The fonds consists of legal documents collected by John Keenlyside over the last thirty five years. The documents give insight into the formation of British Columbia's legal system when it consisted of two colonies. The legal records (including writs, testimony, judgements, and other court documents) were produced by judges, magistrates, defendants, claimants, and other relevant parties. Some figures of historical significance who created legal records in this fonds are the first judge in BC, the first Attorney General, and BC's earliest clergy, businessmen, and other prominent figures from the colonial period.

This fonds also consists of documents related to the British Columbia Provincial Police force and various Japanese-Canadian and civil rights groups.

The fonds consists of the incoming correspondence to Joan Gillis from a group of young Japanese Canadians she met while attending Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Surrey. The fonds includes 149 letters and 10 small photographs, referred to colloquially as ‘snaps’ in the letters, sent from a total of 13 different correspondents. The majority of the correspondence took place during 1942 to 1946, with different friends writing from farms and work camps in Northern British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta. The letters provide insight into the Japanese Canadian internment, which occurred against the backdrop of a larger cultural context. Since the early 1900s Japanese immigrants and persons of Japanese descent living in Canada were subject to racially targeted legislation, including limits on immigration, limits on fishing licenses, and being denied the right to vote based on racial status.

In the spring of 1941 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fingerprinted and registered all Japanese Canadians over the age 16, who were required to carry identification cards until 1949. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, Canada declared war on Japan. The Royal Canadian Navy impounded the fishing boats of the Japanese Canadian fishing community, and within two months 1,200 Japanese Canadian owned boats were sold. On February 24th 1942 the federal government authorized the removal of all persons of Japanese origin, and gave the RCMP the power to search without warrant, to impose a dawn to dusk curfew, and to confiscate all cars, radios, firearms, and cameras. Mass forced dispersal and dispossession ensued, with all Japanese Canadians being sent to internment camps, to work on farms, and perform other forms of hard labor, living in very poor conditions through the much colder winters of Canada’s interior.
The letter-writers discuss their day-to-day life at the camps, living and working conditions, their new schools and teachers, and ask after Gillis’ life in Surrey and the on-goings at Queen Elizabeth (Q.E.) secondary school.
Gillis kept the correspondence bound in twine or ribbon, which is also included in the fonds. A government censor opened and read many, if not all of the letters, and many of the envelopes bear a sticker or stamp marking this. Many of the letters are hand-written, some are typed, and some are written on postcards. Listed at the file level is the full name of each correspondent and his or her specific geographical location.

The fonds consists records relating to Dr. Joan Ford’s medical career and personal life, with records including handwritten notes, letters and correspondence, newspapers, photographs, official degrees and awards, administrative reports, and a coin. Files often contain multiple record types within them. Dr. Ford dedicated her medical career to helping those in need, including traveling to Nepal, Dominica, and Bangladesh all while managing her own medical practice in Burnaby. She has served in various capacities on numerous boards and professional organizations including the Federation of Medical Women of Canada, Save the Children, the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, and the Trans-Himalayan Aid Society. She has received numerous awards and recognitions in her lifetime, but for her dedication to the global health community, she was appointed as an officer in the Order of Canada. Her personal interests included her family, Canadian history, and nature.

The fonds consists of records produced by Jim Wong-Chu, records associated with Jim Wong-Chu's involvement in various cultural and artistic communities in Vancouver, British Columbia, San Francisco, California, and other areas in the northwestern United States and Canada.

In particular, the fonds includes records related to: Canadian cultural and literary communities; Asian Canadian writers; social justice and historical issues related to discrimination of Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups; and Canada and Vancouver's Chinese and other Asian cultural communities.

The fonds has been arranged into the following 9 series: Asian American communities; Asian Canadian communities; Asian Canadian Writers Workshop; Correspondence; Go for Broke Festivals; Manuscripts; Personal works; Personal Records; Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society; and Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre.

In addition to the series listed above, there is one sub-fonds which includes records created by Garrick Chu, a close-friend and colleague of Jim Wong-Chu.

