Showing 575 results

archival descriptions
Dr. Serge Vanry fonds
CA VHEC RA035 · Fonds · 1940–1946; 2018

Fonds is comprised of photographs, certificates, identity and repatriation cards, correspondence and photocopies of administrative records. Records pertain to the experiences of the Vanry family during the Holocaust in France. Fonds also includes photographs and a speech created as a result of Serge Vanry’s participation in a ceremony honouring his rescuers, René and Marguerite Poignard of Neuvy-en-Sullias, held in France in 2018.

Fonds is arranged into the following two series: Family records ([1942 or 1943]–1945, 2018) and Photographs (1940–[circa 1945]; 2018).

Vanry, Serge
CA VHEC RA034 · Fonds · 1900–[after 1990]

Fonds is comprised of correspondence, family records and photographs created and/or kept by members of the Pollák, Deneberger and Kiss family, a Jewish family living in Tápiószele, Hungary during the Second World War. Records document the family's separation, internment, hiding and well as pre- and post-war activities.

Pollák, Deneberger, Kiss family
Vilcsek family fonds
CA VHEC RA033 · Fonds · [after 1881]–1971

Collection consists primarily of records generated or used during the period of the Second World War by the Vilcsek family in Budapest, Hungary. These include vital statistics and personal records of the Vilcsek family, photographs, and postcards mailed to the family from Ernő Vilcsek while he was in a labour camp in Hungary. Collection also consists of artworks, several on the theme of the Holocaust, created by Eva Kero after her immigration to Vancouver, BC.

Collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence (1942), Family records ([after 1881]–1949) and Artworks (1969–1971).

Vilcsek family
Collection about Rudolf Vrba
CA VHEC RA028 · Collection · 1987-2014

Collection consists of articles, lectures, correspondence, newspaper clippings and other textual material produced and collected by John Conway relating to the life, activity and legacy of Dr. Rudolf Vrba, a Slovak Jewish Holocaust survivor escaped from Auschwitz and associate professor of pharmacology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Collection includes audiovisual records related to Vrba from the VHEC’s institutional holdings.

Collection has been arranged into the following series: Vierteljahrshefre für Zeitgelchichte documents series (1997–2010); Vrba memorial lecture series (2006–2014); Biographical material series (1987–2010); Correspondence and research records series (2004–2007); and Articles and lectures series (1992–2013).

Louise Stein Sorensen fonds
CA VHEC RA024 · Collection · [ca. 1921]-2019

Fonds consists of textual records, graphic materials, and artefacts relating to Louise Sorensen’s life in the Netherlands, some of which was spent in hiding. Many of the items are wartime records, including photographs and negatives, correspondence, paper currency, drawings, notice of registration, official and forged identity cards, and ration cards. Additionally, the fonds contains copies of Sorensen’s great-uncle’s daughter’s, Ans’, testimonies; several English translations of items provided by Sorensen; and a 1947 second edition of Anne Frank’s Het Achterhuis, or The Diary of a Young Girl, also known as the Diary of Anne Frank. The fonds has been arranged by the archivist into the following six series: Personal records, Family records, Photographs, Correspondence, Currency and Publications and writings.

Louise Stein Sorensen
CA VHEC RA023 · Fonds · [194-]-1974

Fonds consists of records relating to the pre- and post-war experience of Rebecca (née Buckman) Teitelbaum, Herman Teitelbaum and their family. Fonds is arranged into five series: Notebooks (1944-1945), Correspondence (1944-1945), Identification and related records (1938-1974), Photographs ([1941]-1947) and Objects [1944].

Teitelbaum, Rebecca
Dr. Leon Komar collection
CA VHEC RA022 · Fonds · 1938-1942

Collection consists of materials relating to Warsaw, Poland, in the Second World War era. Records include correspondence from Komar's family living in the Warsaw ghetto, documents showing a German leaflet dropped on Warsaw in 1938 and accompanying translations and commentary by the donor. Collection has been arranged into two series: German leaflet dropped from planes ([1939?], 1990) and Letters from the Warsaw ghetto (1938-1942; 1996).

