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Archival description
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MsC-222 · Collection · c. 1860 - 2010

Collection includes artefacts, textual records, and photographs that document labour history in British Columbia, across Canada, and internationally. Types of artefacts include ribbons, membership and memorial pins, dues buttons, delegate badges, and medals. Textual records include copies of collective bargaining agreements, shop cards, and union constitutions and bylaws. These materials document this history of Canadian and international labour organizations, including the International Typographical Union (the earliest to organize in North America), United Auto Workers, bricklayers, painters, metalworkers, and many others.

MsC-160 · Collection · 1972-1992

The Pacific Socialist Education Association’s Pacific Tribune Photograph Collection comprises over 40,000 35-mm images taken for the weekly Vancouver labour newspaper Pacific Tribune. The images cover a twenty-year period, from 1972 to 1992, one of the most active periods in British Columbia’s labour history.
Included in the collection are images from some of the most tumultuous events involving British Columbia’s labour movements:

  • the province-wide campaign against insurance rate increases introduced by the new Social Credit government in 1976
  • the opposition to federal wage controls that culminated in a one-day national work stoppage in 1976
  • the historic Solidarity movement in 1983
  • labour’s campaign — that also included a one-day work stoppage in 1987 — against government legislation that severely curtailed the right to organize unions and bargain collectively

The collection is also a rich source of images from political and other social movements, including:

  • rallies and campaigns for human rights
  • internationally recognized Vancouver walks for peace during the mid-1980s
  • anti-poverty and housing movements
  • womens' rights
  • First Nations' movements
  • environmental campaigns
Pacific Tribune
MsC-140 · Collection · 17 Feb. 1942-10 Nov. 1943

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.

Canada. Department of Mines and Resources. Surveys and Engineering Branch.
MsC-255 · Fonds · [195?]-[200?]

Fonds documents the research, advocacy and communications activities of the Trade Union Research Bureau. Records include books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, correspondence, legal documents, research materials, sound and video recordings.

Trade Union Research Bureau
Robert Jackson fonds
MsC-49 · Fonds · 1933-2000

Fonds consists primarily of records related to Robert Jackson's political interests and activities. Included are many original and reproduced documents from labour events in the 1930s, particularly the On to Ottawa trek but including information on other labour-related events and figures, including the Spanish Civil War and the unionism in primary resource industries. The fonds also includes many records gathered by Jackson in the 1980s and 1990s in his work commemorating the On to Ottawa trek and participating in labour-related events. It contains newsletters, bulletins and other publications, newspaper clippings, essays, and articles, correspondence, recollections and testimonials, obituaries, notes from speaking engagements, leaflets, posters, press releases, petitions, minutes, financial records, project proposals, a script, work documents, certificates, legal documents, photographs, and other records related to Jackson's political life. The file level arrangement of this fonds is based on an arrangement established in 2001 by David Yorke who undertook to order Jackson's paper by subject. The order in which Jackson kept his records is unknown. The fonds is arranged in four series: On to Ottawa Trek (1934-2000); Labour history subject files (1933-2000); Memorials (1985-2000); and Photographs ([193-?]-2000).

Jackson, Robert
MsC-102 · Collection · [1965]-2013

The collection reflects the many aspects of the Canadian Farmworkers Union’s organization and its actions, including unionizing workers and certifying workplaces, advocating for workers’ rights, providing ESL classes and other educational programs, and speaking out on behalf of other workers’ rights and social rights in Canada and around the world. Records include administrative documents, financial records, internal and external correspondence, reference material on a variety of subjects, publications, and numerous photographs of events and activities.

The majority of the material in the collection was created or received by the CFU in the course of its work, but some material, such as the Charan Gill photographs and Craig Berggold book research records, was created by others in relation to the CFU.

The collection has been arranged into nine series: Administrative records (1974-2010); Event photographs ([198--1985]); Union action records ([1978]-1997); Programming and project records ([1965]-Printed 2013 (originally created 1986)); Research and advocacy records ([197-]-2011); Deol Society records (1977-1998); Canadian Farmworkers Union Ontario photographs and administrative records ([1979?]-1983); Charan Gill photographs ([199-]); and Craig Berggold book research records ([201-]-2013).

