Research Guides: Climate Change: Archives & Historical Sources

Materials at Rare Books and Special Collections

This page highlights materials at the Rare Books and Special Collections library related to Climate Change.

Rare Books and Special Collections acquires books and pamphlets in a number of areas of specialization. Our main interests are the exploration, history, literature, maps, social life and peoples of British Columbia. We also have strong interests in Canadian history and literature, selected areas of English literature, children’s literature, maps and cartobibliography, the history of science and medicine, as well as Guangdong Province of China.

Rare Books and Special Collections maintains its own set of research guides providing researchers with assistance in using and accessing our collections. These research guides are available at the RBSC Collection Resources page on the RBSC website.

Research Guides of particular relevance to researchers visiting RBSC for the fist time and/or looking for Climate Change Related Materials include:

Finding Archival Fonds and Collections Related to the Environment

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library recently added subject headings to all of its archival materials, allowing researchers to view all of our archival materials related to specific topics. To view collections related to the subject 'Environment', visit our listing of environment related archival materials on the RBSC archival database.. Please note that because climate change is so interdisciplinary, other subject terms may also be useful for research, including Agriculture, Industries, Natural resources, Land, Settlement and immigration, Politics, and Geographic features.

Highlighted Archival Fonds and Collections

Bob Williams fonds
Bob Williams was a former alderman to the City of Vancouver, MLA for the district of Vancouver East, and Minister of Forest, Lands, and Water Resources. During his time as Minsiter, he worked to establish the Environment and Land Use Committee, which attempted to expand park area in British Colubmia, and change the price of natural resources. Relevant records in the fonds related to climate change include materials on the Environment and Land Use Committee, and many other records in the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Water Resources records series. Researchers interested in how climate change relates to land use, and historical policy and governance in British Columbia will find this fonds of particular relevance.
Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia fonds
The Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia acts as an umbrella organization representing the needs and interests of outdoor clubs dedicated to protecting and maintaining self-propelled, non-motorized access to British Columbia's back country. Researchers interested in climate change and community groups impact on land use and conservation will find records of relevance in this fonds, particularly in the Lands and Parks series. This series contains records related to the FMCBC's efforts to advocate for the creation and maintenance of wilderness areas for public recreational use. Much of this work took place through larger provincial efforts, and records related to the FMCBC's representation on the Public Advisory Committee (PAC), and the Protected Areas Strategy (PAS), as it relates to the province and specific geographic areas and parks are present throughout the series.
Gilean Douglas fonds
The Gilean Douglas fonds contains records reflecting the personal and professional life of Douglas, a famed author, who also wrote under the psedonym, Grant Madison. Much of her writing focused on nature and her surrounding environment, living in solitude on the coast of British Columbia. Researchers interested in the intersection of literature and climate change will find her records particularly valuable.
Greenpeace Canada fonds
The Greenpeace Canada fonds includes records produced and acquired by Greenpeace Canada. Notable materials include jointly produced documents with other environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) in their conservation efforts taking place in Clayoquot Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest. Researchers interested in the imapcts of ENGOs on government policy and public opinion may be particularly interested in this fonds.
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The records of Greenpeace International within this fonds reflect their broader campaigns to inform people and shape public opinion to oppose the clearcutting of old growth forests in Canada and elsewhere in the World. Records by Greenpeace Canada primarily include their efforts to cooperate with environmental non-governmental organizations, First Nations, forestry companies, and governments to achieve greater protection for old growth forests.
Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers' Association fonds
Researchers interested in food sovereignty, and climate justice will find materials of relevance in the records of the Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers' Association. The Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers' Association was organized in the 1920s for educational purposes and community activities. It provided information related to agricultural practices and skills through means such as seminars and brochures. Its leadership closely overlapped that of other organizations in the community such as the Japanese Language School. In 1928, it was united with other similar organizations of Japanese farmers in the Lower Fraser Valley under the Consolidated Farmers' Association of the Fraser Valley.
Run Out Skagit Spoilers Committee fonds
In 1941, under provisions of the 'Boundary Waters Treaty' (1909), the City of Seattle applied to the International Joint Commission to raise the level of the reservoir on the Skagit River. This application was approved in 1942. By 1967 it had become necessary to raise the Ross Dam to increase electricity supplies to the City of Seattle. The proposal would have resulted in the flooding of almost 5,000 acres of the Skagit Valley in B.C. By 1969 outdoor and environmental groups began to lobby against the plan citing the devastating ecological ramifications. The R.O.S.S. (Run Out Skagit Spoilers) Committee was formed in 1969 as a coalition of numerous interest groups which organized protests against raising the dam. Plans to flood the Skagit Valley were delayed in light of the public outcry. The fonds consists of legal records, correspondence, thesis, printed material and other related records pertaining to the R.O.S.S. Committee's attempts to save the Skagit Valley. Researchers interested in hydroelectricity, climate change, and public opinion will find materials of particular relevance in this fonds.
Thomas Berger fonds
The records of Thomas Rodney Berger, a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge, and author, are available in the Thomas Berger fonds. Records related to climate change include materials on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, a proposed United Nations Environmental Programme Inquiry on whales and whaling, and legal documents related to the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union, Local 16-601 v. Imperial Oil Limited.