Komar, Leon
CA VHEC RA016 · Fonds · [1920?]–2019

Fonds is comprised of correspondence, photographs, identity and personal documents, society registration documents, minutes, clippings, memorabilia and ephemera created or collected by Alexander and Gina Dimant in Poland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Italy and Canada. Records pertain to their family history, work, school, and social and volunteer activities prior to and after the Second World War.

Records have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence (1941–2019), Photographs ([1920?]–[2016], Personal records (1938–2013), Artefacts (1940–[before 1948], 1997), Clippings and ephemera ([after 1942]–2016) and Janusz Korczak Association of Canada records (2001–2008).

Dimant family
CA VHEC RA015 · Fonds · [188-]–[before 1994]

Fonds consists of photograph albums and loose photos, personal records, passports, financial records, reparation and compensation claims forms, correspondence, notebooks and notes, ephemera and published materials relating to the lives of the Baltuch and Schmucker families before, during, and after the Second World War. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: Baltuch, Schmucker family photographs series ([188-]–1964); Baltuch, Schmucker family personal records series (1906–1961); Josef and Rosa Baltuch emigration and immigration documents series (1943–1961); Household and financial records (1919–1984); Rosa Baltuch reparation and compensation documents series (1934–1966); Baltuch, Schmucker family correspondence series ([before 1941]–1980); Notebooks and notes series ([before 1994]); Baltuch, Schmucker family ephemera series ([before 1994]); Baltuch, Schmucker family artefacts series ([before 1994]); and Baltuch, Schmucker family collected books series (1930–1980).

Baltuch, Schmucker family
Jennie Phillips fonds
CA VHEC RA013 · Fonds · [1912?]-1987

Fonds consists of photographs, vital records, personal notes, transcribed songs, correspondence and ephemera relating to the life of Jennie Phillips. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: JP photographs series (1912–1982), JP vital records series (1953–1979), JP personal papers series (1946–1987), Transcribed ghetto and camp songs series (1946), Stutthof Museum correspondence series (1984–1985) and JP ephemera series (1972).

Phillips, Jennie
Bick family fonds
CA VHEC RA012 · Fonds · 1868-2002

Fonds consists of photograph albums, loose photographs, books, memoir, table cloth and official documents relating to the lives of members of the Bick family. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: Werner Bick memoir series (2002), Prayer books series (1868–1933), Bick family photographs series ([1891?]–[200-]), Siegfried and Johanna Bick emigration documents series (1938–1939) and Household object series ([before 1979]).

Bick family
Sonner family fonds
CA VHEC RA010 · Fonds · 1916-2007

Collection consists of vital records, administrative documents, original drawings, publications, educational certificates, academic papers, photographs, correspondence, letters of reference and audio-visual testimony relating to the life and work of Eric and Rose Sonner. Records detail the vital statistics, career history, education, travels and emigration efforts of the family from the late 1940s until the mid-2000s. Collection has been arranged into the following series: Terezín (1942–1945); Prague (1946–1949); Academic works (horticulture) (1947–1950); Correspondence and ephemera (1949–2000); Vital statistics records (Canada) (1949–2007); Eric Sonner testimony ([194-]–[before 2009]); and Photographs ([192-], 2016).

Sonner family
Eisinger family fonds
CA VHEC RA009 · Fonds · 1916–2011, predominant 1939–[198-]

Fonds consists of vital records, passports and travel permits, correspondence, objects, photographs, letters of reference, and ephemera relating to the lives of members of the Eisinger family, as well as their family history. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: Eisinger family government and vital records series (1916–1980); Eisinger, Marcus family correspondence series (1939–1954); Bedrich Eisinger Czechoslovak Army documents and objects series (1940–1946); Gerda Eisinger career documents series (1939–1977); Eisinger family photographs series (1937–[197-]); Reparation and compensation documents series (1951–2008); Eisinger genealogy research series (1994–2011); and Eisinger, Marcus family ephemera series ([194-]–1988).

