Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
John Liersch fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
- Photographic material
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- Source of title proper: The title is based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
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Edition area
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
2 cm of textual records
96 photographs
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Edward Liersch was born on 2 September 1905 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He later moved with his family to North Vancouver. Liersch attended UBC, earning a BA in 1926 and a BASc in Forest Engineering the following year. After a short period in survey and inventory work with the British Columbia Forest Service, he received a master's degree in forestry from the University of Washington. Over the next decade, he worked as a logging engineer and contractor along the coast of BC. In January 1942, he accepted the Head of the UBC Department of Forestry. However, he took leave of absence three weeks later to work for Aero Timber Products Ltd., a Crown Corporation producing spruce components for military aircraft. Liersch returned to UBC after World War II but left in 1947 to join the Powell River Company, eventually becoming executive vice-president and director. One year after the Powell River Company was bought out by MacMillan & Bloedel in 1959, Liersch joined Canadian Forest Products Ltd. As vice-president and director of that company, he helped form several joint-venture forest companies in the BC interior before retiring in 1970. Liersch served on the UBC Board of Governors from 1962 to 1971 and was Chairman in 1970/71. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1971 and received an honorary degree from UBC in 1980. John Liersch died on 9 March 1981 at his home in Richmond, BC.
Custodial history
Acquired by the University Archives from John Liersch's daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Richard Austin, in March 2007.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of materials that document John Liersch's life and career, and include correspondence, clippings, personal documentation, and photographs. Many photographs also illustrate logging practices and equipment from the B.C. coast in the 1940s and 1950s.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
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Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Some photographs have been digitized and are available through UBC Library Open Collections series UBC 131.1/.
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Online Finding Aid
Please see the finding aid for an inventory of files.