The main types of records within the fonds include correspondence, meeting minutes, schedules, manuscripts, posters and event flyers, photographs, event programs, financial statements and budgets, publications and articles, reports, conference proceedings, and speeches.

Fonds consists of records related to Jack Scott’s activities as a political activist and author, as well as material related to his personal life, from the 1930s through his death in 2000. Records relating to Scott’s political activities include material generated or used by groups with which Scott was involved, such as the Progressive Workers’ Movement (PWM), the Vancouver Study Group (VSG), the Red Star Collective (RSC), and the Chinese-Canadian Friendship Association (CCFA). These records include meeting minutes and summaries; committee lists, agendas, reports, policies, constitutions, financial statements, and other internal documents; position, discussion, and opinion papers and critiques; conference, seminar, and workshop materials; correspondence; materials by or about other communist, socialist, or leftist organizations; papers, articles, speeches, critiques, letters, and reports on related topics; ephemera and publications, such as newsletters and journals; clippings and photographs; and other materials. Records relating to Scott’s writings and publications on socialist and labour movements and other topics include drafts of published and unpublished pieces, research notes, comments and corrections, proofs, and supporting documents, such as correspondence, clippings and photocopies, ephemera, and other materials. The fonds also consists of material related to a libel claim made against Scott and the Committee on Canadian Labour History. These records include copies of court documents, correspondence, Scott’s writings and research on the plaintiffs, ephemera related to the plaintiffs, and other materials. The fonds also consists of material collected by Jack Scott relating primarily to other communist, socialist, leftist, or social justice organizations and arranged by subject either by Jack Scott or by his acquaintances following his death. This material includes photocopies and originals of letters, writings, and other documents; statements, commentaries, bulletins, and other literature; ephemera, such as posters, newspaper clippings, flyers, newsletters, and pamphlets; and speech texts. The fonds also consists of personal papers and documents, including miscellaneous incoming correspondence, oral history interview transcripts and related documents, and correspondence and documents related to Scott’s 1964 expulsion from the Communist Party.

The fonds consists of records created and received during the period that the donor worked in the Slocan Valley and later. The fonds consists of a scrapbook and photographs documenting the lives of Japanese Canadian internees in the Lemon Creek internment camp during World War II and their reunions after World War II.

The fonds consists of drafts, research notes, galley proofs, and other materials related to Stephen's book "Winged Canoes at Nootka and Other Stories of the Evergreen Coast," as well as typed transcripts from her radio programs "Indian Trails," "Story Time," and other pieces of reporting. The fonds also includes creative writing drafts - short stories, radio dramas, and plays adapted for radio - and research related to an unpublished book about Alberta. Personal files include photographs, correspondence, and historical family records dating back to the 19th century. Materials related to Stephen's involvement with the Canadian Women's Press Club and the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Authors Association are also part of this fonds.

The Irene Howard fonds consists of general correspondence and materials related to Howard's personal interests and associations, and materials relating to her work as researcher, literary agent and writer. The fonds is divided into eight series: Association involvement and general interest; Interview recordings; Photographs and maps; "Monday Morning" magazine issues; Literary activities; NDP campaigns materials; Materials related to Ronald Liversedge; and Gold dust on his shirt publication records. The Gold dust series is further subdivided into Publication records and Research records.

The fonds includes research notes, notebooks, file cards, photocopied materials from various sources, correspondence (with publishers, research subjects, colleagues, librarians and archivists), drafts of Howard's books and essays, biographical materials, newsletters, magazines, newspaper clippings, articles, pamphlets, brochures, photographs and cassette tapes.

The fonds consists of photographs and textual records which belonged to the Inouye family. The records are related mostly to the father, Zennosuke Inouye and his involvement with the Surrey Berry Farmers Cooperative and his youngest daughter, Kiyooki (Beverly) Inouye. The fonds has been arranged into the following series: Surrey Berry Farmers Cooperative records, correspondence, ephemera, land records, photographs, military records, financial records, and voting records.