Eisinger family
John Herbert fonds
CA VHEC RA008 · Fonds · 1924-2010

Fonds consists of memoirs, correspondence, photographs, vital records, travel documents, financial documents, publications, newspaper and magazine clippings, handwritten notes and drawings, maps, conference papers and artefacts relating to the life of John Herbert. Records chronicle John Herbert’s personal life, pursuit of higher education, career history, hobbies, travels and struggle to attain compensation for the properties seized from his family during the Second World War. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: JH memoirs series (1938–2010), Karpowitz family series (1939–2005), JH career documents series (1945–1988), JH inheritance and claims documents series (1924–2010), JH correspondence series (1955–2005), Research resources and notes series (1972–2005), Travel documents series (1946–1986), Inventions documents series (1979–1984), JH clippings series (1972–1988) and JH artefacts series.

Herbert, John
CA VHEC RA007 · Fonds · 1885–[196-]

Fonds consists of records relating to the ennobling of the von Baiersdorf family in 1884, the family’s personal financial record keeping, marriages, Otto Reif’s assistance to a displaced person, Erna von Engel-Baiersdorf’s work as a museum curator and artist, the deaths of Clara Baiersdorf Erdos and Elise Reif and the family’s religious and liturgical life.

Fonds consists of records relating to the ennobling of the von Baiersdorf family in 1884, the family’s personal financial recordkeeping, marriages, Otto Reif’s assistance to a displaced person, Erna von Engel-Baiersdorf’s work as a museum curator and sculptor, the deaths of Clara Baiersdorf Erdős and Elise Reif and other personal items.

Records include photographs, correspondence, an illuminated document conferring a noble title on the von Baiersdorf family, books and ephemeral items including postcards and newspaper clippings. Fonds is arranged into the following series: 1884 title (1884); Correspondence (1884–[196-?]); Photographs (1884–[196-?]) and Books, writings and ephemera ([189-]–1954).

von Baiersdorf, Reif family
Pichos Zozulya collection
CA VHEC RA004 · Collection · [1944?]; 1964

The collection consists of correspondence from Pichos Zozulya to his descendants, describing the family’s experience of the Holocaust and its aftermath. Also includes a photograph of Pichos Zozulya dated 1964.

Zozulya, Pichos
Gottfried family fonds
CA VHEC RA001 · Fonds · [189-]–2000, predominant [191-]–[196-]

Fonds consists of vital records, administrative documents, trade certificates, travel papers, correspondence, letters of reference, liturgical materials, and photographs relating to the lives of members of the Gottfried family and the families of Gerda and Lori Gottfried's husbands (the Kraus and Seemann families, respectively). Records detail the vital statistics, career history, educational attainment, travels and emigration efforts of the family from the early twentieth century until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: Vienna ([189-]–1939), Shanghai (1939–1949), Emigration (1947–1950), Vancouver (1949–2000), Photographs ([191-]–[197-]).

Gottfried family
James Vanslyk fonds
CA VAL 999.98 · Fonds · 1942-1961

The fonds consists of personal and business correspondence relating to Vanslyk's mining and art interests, records of mining claims, army records, reference maps of Valemount and area used by Vanslyk, and Vanslyk's drawings depicting scenes, buildings, industry and prospecting activities in the Canoe River area, the Robson Valley, Valemount and area, and Barkerville and area.

Vanslyk, James
CA UVICARCH AR425 · Collection · 1996 - 1998

The Lesbian and Bisexual Women in English Canada audio history collection consists of audio histories conducted for the 2001 University of Victoria Department of History doctoral dissertation The Spreading Depths: Lesbian and Bisexual Women in English Canada, 1910-1965. The Spreading Depths is the basis for Cameron Duder’s subsequent monograph Awfully Devoted Women: Lesbian Lives in Canada, 1900-65, published in 2010 by UBC Press.

The collection consists of 12 interviews (21 recordings in total as some were in multiple parts) conducted by Duder from 1996 to 1998. 27 women were interviewed for the dissertation research, and Duder also drew on interviews recorded in the 1980s for the Lesbians Making History Project. 12 of the women interviewed by Duder consented to their interviews being housed in the University of Victoria Archives. 10 of the 12 women requested to be identified by pseudonym.

