Research Guides: Asian Canadian Studies: Archives and Collections at UBC

Archives and Collections at UBC

The following list of archival and research collections are available for consultation at UBC's Rare Books & Special Collections library or University Archives. For background on using archival material in your research, please consult the Research Guide for Archival Material.

Click on the collection title for more information or a finding aid if one exists.

Chinese Canadians

Individuals and Families:

Won Alexander Cumyow fonds
Won Cumyow was the first Chinese Canadian born in Canada.
Lee Family fonds
Ron Bick Lee fonds
Chock On fonds
Thomas Whaun fonds
Jim Wong-Chu fonds
Foon Sien Wong fonds
Foon Sien Wong was an activist and spokesman for the Chinese Canadian community.

Organizations:

Chinese Consul of Vancouver fonds

Research Collections:

Chinese Canadian Research Collection
This collection grew out of a number of research projects undertaken by three UBC professors. It is located at University Archives.
Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection
This extensive collection (over 25,000 items) consists of documents, archival records, photographs, ephemera and artifacts related to three broad themes: British Columbia history, immigration and settlement in North America (especially the Chinese-Canadian experience), and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

The collection’s website offers lists of items to browse for the following themes:

- The Asian Experience in North America

- Working for the CPR

- Images of Chinese people and communities in North America

- The Yip family and Yip Sang Company

- Chinese Freemasons

Japanese Canadians

Inouye Family fonds

Individuals:

Denbei Kobayashi fonds
Joy Kogawa fonds
Glenn McPherson fonds
Contains documents related to McPherson's role in deciding whether Japanese Canadians would be interned in 1942.
Roy Miki fonds
Gordon GoichiNakayama fonds
Margaret Sage fonds
Contains photographs taken by Sage between September 1945 and August 1946 at a relocation camp near Tashme, B.C. where she was a social worker. Fonds is located at University Archives.
Kosaburo Shimizu fonds
Mitsuru Shimpo fonds
R.A. Shiomi fonds
Yamaga Yasutaro fonds

Organizations:

Japanese-Canadian Commerce Students Collection
Contains correspondence between UBC professor and six Japanese Canadian students who graduated in 1942, providing insight into the treatment of Japanese Canadians during this the 1940’s. Collection is located at University Archives.
Japanese Canadian History Preservation Committee fonds
Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers' Association fonds
Radio Canada International Recordings Collection
United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union fonds

Research Collections:

Japanese Canadian Research Collection
Consists of approximately 50 small collections or fonds donated by individuals and organizations, encompassing a wide range of topics including relocation to internment camps during WWII, farming, lumbering, religious activities, and personal reminiscences.
Japanese Canadian Photograph Collection
Collection of over 650 digitized photographs.

Jack Duggan fonds
The fonds consists of a scrapbook and photographs documenting the lives of Japanese Canadian internees in the Lemon Creek internment camp during World War II and their reunions after World War II.

Indo Canadians

Jermeja Singh Hundel Family fonds
Jemreja Singh Hundel moved to Vancouver in the early 1920s, lived on the west side of Vancouver, and established a small business. The fonds consists of family documents (passports, U.S. education degrees), some correspondence regarding his initial business and photographs of the family entering Canada, their home in Vancouver, and the universities in the U.S. where family members were educated.

What is a fonds?

The word "fonds" is used to describe most archival collections in Canada and also in many European and Latin American countries. Fonds simply means the documents in any media or format created or received by a person or an organization in the course of their personal or professional activities. For example, the "John Smith fonds" would refer to the records created and received by John Smith.
Read the wikipedia article for the term "fonds."