Canada, Specialized Archives - International Institute

Halls of Fame
We may think of Halls of Fame principally in terms of sport, but there are many others, such as the Agricultural Hall of Fame in Manitoba. These are archives in all but name and are principally interested in biographical materials, so they can be very helpful if you have a relation who was prominent in their area.

There are large Halls of Fame, such as the one for hockey in Toronto, and many smaller and local ones. Local sports halls of fame, as in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, are not uncommon. If the person who interests you is a member of the hall of fame, the institution will have a file on them. Even if not, the hall of fame probably has supplementary material connected with their subject, including photographs, team lists and accounts of games or tournaments (if a sport is involved), and the archivist may have sufficient specialized knowledge to direct you to other sources for the information you need.

Many of these archives are small, with the collections of manuscript records as a lesser brother of the neighbouring museum. However, they will still welcome researchers, probably by appointment, as with the Aviation Hall of Fame in Wetaskawin, Alberta.

A good example of the surprising ‘extra’ component of halls of fame could be told by the long-retired hockey player visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, who was interested to discover his own photograph on display there—simply because he was standing beside Wren Blair in the picture.

Institutional Archives
Institutional archives have been established to serve the historical needs of their own organization. Since they have no public function, they may not be set up to accommodate researchers from outside, but at the same time there may be limited possibilities for using their facilities. Institutional archives may be in government departments, in businesses or in clubs, religious orders (as we saw above), in fact in any organization which has records they wish to protect.

The card file of naturalization records kept at Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a good example of a government institutional archives. For years, access to these cards was restricted to staff of the department and the information was only dispensed to certain members of the public through formal channels. Recently, however, a searchable database, based on the lists of naturalization published in the annual reports of the Secretary of State and the Canada Gazette, has been made available on their website for naturalization between 1915 and 1951. This is searchable by name from 1915-1936 and by date from 1936-1951. Copies of the actual records can be requested by the individual (or with their signed consent) or with proof that the individual has been deceased for at least twenty years. Other restrictions apply to these records so if you are thinking of trying to access them, begin by looking at the section on the LAC website entitled ‘How to Obtain Copies’.

The Department of National Defence’s Directorate of History and Heritage is another government institution; its activities are primarily concerned with writing official histories of military units. A listing of their publications is available on their website.

One institutional archive which many genealogists want to consult is

Canadian Pacific Railway Telephone: (514) 395-5135 Email:[mailto:archives@cpr.ca archives@cpr.ca]

There is no access to the personnel files. Many other records are available. Canadian National Railways’ archives are at Library and Archives Canada in RG 30, along with other railway materials. There are no employment records, although there may be payroll lists which mention names, but researching through them is difficult.

Before embarking on railway archival research, consult Althea Douglas’ Canadian railway records (1994).

Other institutional archives may be reluctant to allow access to personnel files, for reasons of privacy, but if a business’ records have been transferred to a public institution, they may be accessible. It is unfortunate, but the most genealogically useful records from business archives are personnel and payroll files which are usually earmarked for destruction.

Postal Archives
The Canadian postal archives are housed at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). The collection is enormous and is mostly concerned with philately in its more technical aspects. However, it does have ‘tens of thousands’ of records about postmasters and post offices, so if a genealogist has a family connection in the postal service, here is a place to start. The LAC website also has thousands of digitized photographs from the collection.

Aboriginal Archives
Researchers interested in native ancestry at Library and Archives Canada should begin by looking at Records of the federal Department of Indian Affairs at the National Archives of Canada: a source for genealogical research, by Bill Russell (1998), which is a good introduction to the matter. Both Métis and Indian materials are available on interlibrary loan from LAC.

A number of the provincial archives’ websites have sections on native ancestry, including Manitoba and Alberta (including a good introduction to the subject), as well as the Glenbow Archives, which have something of a specialty in Métis genealogy. Naturally, the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives have a great many details about aboriginal peoples associated with the company.

The University of Alberta has a School of Native Studies, which has a Métis scrip project as well as a great deal of potential help for people with native interests. Those interested in Métis scrip should begin at the relevant page on the LAC site.

Some native councils have their own archives, and the interest in establishing native status has given them some experience in dealing with genealogical questions. Even if they cannot help you, they can perhaps direct you to the best sources for that band. There are a great many other native organizations, as for example the Native Circle association of the United Church of Canada (which does not, as yet, have an archives).

Please keep in mind that establishing status is quite complex, and archives are not equipped to assist you in this area (as is made clear on the Manitoba archives site), but the surrounding documents involving family data may still be available to you there, and the archivists will have knowledge of their own holdings.

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