Duder's dissertation, The Spreading Depths, examines lesbian and bisexual women’s formation of subjectivity in pre-1965 English Canada, a time when the terms and identities “lesbian” and “bisexual” were not widely discussed in society. Duder considers the existing historical information about the lives of women in same-sex relationships, in English Canada, before the social, political and sexual liberation movements of the 1960s. The interviews conducted by Duder provide information on what had been a neglected group in previous research on lesbian and bisexual women: the interview subjects are lesbians and bisexual women from lower-middle class and working class families. Duder argues that discourses on 19th and 20th century history of sexuality have reflected the documentation of the politically active and socially privileged, namely activist persons or organizations and women from upper middle class families whose histories were documented in public archives. Duder argues for a class-specific lesbian subjectivity in the decades before 1965, a subjectivity which does not always adhere to the forms of the “romantic friendship” and the “butch-femme relationship” which have dominated the discourse.

Duder adds a Canadian perspective to the large literature on the transition in women’s relationships from the romantic friendship to the modern lesbian. The Spreading Depths reveals that before the Second World War, women in same-sex relationships were influenced by the language of sexology. Their relationships were also much more explicitly sexual than were those of earlier generations of lesbians. Duder suggests, however, that we should not assume great expansion in the discussion of sexuality, because well into the 1950s and 1960s Canadians lacked information about sexual desire and sexual practice. The interview testimonies complicate the picture we have of women in the mid-twentieth century being much more sexually aware than women of previous generations.

The interviews reveal that lesbians and bisexual women shared heterosexual women’s longing for intimate relationships, their joy at finding a partner, and their pleasure in coming to an awareness of sexuality, but they also reveal that same-sex relationships held the same risks of infidelity, domestic violence, and alcohol abuse as existed for heterosexual women. Relationships with family were also mixed. Duder posits that because of the lack of public discussion around women’s sexual subjectivity, and therefore a lack of terminology that could be used to define and reject women living outside the heterosexual norm, women in same-sex relationships during the period under study may have had somewhat better relationships with their families than lesbians after 1965. Finally, The Spreading Depths discusses the Canadian lesbian community of the 1950s and the 1960s and contrasts the social world of lower-middle-class lesbians with the public bar culture of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The interview testimonies reveal the views held by these women towards the bar scene and the women who regularly socialized in the bars. The interviewees describe alternative ways they found to socialize with one another so as to avoid exposure.

Initially, the project intended to include heterosexual women as a part of its analysis of women in English Canada. Duder sought interviewees through advertisements in regular media and lesbian and feminist media, and consequently the text of these advertisements differed: for regular media, women 55 and older, who lived in British Columbia or Ontario for a minimum of 5 years between 1910 and 1955, were sought to speak about personal relationships and social life, all types of friendships, romantic relationships, courting and marriage; advertisements in lesbian and feminist media sought lesbian/gay and bisexual women 55 and older, who lived in British Columbia or Ontario for a minimum of 5 years between 1910 and 1955, willing to speak about personal relationships and social life, and the lives of lesbian and bisexual women. The dissertation was later narrowed to consider lesbian and bisexual women only.

Interviewees were offered use of pseudonyms, given the option of an audio recording of the interview or written notation only, and for those selecting the audio recording, the choices of destruction, preservation of the recording in an archives, or preservation of a transcript. Regarding access restrictions, participants choosing preservation of the recordings could select: no restriction, access with written consent, access after death of the participant, closure until a specified date, or other specifically stated restrictions.

The interviews were preceded by an informal meeting where Duder and the interviewee discussed the research and interview proposal. The guiding interview questions were organized into the following categories and general subjects (summarized from Appendix B of The Spreading Depths). Not all questions were asked of all interviewees:
Biographical background – of the interviewee and immediate family members, including birthplaces, nationalities, places lived, education and occupations;
Childhood – enjoyed or not enjoyed; feelings towards parents and siblings; family strictures; church attendance; playmates and racial characteristics of neighbourhood; school experiences; adolescence; reading habits; clothing worn; drinking and smoking habits; and special friendships;
Socializing and sexual knowledge – extent and location of socializing; types of socializing; friends and acquaintances; frequenting of clubs or bars; any secretiveness concerning activities and location; extent and source of knowledge of human anatomy, sex, pregnancy, masturbation, and same sex relations; awareness of and interaction with homosexual women or men;
Personal sexuality – sexual preference; words used to describe preference; early physical and emotional attractions; feelings associated with attraction; extent of intimate relationships; perceptions of mixed race relationships.

