Collection comprises photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, ephemera, books and periodical material resulting from and pertaining to the settlement and subsequent history of Doukhobors in Western Canada. Books and periodical items have been catalogued in the SFU Library Catalogue. Digitized images and accompanying descriptions of a portion of the collection are available on the Doukhobor Collection, 1898-1930 website.

Fonds consists of research material, scripts, notebooks, permissions and source footage used by Kovanic in the production of her documentary films. Suspino: A Cry for Roma was released in 2003 and directed by Kovanic and produced by Tamarin Productions. The film uses interviews, a profile of a refugee family, and historical footage in order to trace the experience of persecuted Romani peoples in Eastern Europe, primarily Romania. Other films in the fonds include Our Tears Run Red, Yellow and Green, Baboon Tales and Dreaming a Nation: The Kurds, from 1994.

Fonds consists of records relating to the personal, political, and academic life of Hari P. Sharma. Activities, topics, and events documented include community activism for human rights and social justice of minorities and underrepresented groups; academic conference attendance and presentations; Sharma's research, writing, photography, and publications; his social life and relationships; and his death and memorial.

Collection consists of research material gathered by Johnston for his book "The Voyage of the Komagata Maru: The Sikh Challenge to Canada's Colour Bar" (1979; 1989) and subsequent articles and books about Sikhs in Canada, including (with Tara Singh Bains) "The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life-Journey of an Emigrant Sikh" (1995) and "Jewels of the Qila: The Remarkable Story of an Indo-Canadian Family" (2011). Records in the collection are primarily of photocopied and microfilmed material from archival material held by institutions, newspapers and journals, and notes and drafts.

Collection is divided into the following eleven series: Articles (1988–2016); "The voyage of the Komagata Maru" draft manuscripts (1977–1978); Finding aids, bibliography and essays on sources (1975–1991); Archival documents and research notes ([197-–before 2011]); Official sources files ([1975–after 1996]); Biographical and autobiographical sources files ([197-–198-?]); Individual files (1988–1993); Research studies files ([ca. 1980]–1988); Scholarly articles ([197-]–2000); Periodicals and pamphlets ([198-?]–2014); and Newspaper clippings ([197-]–2014).

From 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.

The Indo-Canadian Oral History Collection documents the histories of immigrants from the Punjab Province of India who came to Canada between 1912 and 1938. The project was initiated by Hari Sharma, Professor of Sociology at SFU, who conducted the interviews with the assistance of a graduate student.

The interview subjects, primarily Sikhs, discuss such topics as why they came to Canada, the journey to Canada, adjustment to Canadian society upon arrival, employment in Canada, family life, and their ongoing links with their country of origin. Appendices include an interview guide prepared by Hari Sharma and an article about the project.

This sous-fonds includes letters authored and received by J. A. Forin between 1926 and 1933, handwritten note, clippings, broadside as well as three publication belonging to Forin that contain his handwritten annotations. All records are in English.

Covering the time period from February 1942 to November 1943, the collection consists of records created or received by various staff of the Department of Mines and Resources, Surveys and Engineering Branch in the course of their activities establishing, administering and operating road work camps for evacuated male Japanese Canadian nationals along the proposed route of the Yellowhead Highway between Blue River, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta. Also included among the files are some records of Department of Public Works staff pertaining to their role in the establishment of the camps, as well as a significant amount of correspondence with the British Columbia Security Commission (B.C.S.C) and related records. In addition to documenting the evacuation of Japanese Canadians from the B.C. coast to interior road work camps and other areas in early 1942, and many of the activities and events that occurred in the camps, the records also provide evidence of the economic and labour conditions in British Columbia during World War II.

Records within the collection pertain to the following road work camps: Albreda, Black Spur, Blacks Spit, Blue River, Gosnell, Grantbrook, Lampriere, Lucerne, Pratt, Pyramid, Rainbow, Red Pass, Red Sands, Tete Jaune / Yellowhead, and Thunder River in British Columbia, and Geikie, Jasper and Decoigne in Alberta. In addition, some records reference detention camps at Greenwood, Kaslo, Lemon Creek, New Denver, Roseberry, Sandon, and Slocan.

Record types include correspondence, reports, lists, nominal rolls, bills of lading, invoices, operational memos, purchase orders, and balance sheets. A significant number of records relate to the establishment and ongoing supply of the road work camps; these include supply orders and invoices, architectural plans for camp buildings, and status and other reports concerning the preparation of camps. Administrative personnel records document the hiring, management and activities of non-Japanese Canadian road camp workers, such as foremen, sub-foremen, and carpenters, and include information pertaining to the previous work and life experiences of these men, their age, ‘character,’ medical conditions, and home address, as well as positions and wages expected and received.

