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University of Calgary Archives, 2002-2003 grant funded projects : Records that reflect prairie protest movements
by Lisa Atkinson, University of Calgary Archives
The University of Calgary Archives has expanded its mandate to include the acquisition of records that support the centres of research excellence on the University of Calgary campus. One such area is the study of western populist parties and protest movements. The University Archives has acquired records from a variety of sources within this area in the last several years. It was successful in receiving grants from the CCA and the ASA to assist in the processing of three of these acquisitions during 2002-2003: the Dr. F.C. Marshall fonds, the Calgary Herald Union fonds, and the Reform Party of Canada fonds.
The Marshall fonds and the Herald Union fonds were processed this year under a grant provided by the ASA. The Marshall fonds provides evidence of Dr. Marshall's activities within the Western Canadian Concept Party (WCC) and other western separatist organisations. Dr. Marshall, an Edmonton urologist, was a leader of the Western Canadian independence movement. He provided leadership and knowledge to help launch the WCC, and eventually formed the Western Independence Party of Canada (WIP) with others who were dissatisfied with the structure and leadership of the WCC. His papers consist of 4.57 metres of records dating from 1981-1993. They include the constitutions, bylaws and policy statements for the WCC and the WIP parties, minutes, financial statements, surveys and polls, press releases, correspondence and sound recordings of annual conventions and Board meetings. Also included are records relating to Dr. Marshall's campaign in several provincial and federal elections, records collected by Marshall relating to political issues, and ephemera such as party flags, stickers, buttons and letterhead. The records document a significant element within the fabric of western politics. At its highest point, the WCC, which was founded in 1980 and registered as an official party in 1981, boasted 10,000 members; it fielded 78 candidates in the 1982 provincial election and received 12 percent of the vote.
The Calgary Herald Union fonds, which formed the second part of the ASA grant project, was an exciting acquisition for the University Archives. The fonds contains the records of the Union from the point of its creation in 1998, through the lengthy strike period, to the resolution of the conflict and the dissolution of the Union in 2000. It consists of 7.4 metres of textual records, photographs, videocassettes, audiocassettes and ephemeral material dating predominantly from 1998-2001. The fonds includes documents relating to the certification of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, the collective bargaining and mediation process, organizational, administrative and financial records of the union, labour relations complaints and legal actions, publicity campaigns, media interviews, public support campaigns and rallies, as well as photographs of strike related activities, daily strike newsletters, and correspondence between the union and the Calgary Herald management. The records are particularly important because they are so comprehensive. The strikers, who were journalists trained to document events, were careful to record every detail of the establishment of the union, the conflict that led up to its creation and the lengthy strike that followed. The records therefore afford a rare insight into the workings of union activities and labour conflict from the point of view of the worker. The finding aids produced during this project will be posted on the University Archives website (www.ucalgary.ca/archives) later this summer.
This project has been supported by a grant from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation through the Archives Society of Alberta.
The Reform Party of Canada fonds was processed with the assistance of a CCA Control of Holdings grant. The Reform Party needs little introduction to an audience in the west of Canada: it had a major impact on national politics and prairie political competitions between 1987 and 2000. Although it never formed a government, the Party did succeed in setting a new agenda for Canadian democracy. An analysis of the Reform Party, its members, leaders, and supporters is critical to the study of national politics and indigenous prairie thought at the end of the 20th century. The initial donation of 154 boxes of textual records, photographs and audio-visual materials received by the University Archives blossomed into approximately 1300 boxes of records during the course of this project. After the additional boxes were surveyed and appraised, approximately 350 boxes (112 metres) of records remained in the Archives for further processing. The remainder, which were for the most part low level financial records, were either destroyed or scheduled for destruction over a period of 7 years. The records retained in the Archives for processing were further pared down to approximately 73 metres of records. They include textual records, moving image documents, audiocassettes and audio reels, graphic material, and ephemeral materials dating from 1981-2000. The retained boxes contain records relating to the Reform Association of Canada (the precursor to the Reform Party), the Reform Party, and to the United Alternative (the initiative that led to the creation of the Canadian Alliance Party). Included are records relating to the Party's biannual Assemblies, administration, policy development, constituency development and election readiness, initiatives involving the youth wing of the Party, financial administration, the communications function, and to fundraising and membership development. The records consist of Executive Council and committee minutes and associated records, executive directors' correspondence and day files, press releases, speeches, legal documents, task force reports, constituency files and quarterly reports, candidates' files, questionnaires and publicity materials, youth training manuals and conference packages, general ledgers, financial statements, budgets, authorizations for expenditures, Elections Canada candidates' returns, correspondence, news clippings, caucus clippings service packages, party publications, donor and membership lists, video recordings of Party events, media coverage, and interviews, promotional materials, audio recordings, photographs, and ephemeral items such as baseball caps, flags, coffee mugs, bumper stickers etc. To date the records have been arranged and described to the series and sub-series level. A second phase of the project will complete the final arrangement of the records and produce a finding aid to the file level. Once this has been completed, restrictions on access will be negotiated with officials of the Canadian Alliance Party.
This project has been made possible by financial assistance from the Government of Canada through the National Archives of Canada and the Canadian Council of Archives.
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