CANADIAN ARCHIVES AND THE CORPORATE MEMORY: A CASE OF AMNESIA? By GRANT ALAN MITCHELL B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1984 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHIVAL STUDIES in THE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY, ARCHIVAL, AND INFORMATION STUDIES We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March 1987 @ Grant Alan Mitchell, 1987 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. -Department—of Schochl of L i b r a r y A r c h i v a l and Information Studies The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date A p r i l 14, 1987 i i ABSTRACT For some years North American archivists have argued that public archival repositories are unable to bear the burden of preserving the records of modern business corporations and have suggested that firms should shoulder this burden themselves by establishing corporate archives. This suggestion, however, fails to address the issue of preserving the records of small businesses, and the records of defunct firms, that are unable to support a corporate archives. Before one can predict the effect the advocates of corporate archives will have on the preservation of business records, one needs to know what degree of responsibility repositories have accepted for preserving business records. Unfortunately, l i t t l e information has been published concerning the business records holdings of Canadian archival institutions. A questionnaire asking for information on acquisitions policies and strategies, and on the characteristics of business records collections, was therefore sent to federal, provincial, municipal, and university archives. The business records holdings of the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and the Special Collections Division of the University of British Columbia Library were examined in detail to augment the information obtained from questionnaire returns. The value of the business records collections held by Canadian repositories was further examined by means of a reference analysis of journal articles i i i and monographs, published by economic and business historians, which measured the use made of business records collections by these historians. Although some substantial collections of business records have been preserved, i t appears that over three quarters of the business records collections preserved by Canadian repositores are so small and fragmentary in nature that they are of dubious value to researchers. This impression is borne out by the sparse use of business records as sources by business and economic historians. The experiences of European and American archival institutions indicate that Canadian repositories will have to accumulate a significant body of business records collections before they will see increased use of their business records holdings. Repositories cannot reasonably be expected to devote their limited resources to collecting the records of large integrated corpora-tions. Nonetheless, archival institutions have a responsibility to ensure the preservation of records documenting the Canadian economy. Archival institutions, and the archivists they employ, should continue their efforts to persuade companies to set up corporate archives. Many firms, however, are unwilling or unable to take such a step. Canadian repositories must therefore continue to acquire business records i f they wish to ful f i l their mandates of preserving comprehensive collections documenting the various aspects of the history of their respective regions. This must be done in an active and systematic manner, using such strategies as public relations programs and the provision to firms iv of assistance in scheduling records. By persuading larger corporations to set up corporate archives whilst systematically collecting the records of smaller firms, archival institutions can improve both the quantity and quality of business records preserved. V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES v i i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: What's Past is Prologue 4 CHAPTER 2: Companies and Public Archives: A Sorry Business? 18 CHAPTER 3: The Contents of Business Records Collections 52 CHAPTER 4: Archives: The Source of Business History in Canada? 75 CONCLUSION 99 BIBLIOGRAPHY 106 APPENDIX A: Questionnaire 112 APPENDIX B: Repositories that received questionnaires Repositories that returned questionnaires 117 APPENDIX C: Bronson Company 119 APPENDIX D: St-Laurent, J . B. M. et Fils Enrg 127 v i LIST OF TABLES Page Table I Annual Budget of Canadian Repositories, 1985 . . . 23 Table II Repositories Ranked by Annual Budget and by Volume of Business Records Holdings, 1985 25 Table III Annual Acquisitions Budgets of Canadian Repositories, 1985 26 Table IV Annual Acquisitions Budgets of Purchasers of Business Records, 1985 26 Table V Repositories from which Copies or Descriptions of Acquisitions Policies or Legislation were Received. 29 Table VI Repositories with Business Records Programs . . . . 32 Table VII Source of Records of Active Businesses 34 Table VIII Strategies Used to Acquire Records of Active Businesses 34 Table IX Sources of Records of Defunct Businesses 35 Table X Strategies Used to Acquire Records of Defunct Businesses 35 Table XI Methods of Acquisition of Business Records . . . . 