The fonds consists of the research materials for Irene Howard's book, Vancouver Svenskar which chronicles the history of Lodge Linnea No. 76, Vancouver. The fonds consists of minute books, financial records, membership lists, attendance records, and related material. The fonds also includes the minute book of Lodge 76‘s juvenile division Pride of Vancouver No. 27 (IOGT, 1936-1937). Fonds consists of the following series: Minutes of Lodge No. 76, Membership of Lodge No. 76, Financial Records, Young People: Pride of Vancouver, No. 27.

Fonds also contains a file of ephemeral items and artifacts related to the Lodge No. 76, including a petition for the control of alcohol and drug trafficking, a medal, and certificates (see box 1).

The IABC fonds reflects the community collecting practices that the IABC undertook to preserve the history of Icelanders in British Columbia. Fonds is arranged in eight subfonds that reflect the various community organizations from which the archives originally collected.

Fonds documents the IABC’s commitment to preserving the lived experiences of its Icelandic community and is arranged into seven series that correspond to the IABC’s activities: administration and operation; providing educational programs and collecting biographies as well as written and oral histories; collecting Icelandic music; compiling a collection of Icelandic newspapers and publications; holding exhibits and events; acquiring photographic collections; and lastly acquiring collections of textual records, ephemera, and artifacts from its community.

Fonds also contains eight other subfonds of textual, photographic, audiovisual, and ephemeral material of Vancouver-based Icelandic Societies including the Sólskin Society, the Icelandic Canadian Club of British Columbia (ICC of BC), the Icelandic National League of North America (INL of NA), Icelandic Care Home Höfn Society, the Scandinavian Cultural Society (SCS), Ströndin Internet Radio, the Danish Archives, and the Icelandic Lutheran Church.

The fonds consists of records created by or collected by Ian Waddell during his legal and political career. It contains six series: Community law, Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Commission, Federal politics, Provincial politics, Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, and International works.Three series follow Waddell's career path (Community law, Provincial politics and Federal politics). The International work series spans both provincial and federal timelines and therefore is its own series. The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry and Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs are series that represent two important landmarks of Waddell's career that dealt with important environmental and aboriginal issues.

Files are often subject focused, although some pertain to meetings, events, and organizations. Subject files typically contain multiple document types, including correspondence, published and draft reports, speeches and lectures, press clippings, published copies and drafts of legislation, notes, news releases, and itineraries and agendas.

These files were received following the completion of Waddell's memoir, which is noteworthy due to the potential influence on his arrangement of files, the contents of some files, as well as the intermittent inclusion of some records well outside the predominant date range of a series or file.

The fonds consists of family documents (passports, U.S. education degrees), some correspondence regarding his initial business and photographs of the family entering Canada, their home in Vancouver, and the universities in the U.S. where family members were educated.

The fonds consists of textual records, photographs, and audiovisual materials, spanning the period 1905-2001, related primarily to Gordon Goichi Nakayama’s career with the Anglican Church of Canada and missionary work, religious and secular research and writing projects (the latter primarily related to Japanese internment and the Japanese Canadian community), as well and his personal and family life and administrative affairs. The fonds is arranged by function and documentary form. The fonds consists of eight series: Personal and administrative records and correspondence; clippings and ephemera; photographs; writings and publications; diaries; notes and notebooks; church and missionary work records; and audio-visual materials

Records related to Nakayama’s roles with the Anglican Church in Vancouver, B.C., and Coaldale, Alta., and his global missionary work include travel documents and itineraries; incoming and outgoing correspondence; church financial records and reports; church publications and parishioner lists; licenses and certificates; conference materials; clippings and ephemera; diaries; notes and notebooks; and other materials.

Records relating to Nakayama’s religious and secular research and writing projects include manuscript and typescript drafts, as well as final published versions, of religious and biographical / autobiographical works, non-fiction works on the Japanese Canadian / Issei community, and poetry, as well as supporting materials, such as publishers’ contracts and correspondence and research materials.

