The Aryan Affairs Commission (AAC) was a student organization established by Harold D. Goldbrick at the University of Waterloo in Fall 1967. Harold D. Goldbrick was likely a pseudonym as there is no evidence of a student under this name graduating from the university. Goldbrick, who wrote for The Chevron, reportedly created the AAC to generate material for his weekly column, “As the words wag on.”[1] Goldbrick penned this column from June 9, 1967, until at least March 1, 1968. In a document provided alongside the first meeting minutes of the AAC, the club's purpose was stated as promoting Aryanic languages and fostering positive relationships between individuals of Aryan and non-Aryan descent.[2] During an interview with The Chevron on November 10, 1967, Goldbrick stated, “Well, I was thinking that maybe too much attention is being paid to minority groups – Germans, Canadians, French Canadians, Newfies, Ontarians, Conservatives, Liberals, Communists, Fascists, Homosexuals, Heterosexuals.”[3] On November 24, 1967, Goldbrick stated in his column that the AAC, “was first formed as a backlash to Afghanistan power and various other preversions of the bored of intimate relations. However, since then we have gone so far afield and attracted such wide membership interest that the name of the group is losing its meaning. It will, of course, be retained to be consistent with the other meaningless aspects of the group.”[4]

The AAC was considered a satirical club by its members and others across campus. In the handbook What’s what at uniwat 1968-69, published by the Federation of Students, the AAC is cited as the biggest in-joke on campus, an anti-organization and apathy club as well as fascist, communist, racist, anarchist, neo-Nazi, and liberal. The AAC staged various pranks, jokes, and activities on campus such as the opening and closing buildings, integrating crosswalks, capturing radio stations, burning books, and holding at least one Beer Hall Putsch, an event where members pushed beer bottles across a hallway with their head.[5] It seems that the AAC played a more active role on campus by 1968.[6] The AAC was involved in the organization of the Miles for Millions march in 1968, an annual fundraising event for charity held nationwide in Canada.[7]

The AAC received formal club recognition by the Federation of Students (now the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, WUSA) in Spring 1968. Initially, AAC's application for club recognition was denied due to a new policy requiring all clubs to submit written constitutions rather than form-based constitutions.[8] There is some evidence to suggest that the ACC was also not granted club recognition due to concerns of potential discriminatory practices. However, these concerns were apparently dispelled and after resubmitting their constitution, the AAC was granted club recognition by the Federation of Students.[9]

The operations of the AAC were overseen by an executive board until the group started convening in a washroom, at which point the board was restructured and rebranded as the 'privy council'. This council consisted of a select group of individuals who wore top hats with a red ribbon.[10]

The organizational structure of the privy council parodied that of the university and Federation of Students. The council included the president, vice president in charge of vice, the comptroller, the registrar, the chairman of the board of propaganda, the chairman of the board of student activities, and the chief jock of the board of athletics, among other roles. Further information outlining the responsibilities of some of these positions can be found in What’s what at uniwat 1968-69, published by the Federation of Students.[11]

Membership was open to all. The official marching-song of the AAC was “Lapland.”[12]

The AAC was listed in the Federation of Students handbook until at least 1972.[13] It is uncertain if the club remained active after that time.

While the AAC may have been intended as a satirical club, the organization’s name and use of the term ‘Aryan’ carries racist connotations. The group’s name has been maintained in keeping with Special Collections & Archives’ approach to language in archival descriptions, which prioritizes speaking openly about and clearly identifying problematic, harmful, and otherwise offensive records in the department’s holdings. This approach, while potentially upsetting, allows for the critical assessment and questioning of historical material by contemporary researchers.

Nicholas Asmussen was a German-born Ontario building contractor and political figure. He represented Waterloo North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1919 to 1923 as an Independent Liberal and from 1934 to 1937 as a Liberal member. He was born in Flensburg, Germany, the son of John and Catherina Asmussen, and came to Canada in 1878 with his family. He was educated in Berlin (now Kitchener). In 1908, he married Willisa Kesselring. Asmussen was mayor of Kitchener from 1925 to 1926.

Atlantic Pattern Works was based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They produced works such as plaques.

Albert Benjamin Augustine was a teacher and school principal born on March 6, 1859 in Racine, Wisconsin to Samuel C. Augustine (1831-1897) and Barbara Lahr (1825-1904). He graduated from the Racine high school in 1876 and from Northwestern College in Naperville, Illinois in 1879. He taught in Montana, Wisconsin and New Berlin, Pennsylvania before returning to Racine where he was eventually named principal of the Third Ward School (later Winslow School) in 1884. He remained in the position until his death. He married Caroline Margaret Barbara Breithaupt on August 3, 1887 in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario and together they had three children: Albert William Augustine, Laurine Catherine Augustine, and Grace Melvina Louise Augustine. Albert died on April 10, 1909 in Racine and was buried in Mound Cemetery, Racine. Caroline and the children moved to Berlin after his death; Grace returning to the US to live and work until after 1954 when she returned to live in Kitchener.