35 Table XII Dimensional Characteristics of Business Records Collections 40 Table XIII Proportion of Business Records Collections of 30 Centimetres or Less in Extent 41 Table XIV Status of Businesses Whose Records are Housed in Selected Repositories 42 Table XV Number of Business Records Collections Documenting Each Economic Sector 43 Table XVI Percentage of Canada's Gross Domestic Product Produced by Each Industrial Sector 45 vi i Page Table XVII Dimensional Characteristics of Business Records Collections at Selected Repositories, After Microfilm Collections Have Been Converted to Linear Metres 59 Table XVIII Types of Records Contained in Business Collections 1M: PERCENTAGE OF COLLECTIONS HAVING EACH TYPE OF RECORD, BY REPOSITORY U.B.C. —% Journal 53.3 Voucher Register 13.3 Ledger 53.3 Balance Sheets 20.0 Audit/Annual Accounting Sheet 13.3 Articles of Incorporation 6.6 Liquidation Papers 6.6 Constitution 6.6 By!aws 6.6 Stock ledger/list 6.6 Stock transfer ledger 0.0 Board of Directors' Minutes 20.0 Shareholders' Minutes 0.0 Committee Minutes 6.6 Departmental Minutes 6.6 Policy/Procedure Manuals 0.0 Annual Reports 20.0 Operational Reports 53.3 Executive Correspondence 6.5 Operational Correspondence 86.6 Drawings/Pians 26.6 Photos 20.0 Maps 26.6 Catalogues 6.5 Vancouver P.A.B.C. P.A.C. Total % % % % 47.4 27.9 29.7 33.3 5.3 2.3 3.3 4.2 47.4 34.9 32.9 36.9 21.1 9.3 7.7 10.7 10.5 9.3 10.9 10.7 5.3 9.3 6.6 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 2.3 1.1 1.8 0.0 2.3 6.6 4.8 10.5 13.9 14.3 13.1 5.3 0.0 1.1 1.2 42.1 18.6 25.3 25.0 0.0 6.9 7.7 5.9 5.3 2.3 1.1 2.4 5.3 0.0 0.0 1.2 0.0 2.3 2.2 1.8 15.8 6.9 13.2 12.5 21.1 23.3 30.8 29.8 36.8 11.6 7.7 11.9 52.6 65.1 78.0 72.6 21.1 9.3 12.1 13.4 21.1 4.7 21.9 17.3 10.5 2.3 6.6 7.7 15.8 0.0 4.4 4.8 four repositories are not comprehensive collections of business records, especially since such records as journals and ledgers, when present in a collection, are seldom present in complete runs. Besides the business records listed in Table XVIII that archivists have singled out as generally being worthy of preservation, the business collections of one linear metre or more examined at the four repositories contain a wide variety of other records, including businessmen's personal records which are sometimes more voluminous than the business records they accompany (see Table XIX). The personal records of businessmen and their families are of value as they complement the records of the enterprises with which they were involved. Such records may shed light on the personalities behind the business activities documented by business records, and on the motives for particular actions undertaken by businessmen. The business records listed under Business Records: Column 1 in Table XIX are mostly operational and housekeeping records, although diaries, company publications, personnel records, labour contracts, and other contracts may contain information on company policies or proce-dures, and records such as budgets and tenders for contracts may indi-cate the priorities of a firm and the plans i t had for future endeav-ours. The records listed under Business Records: Column 1 in Table XIX may complement the documentation of a business that is provided by the records listed in Table XVIII, so the archivist appraising the types of records in Business Records: Column 1 has to decide to what level of detail he wishes to document the activities of a firm. TABLE XIX FURTHER TYPES OF BUSINESS RECORDS PRESERVED BY REPOSITORIES Personal Records Business Records Column 1 Column 2 correspondence diaries wi 11 s articles (press personnel records labour contracts contracts tenders specifications budgets inventories deeds mortgages 1 eases day books waste books daily sales sheets receipt books invoices orders cancelled cheques freight bi l ls customer l ists price l ists clippings) speeches bank books household accounts 1icenses insurance policies diaries, daily logs and field notebooks scrapbooks company publications housekeeping correspondence housekeeping reports Business Records: Column 2 of Table XIX l is ts records whose contents may be duplicated or summarized in a more compact form. Day books, customer l i s ts , freight bi l ls and other papers whose contents are recorded in accounting records of original or final entry need not be preserved. However, there are often gaps in runs of journals and ledgers, and as Table XVIII indicates, for many business collections accounting records of original or final entry do not exist. When journals and ledgers exist only in incomplete runs or are non-existent, an archivist appraising a body of business records must decide whether the amount of information that can be extracted from day books, freight 66 TABLE XX TYPES OF RECORDS CONTAINED IN BUSINESS COLLECTIONS >1M*. PERCENTAGE OF COLLECTIONS HAVING EACH TYPE OF RECORD, BY STATUS OF CREATOR Defunct Firms* Active Firms Journal 33.6% 32.7% Voucher Register 5.3 1.8 Ledger 37.2 36.4 Balance Sheets 9.7 12.7 Audit/Annual Accounting Sheet 11.5 9.1 Articles of Incorporation 7.1 7.3 Liquidation Papers 0.9 0.0 Constitution 0.0 5.5 Byl aws 2.7 9.1 Stock ledger/list 11.5 16.4 Stock transfer ledger 1.8 0.0 Board of Directors' Minutes 23.0 29.1 Shareholders' Minutes 2.7 12.7 Committee Minutes 0.0 7.3 Departmental Minutes 0.9 1.8 Policy/Procedure Manuals 0.0 5.5 Annual Reports 9.7 18.2 Operational Reports 28.3 32.7 Executive Correspondence 11.5 12.7 Operational Correspondence 76.9 63.6 Drawings/Plans 12.4 16.4 Photos 13.3 25.5 Maps 5.3 12.7 Catalogues 4.4 5.5 *0f a total number of 168 Business Collections at U .B .C , Vancouver, P.A.B.C. and P . A . C , 113 collections were the records of defunct firms, and 55 the records of active firms. 67 b i l l s , invoices and the like justifies sampling or preserving in their entirety such bulky records. Table XVIII indicates that the majority of business collections of one linear metre or more in extent held at the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and University of British Columbia Special Collections only partially document business activities. To determine whether this may be due to the poor survival rate of business records of defunct firms or to an unwillingness on the part of firms to give their records to a public archival institution, the total number of business collections of one linear metre or more in extent held by the four repositories was divided into two categories, collections of records of defunct firms and of active firms, and the contents of these collections were analysed, as shown in Table XX. A greater percentage of business records collections of active firms contain Shareholders' Meeting Minutes, Annual Reports, and photo-graphs. Similarly, more collections of records of defunct firms contain operational correspondence. However, the difference between the number of collections of active and defunct firms containing these four types of records is only in the order of ten per cent, and for the other