Dr. Clara Lander (nee Shnay) was born 9 April 1916 is Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and died suddenly in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1978. She was the daughter of Jewish immigrants – Frederick Shnay (Libau, Latvia) and Fanny Rothberg (Kiev, Russia) who met and married in Saskatchewan. Clara Shnay graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude at the University of Saskatchewan. She later moved to Winnipeg and married Dr. Jacob Joseph Lander of Winnipeg on 7 May 1939. They had three daughters.
Clara Lander pursued post-graduate education in Winnipeg, graduating with an MA in English and Ancient Greece in 1956 through the University of Manitoba. She later earned her PhD in English through the University of Manitoba in 1968.
From 1965-1966, in 1972 and 1974, Dr. Lander lectured for English during evening sessions at the University of Manitoba. She was the English lecturer at Balmoral Hall School for girls between 1967-1973, and from 1974 until her death, she was an English lecturer at St John’s Ravenscourt School. Dr. Lander also lectured in Art History for a number of years at the University of Manitoba.
During her career, Dr. Lander published numerous articles related to art, art history, classical history, Jewish art and history, and education. She also lectured outside the educational system and presented talks on radio shows. Dr. Lander was very active within the Jewish and Arts communities in Winnipeg: she was – First National Chairman of Hadassah Medical Services in Israel; originator and first President of the Jewish Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg; Education chairman of the National Council of Jewish Women; Public Relations Chairman of the Women’s Committee for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; Public Relations Chairman of the Area Girl Guides; Chairman of the WAG’s Women’s Committee; member of the WAG Board of Governors where she served as Vice-President, as Membership Chairman, and Acquisitions Chairman, and eventually, the first Jewish female President from 1977 until her death in 1978.
Awards: 1978 YMCA-YWCA Woman of Distinction for her work in the Arts; City of Winnipeg Community Service Award;
Currently a professor at U of M, Department of Environment and Geography.
15 publications including: Inuit Annuraangit - Our Clothes: A Travelling Exhibition of Inuit Clothing; Our Boots: An Inuit Woman's Art (with Rick Riewe); Copper and Caribou Inuit Skin Clothing Production; and Sanatujut: Pride in Woman's Work: Copper and Caribou Inuit Clothing Traditions with Judy Hall and Sally Quimmiu'naaq Webster.
Born at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan on 17 July 1915, he trapped and worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company before moving to Winnipeg in 1933 where he worked at the St. Vital Lumber Company. His love of nature led to a life-long hobby as a photographer of birds and other wildlife, stimulated by his experiences during the 1950 Winnipeg flood. In 1967, he sold his interest in the lumber company and, with the proceeds, established Cotter’s Wildlife Productions to make and distribute films on a wide variety of topics over the span of some four decades.
Among his many nature films, usually made in collaboration with his wife Sally (1914-1994), were Wings of Summer (1961), Wildlife Surrounds Us (1962), Manitoba Wildlife (1964), A Matter of Survival (1968), A Trilogy of Manitoba Wildlife (1972), Marshland Summer (1973), Winter Gallery (1974), Wilderness Trails (1976), The Great Grey Owl (1978), Cattail Bounty (1981), Return of the Swift Fox (1988), A Poplar Story As Told By The Tree Stump (1988), Kamik (1989), and Coat of Eider (1998). In the early 1960s, he served as President of the Manitoba Naturalists Society. In 1970, in recognition of his prolonged meritorious community service, he received a Centennial Medal from the Manitoba Historical Society. (Source: https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/cotter_gsgi.shtml)