Albert Jacob Augustine was an insurance agent and World Ware II veteran born to Albert William Augustine and Edna Louise Kaufman in Kitchener, Ontario on December 20, 1923 . He was a graduate of Waterloo College and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war, later spending much of his career as an agent with Mutual Life. Albert married Jean Eleanor Boyer (b.April 19, 1927) and together they had three children; Patricia Anne Augustine (April 16, 1950), Barbara Augustine (b. October 6, 1951), and Keith Boyer Augustine (b. July 4, 1955).
Albert died in Kitchener on August 10, 1990.

Albert William Augustine was born to Albert Benjamin Augustine and Caroline Margaret Barbara Breithaupt in Racine, Wisconsin on October 26, 1890. As a young man, Albert attended North-Western College in Naperville, Illinois but he never graduated. After the death in 1909 in Racine of his father, Albert Benjamin, the remaining family members moved to Kitchener, Ontario.

On August 22, 1918, Albert married Edna Louise Kaufman in Kitchener, Ontario and together they had four children; Albert Jacob Augustine, John Ross Augustine, David William Augustine, and Mary Caroline Augustine.

In 1919, Albert acquired the Doering Trunk Company in Waterloo, Ontario. This company was renamed the Superior Box Company in 1932. In 1924, he purchased the Forewell Foundry in Kitchener, Ontario. This company was renamed the Augustine Foundry Company. The Superior Box Company and the Augustine Foundry Company did not survive the Great Depression during the 1930s.

In 1938, Albert developed the White Valley Chemical Company which extracted calcium carbonate from the bottom of a lake near Bobcaygeon, Ontario. This company closed in 1941.

From 1942-1946, Albert worked as a government inspector in manufacturing centres across Quebec and Ontario. During the war, he checked the quality of rubber rafts and survival gear. After the war, Albert worked as an agent for the Staminite Company. He retired in 1951.

On March 7, 1972 Albert died from a heart attack and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. On February 25, 1973, a pulpit drape and book mark were given to the Zion United Church in Kitchener, Ontario in his memory.

Caroline Margaret Barbara "Barbara" Breithaupt was a homemaker born in Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario on November 17, 1861 to Philip Louis Breithaupt and Catherine Hailer. She married school teacher Albert Benjamin Augustine of Racine, Wisconsin on August 3, 1887 in Berlin. The couple moved to Racine, Wisconsin and had three children: Albert William; Laurine Catherine; and Grace Melvina Louise. Albert died in Racine April 10, 1909 and was buried with in his family's plot at Mound Cemetery, Racine. Shortly after Albert's death, Caroline and her children moved to Berlin. Caroline died on November 1, 1951 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

David William Augustine was born to Albert William Augustine and Edna Louise Kaufman in Kitchener, Ontario on July 14, 1929. He had three siblings; Albert Jacob Augustine, John Ross Augustine and Mary Caroline Augustine.

David suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died a few days after he was born on July 18, 1929.

Edna Louise Kaufman was born to Jacob Kaufman and Mary Eidt Ratz in Kitchener, Ontario on December 21, 1891. On August 22, 1918 she married Albert William Augustine in Kitchener, Ontario and together they had four children; Albert Jacob Augustine, John Ross Augustine, David William Augustine, and Mary Caroline Augustine.

Edna was actively involved with the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and the Zion United Church in Kitchener, Ontario throughout her life.

Edna died on June 3, 1983 and as buried in the Kaufman family plot in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Grace Melvina Louise Augustine was an academic and instructor born in Racine, Wisconsin on September 12, 1895 to Albert Benjamin Augustine and Caroline Margaret Barbara Augustine (nee Breithaupt) and raised alongside her siblings Albert William Augustine and Laurine Catherine Augustine. After the death of Albert Benjamin in 1909, the family moved to Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario, their mother's birthplace. Grace returned to the United States to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University, obtaining an B.S., M.A. and, in [1935], a PhD in Household Arts. The same year Some aspects of management of college residence halls for women, which she co-authored with Mary De Garmo Bryan was published.

