Series consists of records created in the Office of the President, and cover roughly the tenures of presidents of Canadian National Railways: D.B. Hanna (1919-?), Sir Henry W. Thornton (1922-1932), Samuel J. Hungerford (1936-1941), Robert C. Vaughan (1941-1950), and Donald Gordon (1950-1966), as well as the period of the Board of Trustees, which administered the CNR between 1932 and 1936 with Samuel J. Hungerford as Chief Operating Officer. The records in this series reflect a whole spectrum of CN corporate activities. They include policy and subject files such as the following: personnel and financial policy; property acquisition, maintenance and disposal; construction of spur and branch lines; rail services between municipalities; port development, hotel development, town planning, and regional economic evaluations; steamship lines; rail stations; dieselisation of motive power; telecommunications, Trans-Canada Airlines; and corporate participation in various social events and programs.
Canadian National Railways. Office of the President : These records comprise registry files created in the Office of the President, and cover roughly the tenures of four presidents of Canadian National Railways: Sir Henry W. Thornton (1922-1932), Samuel J. Hungerford (1936-1941), Robert C. Vaughan (1941-1950), and Donald Gordon (1950-1966), as well as the period of the Board of Trustees, which administered the CNR between 1932 and 1936 with Samuel J. Hungerford as Chief Operating Officer. As first president, Henry Thornton guided the newly formed government corporation through its first crucial decade, successfully consolidating the amalgamation of the three main companies of which the CNR consisted: Canadian Northern Railways, the Grand Trunk Railway, and Canadian Government Railways. Unable to protect the corporation from the debilitating effects of the Depression, however, Thornton was replaced by a board of trustees in 1932. Samuel Hungerford was Chief Operating Officer until he was appointed president in 1936. During these and succeeding years, Hungerford competently steered the company through some difficult times until his retirement in 1941. By the time Robert Vaughan became president, the Depression had lifted and the company was benefiting from the bolstering economic effect of World War II. Reflecting this new corporate prosperity, CNR diversified into marine and air transportation, express services, telecommunication, hotels, and real estate. Yet this post-war prosperity was short-lived, for the Depression and the war had wrecked havoc on the company's rail equipment, and disrupted and weakened its financial structure. Confronted by these problems, Donald Gordon undertook to overhaul the corporation's administrative and financial structure, and to introduce new railway technology. On three previous occasions, prior to 1974, the two positions of President and Chairman of the Board were split: 1920-22, 1933-1935 and 1941-42. In annual reports these positions are listed as separate functions, with name of individuals given. For example, 1941 annual report lists S.J. Hungerford as Chairman under the Board of Directors and R.C. Vaughan as President and Chief Executive Officer under General Officers. 1942 annual report lists R.C. Vaughan as Chairman under the Board of Directors and President under General Officers. RG30 General Inventory.
