A life of history: Leith Knight honoured for historical contributons
There’s an old saying when it comes to deferring to the experience of another: ‘I could spend the rest of my life dedicated to that subject, and she’d have forgotten more than I could ever learn’.
This is one of the few adages that holds particular significance when applied to Leith Knight and the history of Moose Jaw – the legendary historian responsible for the creation of the archives in the Moose Jaw Public Library and a columnist for decades.
That’s why when the opportunity came to honour someone during the recent Provincial Archives Week, Knight was the perfect choice.
“We put on this event to commemorate her and her contributions to the archives and her contributions to Moose Jaw,” explained Shawn Astle, archives intern with the MJPL. “She started the archives in the ‘60s, she was the main driving force behind the creation of the archives and she wrote a column about history in Moose Jaw from 1969 until 1913 and her passing...it’s almost indescribable how important she was to the history of Moose Jaw and that’s why she was someone we wanted to recognize today.”
The event featured a display of a wide variety of items either collected or written by Knight through her lifetime, in addition to a host of honours she received for her work dedicated to the the history of the city. Interestingly enough, the items on display that evening – of which there were over 100 – were a small sampling of a donation of Knight’s works and paraphenalia by the Minto United Church.
How large?
“After processing all of them, there are about eight or nine vertical boxes full,” Astle said with a tone of amazement. “A whole range of stuff from her articles to her acheivements and correspondence records and articles and many drafts of her writing... it’s incredible how much work and time she put into this.” Knight’s talents went beyond gathering and writing history – she was also an avid bird-watcher and wrote a book on the subject – in addition to playing organ for several churches in the community.
The event also featured a handful of speakers passing on their memories of Leith, including Bernice Crosby and Scott Helland of Heritage Moose Jaw, along with long-time friends Ron and Joyce Walter.
All spoke glowingly of her dedication to her many life’s passions and how much she and husband Cy Knight – himself a community legend for his decades of work in local radio – meant so much to Moose Jaw.
There was very little question in our minds that she should be the choice for this kind of honour... this is the best place to go for the stories and history of Moose Jaw for sure, and it’s all because of the passion she had back in the day and how it’s continued over the years,” Astle said. “The fact it’s all still here and serving the community so well is a testament to her love of history and the archives.”