The fonds consists of records arising from the activities of the University Archives. Fonds includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, classification and description records, Archives and Records Management Advisory Committee records, and materials arising from special projects and conferences.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentCollection consists of records reflecting the administration, organization and activities of AUCE #2 as well as AUCE's provincial organization. Includes constitution, by-laws, articles of agreement, contracts, financial statements, reports, correspondence, memoranda, ephemera, newsletters, handbooks, and bulletins.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentThe University Archives regularly receives donations of material related to SFU history from members of the University community (e.g., alumni, former staff and faculty, members of the general public, etc.). These donations usually consist of a small number of files and/or items that either focus on a single subject or event, or form a more general collection of material accumulated through a donors' connection to SFU.
When the Archives first started acquiring these types of materials, individual collections were created and named after the donor(s) (e.g., Mr. and Mrs. X SFU history collection). Very quickly, the Archives had several small collections on SFU history spread across its holdings, which it made it difficult for researchers to search and identify such similar groups of records. As a way to make these collections more accessible, the Archives decided to group them together under the umbrella of this collection, with a series created for each donation to preserve the chain of custody.
A description of the activities and and topics documented in the collection can be found in the scope and content note at each series level.
The collection has been arranged into 8 series that consist of material received from separate donors:
- Gene Waddell SFU architecture manuscript (series 1)
- Carolyn Hegberg SFU history collection (series 2)
- Kersti Krug SFU staff experience article (series 3)
- Sally and John Pankratz SFU Athletics collection (series 4)
- Breaks Bros. Construction Ltd. SFU construction collection (series 5)
- Helena Turner SFU charter student colloquium collection (series 6)
- Bob and Donelda Wilson SFU Sports Car Club collection (series 7)
- Koenraad Kuiper graduate student mailbox collection (series 8)
The Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology (PSA) Department was established in 1965 as one of the original departments at SFU. It marked a significant academic innovation in that it united three separate disciplines under one head—the distinguished Marxist scholar Tom Bottomore. By the late 1960s, Bottomore had returned to England, and the department entered a period of scholarly and administrative turmoil. The crisis culminated in the Department being placed under trusteeship by the University administration and eight faculty members going on strike.
The collection consists of various files collected over the years by the staff of the University Archives to assist history students and other researchers. Includes press releases, reports, publications and other documents.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentThe collection consists of agendas and minutes from the Women's Studies Coordinating Committee and the Women's Studies Graduate Committee. The collection also includes a proposal for a minor in Women's Studies and a correspondence file that contains letters exchanged between Lolita Wilson, Assistant to the Vice-President, Academic and the Committee on the Status of Women of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). The latter file also contains a copy of Wilson's 1972 report, "Women at Simon Fraser University."
Archives and Records Management DepartmentCollection is comprised primarily of interview material in the form of audio and video tapes, transcripts and notes. The material provides both a broad biographical overview of the life and achievements of Gordon Shrum and a description of his work at SFU in particular. The collection includes a copy of Shrum's doctoral thesis and a scrapbook that was given to Gordon Shrum in 1983.
Collection includes textual records, photographs, audio cassettes, audio reels, U-matic video tapes, and VHS video tapes.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentFrom 1979-1981 the University Archives collected historical information on the Indo-Canadian Community in British Columbia with a view towards acquiring records in this area. The Archives prepared a bibliography, and made copies of relevant material. According to Professor Hugh Johnston, the collection contains a fairly complete set of all articles written up to 1980 about Indo-Canadians in BC. The Archives also acquired some photographs from the community. Since the conclusion of the project, the Archives has shifted its primary acquisition focus away from ethnic collections.
Collection consists of photocopied magazine articles, theses, books, reports, newspaper clippings and other secondary sources about Indo-Canadians. The information is primarily about the Sikh community, but there is also some material on Hindu immigrants. There is one file of photographic prints and negatives.
Collection also contains one file of correspondence with Ray Hundle, who corresponded with the University Archives regarding his research on the possible establishment of a Sikh temple in Golden, BC in 1880.
