Canada, University Archives - International Institute

Archives at universities (sometimes referred to as Special Collections if they are part of the university library) often contain material of use to genealogists. They are all welcoming to researchers from the public as well as their own academics and students. In the past, members of the general public might have hesitated before approaching a university library or archive, but even if it were true then, it certainly is not now. They are very glad to have researchers of all kinds use their facilities.

Most universities have websites and within that site there will be directions to the archives. In some cases, there will be a differentiation between ‘university archives’ and ‘special collections’ in which case you probably want special collections as the other will concern the institutional history of the university.

If you are looking for information about individuals concerned with the university, then you will probably find something, even if it is only a mention in a yearbook. Some places will have card files or indexes for individuals (as at the University of Toronto), although these may not be comprehensive. Some archives may be prepared for questions about graduates through having indexes to the yearbooks concerned; these can often supply photocopies of the relevant pages, or even photographs. It helps to specify what area of study the student followed, if known. A search in the Queen’s University archives yielded materials on a medical graduate which included some of her equipment and letters written to her mother after her early death.

Faculty members may be even better documented, with examples of publications, biographical materials or research notes. Alumni may also be represented in papers of the alumni association and copies of alumni publications (newsletters or class annual reunion lists).

These academic archives often receive materials which have no connection with their studies or students. They may be seen as a local archive, or they may have adopted the role of one, and so they will have records similar to those discussed in the previous section. In fact, it is difficult to predict what might be found in a university archive.

An example of a university archive which has become a local archive is that at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, which includes church, business and personal records for Westmorland County.

An even more high profile example is the Eastern Townships Resource Centre located at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Québec which was founded by faculty in 1982 and is “dedicated to furthering multidisciplinary research into the history, culture, and society of the Eastern Townships of Quebec and preserving the region’s living and archival heritage.” The central academic purpose of the Centre has not prevented it from becoming one of the most active genealogical archives in the province.

The interests of a current or former faculty member may have attracted materials which do not have any connection to the institution or vicinity beyond the fact that this person lived there. It should be stressed that university collections may include materials from anywhere and on any topic.

It would not be possible to list all the university archives in Canada with their specialties, but researchers with the time and inclination could go to the Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet site, universities section for a listing to explore.

Here, we can look at a couple of examples.

Maritime History Archives have more than one archive which would interest genealogists. The largest is perhaps the Maritime History Archive, which does concern an area of interest to Newfoundland, namely sailing and the sea, especially the north Atlantic. It includes the Keith Matthews collection, which is primarily family histories; more than 5000 student papers, principally on community or family topics; microfilm of English and Irish parish records from areas which contributed to the settlement of Newfoundland; and originals of ships’ crew agreements. There are indexes published in book form, on microfiche and CD-ROM. MUN also has a Centre for Newfoundland Studies, and a Folklore and Language Archive, which collects oral histories on fishing life, among other things.

Universities often have map collections with interesting items for genealogists. These may include materials with family history components somewhat off the beaten track for researchers, such as air photos, which can provide an interesting view of the family farm, if taken from a low enough altitude. The University of Calgary library has an extensive air photo collection for southern Alberta. Universities often have sources of funding for expensive projects which may not be possible for other archives. The land grants database located at the New Brunswick Archives, is actually at the University of New Brunswick. Another interesting project is the digitizing of the nineteenth century county atlases by McGill University library, which has created a database which is searchable by name and which provides detailed access to the maps themselves. One aspect of databases which we have not touched on in this course so far is that they can be difficult to access and are often out of commission.

One cannot characterize university archives one way or another, as each is unique unto itself. Use their websites to become familiar with both the tone of their welcome to researchers and aspects of their collections which might interest you. Then pay a visit to those which seem to offer the most intriguing research possibilities.

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