Archives of Manitoba
Archives of Manitoba, formerly the Provincial Archives of Manitoba until 2003, is the official government archive of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located at 200 Vaughan Street in Winnipeg, where it has been established since January 1971.
It is also the official repository of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives. The archives also holds personal papers, including those of Manitoba premier Sir Hugh John Macdonald, son of Canadian prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
History
History of Archives of Manitoba
When Manitoba was first established, the Provincial Secretary, among other duties, was the keeper of registers and archives of the province, under the authority of the Provincial Secretary's Act. The Secretary also had the power to consolidate statutes, and issue certificates and licenses. In 1901, the Provincial Secretary administered the creation of a register of all documents filed pursuant to Legislation; this register included a synopsis of each document, its location, and the legislation under which it was filed.In 1939, the Legislative Library Act established a Public Records and Archives branch within Manitoba's Legislative Library. Years later, a part-time archivist was appointed in 1946, followed by the first full-time archivist in 1952, when the Provincial Archives of Manitoba were established within the Library.
At this time, the authority to direct the classification and scheduling of government records was held by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. In 1955, the Public Records Act became the province's first legislation dealing specifically with the destruction, retention, and permanent preservation of public records. Establishing the Provincial Documents Committee, the Act allowed the committee to classify departmental records and create schedules for their retention and disposition. In 1967, John Alexander Bovey became the Provincial Archivist. In 1970, the Public Records Act was repealed and replaced Part II of the Legislative Library Act. Under this legislation, the restructured Provincial Documents Committee was responsible for administering government-wide records management issues. The Committee eventually signed off on the Records Authority Schedule, which acted as an overriding authority to retain and dispose of the records that it described.
In 1970, the building belonging to the Winnipeg Auditorium was sold by the city to the province of Manitoba for roughly CA$1 million, and the Archives of Manitoba would move in the following year. It cost the province $4 million to convert the former Winnipeg Auditorium from an arts and entertainment venue into one for archival storage. After renovations were completed, the location was renamed the Manitoba Archives Building and opened in September 1975.
In 1972, the Archives became a branch of the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, where it would stay.
In 1973, the Hudson's Bay Company decided to move its historical archives to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The official public announcement was made on 31 July 1973, and representatives of HBC and the Manitoba government signed an agreement outlining the terms under which the archives would be placed on deposit at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. The physical transfer of the archives was completed in the autumn of 1974 and the archives were re-opened to the public in the spring of 1975.
In 1978, a federal study found that per-capita spending on the provincial archives, $252, was lower than some other provinces. From 1980 to 1997, the Provincial Archivist was Peter Bowers, followed by William Gordon Dodds in 1998.
In 1981, a Government Records Division was established within the Provincial Archives of Manitoba, bringing on a more effective and proactive approach to managing records. In the 1980s, with the increasing use of the modern tape recorder, the Provincial Archives established its "oral history programme" as part of its general mandate to "identify, acquire and preserve records relating to the experience of the people of Manitoba."
As of 1990, the Archives of Manitoba belongs to the Provincial Services Division of Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage, along with the Legislative Library and Translation Services.
Part 11 of the Legislative Library Act was replaced by the Archives and Recordkeeping Act—passed in 2001 and proclaimed in February 2003—reflecting changes in archival and recordkeeping practice, as well as changing the name of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba to the Archives of Manitoba. The new legislation also created a new approvals process through the Archivist of Manitoba, superseding the Provincial Documents Committee.
In 2006, the Archives of Manitoba acquired a small cache of personal, legal, business, and political records of John A. Macdonald and his son Hugh John Macdonald.
In 2008, University of Manitoba graduate Scott Goodine became the Provincial Archivist of Manitoba.
