A.D. Thacker fonds

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Part of

• Fonds: A.D. Thacker fonds, 1913-1944

People

• Alfred Dennis Thacker (archive creator)

Title

A.D. Thacker fonds

Dates of creation

1913-1944

Form

• archives

Level of archival description

Fonds

Extent and Medium

• 34 drawings
• 16 reprographic copies
• 12 photographic materials
• 0.08 l.m. of textual records
• 4 books

Scope and Content

The fonds illustrates A.D. Thacker's work as an architect and primarily consists of drawings depicting structures that Thacker designed after beginning his own practice in 1926 until his death in 1938, but also includes work from 1913. The drawings depict structures located in Quebec as well as Halifax, Nova Scotia. The fonds also contains documentation of the drawings, including reprographic copies, photographs, and some textual material.

*CONTENT WARNING*

The united church project in Kanawá:ke (AP004.S1.D4) documented in this fonds was associated with the Federal Indian Day School system established by the Canadian government with the aid of various religious organizations. See the project series for additional information. Please take care in consulting these records and seek help when needed.

Reference Number

AP004

Arrangement

The fonds consists of one series, Architectural projects, 1913-1938, which is arranged according to project.

Biographical notes

On January 12th, 1879, Alfred Dennis (A.D.) Thacker was born in Walsall, a county of Staffordshire, England, to father Richard Edgar Thacker and mother Emma (née Fox) Thacker.He immigrated to Canada in 1910, after receiving his initial training as an architect in Birmingham.Thacker was married to Constance Margaret Ritchie two years after he arrived in Canada, on June 5th, 1912. They had one son and two daughters.

While living in Canada, Thacker worked with many firms in Montreal and Toronto. He was first employed with Ross and Macfarlane (now Ross and MacDonald) in Montreal before moving on to Chapman and McGiffen in Toronto, and then returning to Montreal to work with McVicar and Heriot, Brown and Vallance, and David R. Brown. Thacker began his own practice in 1926 and subsequently designed many churches and private homes.

Thacker designed a church on the First Nations reserve Kanawá:ke around 1928 for the newly formed United Church of Canada. The United Church, and many other religious institutions, were directly involved in the colonization and oppression of Indigenous Peoples across the continent.[1] These policies and systems were mandated by the federal government in Canada and carried out by religious institutions. This church project, which operated a school that’s been recognized by the Canadian government as being part of the Federal Indian Day School system [2], represents Thacker’s involvement in these systems.

Thacker also designed churches for the United Church in Hampstead and Dundee in Quebec, and a church for the Christian Science Church in Côtes-des-neiges in Montreal. His designs for the new choir stalls and chancel furniture in the All Saints Cathedral in Halifax were awarded an Honorary Mention from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Alfred Dennis Thacker passed away on September 26th, 1938 and was buried in Chambly Quebec.

[1] For further reading on these systems, see https://web.archive.org/web/20210627191803/http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/res-Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf

[2] Federal Indian Day School Class Action “Schedule K – List of Federal Indian Day Schools.” https://indiandayschools.com/en/wp-content/uploads/schedule-k.pdf

Conditions governing access

• Access by appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction

• Contact the CCA for copyright information and permission to reproduce (reproductions@cca.qc.ca).

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

• Gift of Naomi Morehouse on March 1, 1983.

Custodial history

The CCA acquired the A.D. Thacker fonds in 1983.

Archivist's note

• Arrangement of the fonds was completed by Bérengere Gagné in 1986. The paper finding aid was completed by Bérengere Gagné in 1986. Records were created by Kelli Babcock and Jennifer Préfontaine based on information within the paper finding aid and were completed in April 2011. Minor cleanup and rearrangement of records was done by Anna Haywood in 2021 in preparation for migration from database TMS to ArchivesSpace. Some weeding of books was also done at this time. Content warnings and additional context were added to the finding aid by Anna Haywood in 2024 in light of the CCA's reparative description efforts.

Credit line

When citing the collection as a whole, use the citation: A.D. Thacker fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. When citing specific collection material, please refer to the object’s specific credit line.

Language of material

English

Related units of description

• The publication The Studio: an illustrated magazine of Fine & Applied Arts. Vol. 40, no. 168, Mar. 15, 1907 has an article on pg. 125-126 on one of Thacker's projects "prize design for cottage at Bredons Norton."