Canadian Farmworkers Union
Mayworks fonds
MsC-200 · Fonds · 1987-2004

Fonds consists of records documenting the organization and promotion of Vancouver's Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts. These include programs, posters, minutes, payroll and other financial records, agendas, licenses, contracts, tickets, fundraising letters, mailings, grants, and photographs used by Mayworks festival organizers from 1988-1996. Fonds also includes a thesis about Mayworks written by Aurian Haller in 2004.

Vancouver Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts
F-68 · Fonds · 1967 - 1968

Fonds consists of records arising from the creation of the Non-Faculty Teachers Association. Fonds includes a constitution, and correspondence.

The fonds consists of one file.

Non-Faculty Teachers Association
Michael Irwin fonds
F-121 · Fonds · 1972 - 1974

Fonds consists of one file reflecting Michael Irwin's attempts to reclassify his position, and his bid to obtain union certification for theatre employees. Includes correspondence, memoranda and newspaper clippings.

Irwin, Michael
Kate Braid fonds
F-10 · Fonds · 1963-2013

Fonds consists of records relating to Braid's life and work as a student, teacher, carpenter, and writer.

The first five series from Braid's first donation in 1995 are comprised primarily of interview material relating to Canadian women in trades, in the form of sound recordings, transcripts, notes, and drafts of profiles generated by Kate Braid in the course of four projects: her Master's thesis (1978-1979); a convention in Holland and subsequent trip to Denmark (1984); the Labour Canada booklets (1988); and the CBC Ideas program (1990). Also includes some correspondence, logbooks and published reference material.

The next series from several additional accruals in 2009 to 2013 consist of records arising from many aspects of Braid's life. These records include drafts and notes from Braid's writing, projects for CBC Ideas, women in trades, her company, Sisters Construction, and other writing and teaching projects.

There is also a large series of correspondence, including letters and emails (printed out) between Braid and other writers, her family, and business correspondents. Finally, there is a series of Braid's diaries, which she has kept regularly from the 1960s to 2012.

The fonds is arranged in 24 series:

  1. Master's thesis interviews
  2. Europe interviews
  3. Labour Canada interviews
  4. CBC interviews
  5. Women in trade
  6. In Fine Form: the Canadian Book of Form Poetry
  7. Red Bait: Struggles of a Mine Local
  8. A Well-mannered Storm: the Glenn Gould Poems
  9. Emily Carr: Rebel Artist
  10. Inward to the Bones: Georgia Okeeffe's Journey with Emily Carr
  11. Vancouver Island Highway Project Road to Equity
  12. CBC Ideas: Men of the Deep
  13. Appointment calendars
  14. Correspondence
  15. Personal and early accomplishments
  16. Writing and teaching projects
  17. Turning Left to the Ladies
  18. Journeywoman
  19. Diaries
  20. First drafts and handwritten notes
  21. Sisters construction
  22. Publications
  23. Covering Rough Ground
  24. To this Cedar Fountain
Braid, Kate
F-120 · Collection · 1974 - 1992

Collection 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 Department
F-119 · Fonds · 1966 - 1974

Fonds consists of records created, received, and collected by the Simon Fraser University Staff Association in carrying out its functional activities. Records reflect its constitution, executive and general meetings, social activities, benefits, newsletter, unionization and records of the membership chairman. Records include those collected from outside the fonds by a former archivist and those donated from other sources. Includes file lists, correspondence, memoranda, agenda, minutes, financial records, newsletter, bulletins, membership lists, posters, and a staff handbook.

Simon Fraser University Staff Association
F-118 · Fonds · 1967 - 1968

The fonds consists of records created, received and collected by the Simon Fraser Teachers' Union in carrying out its stated objectives. Includes the union's constitution, draft amendments to the constitution, correspondence, membership applications and cards, minutes, agenda, reports, financial records, memoranda, and newspaper clippings.

Simon Fraser Teachers' Union
F-79 · Fonds · 1963 - 1991

The fonds consist of records created, received, and collected by the Simon Fraser University Faculty Association in carrying out its functional activities. Includes records relating to its Constitution and by-laws, policy development, correspondence, general and special meetings, the executive committee, standing and ad hoc committees, and publications.