Manitoba Archives Building
The building that is now known as the Manitoba Archives Building, formerly belonging to Winnipeg Auditorium, was designed by architects G. W. Northwood, C. W. U. Chivers, R. B. Pratt, D. A. Ross, and J. N. Semmens. It was erected between 1931 and 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, as a make-work project of the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Its cornerstone was laid on 18 August 1932 at a ceremony attended by the Governor-General of Canada and was officially opened on 15 October 1932 by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett.In 1970, the building belonging to the Winnipeg Auditorium was sold by the city to the province of Manitoba for roughly CA$1 million, and the Archives of Manitoba would move in the following year. It cost the province $4 million to convert the former Winnipeg Auditorium from an arts and entertainment venue into one for archival storage. Interior renovations included removal of cantilevered balconies from the main auditorium; the exhibition galleries, with their large, arched windows, became the Reading Rooms for the Archives and Library. Some space in the building was reserved for the Departments of Education and Agriculture for documentary/instructional film production. After renovations were completed, the location was renamed the Manitoba Archives Building and opened in September 1975.
History of the HBCA
In 1920, William Schooling was hired by Hudson's Bay Company to write a history of the company. Needing to access the company records, he was provided special premises to store the archives, as well as hiring of support staff, including Richard H.G. Leveson Gower. While the writing of an official company history was abandoned in 1926, Dominion Archivist of Canada Arthur Doughty was hired that year as a consultant to organize the HBC's archives so that selected historical records could be published. By 1927, an early version of a department of archives was in place, though it would be interrupted by the Great Depression along with the ending of Doughty's contract.With a significant amount of work on the classification, arrangement, and cataloguing of records already accomplished, in 1931, HBC formally established an Archives Department and Leveson Gower was formally appointed the first HBC archivist. In May that year, HBC announced that the archives would be made available to the public and that researchers would be allowed direct access to records created prior to 1870. Quickly developing a classification plan for the records, HBC was able to open its archives to the public in 1933.
In 1973, the HBC decided to move its historical archives to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The official public announcement was made on 31 July 1973, and representatives of HBC and the Manitoba government signed an agreement outlining the terms under which the archives would be placed on deposit at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. The physical transfer of the archives was completed in the autumn of 1974 and the archives were re-opened to the public in the spring of 1975.
On 21 June 2007, the Hudson's Bay Company Archives’ records were announced to have been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, a programme that began to protect and promote the world's documentary heritage.
In November 2019, the HBCA completed a large-scale microfilm digitization project, with funding from the Hudson's Bay Company History Foundation.
Collections
The holdings of the Archives of Manitoba are separated into two primary centres: the Government and Private Sector Archives and the Hudson's Bay Company Archives.Government and Private Sector Archives
The Government and Private Sector Archives is responsible for the archival records of the Government of Manitoba, the province's private sector, and the province's municipalities and school districts/divisions.Records of the Manitoba government are preserved with respect to the heritage of the province. These are records that document political and legal decisions; the evolution of provincial administration; and the interaction between the government and its citizens. The archival records of the Manitoba government include the records of the Legislative Assembly, government departments and agencies, crown corporations, commissions of inquiry, and the courts. The Manitoba Archive Building also houses part of the Legislative Library of Manitoba, the other location being the Legislative Building's Reading Room.
Records of the private sector consist of the records of individuals, organizations, and community groups in Manitoba, dating back to the days of the Red River Settlement up to the more recent past. These holdings include correspondence, journals and diaries, organizational records, photographs, posters and documentary art, moving image and sound recordings, cartographic and architectural plans. The Archives of Manitoba also holds a large collection of historical records of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, who donated them to the Archives.
In 2006, the Archives of Manitoba acquired a small cache of personal, legal, business, and political records of John A. Macdonald and his son Hugh John Macdonald. The records relating to John A. Macdonald include material from his legal practice in Kingston and his personal affairs. The latter consists of personal receipts and correspondence. Receipts include those for home and life assurance premiums, for memberships in organizations, mortgage payments, goods purchased for the home and office, and property repairs. Moreover, the records include Macdonald's account book at the Commercial Bank, 1855 to 1859, and a series of cheque stubs for the years 1863 to 1878 belonging to both Macdonald and James Shannon. The records relating to and created by Hugh John Macdonald were arranged in three series – subject files on personal matters, miscellaneous office files relating to clients, and records of a number of companies which Macdonald and his legal partners were investors or directors of the company. The subject files contain, among other things, tax notices and receipts from the City of Winnipeg for Macdonald's home at 61 Carlton Street.