types of records is even smaller. From Table XX one may conclude that the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and University of British Columbia Special Collections have generally been unsuccessful in acquiring com-prehensive collections of records of both defunct and active firms. Table XVIII to XX further indicate that the business records collections acquired by the four repositories tend to document the operational aspects of business rather than executive and policy making activit ies. As reported in Chapter II, over three quarters of the collec-tions in Canadian repositories reported in the questionnaire returns are less than one linear metre in extent. It seems many of these smaller business collections, and especially those collections less than thirty centimetres in extent, do not provide much evidence on how individual businesses operate. A fragmentary collection consisting of a single ledger or a day book, or a couple of centimetres of correspondence sheds l i t t le light on a firm's affairs. Such a collection merely serves as an indication that the firm existed. The study of the holdings of the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and University of British Columbia Special Collections indicates that most collections of one linear metre or more in extent are also incomplete records of business activities. If one extrapolates from the situation at these four repositories, i t would appear that the majority of business records collections held in Canadian repositories only partially document the activities of the firms whose records they contain. Rather than acquiring fragmentary business collections from a donor here and a donor there, archival institutions need to develop strategies to preserve comprehensive collections of business records which show how businesses function. Since the 1930s, however, archivists in North America have realized that repositories cannot cope 69 with the volume of records produced by modern integrated corporations, and have advocated the establishment of corporate archives by businesses themselves. The most recent person to express this view is Christopher Hives: Given the tremendous volume of corporate material produced annu-al ly, publicly-sponsored institutions are ill-equipped to carry out the massive collection programmes necessary to achieve this objective. The obvious alternative involves the establishment of in-house archival programmes, particularly within the larger corporations. 2 5 Unfortunately, many businesses, and especially small firms, do not have the wherewithal, space, or staff to establish corporate archives programs. While continuing their efforts to persuade larger corpora-tions to set up corporate archives, archivists might consider collecting the records of contemporary small businesses, such as farmers, corner grocery stores, plumbers, and small manufacturing companies to ensure that each segment of Canada's economy is documented. Given the multiplicity of types of small businesses, archival institutions will be faced with the problem of deciding which firms' records should be preserved. In 1952 Robert Lovett proposed that archival institutions should seek out the records of companies "best typifying the industries representative of [their] region" 2 6 as a means of addressing the problem of the enormous volume of modern business records being created. Nicholas Burckel repeated this suggestion in 1980, adding that the selection process should include the types of businesses "which have been most significant in the development of the community."^' If Canadian archival institutions were to adopt the suggestions of Lovett and Burckel as selection criteria for small business, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, for instance, might focus its efforts on acquiring the records of contract logging firms or tree planting companies. What of the corner grocers, the restauranteurs, the electri-cians, and the dentists, who are not special to one region but are found in communities across the country? It would be impossible for a ci ty, university, or provincial archives, or even for the Public Archives of Canada, to collect records of every type of storekeeper, tradesman, or professional, yet these small businessmen make an important contribution to Canada's economy. Acquiring a sample of the records of such small businessmen would be dif f icult . Businessmen are often reluctant to part with their "dead records" for fear of tarnishing their public image, attracting the attention of government to possible misdoings, or making information available to competitors, so many businessmen would be unwilling to give these records to a repository. Whatever methods are developed for determining which types of small businesses should have their records preserved in archival reposi-tories, the archivists concerned will have to be activists, as they can-not expect firms to hand over their records unbidden. Archivists must publicize their desire to obtain business records, and approach the firms whose records they wish to acquire. Where possible, agreements with firms giving records to a repository should provide for further accessions of records on a regular basis. To allay fears of injudicious public disclosure of a firm's affairs, an archivist may have to accept fairly onerous restrictions on access, provided he can secure the agreement of the businessman or firm for the removal of these restrictions after a certain period of time. The business records collections held at the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and University of British Columbia Special Collec-tions consist mostly of operational and housekeeping records. While over a third of the collections at these repositories contain journals and ledgers, these and other accounting records such as balance sheets are rarely to be found in complete runs. It seems, therefore, that these four repositories have been unable to adhere to Dennis Meissner's principle of preserving "a sufficient combination of accounting records . . . to document completely the revenues, expenses, and net financial picture of the business at any point in its existence." 