturing people and everyday life, whether it was farming, ranching, local communities, landscapes, or the people of Saskatchewan," said Kristin Enns-Kavanagh, executive director of the Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society and Ingrid Cazakoff, chief executive officer of Heritage Saskatchewan. "His colour slides, carefully annotated with the names and places he photographed, are a rare glimpse into everyday life." Baker passed away at the age of 88 in April 1981 and was laid to rest in Memory Gardens Cemetery in Swift Current.