Following the completion of her PhD, Grace worked for a time at Columbia as an associate in Household Arts, Teacher College before being appointed to Texas State College for Women in Denton, Texas. She taught as an associate professor from 1938 until 1944, serving as head of the institution of management division and house director of residence halls. She went on to joint the Iowa State College as head of the Department of Institutional Management (later the Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management) from the time of her appointment in 1944 until 1961. At some point after retiring, Grace returned to Kitchener where she lived in the family home on Margaret Avenue and served for a time a a member of the Parkwood Manor auxiliary executive. She died on April 8, 1981 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Jacob and Mary Kaufman were prominent citizens of Kitchener, Ontario from the late 19th century to WWII. Jacob Kaufman and Mary Ratz married in 1877. Jacob began his career in the lumber industry but switched to rubber, forming the Kaufman Rubber Company in 1908. Jacob and Mary Kaufman were active in civic and community life, supporting causes such as The Children’s Aid Society, the Kitchener-Waterloo Orphanage, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the YMCA, the YWCA and the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital. Together they had four children: Emma Ratz, Alvin Ratz, Milton Ratz, and Edna Louise.

Emma Kaufman dedicated her life to the Young Women’s Christian Association, serving for thirty years in Japan and Canada. The Emperor of Japan presented her with a memorial cup in 1965, the 60th Anniversary of the YWCA in Japan, and in the same year she received an International Cooperation Year medal presented by Cardinal Leger in Montreal.

Alvin (“A.R.”) Kaufman ran the rubber company started by his father and became well known as a local philanthropist, supporting many of the same causes as had his parents. He is primarily remembered for his activities in support of the YMCA, YWCA and of family planning and birth control.

Edna Kaufman married Albert William Augustine (1890-1972) Aug. 22, 1918. They had three children, Albert Jacob (1923-1990), John Ross (1927- ), and Mary Caroline (1931- ).

Mary Caroline Augustine married James Milton Ham (1920-1997), who was President of the University of Toronto from 1978-1983.

Albert Benjamin Augustine, a school teacher from Racine, Wisconsin, marred Caroline Margaret Barbara Breithaupt in Berlin, Ontario on August 3, 1887. Together they lived in Racine and had three children: Albert Augustine, Laurine Catherine and Grace Melvina Louise. Following Albert Benjamin's death in 1909, the family moved to Berlin. Albert became an industrialist, Laurine taught at what would become the Kitchener Vocational Institute and Grace pursued a career in academia after obtaining a PhD at Columbia University.

John Ross Augustine was born to Albert William Augustine and Edna Louise Kaufman in Kitchener, Ontario on December 17, 1927 and was raised alongside his three siblings; Albert Jacob Augustine, David William Augustine, and Mary Caroline Augustine.

John married Annette Helene Gofton (b.October 8, 1929).

John received his MD, with Honours, from the University of Western Ontario in 1952. In 1954, he moved to Thunder Bay, Ontario to establish his own practice as a family physician. From 1956-1959, John received additional training in Toronto, Ontario and subsequently became a certified specialist in internal medicine. Afterwards, he returned to Thunder Bay, Ontario and continued to work as a physician until his retirement in 1994.

John was a leader in the health care sector both as an educator and as an activist. He was involved in many key projects and served in a variety of roles that shaped the Canadian health care system, especially in northern Ontario. For example, John was a founding member of the Thunder Bay branch of the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario and helped set up the first methadone treatment outreach for addicts in the late 1980s. In addition, John helped developed the Northwestern Ontario Medical Program (NOMP) which brought medical students from McMaster Medical School to northwestern Ontario to work with local doctors and health care providers. In the late 1990s, John also worked to establish the Northern Ontario School of Medicine with campuses in Thunder Bay, Ontario and Sudbury, Ontario. It was hoped that the school would encourage more physicians to train and practice in northern Ontario and ultimately sustain a health care system up north. These are a few examples of the projects John worked on during his career. He was actively involved in many other initiatives as well.

John died on April 13, 2014.

Laurine Catherine Augustine was born on May 13, 1894 in Racine, Wisconsin to Albert Benjamin Augustine and Caroline Margaret Barbara Augustine (nee Breithaupt). After Albert's death in 1909, the family moved to Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario. She worked as a teacher at the Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School. Laurine died on September 13, 1954 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital and a funeral service was held at Zion Evangelical Church. She was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Florence Barbara Maria von Sass was a British explorer and abolitionist. Born in Hungary (today Romania), Florence's family was killed during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 leaving her orphaned. When she was fourteen she was sold as a slave in Vidin to Samuel Baker a British explorer and naturalist. Baker was on a hunting trip at the time and allegedly bribed the guards for her after she was intended to be owned by the Pasha of Vidin. Florence and Baker went to Africa where Baker was on an expedition to find the source of the Nile. While traveling in Africa, Florence and Baker came across Murchison Falls and Lake Albert. In 1865 the couple married and Florence became Lady Baker when Samuel Baker was knighted. Due to her parentage and upbringing, although she was a Lady, Florence was not welcome at court. Besides exploration, the Bakers were also abolitionists and in 1869 returned to Africa to help reduce the slave trade in Gondokoro where Florence worked as a medic. Florence and her husband retired to Devon where Florence died in 1916.

