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Dates of creation area
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1943-2014 (Creation)
- Creator
- Walter Callow Wheelchair Bus
Physical description area
Physical description
20 cm of textual records and photographs.
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Administrative history
The Walter Callow Wheelchair Bus service for the disabled, one of the first of its kind, began in 1947 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, under the name Callow (pronounced Ka-loo’) Veterans and Invalids Welfare League. The founder and designer, Walter Harrison Callow (1894-1958) was a handicapped veteran of the First World War, part of the Royal Flying Corps who was injured in a plane crash during training in 1917. He designed a new type of bus to accommodate wheelchairs and stretchers, and with the League’s help raised funds by public donation to have the first bus built by West Pubnico Bus Builders in Pubnico, NS in 1947. All from his bed in Camp Hill Veterans’ Hospital in Halifax NS. The League’s mission was to provide transportation for incapacitated persons to attend church services, sporting events, concerts, fairs, and other entertainment events, for free. Incorporated in Nova Scotia in June 1948 as a non-profit organization, the first Executive was Walter Callow, President; R.W. Harris, First Vice-President; G.J. Churchill Second Vice President; J.E. Godwin Third Vice President; G.F.H. MacIntosh, Treasurer; and G.E. Herman, Secretary. In 1953, they incorporated as a national charitable organization, and by 1966, had two self-sustaining branch offices in Lethbridge and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In 1992 the name was shortened to Callow Wheel Chair Buses. In December 2018, the organization ended its bus service due to financial constraints and re-organized itself into the Walter Harris Callow Foundation.
Custodial history
Walter Callow’s daughter Annie Melba (Callow) Morrison gave the scrapbooks to Callow Wheelchair Buses in 2006. They continued adding photographs and documents to it until 2014, then donated it along with other publicity files to Nova Scotia Archives in 2018.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of 2 scrapbooks and file folders containing newspaper clippings (1943-2014); photographs (1917, 1953-2007); correspondence (1945-2014): essays on the founder Walter Callow (1958-2012); founding documents of incorporation and bus design registration (1947, 1953); fundraising event programs, promotions and brochures (1946-2013); some annual reports and annual general meeting minutes, (1953, 1960-1961, 1966-1967); donor lists (1999, 2007); directors lists (2002, 2014); a sign stencil “Callow Coaches”; and vehicle registrations for the first and third bus put on the road (1954).
Records were assembled into 2 scrapbooks by Walter Callow’s daughter Melba and given to the organization: one for photographs and documents, the second for newspaper clippings, which included some French newspapers. The organization continued adding to the photographs scrapbook and used its contents for advertising and fundraising.
Photographs include the first bus, the first Board of Directors, the first civilian and veteran riders, the hostess/nurses, drivers and secretaries, visiting dignitaries and officials, and Walter Callow in his hospital bed at Camp Hill Veterans Hospital. Later images include a 1979 celebration, and the 60th anniversary gathering in 2007.
This material documents the development of specialized transportation for people with disabilities.
Notes area
Physical condition
The hardwood-carved scrapbook cover was removed from the Photograph Scrapbook pages for preservation.
The Newspaper Clippings Scrapbook contents were photocopied for preservation.
Immediate source of acquisition
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- English
- French
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Copyright held by Nova Scotia Archives. Some photographs have expired copyright.
See Nova Scotia Archives’ Services page for information on copying, reproduction, and use of materials.
Finding aids
Associated materials
See also “Walter Callow: The Human Log” booklet, published ca.1954 in Nova Scotia Archives Library V/F v. 49 #14.