2026 Story submissions

Celebrating Activism at Lakehead University Archives

Institution: Lakehead University Archives, submitted by Sara Janes and dawn unwin

Story: Against war. For workplace safety. In solidarity with Indigenous people. To find community.

It was no difficult decision to mark this year’s Archives Awareness Week by celebrating the records of activist people and groups that we hold at Lakehead University. This display is up on the library’s main floor, visible to everyone coming in to study.

We made an effort to not leave anyone or anything out: the reproductions of documents on display come from 15 different fonds.

Student Activism: Like at any university, student organizing comes and goes in waves. In the 1960s, Lakehead students protested the Vietnam war, and supported their contemporaries leaving the United States. Now, I encounter students demonstrating for Palestine, for continued OSAP, for a livable climate. Their works will be remembered as well.

Injured Workers: Ontario’s Northwest depends economically on many high-risk jobs, in forestry, mining, manufacture, shipping. It’s no wonder that organizing for the rights of people injured at work has been so prominent here, but this is also due to the work of Steve Mantis, who has been an advocate on the provincial, national, and international stages. People permanently disabled because of workplace incidents have often not been fairly compensated, and they have an important voice in the labour movement.

Justice for Grassy Narrows: A chemical plant dumped approximately 9,000 kg of mercury into the English and Wabigoon river systems from 1962 into the 1970s. Now, more than 90% of people in Grassy Narrows have symptoms of mercury poisoning. Fish and other wildlife also have been harmed. The people of Grassy Narrows, and Grand Council Treaty 9, organized in the 1970s against the ongoing contamination, and the efforts of the companies responsible to gloss over the harm they had done and expand operations. 50 years later, the fight for fair compensation, and to prevent further damage, continues. (freegrassy.net)

A Feminist Poet: Gert Beadle, born in 1915, discovered feminism at the age of 60. Meeting with other women and discussing their shared struggles transformed her life. Gert had written from time to time, but in a busy few years she became a published poet, a key contributor to Northern Woman Journal, a mentor to many younger women, and a founder of Thunder Bay’s first shelter for women escaping domestic abuse.

Each of these fights is historic, and each is also of contemporary importance. At Lakehead University Archives, we are proud to continue collecting activist fonds and preserving them for the future.

To learn more about the Records of Activism and Labour at Lakehead University Archives, visit https://libguides.lakeheadu.ca/archives/activism.

MCA Celebrates Archives Awareness Week with Annual Heritage Fair

Institution: Middlesex Centre Archives

Story: The Middlesex Centre Archives (MCA) will be hosting its annual Heritage Fair on Saturday, April 11th, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Delaware Community Centre, 2652 Gideon Drive, Delaware, ON. The Fair is held in April to correspond with the provincial Archives Awareness Week which will be celebrated this year from April 7 to 10.

Everyone is invited and admission is free. “We are excited about this year’s participants. We have a great combination of archives, museums, genealogical and historical groups who are all passionate about sharing and celebrating our community’s heritage. What may be the heritage of one person is a learning opportunity for another. I hope that folks will be able to explore and learn something they didn’t already know during their visit,” said Archivist Krista Taylor.

New exhibitors this year include the Strathroy-Caradoc Museum, Home Children Canada and the Presbyterian Church Heritage Centre and the Committee to Establish a Middlesex County Archives - Thames Centre Heritage Working Group. Returning will be some familiar faces, including the Upper Thames Re-enactment Society, London United Empire Loyalist, Tri-County Heritage Club, Komoka Railway Museum and Fanshawe Pioneer Village. The Heritage Fair is an excellent mix of groups to showcase the rich heritage of Middlesex County and neighbouring communities. MCA will have the Archives open to the public during the event. The Archives is located in the Delaware Community Centre.

A presentation by Dan Oatman, a member of Home Children Canada at 2 p.m. will inform many about a lesser-known time in Canadian and English history. “Home Children, sometimes known as Bernardo Boys, were children - both boys and girls - who were taken from poorer areas or workhouses in England and shipped off to Canada,” explains Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor continues by saying that “Dan will expand more on who they were in his presentation. But simply, many who left England were under the impression they would come to Canada and work on farms and start a new life, with a farm family, fresh air and opportunity. Unfortunately, the reality was anything but for most of them. In recent years, more research has been done through genealogy to try and reconnect families that were torn apart through this Victorian and Edwardian social welfare scheme. One thing we’ve learned at MCA is that many men who joined up early in the Great War were Home Children. Going to war gave them an escape from the reality of life in Canada and for some, a chance to return to England to find anyone left in their family.”

Also going on during the Heritage Fair will be the Heritage Hunters activity for kids. A lunch booth provided by the South Lobo Women’s Institute will be on-site, with coffee, cold beverages, sandwiches, soup and pie. MCA’s annual used book sale, featuring local history books, Canadian history, and genealogical resources will also be active! Cash only please for both the lunch room and book table.

MCA will also be kicking off it’s annual fundraising raffle. Prizes will be on-site to view. MCA has an annual budget of about $60,000 and fundraising is a large part of MCA’s income.

For more information, visit Middlesex Centre Archives on Facebook or email at middlesexcentrearchives@gmail.com. Visit MCA online at https://middlesexcentrearchive.ca/events.

The Golden Rule Poster, designed by the Society's Interfaith Consultant, Paul McKenna.

