LibGuides UFV: EDUC 421, Designs for Learning Elementary Social Studies: B.C. and Canada Primary Sources

About Primary Sources

Primary sources are original sources that first report on research or an idea. In other words, they are documents or records that contain firsthand reports or original data on a topic. Examples of primary sources include:

newspapers
interviews
research reports
scholarly journal articles
conference proceedings
diaries
letters
memoirs
original manuscripts
photographs
drawings
film footage
sheet music

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Primary Sources - British Columbia

Abbotsford Sumas & Matsqui News This link opens in a new window
Free online access to the Abbotsford Sumas and Matsqui News from 1922-1946. The UFV Library Heritage Collection houses print copies of the newspaper from 1922-1983.
Permitted Uses for this Database
The Abbotsford Sumas and Matsqui News documents the history of the Abbotsford and Fraser Valley area from 1922-1946. Local history events related to education, health, weather, religion, agriculture and daily life and customs are recorded. The local impact of significant events such as WWII or the Komagata Maru incident are also documented.
BC Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
The BC Historical Newspapers project features digitized versions of 24 historical papers from around the province. The titles, which range from the Abbotsford Post to the Phoenix Pioneer, date from 1865 to 1995.
Permitted Uses for this Database
British Colonist, 1858-1980 This link opens in a new window
All the issues of the British Colonist (also called The Daily British Colonist, the Daily Colonist, and other variants) from 1858 to 1980; every page is searchable.
Permitted Uses for this Database

The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
This digital archive contains the original correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.
Digitized Okanagan History
This online resource houses a collection of digitized historical photographs and textual documents, including city meeting minutes and organization member lists from museums and archives in the Okanagan region.
Multicultural Canada Project
First-hand accounts of first generation immigrants
Primary Sources: Definition and Resources
This SFU site provides information about Primary Documents in History and the Humanities.

Proquest British Columbia Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
If you are in BC or the Yukon, you can access these digitized newspapers for free: The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010), The Times Colonist (1884-2010), and The Province (1894-2010). If you see a page blocked message, just ignore and proceed to the page. For more information
Permitted Uses for this Database

SFU Library Editorial Cartoons Collection
"Over 3500 original drawings by Len Norris, Roy Peterson, Graham Harrop, Bob Krieger, Dan Murphy, Bob Bierman, Ingrid Rice, and Edd Uluschak published in Canadian newspapers between 1952 and the present."
Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room
Highlights include a Ships and Shipping Database with descriptions of more than 13,000 ships either built on the Pacific Coast or with a connection to the Pacific Northwest.
Vancouver Public Library Local History Collections
Vancouver Public Library has a comprehensive collection of materials to help with local history research. Much of this material can be found in Special Collections at Central Library and well as online through Digital Local History Resources
viHistory
Digitized historic records about the history of Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Island portions of the 1881 and 1891 censuses are available for searching, along with various statutes and municipal bylaws, as well as a small selection of maps.

Primary Sources - Canada

Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec
Access to books, records and photographs about Quebec.

Canadiana Online This link opens in a new window
Canada’s most popular archival collections encompassing roughly 40 million pages of primary-source documents.
Associated with other databases, Heritage and Early Canadiana Online
Permitted Uses for this Database

Canadian Letters and Images Project
Online archive of the Canadian war experience
The Champlain Society's Digital Collection
It includes first-hand accounts of Samuel de Champlain's voyages in New France as well as the diary from Sir John Franklin's first land expedition to the Arctic, 1819-22.
Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War
The Hamilton Spectator's collection of 144,000 newspaper articles (culled from various Canadian newspapers) during the Second World War.
Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
The Senate and House of Commons Debates, commonly known as the Debates, or Hansard, contain the transcribed, edited and corrected record of full deliberations of both Houses of Parliament and are available in both official languages.
Colonial Papers, General Series
Online documents and images pertaining to British/French colonial periods and the Catholic Church.
The Manitobia Project
Primary documents made available electronically by the Manitoba Library Consortium and its partners
New France: From Library and Archives Canada
Early Alberta Newspapers Collection
Daily and weekly newspapers from various communities in Alberta from 1885 - 2001. Materials were scanned from microfilm and microfiche. This collection was originally made available as part of Our Future, Our Past: Alberta Heritage Digitization Project. [From Website]

Peel's Prairie Free Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Historical newspapers from the Prairies.
Permitted Uses for this Database

Pursuit of Adventure: The Fur Trade in Canada and the North West Company
From McGill U. Maps, letters (includes transcription of text) and other digital replications of fur trade history.
Repertory of Online Collections of Primary Sources: Specific Topics in Canadian History
Gateway to a variety of primary and secondary source collections focusing on significant events, time periods and topics in Canadian history: maps, photographs, diaries, letters, paintings, posters, newspapers, political cartoons, official documents, oral history, film, audio interviews and recordings, monographs.