Abram Ball was born to George Ball, a United Empire Loyalist, in Niagara, Ontario. He moved to Galt (Cambridge) where he worked as a lawyer and married Julia Miller (1843-1910). The pair had four children and Abram died in Galt in 1887.

Anupam "Anu" Banerji was a professor of architecture and artist. Banerji was born in Kolkata, India to Asutosh and Paun Bala Banerji. He spent 10 years studying, teaching and exhibiting art in the United States before joining the School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo in 1970, where he spent the remainder of his career. He was named full professor in 1988. In addition to teaching in the School of Architecture, Banerji taught in the School of planning and courses in environmental design. In 1981 he designed the addition to the Graduate House. Banerji died on August 23, 2015.

Marjorie Barber was a Canadian librarian and photographer. Barber's photographs of the University of Waterloo were featured in Kenneth McLaughlin's 1997 book The Unconventional Founding of an Unconventional University and she established Waterloo's Marjorie Barber Entrance Scholarship to aid female students entering first year studies in the Faculty of Engineering.

Born April 12, 1914 on a farm outside of Syndenham Ontario, to Fred and Florabelle (nee Asselstine) Grant. Barber graduated from Queen's University in 1936 and obtained a degree in library science at the University of Toronto in 1937. She worked at the Toronto Public Library until being forced to quit after her first marriage to Flying Officer Acton F. Daunt, who died in combat in World War II. After taking business courses, Barber worked for Bell Telephone as a guidance counsellor and recruiter, encouraging high school students to work for the company. She met her second husband, widower Bert Barber who was then employed by Union Carbide of Canada, while working for Bell and the couple married in 1947. They moved to Waterloo, Ontario when Bert was hired by the Waterloo College Associate Faculties to co-ordinate the school's engineering co-op program. Drawing on her background in libraries, Barber served on library school boards in Richmond Hill and Waterloo, and championed public school system libraries. Following Bert's death in 1992, Barber relocated to Brockville, Ontario where she died on July 6, 2011.

Ernest George Barrie was born October 6, 1894 in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario, son of George Redpath Barrie and Mary Carrick. He served in the First World War and afterwards managed Barrie Glove and Knitting Company Ltd. from 1921 until 1969. He was associated with the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada and was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1944. He died October 21, 1989.

Dorothy Spelman was born August 25, 1917 in Cicero, Illinois to Ruth Shantz and Walter Spelman. Spelman married Dudley Scott Trombly June 15, 1939. She was married for a second time, later in life, to Donald Bartlett. Spelmen died June 9, 2003 in Plattsbugh and was buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Champlain, New York.

William Henry Bartlett was an artist and author born in Kentish Town, England on March 26, 1809. Throughout his life, Bartlett travelled Europe, America, and the Middle East collecting sketches for his engraving illustrations. Bartlett spent many months visiting Canada in 1838, where he drew sketches of major landmarks such as Niagara Falls, markets in Toronto, landscapes in Montreal, as well as scenes of daily living conditions throughout Western Canada. He died at sea, off the coast of Malta, on September 13, 1854.

Sara (Sally) Caroline Breithaupt was born in Kitchener, Ontario August 8, 1924 to parents Louis Orville and Sara Caskey. Her siblings were Mary Scott; Louis Paul; and Herbert Caskey. Sally grew up in Kitchener and trained as a nurse at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto, graduating in 1946. She married Donald Lou Alexander Bastedo in 1947 and the couple lived in Kitchener where Donald was a pediatrician. The couple had children Mary, Paul, Frank and Jamie. Sally was was a founding member of the K-W Knitters Guild in 1986 and later a member of the Weavers and Quilters guilds. Sally and Donald were also supporters of the Stratford Festival, since its beginnings in a tent in 1953, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She also enjoyed bridge and golf. Sally died May 8, 2014 in Mount Forest, Ontario. Donald died. September 1, 2006.

Mayor of the City of Waterloo between 1954 and 1955.

Melvina Emilia Breithaupt was born February 8, 1863 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Philip Ludwig (Louis) Breithaupt and Catherine Hailer. Her siblings were Louis Jacob; William Henry; John Christian; Caroline Margaret Barbara (Augustine); Ezra Carl; Daniel Edward; Albert Liborius; Catharine Louise and Friederich Adolph.

She married Dr. Amos Frank Baumann (also spelled Bauman) June 25, 1901 in Berlin. They had one son, Edward Franklin, born June 21, 1904. Amos died November 26, 1918 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. Melvina died April 4, 1954 and was buried with Amos.

Helen M. Bawman (nee Byers) was born in 1888. She married Sam D. Bawman, originally of Washington D.C., in 1918.