Material is in Punjabi and English.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentCollection predominantly consists of photographic material (photographs, portraits, contact sheets, negatives, proofs, and slides) but also includes textual records such as clippings, publications, news releases, posters, and miscellaneous documents. It mainly comprises publicity material relating to the activities and topics documented by Media and Public Relations and that includes the photographing of SFU people, departments, organizations, places, and campus events for producing press releases, brochures, and other University publications.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentThe collection was compiled by the University Archives staff to illustrate the construction of Simon Fraser University.
The history of Simon Fraser University is reflected in its world-renowned architecture. Located atop Burnaby Mountain, SFU's design was the result of a competition held in 1963 by Dr. Gordon Shrum, the newly-appointed Chancellor of the University. The goal of the competition was to produce five winners. One architect would be awarded first prize for the overall design of SFU, while four other architects would each be invited to build a section of the University under the supervision of the winner. All entries were limited to applicants from British Columbia.
The informal guidelines for SFU's design consisted of a directive from Dr. Shrum entitled, "Notes from the Chancellor," which was distributed to the applicants. In this directive, Dr. Shrum noted many of the features that he felt were essential to the new university based upon his previous experience at the University of British Columbia. Among his recommendations were that students should be able to move from one part of the university to another without going outside, and that the large lecture theaters should be grouped together rather than scattered over the whole campus. Perhaps the most important of his criteria was that SFU should appear in 1965 essentially as it would look in 1995. In other words, it should look like a finished university, but also be designed for expansion. The design chosen was that of a young UBC architecture professor, Arthur Erickson, and his colleague Geoffrey Massey. The four other winners were William R. Rhone and Randle Iredale; Zoltan Kiss; Duncan McNab, Harry Lee, and David Logan; and Robert F. Harrison. The Erickson and Massey design had been the unanimous choice of the judges, and had met all the requirements that Shrum had outlined in his memo.
The collection consists of photographic prints and contact sheets that illustrate the physical development of SFU including site clearance, excavation, the construction of individual buildings, and completed buildings and interiors. There are a number of aerial photographs. The collection also includes photographs of the University's opening ceremonies and the installation of Dr. Shrum as Chancellor and Patrick McTaggart-Cowan as President.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentCollection consists of SFU campus posters promoting the university or advertising social and academic events on campus, and departmental programs. Also included are departmental strike posters related to the 1969 strike in the Department of Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, and a "Shift Shell" bumper sticker related to the 1966 protest about the Shell Gas Station on campus.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentCollection consists of newspaper clippings and periodicals about Simon Fraser University.
Archives and Records Management DepartmentThe Archives established the Sterling Prize Collection in 2000 at the suggestion of Professor Ted Sterling, who, with his wife Nora, established the Sterling Prize for Controversy in 1993. According to the terms of reference for the prize, it may be given for work in any field including—but not limited to—fine arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and education. The primary aim of the prize is to encourage daring, creative, controversial, unconventional, and non-traditional work at SFU that also meets high standards and is morally and ethically sound. An ancillary aim is to encourage the study, at SFU, of the role of the controversial. The prize is normally awarded to a member of the SFU community—students, faculty, staff, or alumni. The winner is selected by the Sterling Prize Committee, composed of faculty. student and staff representatives.
Dr. Sterling, Professor Emeritus at SFU, was the founder of the University’s computing science program in 1973, and is an expert in computational epidemiology and the social implications of computing. He was awarded an honorary degree by SFU in 2001.
For further information on Ted and Nora Sterling and the Sterling Prize, see the file "Background Information."
In 2000, the archivist asked each previous Sterling Prize winner to give the Archives a copy of his or her Sterling Prize lecture. Some winners were able to supply a prepared text; other winners spoke from notes and supplied these. The archivist added more information to the files including announcements, press releases, articles from Simon Fraser News, print-outs from the Sterling Prize website, (http://www.sfu.ca/sterlingprize/) and other documents. SFU Media and Public Relations gave the Archives a cassette copy of Russel Ogden’s lecture for 1995. Please note that there was no prize winner for 1996.
For a list of speakers included in the collection, see Access Points.
Archives and Records Management Department