Records related to Nakayama’s personal and family life and administrative affairs includes incoming and outgoing correspondence; address books and directories; maps; photographs; calligraphy and paintings on shikishi; medical records; travel documents and citizenship records; pension records; records and correspondence related to redress; legal documents; certificates, licenses, and membership cards; property and real estate records; banking and financial records; educational records; biographical information; clippings (many related to Joy Kogawa’s writing career), ephemera, and scrapbooks; notes and notebooks; and other materials.

Audio-visual materials consist of two films on three 16 mm film reels on the subject of World War II and Japanese culture.

The fonds consists of Turner's handwritten diary (1911-1912). Much of the diary refers to his construction activities and to the political events of the time. The diary is written in a copying book that interleaves an "onion skin"-type paper with regular paper to allow for the creation of a copy. In this instance the copies appear to have been sent to his family - the first entry is dated November 12-13, 1911 and is addressed to "Mother dearest & all."

The fonds consists of the correspondence, reports, and memoranda (1935-1939) of the Consul General. Also included are Montreal office papers dating from 1919 and a few original documents from the Vancouver Consulate (1909-1911). There are copies of correspondence from the German Consulates at Ottawa, St . John's, Newfoundland, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. The papers reflect trade relations between Canada and Germany as well as between Canada and other countries, with some reference to related
political and economic affairs in Canada (e.g.. the Canadian boycott of German goods, the attitude of the Canadian Press) and economic affairs in Germany (e.g., the economic policies of the German Reich). Frequent correspondents represented in the fonds include: Dr. Anton Wagner, Commercial Attache, Montreal; L. Kempff, Consul General, Montreal (1922-1935); Schafthausen, Consul General, Montreal and Ottawa, (1937); Dr. H. Eckner, Montreal, (1938); Granow, Ottawa, (1937-1939); Koechlin ,Montreal, (1939); Windels, Ottawa, (1938-1939). Occasional correspondents include: Dr. W.T . Hinrichs, Montreal, (1934); M. Lorenz, Montreal, (1927); Dannenburg, Montreal, (1938); Dr. M. Schlimpert, Montreal, (1935); Rodde, Winnipeg; R. S. Furlong, Consul, St . John's, Newfoundland; H. W. Mahler, Vancouver, (1939). The files fall into two categories, general and personal.

The fonds consists of an original copy of Wallich's The North Atlantic Seabed with handwritten notes, a large, handwritten biological note book, personal annotated copies of Wallich's "Original Papers" and "Contributed Papers"(1857-1865), incoming correspondence and clippings. Also included are some records belonging to G. Wallich which relate to the Dooars Planters' Association, an organization of tea growers in India.

The fonds consists primarily of clippings and articles relating to international affairs, Chinese customs preserved in Canada, life in Vancouver's China Town and social and political problems confronted by Chinese Canadians. Further, the fonds also contains many complete copies of the Chinatown newspaper, The Chinese Voice; records related to Foon Sien Wong's Chinatown activities through the Vancouver Unity Association, the Canadian Centennial Planning Committee, and other related groups.

Fonds consists of documents related to Stacey's career as a fisherman, historian, writer, researcher, curator, and consultant. Materials include correspondence, photographs, recorded interviews, reports, handwritten notes, clippings, research materials, prints, postcards, ephemera and other documents.

The "Gulf of Georgia files" series was arranged by the records creator and has been respected. All other series have been imposed by the archivist and arranged according to materials that relate to Stacey's roles as expert witness in various trials, historical and industrial researcher, collector and curator, and commercial fisherman, respectively. Where correspondence and photographs were stored separately by the records creator, they have been retained together in series according to their document type; otherwise, file integrity has been respected and these materials may be found in other series as well.

A significant amount of material, consisting primarily of copies of photographs obtained by Stacey from various archival institutions, has been removed.

The collection consists of a medal for bravery, likely awarded to a family member for meritorious service during the Boxer Uprising (義和團運動), which was a series of incidents in China with anti-imperialist and xenophobic roots that lasted from 1899 until 1901; and a fragment of a corresponding letter of recommendation. The medal was specifically awarded to the recipient for their conduct during the Siege of Tienstin, which was a major battle during the Boxer Uprising, and the letter of recommendation mentions a Mr. D’Arc, which is likely Desmond’s maternal grandfather who was a volunteer rifleman at Tientsin. Lastly, the collection contains an album consisting of photographs of Tientsin during and immediately after the Boxer Uprising. The album primarily includes photographs of troop movements and military equipment, but also includes a few personal family photographs.

