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The fonds consists of records collected by James Valleau, presumably once living in Edmonton. They relate to different events in Edmonton, often prior to James' own birth or living in Edmonton. As such, his relation to the documents is uncertain. It is assumed that Valleau collected them in pursuit of an interest in the history of the city. The records are divided into three main topics - the Edmonton Industrial Association and its 1914 promotional trip, 'The Edmonton Spirit'; the early theatrical scene in Edmonton; and miscellaneous.

Edmonton Industrial Association
The Edmonton Industrial Association, which operated under the aegis of the Edmonton Board of Trade, was created to promote Edmonton and industrial opportunities to a wider national and international audience. In June 1914, a two week promotional train excursion named 'Edmonton Spirit' was made from Edmonton to Toronto, with stops in Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Stratford and Guelph. The train journey was interspersed with civic receptions and tours of local facilities. Among the passengers were some of Edmonton's leading businessmen. A twice-daily newsletter was published each day of the journey.

The records include itineraries, notes, articles, newsletters, announcements and accounts of the 'Edmonton Spirit' train excursion. There are also two panorama photographs of the excursion participants, taken in Winnipeg and Milwaukee.

Theatrical Programmes
The theatrical programmes include material that was originally created by Kenneth A. Ross. Mr. Ross came to Edmonton from Ontario around 1913 and appears to have had ambitions of being a concert impresario. He was manager or presenter of some concerts in 1916. Then in 1917, Ross, with the cooperation of the Edmonton Women's Musical Club, arranged the 'Edmonton Concert Series', to be held in the 1917-1918 season, and produced a brochure with biographies of the upcoming performers in order to promote sales.

In 1920, Ross was promoted to manager of the Musical Merchandise Sales Co., who was the Canadian distributor of Brunswick phonographs. However in 1923, Ross was convicted in Calgary of the theft of 133 gramophones from the McLaran Gramophone Corp. of Stratford, Ontario, and sentenced to three years in the Prince Albert penitentiary.

The theatrical records of Kenneth A. Ross include handbills, programmes including the brochure for the 'Edmonton Concert Series' produced by Mr. Ross, photographs and album. The photographs, most of which are in the photo album, are portraits of several of the concert performers, many with salutations addressed to Kenneth A. Ross or his wife. The Ross theatrical records also include a handbill for a play, 'The Temple of Fame', in which both Kenneth Ross and his wife are listed as performers. Accompanying the handbill is a handwritten document, 'Red Cross Nurse', which is likely the script for Mrs. Ross' address in the play.

There are also other theatrical programmes that are likely not associated with Kenneth Ross as they are for concerts either before his arrival in Edmonton, or after his 1923 conviction. It is not known if these programmes were originally used by Valleau, or by someone else and collected by Valleau.

Miscellaneous Material
The miscellaneous material includes a commencement programme for the Misericordia Hospital School of Nursing, an advertisement for Thompson & Dynes women's wear shop in Edmonton, and newspaper clippings.

The fonds consists of 64 daybooks (diaries) created by Mary Capling Hyde from June 1900 to March 1945. The entries tell the daily activities of the family members, friends and events in the neighbourhood, including the move from Ontario to Edmonton. Occasionally other family members, likely her children, write an entry (noted by the different handwriting).

Upon receiving the news of her husband’s death, Mary went to the daily entry for 26 Sep 1916, crossed out her previous entry of “Matt somewhere in France” and replaced it with “Matt no more”. Mary wrote “Matt no more” in every entry for the rest of her life.
At a later point, Mary re-read some of her diaries and added extra notes on the overall feelings of the family at the time. These notes are mostly in the earlier diaries and are usually written on the side of the original entry. Some diaries also have a brief synopsis or note at the beginning of the daybook.

As Mary was very ill and in hospital the last week of her life, other members of the family wrote the diary entries (noted by the different handwriting). The last entry, following Mary’s death, is a tribute to Mary and her diary, likely written by her daughter Alice.
The photograph is a group portrait of the Hyde family, Matthew, Mary, Alice, David and Robbie, taken shortly before Matthew Hyde went off to war.

The fonds consists of sheet music belonging to various members of the Burrill and Field famiilies, but mostly Emerson L. Burrill and his wife, Myrtle I. Field Burrill.

Most pieces are annotated with initials or signatures: E.L. Burrill, E.L.B., Myrtle Field, M.I Field, or M.I. Burrill. A few pieces, annotated Ethel L. Field, are assumed to belong to Myrtle's sister, Ethel Louella Field.

Other pieces have no initials, signatures or annotations. It is possible, perhaps likely, that these pieces belonged to Violet S. Field.

The music is mostly sacred and spiritual, but also includes popular and patriotic works.

Note: the annotation on some Burrill pieces appears as if it could be E.S. Burrill. However it is suspected to be a short-hand fancy script for E.L. Burrill. The handwriting is identical and there are no other Burrill family members with the initials 'E.S.'.