Fred Bradshaw

In 1911, Fred Bradshaw, the Chief Game Guardian, assumed responsibility for the museum from T.N. Willing. Bradshaw became the first full-time director of the museum in 1928.

In 1913, Bradshaw made a "wish list" of items desired by the Museum, thus officially beginning the Ethnology collection as he asked for First Nations and fur trade artifacts, handmade tools and implements from the early days of settlement, and other items. A call was issued to the community for donations, and the Ethnology section began to grow. His interest in Native beadwork and handicrafts led to the expansion of that portion of the collection as well.

In 1929, Bradshaw began giving illustrated talks about protecting wildlife and conservation in Saskatchewan. He also spearheaded an initiative to conserve the endangered Whooping Crane, even discovering what may have been the last two nests in Saskatchewan in the Kindersley-Kerrobert area in 1922.

When laid off for a month in 1931 due to financial constraints of the Provincial government, Bradshaw set off for northern Saskatchewan to give a series of lantern slide talks and illustrated lectures-unpaid, and furnishing his own funds for travel and expenses. His dedication to conservation and education is obvious.

Bradshaw holding a Marbled Godwit on a field expedition.

Fred Dunk

Fred Dunk became the Director of the Museum at the height (or in the midst) of the Great Depression. Despite the hardships he and the small staff faced during his tenure, including three location changes, the Depression, and World War Two, Dunk was able to complete a systematic review of the collection, including a catalogue and index.

Dunk was invited, along with Fred Bard, to observe a First Nations Rain Dance in the Qu'Appelle Lakes District, and compiled what is considered one of the most extensive photo records of that ceremony in existence.

Dunk was recognized as a talented naturalist, conservationist, sportsman, and historian; making him an ideal candidate for directing the Museum.

Fred Bard

Fred G. Bard was the second full-time employee hired to work at the RSM. He was hired to do the detail work, including mounting and preparing specimens and cleaning and maintaining the collection to allow H.H. Mitchell to focus more closely on the artistic preparation of the exhibits. In 1926, he was put in charge of developing the collection, which necessitated many extensive field collection trips over the next several years. Upon Mitchell's retirement in 1933, Bard became the Museum's preparator.

From the beginning of his career with the Museum, Bard was a dedicated conservationist. He worked with Fred Bradshaw to develop a conservation program for Whooping Cranes in North America. As part of this program, Bard was loaned to the Audubon Society in 1945 to survey the status of the Whooping Crane. He also, over the years, got the local and national media involved in the plight of these majestic birds.

Fred Bard talking about Whooping Crane conservation on CBC News.

Bard with three magpies.

Bard was deeply committed to conservation, and spearheaded several programs during his employment to raise the public's awareness, including the Canada Goose Nesting Project and several others. In fact, when Bard became Director of the Museum in 1947, he consciously made conservation the main focus, something that was revolutionary for a museum at the time.

He also petitioned the government for stronger conservation legislation, using his position and the Museum's extensive collection as his leverage. Bard received an award for his untiring efforts at conservation from the Resources Minister J.H. Brockelbank in October 1955.

As a Museum Director, and even as an employee, Bard was nationally recognized for his achievements. He was inducted as a fellow of the CMA (Canadian Museums Association), the highest form of recognition offered by the Association. In 1967, he received the Canadian Centennial Medal, which was created to commemorate Canada's Centennial, and was awarded to those who had been recommended by governments and associations throughout the country for having provided some form of service valuable to the nation.

The Museums Association of Saskatchewan honoured Bard with the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement award in 1969, the first year that award was given. In 1970, he was given an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, conferred on him by the Chancellor, Rt. Hon. J.G. Diefenbaker.

Bard working at his desk.

Bard and Ruby Apperley marking nature trails at the Condie Nature Refuge.

In his last years with the Museum, Bard oversaw the purchase of the Condie Nature Refuge. Along with Ruby Apperley, Bard marked out the nature trails that still exist today, and oversaw the development of trail guides and of an interpretive centre that bore his name that opened June 24, 1970, less than one month after his official retirement from the RSM.

Murvin Baker

Murvin K. Baker took over the Director's position after Fred Bard retired in 1970. Under his leadership, exhibits were upgraded and the Museum embarked on a path known as "service to others," which included lending staff expertise to the development of historical provincial parks through the construction of small exhibits and nature trails and other services.

Field work was also greatly expanded. The Provincial Historic Sites Division was added to the Museum's responsibility when Baker assumed control, including interpretive trails, exhibits for the provincial parks, and excavations at Fort Carlton, Fort Pelly, and Fort Pitt to discover the original structures.

John Storer

John Storer was hired as Assistant Director, though during his time with the Museum, he was also Director (January 1979-January 1983), and Curator of Palaeontology (1983-1996), the position he had held at the Provincial Museum of Alberta before coming to the Museum. As Director, he terminated the Park Interpretive programs that had taken much of the staff's time away from actual Museum projects and dedicated them to commitments elsewhere in the province. His goal was a total redevelopment of the Museum's galleries, and the staff's time and availability was central to that goal. He also dedicated considerable effort to updating the Museum's operating policies and procedures, creating a Statement of Intent and a Museum Master Plan.

In 1995, his team found a 72-million year-old tylosaur, a specimen that extended the record of this species several million years later than had previously been understood, as well as being the most northerly record. The find was also extraordinary because the skeleton was almost complete.

Storer left the Museum in 1996 to become the Yukon Territorial Palaeontologist and to oversee the development and operation of a new interpretive centre in Whitehorse.

John Storer excavating fossils.

Ron Borden

Ron Borden came to the Museum from the position of Executive Director of Administration for the Department of Culture and Youth, which at the time was responsible for the Museum. He brought a varied background of experience to the Directorship, and the staff quickly embraced him as Director. His tenure was marked by strong support for Museum objectives. Extensive knowledge of the Department's inner workings and finances proved invaluable to his position at the Museum.

On May 18, 1986, Megamunch, a robotic half-sized Tyrannosaurus rex exhibit opened to great community support as a direct result of Borden's initiatives. Attendance figures for 1986 were 49 per cent higher than in 1985, and the increase was attributed to Megamunch. Megamunch's popularity continues to this day among young and old.

Megamunch in his original exhibit at the Museum.

Borden and Larry Asapace at First Nations Gallery opening.

The Museum also developed two new galleries under Borden's leadership. Both the First Nations Gallery and the new Earth Sciences Gallery were opened during his tenure. When the First Nations Gallery opened, the Museum also received royal designation, and the name was officially changed to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

David Baron

David Baron became acting director of the RSM in 1995, from his position as Chief Curator and Curator of Life Sciences. Dave Baron has spent most of his time with the Museum working in the Life Sciences area.

David Baron's academic and professional careers reflect a profound and life-long interest in Saskatchewan's natural and human history. He holds an undergraduate degree in biology, and a master's degree in small mammal ecology, a field of expertise that led to his employment at the RSM. In his tenure here, Baron has worked as a field technician, curator, chief curator and, since 1996, Museum Director.

Baron working with mammal skulls.