2 8 The appraisal of pictorial records of businesses is seldom discussed in archival literature but the situation at the four repositories with regard to the preservation of pictorial business records seems not as bad as that painted by the American historian Eugene Ferguson (see Table XVIII). Little evidence of sampling of routine operational records as advocated by Oliver Holmes and Robert Lovett was found when looking at the business records holdings of the four repositories. Examination of the business records collections held at the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and University of British Columbia 72 Special Collections indicates that business collections under one linear metre in extent, and especially those of thirty centimetres or less, are fragmentary, and even collections of one linear metre or more in extent tend to be incomplete records of businesses' activities. There is no significant difference in the comprehensiveness of the collections of defunct or active firms. In the case of defunct companies, the four repositories have probably acquired the business records after the records have already suffered some years of neglect and destruction. Active companies, on the other hand, are generally unwilling to part with all their records because they s t i l l require some of them in order to conduct business, and because they are often fearful of the conse-quences of making their records publicly available. It appears that the characteristics of business collections held by the four repositories are similar to those of business records collections held by other Canadin archival institutions. Furthermore, three other institutions, Queen's University Archives, McGill University Archives, and the Provincial Archives of Manitoba, reported in their questionnaire returns (see Chapter II) that the majority of their business records holdings consist of collections of thirty centimetres or less in extent. It would seem, therefore, that not only the four repositories discussed in this chapter, but also Canadian archival institutions in general, tend to acquire fragmentary or at best incomplete collections of business records. Footnotes *Edie Hedlin, Business Archives: An Introduction (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1978), p. 16; Ralph M. Hower, "The Preservation of Business Records," Bulletin of the Business Historical Society, 11 (1937), 39, 49; Robert W. Lovett, "The Appraisal of Older Business Records," AA, 15 (1952), 233-34. 2Hedlin, p. 16. 3Dennis E. Meissner, "The Evaluation of Modern Business Accounting Records," The Midwestern Archivist, 5, no. 2 (1981), 75. 401iver W. Holmes, "The Evaluation and Preservation of Business Records," AA, 1 (1938), 183. ^Meissner, p. 75. 6 Ib id . , pp. 75-76. 7 Ib id . , p. 76. 8 Ib id . , p. 77. 9 Ib id . , p. 76. 1 0 I b i d . , pp. 77-98. U I b i d . , p. 98. 1 2 Lovett, p. 234. ^Laurence J . Kipp, ed., Source Materials for Business and Economic History (Boston: Baker Library Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1967), 14. ^Francis X. Blouin, J r . , "A New Perspective on the Appraisal of Business Records: A Review," AA, 42 (1979), 312-20. 1 5 I b id . , p. 320. 1 6 T . R. Schellenberg, Modern Archives Principles and Techniques (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975 L1956J), 139. 1 7Ralph M. Hower, "The Preservation of Business Records," Bulletin of the Business Historical Society, 11 (1937), 53-54. 18 Holmes, p. 183. 74 l 9 Lovett , p. 233. 2 0 I b i d . , p. 234. 2 1 Larry Steck and Francis X. Blouin, J r . , "Hannah Lay and Company: Sampling the Records of a Century of Lumbering in Michigan," AA, 39 (1976), 17-18. 22 Ibid., p. 19; Holmes, p. 183. 2 3Meissner, p. 77. 24 Ibid., p. 85. 2 5Christopher L. Hives, "Business Archives: Historical Developments and Future Prospects," (M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1985), p. 121. 2 6 Lovett, p. 233. 2 7Nicholas G. Burckel, "Business Archives in a University Setting Status and Prospect," College and Research Libraries, 41 (1980), 232. 2 8Meissner, pp. 75-76. 75 CHAPTER IV ARCHIVES: THE SOURCE OF BUSINESS HISTORY IN CANADA? It is surprising that in Canada, a country which owes more than most to private enterprise and initiative, there should have been a comparative neglect of business and entrepreneurial history. 1 This statement was made in 1972, but there is s t i l l some truth in i t . Canadian historians became interested in the activities of busi-ness enterprises at a later date than did their American colleagues. The historical study of business activity in Canada was begun by pol i t i -cal economists during the f i rst decades of the twentieth century. Much Canadian business history has been written by political economists to support either the staples thesis or the Laurentian thesis of Canadian economic development, though increasingly historians are conducting regional studies of business activities, are analysing the social backgrounds of businessmen and labourers, and are writing detailed biographies and corporate histories. Analysis of the sources used by these historians reveals a dependence upon secondary sources. Some historians of Canadian business base their studies almost exclusively upon primary sources, but the majority rely heavily upon published monographs, journal articles, and newspapers. Business history has been widely defined by historians. In its narrowest sense the term applies to studies or biographies of individual firms or entrepreneurs. More broadly speaking, business history 76 includes studies of particular activities such as marketing or manufac-turing, or of "quantitative statistical surveys of the growth of parti-cular trades and industries." 2 Business history may also be concerned with "the interrelationships between business on the one hand and economic development, governmental policy, and social change on the other." 