Simon Fraser University Faculty Association
F-38 · Fonds · 1967 - 1994

The fonds consists of records created and received in the course of the formation, establishment and operation of the union, primarily during the period 1976-1987. The records reflect the initial drive to charter, organize and certify the union; the internal administration of the union, including elections and finance; negotiations with the administration to establish and renew contracts; efforts to maintain, expand, represent and inform the membership; participation in the provincial organization of the Association of University and College Employees and cooperation with other AUCE locals, and other unions; and involvement in industrial action. Also included are records of the Graduate Students' union, a forerunner, though not direct predecessor, of TSSU. The records include the charter and bylaws; committee agendas and minutes; financial statements; correspondence; membership lists; election materials; reports; negotiation minutes and collective agreements; mediation and hearing records; convention minutes; strike materials; publications and publicity materials. The records as received had no obvious overall arrangement. Duplicate material has been removed where practicable, but the mixed nature of the files requires researchers to be prepared to search for records on matters of interest.

Teaching Support Staff Union
F-226 · Collection · 2005

The collection consists of 2 complete interviews over 3 CDs conducted by Andre Isakov with Jack Munro and Francis (Frank) Wall and two additional CDs of excerpts of the same interviews.

Isakov, Andre
Percilla Groves fonds
F-178 · Fonds · 1974 - 1980

The fonds consists of three notebooks that pertain to the negotiation of a first contract between AUCE Local 2 and the University, negotiation for subsequent contracts, the strike of 1979, and the formation of a teaching assistant's union. Also includes four photographs and a t-shirt.

Groves, Percilla
Operation Solidarity fonds
MsC-225 · Fonds · 1983-1987

Fonds consists of records relating to the labour organizing activity of Art Kube and Operation Solidarity. These include meeting agendas, committee reports, newsletters, brochures and pamphlets, publications, correspondence, ephemera, AGM conference packages, and material documenting participation in the BC Native Land Claims conference in 1986 and the Canadian Labour Congress's presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on External Affairs & International Trade in 1987.

Operation Solidarity
Myron Kuzych fonds
MsC-97 · Fonds · 1943-1980

Fonds consists of records related to Myron Kuzych's case against Bill White, then leader of the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Union. Records include correspondence, notes, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, transcripts and legal documents from the union, the BC Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Privy Council.

Kuzych, Myron
Gillian Stainsby fonds
F-66 · Fonds · 1988 - 1989

Fonds consists of transcripts and cassettes arising from Stainsby's master's thesis. Descriptive information for individual interviews has been transcribed from original cassette covers; see in the hard-copy finding aid Appendix 5 and item-level descriptions.

Stainsby, Gillian
Peter Poole fonds
F-161 · Fonds · 1983 - 1987

The fonds consists of research material acquired by Peter Poole in the course of preparing his thesis and an earlier essay on the solidarity movement. The fonds includes taped interviews of trade union leaders, solidarity movement leaders, community activists, and legal counsel. Twenty-six of the interviews are transcribed. The fonds also includes newspapers and newsclippings, essays, publications, flyers, research notes, ephemera, a chronology of the solidarity movement, and a copy of Peter Poole's thesis.

Poole, Peter
Heather Raven fonds
F-122 · Fonds · 1974 - 1977

Fonds consists of records accumulated by Heather Raven in her involvement with AUCE #2. Includes memoranda, correspondence, contracts, agenda, and minutes.

Raven, Heather
Ellen Frank fonds
F-82 · Fonds · 1974 - 1984

Fonds consists of records created, received and collected by Ellen Frank in her involvement in the women's movement in Vancouver. Activities documented include participation in the Association of University and College Employees (AUCE), the British Columbia Federation of Women (BCFW), the Solidarity Coalition, and activities relating to a number of other feminist organizations, issues, and actions. Includes correspondence, memoranda, minutes, agenda, reports, briefs, newsletters, press releases, notebooks, press clippings, project proposals, posters, and pamphlets.

Frank, Ellen
F-67 · Collection · 1978-2016, predominant 1978-1980

The Women's Labour History Project documents the histories of women who were active in the trade union movement in British Columbia from 1890s onwards. The project was initiated by Sara Diamond, an undergraduate history student at SFU, who conducted the interviews. She received financial support from the British Columbia Summer Youth Employment Fund. Additional funding was received from many other sources, including The Canada Council, and the Federal Department of Human Resources. Diamond provides a description of her research methodology in a report included as Appendix A1, "Women's Labour History Project" (available in the hard-copy finding aid only).