The Joy and Sweat of Outreach in March

Institution: Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library at University of Toronto, submitted by Jason Kahei Wong

Story: This March had been an action-packed outreaching month at the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library (RCLCHKL). We squeezed every ounce of our efforts to make ourselves known among the Hong Kong's diasporic community through a series of public events; and we also announced the grand opening of our archival services!

In case our name is not familiar to you, the RCLCHKL is one of the forty libraries within the University of Toronto system and home to the largest research library about Hong Kong outside of the city. Beginning last year, we extended our functions to begin collecting and processing archival materials as well. But the institutional divide has always created a barrier between us and the diasporic community in Toronto. Worse still, many admitted that they had no idea the library existed. With close to 100,000 Hong Kong diaspora living in the GTA, we decided to make difference in March.

The highlight of the month is arguably the Open House Days we held on the 7th and 22nd. For the first time, the public could come into our space without having to make a prior appointment. We hosted hundreds of people who came to browse the stacks and visit the exhibitions featuring archival materials we had collected since. From dawn to dusk, we had users studying antique photographs from the archives and reading books quietly in the aisles. The library had never been so alive. To create several "climax", we held talk sessions throughout the day, charity screenings of films from Hong Kong, and announced the launch of archives services from April.

As archivist and librarian, the tranquility of the processing area in the back of house is where we naturally belong. This month we really bit the bullet and challenged the boundary of our comfort zone. Not only did we post about our collections every two days, we also invited press and social media influences alike to interview the library. They took beautiful pictures of our space, books, archives, and spread the word about what we are trying to do here. Seeing our own faces on the screen would never stop being cringy. But the compounding rate of return was worth every embarrassment. We were able to reach users and donors, especially those in their early 20s, whom we could barely engage before.

But we did not forget about our mission as an academic library in supporting research. We collaborated with York University and University of Bristol, UK on an international symposium "Tying The World Together: Hong Kong at the Frontier of Global History" on the 16th. Over three edifying sessions, graduate students, archival professionals, and scholars shared their respective efforts in preserving and understanding the history of Hong Kong. We leveraged the opportunity to make a statement about our archival endeavours and paved the way for alliances with institutions/individuals with similar aspirations.

Working in archives and libraries, it is so easy to get lost in the business as usual. I could drown myself in the everyday routine and thought that I've been doing a good enough job. This month, despite its perils, renew my perspectives in our profession. Initially I felt very unsettled with the lack of time to do any processing. But then I was blessed by something greater. Through conversing with all the users, I was able appreciate/criticize the archival institutions from their perspectives. And without these efforts, we would not have opened the door to so many generous donations, both financially and archivally. As a description fanatic myself, I used to think that creating the perfect arrangement and rehousing an entire archives neatly into folders and boxes is the deepest satisfaction possible to mankind. But no, it was the uneventful moment when I found a teenager sitting still on a chair for 15 minutes reading a 1979 meeting minutes of the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils.

To learn more about the Hong Kong Archives Catalogue @ CHKL, visit: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/richard-charles-lee-canada-hong-kong-library.

The United Church of Canada Archives and the Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility

Institution: The United Church of Canada Archives, submitted by Christopher Hogendoorn, Reference & Outreach Archivist

Story: The United Church of Canada has a long and proud history of activism and championing progressive social causes, all of which is documented in the UCC Archives. The archives has the records of Methodist temperance campaigns from the early 20th century, photographs of anti-war demonstrations, and records of the movement in the 1980s to allow all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, to serve as ordained clergy, to list just a few.

For this activism-focused Archives Awareness Week, the UCC Archives would like to spotlight one particular instantiation of the church’s activist activities, the records of which demonstrate a large impact using traditional and unconventional methods.

F4041 – The Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility fonds contains a little over 12 m of textual records, a handful of photographs, nearly 50 cassette tapes, and boasts a 45-page finding aid with great detail of its contents. The Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility (TCCR – pronounced “ticker”) was established in 1975 as an ecumenical coalition of Canadian churches and religious organizations that were looking for a way to express the social teachings of Christianity in a way relevant to the modern world. The Taskforce focused on promoting corporate responsibility and encouraged churches and other organizations to both invest ethically and divest from corporations having a negative effect on the environment, human rights, and social justice issues. One of TCCR’s first projects was to encourage the divestment of shares from companies with a stake in South Africa, in protest against apartheid.

TCCR’s principal methods of enacting corporate social responsibility, which was not the mainstream topic that it is today, was through shareholder advocacy. One of TCCR’s denominational partners, such as The United Church, would purchase shares in something like a mining company. Then, TCCR staff on behalf of the investor would attend shareholder meetings or arrange one-on-one meetings with company representatives, and call out what they saw as corporate irresponsibility, presenting research and lobbying for changes. This approach got results. While not solving everything, they did manage to influence companies to change their practices or risk a public relations problem. TCCR was also known for staging protests, promoting boycotts, educating the public, and lobbying governments to enact legislation to rein in corporate malpractice.

The TCCR records are a fantastic resource for anyone looking into corporate Canada in the at the end of the 20th century, with a vast collection of well-researched subject files, reports on the specific effects companies were having on the communities in which they operated, and ideas for how people now can work to improve the world around them.

TCCR as a standalone organization no longer exists. In 2001, KAIROS, a Canadian ecumenical justice initiative, brought together the work of nine Canadian ecumenical coalitions, including TCCR, into a single entity.

Citation: The United Church of Canada Archives, F4041 - Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility Fonds, https://catalogue.unitedchurcharchives.ca/taskforce-on-the-churches-and-corporate-responsibility-fonds.