3 Business history, therefore, is linked to economic history, economics, political history, and social history, and historians study-ing those fields have contributed to our knowledge of Canadian busi-4 ness. The f i rst scholars to apply an historical approach to the study of Canada's economy and business system were political economists. Adam Shortt and Harold Innis believed that the contemporary Canadian economy could only be understood by studying its historical development. Harold Innis established the staples thesis as the dominant approach to Cana-dian economic history. Essentially, this thesis states that Canadian economic activity has tended to focus on the production of staples for a highly specialized external manufacturing community. Colonial and post-Confederation Canada sold staple products (fish, fur, timber, wheat, and minerals) to external metropolitan centres in France, Great Britain, and the United States of America and bought manufactured goods from these centres. The Laurentian thesis, which developed from the staples thesis, posited that the commercial and transportation network established to exploit staple resources determined Canada's economic and political development. Until the 1960s the staples and Laurentian theses dominated 77 Canadian economic and business history. The fur trade and, to a lesser extent, the railway industry, received the greatest attention from historians, whereas Canada's manufacturing industries were neglected. The Hudson's Bay Company was the object of more studies than any other Canadian corporation,5 a fact lamented by Hugh Aitken in 1964: One could wish that one-tenth of the energies that have been lavished on the arcane details of the Canadian fur trade had been diverted to other sectors of the economy. Where, for example is our history of trade and shipping on the Great Lakes? Where are our studies of nineteenth-century Canadian government finance? The history of the Canadian canal system is s t i l l to be written; the beginnings of secondary manufacturing in Canada are shrouded in obscurity; our ideas of the nineteenth-century Canadian business cycle remain vague and impressionistic; and our statistics of price and output movements are spotty and vague. In the early 1970s historiographers echoed the complaints of Hugh Aitken that not enough research was being done on the development of Canadian shipping, financial institutions, and business methods, how-ever the fur trade and railways st i l l retained the interest of many historians. 7 David S. MacMillan called for "more detailed biographi-cal studies of business leaders—their background, motivation, operating methods, and their relations with each other." 8 During the 1970s a large number of studies of Canadian businessmen, businesses, and indus-tries were produced, and historians interested in labour, social, and political history also shed light on the development of business act ivi ty, 9 so that by 1984 Tom Traves was able to state that "over the last ten years our knowledge of the Canadian business system has increased enormously."1^ However, Traves and Frederick Armstrong 78 have complained that the paucity of sources of business records has hindered the study of business activity in Canada.1 1 Do historians Armstrong and Traves have a valid complaint? Several archival repositories in Canada include business records in their acquisition policies and some repositories have established programs to acquire business records (see Chapter II), but others have not taken special steps to preserve business records. The Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia, for example, in reply to the questionnaire discussed in Chapter II, explained that its lack of interest in acquiring business records was due to restrictions of space and the "comparatively lower priority of the (business) manuscript group, in terms of demand."13 On the one hand then, there are historians unhappy about the small number of business records available to them, and on the other there are at least some archivists who make no particular effort to acquire business records because they feel historians are not especially interested in using business records as sources for their research. In light of these opposing views, an analysis was made of the sources used by historians publishing articles and monographs between 1975 and 1984 on Canadian business history in the broad sense of the term, to see whether historians make use of the business records collections that are available to them in Canadian archival repositories. Seven journals were selected as being likely to contain articles on Canadian business history: Business History Review, Journal of Economic History, Explorations in Economic History, Canadian Historical 79 Review, Canadian Historical Association Historical Papers, Journal of Canadian Studies, and BC Studies. For the years 1975 to 1984 these seven journals contain eighty-one articles that discuss particular businesses, businessmen, or the "interrelationships between business on the one hand and economic development, governmental policy, and social change on the other." 1 4 Articles in journals often represent the leading edge of research in a f ie ld , but are not always of sufficient length to present a detailed analysis of a subject. For this reason, sources referred to in twenty-seven monographs reviewed in the Business History Review and the Canadian Historical Review between 1975 and 1984 were also analysed to complement the findings obtained from the study of the journal articles. Rather than count every single citation, considerations of time dictated that each specific item cited in an article or monograph would be counted as one reference. If an author cited the same journal article twice, the two citations were counted as one reference. Simi-lar ly, i f the author cited various fi les within an archival collection, all citations to that archival collection were counted as one reference. Newspapers, magazines, reference books such as city directories, and annual reports of companies posed a problem, since they are published daily, monthly, or annually. The category "newspapers" includes magazines, and the category "annual reports" includes other corporate publications, such as prospectuses and reports published and distributed to the public, that