The Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection contains over 3,000 items, including books, maps, photographs, postcards, prints, artifacts and more, documenting the pivotal events of the Klondike Gold Rush.  

Materials in the collection record a time of transformation throughout Canada, as the discovery of gold and resulting stampede prompted immediate and rapid change. 

Collected over many years and donated by Phil Lind to the UBC Library in 2020, the collection is comprehensive in its coverage of various aspects of the Klondike Gold Rush, including its impact on the economy, Indigenous Peoples, resource extraction industries, and the political landscape. The collection has extensive educational value, including its potential to surface the intersections of race, gender, ethnicity, and class that affected various individuals differently in the Klondike. 

These unique and rare materials together form a vital piece of history. The Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB) recently designated the collection as a cultural property of outstanding significance. 

A selection of materials from the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection are on display in UBC Library’s Chung | Lind Gallery, located on level 2 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The Lind Collection is available for research and access in UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. 

Contextual statement

Please note that racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, and otherwise offensive or discriminatory images and language are present in the collections. Inclusion of these materials in UBC Library holdings is not an endorsement of their contents. UBC Library rejects these offensive, discriminatory, and harmful viewpoints, while also understanding the importance of fostering access to our collections in a responsible and transparent way that preserves historical evidence of social conditions and attitudes. Please read more on this in the Gallery Highlights, and in UBC Library’s Culturally Sensitive Material Statement and Process.