The fonds consists of diaries (1913-1915, 1917-1935, 1938-1940), letters, newspaper clippings, photographs and negatives, receipts, postcards, hand drawn plans, mathematical notations, personal notations, medical inspection notices, church publications and other miscellaneous documentation.

This fonds consists of records related to Darryl Adams' activities as a political and social justice activist as well as his personal life. The fonds consists of three series: personal life and administrative records; activism involvement series; and activism collections series.

Records relating to the first series, Adams' personal life and administrative files include: personal correspondence received by Adams; photographs collected, taken of or by Adams'; school records and club memberships memorabilia; news clippings and other articles; and work related records such as research materials and correspondence.

Records relating to the second series, the activism involvement series, include material created or used by groups that Adams was involved in such as the Vancouver American Exiles Association (VAEA), as well as the Galindo Madrid Case of the 1970s. These records include meeting minutes; correspondence; conference, seminar, and workshop materials; materials by or about other communist, socialist, or leftist organizations; papers, articles, speeches, critiques, letters, and reports on related topics; ephemera and publications, such as newsletters, journals, and clippings; and sound recordings such as interviews Adams' gave on behalf of VAEA.

The last series consists of three major collections that Adams obtained over his lifetime. The first collection is the lefty literature collection that consists of newspapers, magazines, periodicals, booklets and bulletins, and other publications related to leftist themes. The second collection is a poster collection and the last collection is a button collection.

The contents of the fonds pertain to the life and work of Crawford Kilian. Materials include research and planning for novels, published and unpublished manuscripts, originals of published columns, personal and professional correspondence and appointment books. The focuses of Kilian’s writing are science fiction, educational systems and teaching, cultural issues and history, the economy, the environment, and technological developments, specifically the Internet. Writing material included in this fonds ranges from the 1960’s to the 2000’s. Other included material relates to Kilian’s time spent in China as an English teacher. The type of material in the fonds is primarily handwritten and typed paper records, but also includes newspaper, compact discs and publications.

The collection consists of photocopied minutes of a drama society of the Finnish Social Democrats at Sointula (1912-1913) and a play adapted for use by A. Orjatsals. Also included are the minutes of the FSD.

The fonds consists of the incoming correspondence of Wo Shou, Wo Sai Jik, and other members of the Wo Surname Association, mainly regarding cannery labour-related business and fundraising activities. It also consists of records and printed material relating to native place issues in Canton, China; the Wo Surname Association in Canton and in B.C.; Chock On business and other activities; and the local Chinese community.

The fonds consists of correspondence between Hill-Tout and eminent anthropologists (1884-1931), manuscripts and published works by Hill-Tout and others, and clippings, documents and photographs.

The fonds consists of administrative records, correspondence, publications, newspaper clippings, and educational and promotional materials related to the operations of the Canadians for Democracy in Chile (C.D.C.) and its relationships with various domestic (Canadian) and international organizations. Records reflect the C.D.C.’s functions as a public information resource and activist organization and its close working relationship with the Vancouver Chile Association and various labour organizations. C.D.C. also regularly corresponded with provincial and federal Canadian government offices concerning Canada’s relationship with Chile, particularly its economic relationship. Contents include: posters, leaflets, and other promotional materials for events, conference, and boycotts; published materials (including editions of Chile News, newsletters, and bound copies of conference and UN proceedings); newspaper clippings about activism, Chilean refugees in Canada, and conditions in Chile; correspondence; administrative records; and event photographs.

The fonds includes correspondences between George Wilkes, a member of The Canadian Tribute to Human Rights board and representatives from 26 of the 73 language groups represented on the monument; translations of the words meant to be inscribed; and different design ideas for the individual plaques.

The fonds consists of minutes of the Canadian Japanese Young Men's Christian Association (1931-1942).