constituted too small a group of sources to merit a separate classification. In the analysis of the sources used for 80 journal articles, the newspapers, magazines, reference books and annual reports used as sources were counted as separate references each time a separate issue was cited. Two citations within an article to the Vancouver Sun of April 2, 1980, for example, counted as one reference whereas citations in an article to the Vancouver Sun of April 2, 1980 and June 4, 1980, counted as two references. This method proved impractical for analysing the sources used by authors of monographs, so all citations in monographs to a particular source were counted as one reference regardless of the date of issue. Consequently the percentages of references in monographs to newspapers and magazines, reference books, and annual reports depicted in Figures 4 to 6 are lower than they would be i f the same method of counting references as that used for journal articles had been adopted. The method adopted of counting references to sources rather than citations is unsatisfactory in that i t provides l i t t le indication of the value to an author of a particular type of source. Tom Naylor, for instance, in the second volume of The History of Canadian Business 1897-1914 (1975)15 refers to four archival collections but bases his work largely on 220 monographs and 102 government documents. David Alexander, on the other hand, in The Decay of the Trade: An Economic History of the Newfoundland Saltfish Trade 1935-1965 (1977)16 refers to only thirteen monographs and twenty-two government documents, and bases much of his book upon the records of one company, Newfoundland Fish Exporters Limited. The reference analysis presented in this chapter does not make qualitative judgements about the varying amounts 81 FIGURE 1 REFERENCE SOURCES IN ALL TYPES OF BUSINESS HISTORY JOURNAL ARTICLES* Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding of the numbers. FIGURE 2 REFERENCE SOURCES IN JOURNAL ARTICLES: BIOGRAPHIES AND CORPORATE HISTORIES LUnpublished Works 1.1% L T h e s e s 2.9% 83 FIGURE 3 REFERENCE SOURCES IN JOURNAL ARTICLES: GENERAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC HISTORY* Theses 2.6% Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding of the numbers. 84 FIGURE 4 REFERENCE SOURCES IN ALL TYPES OF BUSINESS HISTORY MONOGRAPHS* Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding of the numbers. 85 FIGURE 5 REFERENCE SOURCES IN MONOGRAPHS: BIOGRAPHIES AND CORPORATE HISTORIES* Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding of the numbers. FIGURE 6 REFERENCE SOURCES IN MONOGRAPHS: GENERAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC HISTORY* Monographs 46.9% News-papers 8.0% Government Documents 13.3% Government Documents — i n Archives 1.5% ' A r c h i v a l Manuscripts 9.8%' Annual Reports 1.7% Interviews 0.3% Journal A r t i c l e s 11.9% Reference Works 1.8% ! Pamphlets 1.1% -Conference Proceedings 0.4% '—Unpublished Works 0.6% Theses 2.6% Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding of the numbers. 87 of use scholars make of particular types of sources. Rather i t indi-cates the percentage of each type of source consulted by authors of mon-ographs or articles about Canadian business history. It is readily apparent from Figures 1 and 4 that the percentage of references to manuscript collections in journal articles or mono-graphs on Canadian business history is low. Even fewer references per-tain to business records collections. Table XXI indicates that over twelve per cent of the references to archival manuscript collections are references to the collections of papers of politicians, such as John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier. Since businessmen and business firms TABLE XXI REFERENCES TO MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS, DIVIDED ACCORDING TO THE CREATOR OF COLLECTION Other Other Busi- Orga- Ind- Uni-Comp- ness- Pol i t i - niza- ivid- dent-anies men cians tions uals ified Total* Journal Articles 35.8% 26.0% 12.1% 5.6% 1.9% 18.6% 100.0% Monographs 15.1% 36.2% 13.9% 7.6% 4.4% 22.7% 99.9% *Total does not equal 100% due to rounding of the figures. may have had connections with politicians or political parties, or may have been involved in commercial transactions with the government, i t is to be expected that scholars studying the affairs of a company or busi-nessman will use politicians' papers as sources of information. Simi-lar ly, researchers delving into the private l i fe of a businessman or the 88 philanthropic activities of a firm may make use of the records of non-business organizations such as hospitals, universities, and charitable organizations, and the papers of individuals unconnected with the busi-ness or political world, such as clergymen. Approximately twenty per cent of the references to manuscript collections were to the papers of individuals whose profession could not be positively determined, although i t seems probable that most of these individuals were businessmen. It appears, therefore, that roughly three quarters of the references to manuscript collections are references to the papers of firms or businessmen. Keeping this in mind, i t is clear from Figures 1 and 4 that even when annual reports and other corporate publications are added to the references made to manuscript collections, records documenting the activities of businessmen and firms are consulted to a far less degree than are government documents, newspapers or secondary sources. Monographs, due to their greater length, provide more scope for detailed analysis of events, individuals, and corporate bodies than do journal articles. However, monographs do not appear to contain a sub-stantially greater proportion of references to manuscript collections and corporate publications than do journal articles, and i f references to newspapers had been counted in the same manner for monographs as they were for journal articles, i t is likely that the proportion of references to manuscript collections in monographs and in journal articles would be similar. Journal articles focussing upon a particular firm or businessman 89 contain double the number of references to corporate publications and manuscript collections than do articles concerned with the history of an entire industry or economy (Figures 2 and 3). This phenomenon is not nearly so marked in the case of monographs (Figures 5 and 6). Inter-views with current and former managers, employees and acquaintances of businessmen were an important source for biographical and corporate history monographs (Figure 5), but were rarely used by scholars writing monographs on more general business history topics (Figure 6). An author may have had to rely on interviews because he or she was denied access to corporate or personal records.