Many records within the fonds relate to the management of Japanese Canadian road camp workers, including the administration of pay, Workmens’ Compensation claims, and payment of assignment fees for dependents; medical and perceived psychological issues and the treatment of such issues; and the movement of Japanese Canadian men between camps and the policies and procedures governing these movements. This includes records pertaining to the granting of temporary leave, transfer to other camps or areas, family re-unification, the release of workers to private jobs, either within B.C. or in another province such as Ontario or Alberta, and the attitudes of certain communities towards Japanese Canadians. Correspondence in several files relates to supervisors’ attitudes towards road camp workers, including those identified as agitators or troublesome, and the methods used to deal with them, such as transfer out of camp and the censorship of Japanese Canadian mail. Included also are records relating to the organization and collective resistance of Japanese Canadian road camp workers, their demands, complaints and refusals to work, and the techniques identified to deal with these situations.

Several files include nominal roles and other lists of Japanese Canadian and other road camp workers, including some or all of the following personal information: name, registration number, occupation, previous work experience, age, place of birth, address, marital status, number of dependents, ‘physical defects’ and medical, dental or mental health issues. Some correspondence from Japanese Canadian road camp workers to camp administrators provides insight into their lives both in camp and prior to evacuation.

This collection consists of 15 photographs, as well as a postcard. Subject matter is pertaining to Japanese Canadians in the decades leading up to, and including, the Second World War. Content has been divided into 2 identifiable series: Photographs (ca.1925-1945?) and Correspondence (1908).

File consists of correspondence and related records of W.J. Wishart, Supervising Foreman, Japanese Nationals Camps, Red Pass Junction, mainly with J.H. Mitchell, Senior Assistant Engineer, Jasper (and later Red Pass). The file includes records pertaining to road camps at Albreda, Yellowhead, Tete Jaune, Lucerne, Grantbrook, Rainbow, Red Pass, Thunder River, Black Spur, Gosnell and Lempriere.

The records in the file reflect a variety of areas of concern in the administration of the camps. Included are records pertaining to the ordering of supplies, equipment and food for the camps and the hospital; the care of sick road camp workers; the management of non-Japanese Canadian staff such as foremen; restricted access of Japanese Canadian workers to the railways; and the granting of permissions to workers to travel to other areas. The file also includes correspondence and related documents pertaining to the reunification of Japanese Canadian family members, for instance the transfer of a father to his son at Red Pass, and the British Columbia Security Commission’s granting of authority for some Japanese Canadian men to rejoin their families in Vancouver in preparation for relocation as a family unit to other projects. Other correspondence documents reported difficulties with the Japanese Canadian road camp workers, including refusals to work. The file also includes Wishart’s April 6, 1942 report on a trip to Tete Jaune and the status of camp operations, as well as his April 9, 1942 report of an “inspection trip of the camps in the Blue River – Albreda division,” which provides updates on the progress of camps at Blue River, Red Sands, Thunder River, Lempriere, Gosnell, Black Spur and Albreda.

File consists of correspondence and related records pertaining to activities and personnel, both Japanese Canadian and other, at Lempriere Camp. The majority of correspondence is between Lempriere Camp foremen and Department of Mines and Resources staff, in particular Assistant Engineer R.M. Corning, A.W. Brereton, and C.R. Cornish. Also included is some correspondence from Japanese Canadian camp workers and the British Columbia Security Commission (B.C.S.C.). In addition to Lempriere camp, the file includes a small amount of records concerning Pyramid camp.

Much of the correspondence consists of memoranda of an administrative nature, including correspondence pertaining to equipment and supplies for camp; general administration; financial and accounting matters, such as cheques owed to camp workers, money owed by workers, assignments to be paid by Japanese Canadian workers under the Maintenance Act; and personnel matters, such as wages paid to workers, Workmen’s (Workers’) Compensation Board and Unemployment Insurance claims, and the resignation and replacement of foremen. Included is a memorandum concerning the requirement for Japanese Canadian workers to complete forms for the Custodian of Enemy Property, and several records relating to medical and dental conditions of and treatment received by camp workers. Other correspondence in the file pertains to dealing with workers deemed to be difficult, including those reportedly either not following instructions or not doing enough work to pay for their meals and/or medical costs. The file also includes a memorandum pertaining to a visit by the Spanish Consul to Blue River and the need to find a “spokesman” amongst the Japanese nationals at Lempriere camp for this occasion.

A majority of the correspondence concerns the transfer of Japanese Canadian workers between camps or requests of the men to leave camp for jobs in the British Columbia interior, Alberta and Ontario; this includes correspondence regarding the banning for a period of time of the employment of Japanese Canadians in B.C. sawmills and the active recruiting of men for jobs at sawmills and logging companies outside of British Columbia. The file also contains records pertaining to requests for leaves of absence and men seeking to leave camp to get married. Correspondence between Brereton and a Japanese Canadian worker in April 1943 discusses the worker’s life in the one year since evacuation and previously in Vancouver, and includes Brereton’s response to his request to marry and find suitable employment outside of camp. A letter of reference from Corning for a Japanese Canadian worker is also included in the file. A few letters discuss the dissuasion of Japanese Canadians from settling in communities that do not welcome such settlement and a letter dated April 1, 1943 refers to the removal of unmarried men from Hope.

Item is a letter regarding the construction of a wooden fence between two compounds; fire-fighting equipment; conditional correspondence and visits for prisoners.