The collection offers insight into the imprisonment of the “Sons of Freedom” between 1932 and 1934 at Piers Island Penitentiary. The “Sons of Freedom” Doukhobors began as a small, radical movement to reinvigorate the faith, restore traditional Doukhobor values, and protest the sale of land, education, citizenship and registration of vital statistics. They would achieve infamy through civil disobedience, nude marches, and burnings. In 1932, over 600 Sons of Freedom protestors were convicted of public nudity. As B.C. Penitentiary was unable to handle such a rise in inmate population, a satellite prison under the authority of B.C. Penitentiary was constructed on Piers Island to house these prisoners. The records document how the prison was set up and run and the problems that the federal prison system encountered regarding both staff and prisoners. The correspondence and telegrams shed light on the internal discussions of senior officials concerning the management of the prison and its prisoners.
Fonds consists of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, and other textual records pertaining to the Piers Island Penitentiary created or accumulated by H. W. Cooper during his career as the warden of B.C. Penitentiaries. The fonds also contains photographs which were all taken at Piers Island. The textual records predominantly consist of letters to and from H. W. Cooper regarding the penitentiary, staff, and prisoners. The records have been arranged into the following two series: Correspondence and other documents (1932-1934); and Photographs ([between 1932 and 1934]).

File consists of correspondence to and from H. W. Cooper pertaining to the construction of the penitentiary and matters regarding the personnel and prisoners; a warrant prepared by J. Cartmel pertaining to Mike Woiken, one of the prisoners; a chronology written in shorthand by H. W. Cooper regarding a search for an island to set up the penitentiary; the translation of a letter from Russian to English from an inmate to his wife; a report on the refusal of some prisoners to work; telegrams regarding the construction of the penitentiary; and an empty manila envelope belonging to B.C. Penitentiary.

This photo is the same as MsC 147.2, but in a different pose and darker lighting.

Series displays photographs taken on Piers Island showing the officers, guards, and matrons; male and female prisoners visiting through a fence that separates men’s and women’s compounds; female prisoners working; penitentiary buildings; penitentiary perimeter; vessel used for transferring prisoners; and a patrol boat. As there are no dates recorded for these photographs, it is not possible to determine the exact dates they were taken; however, based on the subject matter, it is assumed that dates of creation are between 1932 and 1934.

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.

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).

This fonds consists of personal archive of Stephen S. Sorokin that includes incoming and outgoing letters from around 1949 until his death in 1984 many of which were sent from Montevideo, Uruguay where Sorokin lived for thirt- two years. This fonds also includes many original writings and spiritual messages addressed to the Doukhobor communities, the CCBRD and the Sons of Freedom. Records in this fonds also include draft of Sorokin’s book Three Days and Three Nights published in 1950, clippings and publications related to the Sorokin’s life and his leadership of the Doukhobor community. In addition, this fonds contains Sorokin’s personal files of passports and identity documents, number of original photographs taken during his visit to British Columbia villages in 1950s and recordings of his speeches and Doukhobor singing during that visit. It also contains court records relating to Sorokin’s filing a defamation suit against Trail Times’s journalist. Additional materials include audio and video recordings of Krestova Youth Choir performances during the Expo 1986.
This sous-fonds consists of six main series: 1: Correspondence; 2: Court records; 3: Writings; 4: Personal records; 5: General records; 6: Audio-Visual records; 7: Photographs from Sorokin’s visit.

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.

Series consists of photocopies and original clippings of newspaper articles and research notes. Clippings are from primarily English-Canadian and Indo-Canadian publications.

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).