The collection consists of 43 interviews conducted by Sara Diamond with women in the labour movement in British Columbia. The women discuss their childhoods, family lives, careers, social issues such as childcare and birth control, economic situations such as the depresssion and post-war employment, and the working conditions that led them to become union activists. A summary of each interview is provided in Appendix 1, "Women's Labour History Project" (available in hard-copy finding aid only).

The collection contains audio recordings and transcripts.

Diamond, Sara
Working Women Unite fonds
F-45 · Fonds · 1976 - 1982

Fonds consists of records created, received and collected by Working Women Unite. Records reflect the activities and functional responsibilities of Working Women Unite and groups associated with them, such as the BCFW and SORWUC. Includes correspondence, minutes, agendas, bulletins, newsletters, financial records, membership lists, reports, convention proceedings, and articles.

Working Women Unite
F-9 · Fonds · 1976 - 1987

The fonds of the Vancouver Women in Trades Association consists of records created and received in the course of administering the organization and providing support and advocacy for women working in trades and technology in the Vancouver area. Activities documented include annual and monthly meetings; office administration and funding; liaison with other groups; advisory work on vocational curricula; outreach projects; and advocacy around specific issues. Document types include constitution, minutes, correspondence, logbooks, worksheets, policy statements, briefs, reports, speeches, questionnaires, and photographs and illustrations. The fonds also contains published reference material, whose publication dates in some instances precede the foundation of the Association itself.

Vancouver Women in Trades
MSC-140-0-0-0-0-6 · File · 3 Apr.1942-22 Jan. 1943
Part of Japanese Canadian Blue River Road Camp Collection

File consists of nominal rolls, correspondence, lists, bills of lading and other records, mainly of W.J. Wishart, Supervising Foreman at Red Pass, with a few letters addressed to R.M. Corning, Assistant Engineer, Blue River and Resident Engineer, Red Pass. The file includes records pertaining to road camps at Yellowhead, Lucerne, Rainbow, Tete Jaune, Red Pass, Grantbrook, and Albreda.

The file contains nominal rolls, also called personnel lists, for Japanese Canadian road camp workers (“Japanese Nationals”) at Grantbrook Camp 5, Rainbow Camp 6, Tete Jaune Camp B12, and Lucerne Camp 2. Information listed in these documents includes some or all of the following: last name, first name or initial, registration number, camp occupation, marital status and number of dependents. The file also includes a list of Japanese Nationals to be transferred from Albreda to Red Sands camp, with the following information: car number, registration number, first and last names, pre-evacuation occupation, and marital status.

Amongst the correspondence in the file is a letter from Chief Engineer T.S. Mills to Corning advising him that staff should be aware of “not divulging either orally or in personal correspondence any confidential information regarding any project or work which has resulted from Canada at war” that might be used by enemy agents, and a telegram to a Japanese Canadian camp worker from his wife advising him of the acquisition of a sugar beet contract and the sale of a Japanese Canadian house. The file also contains correspondence pertaining to the medical treatment of Japanese Canadian road camp workers and the hiring of a first aid attendant, as well as lists, bills of lading and correspondence pertaining to equipment and supplies, in particular groceries, required for various camps.
Several letters within the file concern perceived agitation, organization, demands and complaints amongst the Japanese Canadian road camp workers. These include an April 24, 1942 letter from Wishart to J.H. Mitchell, Senior Assistant Engineer, Jasper, regarding Lucerne camp workers’ refusal to work in protest of the planned removal from camp of seven men identified as “agitators”; a May 1, 1942 letter from Wishart to Mitchell concerning the organization of Albreda camp workers and their refusal to work in protest of the planned transfer of thirty men to Red Sands and numerous conditions at camp that they felt to be unsatisfactory, the resolution of these issues, and plans to quickly identify and “discipline” any future “trouble makers”; as well as an October 6, 1942 letter from Supervising Engineer C.M. Walker in Banff to Corning at Red Pass regarding workers’ demands at Thunder River camp and possible methods of dealing with potential strike action.