* 7 Writers of biographies and corporate histories who had access to family papers and corporate f i les s t i l l made use of interviews, perhaps because interviews reveal personal information, opinions, and anecdotes that have never been recorded on paper. In light of the fact that interviews account for over a quarter of the sources referred to in biographical and corporate history monographs, archivists responsible for preserving the records of firms, and especially corporate archivists, should seriously consider oral history programs encompassing interviews with important executive officers and employees of long standing with the company as a means of enhancing the corporate record. Over eighty per cent of the manuscript collections referred to by the authors of journal articles and monographs on Canadian business history were housed in public archival institutions (Table XXII). The manuscript collections included under the heading "Corporate Archives" include manuscript collections in corporate archives such as those 90 TABLE XXII LOCATION OF MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS REFERRED TO BY AUTHORS Public Repositories Corporate Archives Private Individual Total Journal Articles Monographs 87.8% 85.6% 8.0% 13.9% 4.2% 0.5% 100% 100% of the Bank of Nova Scotia and the United Church of Canada, and records held by firms or non-business organizations that have not established corporate archives but merely preserve their old f i les . Manuscript collections held by private individuals include papers in the possession of descendants of businessmen, and materials collected by academics. Figures 1 and 4 indicate that government records housed in arch-ival repositories are rarely referred to by historians of Canadian busi-ness. The government documents most commonly referred to by these his-torians are published reports of commissions and investigatory bodies, sessional papers, statutes and parliamentary debates. All records housed in archival repositories, whether they are government records or the records of private individuals and firms, and whether they are housed in public or corporate archives, amount to only seven per cent of sources referred to in the journal articles examined, and to approxi-mately ten per cent of sources referred to in the monographs used for this study. Comparing these percentages with the findings of a refer-ence analysis of the Canadian Historical Review conducted by Tom 91 Nisonger (see Table XXIII), i t appears that historians of Canadian busi-ness history are unusually infrequent users of archival materials. TABLE XXIII REFERENCES IN THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1979 Source Number Percentage Archival Documents 572 49.7 Monographs 324 28.1 Newspapers 108 9.4 Serials 96 8.3 Government Documents 19 1.6 Theses 13 1.1 Reference Works 9 0.8 Conference Papers 5 0.4 Personal Interviews 4 0.3 Unpublished Manuscripts 2 0.2 Total 1,152 99.9 Source: Tom Nisonger, "The Sources of Canadian History," Manitoba Library Association Bulletin, 11, no. 3 (June 1981), Table 1, p. 33. Nisonger, in analysing all of the articles published in the Canadian Historical Review in 1979, found that records housed in archi-val repositories accounted for almost f i f ty per cent of all references, whereas only 1.6 per cent of sources referred to were published govern-ment documents such as statutes, reports of commissions, and parliamentary debates. While i t may be imprudent to draw hard and fast conclusions from a study of articles in a single volume of a journal, the large disparity between the findings of Nisonger reported in Table XXIII and the findings recorded in Figures 1 and 4 indicates that 92 historians of Canadian business use archival collections, whether they are government documents or corporate records, much less than do other Canadian historians. The examination of references contained in journal articles and monographs on Canadian business history published between 1975 and 1984 indicates that historians of Canadian business have not been consulting business records housed in archival repositories to a great extent. But is this due to a genuine lack of interest in business records on their part, or due to poor holdings of business records in repositories? The study of the holdings of the Public Archives of Canada, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver Archives, and the University of British Columbia Special Collections reported in Chapter III indicates that the latter may be the explanation. Less than twenty per cent of the business records collections held by these four repositories may be considered to be comprehensive collections, of one linear metre or more in extent. Furthermore, many of these larger and supposedly comprehensive collections do not contain important financial and administrative records. It may be that archival collections of business records in Canadian repositories are of low priority in terms of demand by researchers because researchers have discovered that these collections often have l i t t le to offer. American repositories began acquiring business records to provide tools for training business administration students at Harvard and other universities. Later, scholars interested in American history started using these business records collections. In Europe, the 93 "large-scale preservation of business history records preceded large-scale research and publ ication"1** 0 f business history. If Canadian archival institutions were to acquire more comprehensive collections of business records, perhaps historians of Canadian business would consult the holdings of Canadian repositories more often. Historian Douglas McCalla has mentioned a third possible explan-ation for the lack of use of manuscript collections by historians of Canadian business. Although McCalla advocates the preservation of as many collections of business records as possible, preferably comprehensive collections containing data for extensive time periods, he believes historians have failed to use business records collections ' already housed in Canadian repositories because they do not know of the existence of these collections, and because these collections are poorly described. 