Additional questions were available to guide further discussion of relationships and sexuality. The following is a sample from these questions (excerpted Appendix B of The Spreading Depths). Questions may not have been required depending on the course of interview:

  • How would you describe the way you felt about sex in those relationships?
  • Were there any occasions where one of you wanted to do something different and the other refused? How did you feel about that?
  • Did you know from the beginning what you would like and dislike or was that something you learned about yourself over time?
  • Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your sexual relationships?
CA UVICARCH AR397 · Fonds · 1928-1993

The fonds consists of two series: biographical and subject. The biographical series includes resumes, recommendations, certificates, pilot's licenses, schooling correspondence, interviews, memoirs, articles and portrait photographs.;The subject series includes correspondence, publications, reports, operational documents (TCA), pilots logs, and photographs relating to: B.C. Airways, ca. 1928-1933; B.C. Air Lines Ltd., 1956-1959; Canadian Airways Ltd.,1933-1938; Trans-Canada Air Lines Ltd. (Air Canada), 1937-1994; Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), 1954-1992, and B.C. Airlines Ltd., 1956-1960.

McGregor, Frederick Maurice
Archie H. Wills fonds
CA UVICARCH AR394 · Fonds · 1890-2004

The fonds consists of records relating to his career as a journalist and to his family life in Victoria. It has been arranged in two series, Autobiography and Writing. The Autobiography series consists of Archies autobiographical works, which document his service in World War I and his family life and career. It has been arranged into three sub-series: All in A Lifetime, My Life in the Army, and Travel. The Writing series consists of his published and unpublished work, and background material for it. The series shows his interest in making new generations of Victoria residents aware of their citys history and aware of World War I history. It has been arranged into two sub-series: Articles and Stories, and Broadcasts. Records include typed manuscripts, clippings of Archies published articles, photographs including photograph albums, diaries, scrapbooks, war medals, and ephemera.

Wills, Archie
Etholine Clearihue fonds
CA UVICARCH AR377 · Fonds · 1912-1913

The fonds consists postcards written to Etholine from friends, featuring scenes from Victoria. Postcards include: Bridge at the Gorge, Victoria B.C.; C.P.R. Office and Wharves, Victoria Harbor, B.C.; C.P.R. "Princess Victoria", Victoria Harbor, B.C.; Olympian Range and Race Rocks Light House, near Victoria B.C.; Mount Baker, near Victoria B.C.; C.P.R. "Empress Hotel", Victoria B.C.; C.P.R. Docks and Parliament Buildings, Victoria B.C.; Cadboro Bay Summer Resort, near Victoria B.C.

Clearihue, Etholine, d. 1937
Percy Scott fonds
CA UVICARCH AR360 · Fonds · 1929-1951

The fonds consists of correspondence and household finances, 1931-1951; Scott's 11 published scores, 1929-1931; Scott's 17 manuscript scores, 1931-1937; records of the Victoria Plectral Orchestra, 1935-1946; music students register, 1930-1949; diaries, 1931, 1934-1951. The diaries include short daily entries about weather, students, appointments and household activities. On occasion, the back page of annual diaries contain a list of items such as orchestra compositions and rents paid. The donation also included a tin sign for Scott's music studio: "Percy Scott Studio: mandolin, guitar etc."

Scott, Percy
CA UVICARCH AR353 · Fonds · 1999-2001

The fonds consists of case files of each interviewee. Each file contains a tape summary, biographical information, a personal photograph, and an audiocassette tape of the interview. Also included is a file with a sample copy of all the forms used in documenting the project.

University Women's Club of Victoria. Oral History Project
Andy Bigg fonds
CA UVICARCH AR351 · Fonds · 1930-1995

The fonds consists of the following series: Correspondence, 1947-1995; Autobiography manuscripts, 1948-1995; Photographs, 1948-1980; Writing, 1940-1996; Subject files; Newspaper subject files; Newspaper reprints; Newspapers, 1958-1978; Scrapbook of B.C. provincial campaign, 1975; Recording of meeting with Andy Bigg and staff of Cowichan Pictorial regarding joining Union, 1973. The Newspapers include: a complete set of the Western Advocate, 1958-1959, and a complete set of front covers of the Cowichan Pictorial, 1966-1978.

Bigg, Andy, 1915-