Camps
MSC-140-0-0-0-0-4 · File · 2 Feb.1928-30 Apr. 1942
Part of Japanese Canadian Blue River Road Camp Collection

File consists of correspondence and related records of W.J. Wishart at Red Pass Junction in the capacities of Superintendent of Camps and Warehouses, Department of Public Works, and Supervising Foreman, Department of Mines & Resources. The records pertain to the set up and operation of the Japanese Canadian road camps, in particular those at Geikie, Jasper and Decoigne, Alberta, and those at Red Pass, Albreda, Red Sands, Rainbow, Grantbrook, Tete Jaune, Yellowhead, Black’s Spur, Lucerne and Lampriere, British Columbia.
Included in the file are operational memos, purchase orders, balance sheets, reports, and other records pertaining to equipment and supplies for the camps, including groceries and other provisions; office, commissary and first aid supplies; horse feed; lumber; and gas and oil. A work report to February 28, 1942 from Geikie Camp lists names of non-Japanese Canadian workers, their occupations, and hours worked per day; the hours contributed by Japanese Canadian workers, who are listed as a unit of fifty; as well as the total hours worked on establishing camp, kitchen duty, and camp duty. April 1942 reports from Lucerne camp and Grantbrook Camp 5 detail camp activities, including the movement of workers in and out of camp. Also included in the file is correspondence from non-Japanese Canadian men looking for employment, correspondence from the hospital car at Lempriere regarding procedures to follow with regard to medical care of the workers, and correspondence pertaining to the establishment of kitchens and kitchen staff.
Correspondence concerning Japanese Canadian road camp workers relates to medical issues of the men; opinions of supervisors towards individual workers; the transfer of workers between camps and to other areas, such as the sugar beet fields; the granting of leave; and workers that either did not arrive or did not return to camp. The file includes an April 27, 1942 document listing men to be transferred from Albreda to Red Sands, organized according to the railway car in which they travelled, with information such as first and last name, parole #, occupation and marital status. Earlier annotated versions of this list are also included. The file also includes British Columbia Security Commission notices published in the New Canadian newspaper pertaining to pay scales, assignment payments, and other conditions placed on Japanese Canadian road camp workers and their families, as well as alternative employment available. Other correspondence from Albreda and Yellowhead Camp B1 pertains to Japanese Canadian workers refusing to work and encouraging other workers to do the same. An April 2, 1942 “list of some of the real undesirables” from Yellowhead Camp B1 lists the names of five men along with their serial and parole numbers, age, marital status, and a description of their alleged undesirable behaviour, for example refusing to work and encouraging other men to do the same.
In addition to textual records, the file also includes architectural drawings for a “Bunkhouse for 50 men” (front elevation, floor plan, rear elevation, end elevation, cross-sections) and a “Mess building for 100 men” (front elevation, floor plan, end elevation, cross-section).

MSC-140-0-0-0-0-10 · File · 12 Jan. 1943-30 Apr.1943
Part of Japanese Canadian Blue River Road Camp Collection

File consists of correspondence and related records between the Engineering Branch of the Department of Mines & Resources and the British Columbia Security Commission (B.C.S.C.), in particular R.M. Corning, Assistant Engineer, Engineering and Construction Service, Blue River with W.A. Eastwood and C.V. Booth of the B.C.S.C. The file includes records pertaining to the following camps: Pyramid, Blue River, Yellowhead, Thunder River, Lempriere, and Rainbow Ranch.

Records relate to the administration of the road camp and management of the workers, as well as relevant policies, procedures and legislation. A significant portion of the correspondence relates to requests from camp workers to be transferred to other projects, areas or occupations, as well as requests from sawmills wanting to hire workers and the legislation and policies surrounding the granting or rejection of these requests. Other correspondence deals with policies and procedures for granting camp workers leave permits and the attitudes of particular communities towards Japanese Canadians. The file also contains correspondence concerning identifying and dealing with “agitators”, or discontent or unsatisfactory workers in camp; the transfer of workers to the prairies and Ontario and required medical tests for these workers; and workers’ medical issues. Financial records and related correspondence pertain to wages due to workers, refunds of evacuation fare, unemployment insurance, and assignment fees to be paid by workers to cover the expenses incurred by the B.C.S.C. to care for their elderly parents. Also included are letters in which road camp workers describe their lives and occupations previous to evacuation, and lists of workers on the Yellowhead / Blue River project, containing information such as name, age, registration number, marital status, number of dependents, physical defects, occupation and place of birth.

[Lempriere Camp]
MSC-140-0-0-0-0-9 · File · 27 Nov. 1942-10 Nov. 1943
Part of Japanese Canadian Blue River Road Camp Collection

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.