The 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)