1 9 McCalla crit icizes the low priority given by Canadian archivists to the description and dissemination of information about business records collections: For researchers to make use of (accounting records), i t is most important to know that they exist and what they consist of in sufficient detail to be able to plan comparative research . . . Few collections anywhere give the impression that they have received high archival priority, though i t is of greater impor-tance that archivists have already ensured the preservation of as many collections as they have. Only occasionally does one meet the kind of careful and extensive inventories and finding aids that are typically given major institutional and political collections . . . 2 u " In support of his contention that the dissemination of information about business records collections is a low priority for archivists in 94 Canada, McCalla describes a single two page letter written by a pol i t i -cian, John A. Macdonald, which has a Union List of Manuscripts entry of the same length as the entry for each of two "massive and vital sets of business accounts and correspondence."21 Previous chapters have indicated that, although some Canadian archival institutions have developed programs for acquiring business records, other repositories do not see a need to acquire business records, and that the majority of business records collections preserved in public repositories in this country are small, fragmentary collections. It is perhaps predictable to find that historians studying business activity in Canada generally make l i t t le use of manuscript collections in archival repositories. Admittedly, Canadian business history is a relatively new academic field which until recently concen-trated on examining the development of the production and transportation of staple products, but this alone cannot explain the lack of use of business records collections. Even though business history is a rela-tively small field of scholarship in Canada, one would expect its practitioners to consult archival collections to a similar degree as do other historians of Canada, but they do not. Rather, they appear to use archival collections as sources of reference proportionately much less often than do other writers of Canadian history. The neglect of busi-ness records collections cannot therefore be ascribed solely to the fact that Canadian business history is a small field of study. Nor can i t be attributed solely to a general lack of interest in archival collections on the part of business historians, for many have made use of archival 95 collections to some extent, and several have complained of the lack of business records collections or of the inaccessibility of business records collections due to inadequate finding aids. The experience of European and American repositories suggests that archival institutions must make concerted efforts to preserve busi-ness records, and amass a considerable body of business records collec-tions, before historians will make use of collections of business records in archival repositories. Archivist Gerald Ham warns of the dangers of passively following the lead of academics, arguing that an archivist who is "too closely tied to the vogue of the academic marketplace . . . w i l l remain at best nothing more than a weathervane moved by the changing winds of historiography." 2 2 Nevertheless, as a f i rst step in amassing an extensive body of records documenting Canada's economic activities, Canadian archivists should respond to their cri t ics by endeavouring to preserve business records of interest to contemporary historians, whether in public or corporate institutions. Archivists can go further, and find themselves on Ham's "archival edge" rather than merely acting as weathervanes, i f they take steps to preserve the records of sectors of the economy which scholars have not yet explored. Many aspects of Canadian business history have not been studied. Furthermore, most Canadian business history has focussed upon large companies or prominent businessmen. Lacking in historical interest at present, and largely ignored by archivists, contemporary small businesses constitute a vast sector of our economy which is likely to be of interest to future scholars interested in the workings of our 96 society. By acquiring the records of small businesses on an on-going basis under agreements with the firms concerned, archivists would ensure the comprehensiveness of such business records collections, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the collections for future users. At the moment, however, there are historians calling upon archivists to put a greater emphasis on preserving and describing Canadian business records, and archival institutions that, either expressly or through inertia, put a low priority on acquiring business records because there is l i t t le demand for such records. 97 Footnotes •••David S. MacMillan, "Introduction," Canadian Business History Selected Studies, 1497-1971, ed. David S. MacMillan (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1972), p. 1. 2 Ibid. 3Glenn Porter, "Recent Trends in Canadian Business and Economic History," Business History Review, 47 (1973), 141. 4Tom Traves, "Introduction," Essays in Canadian Business History, ed. Tom Traves (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1984), p. 5. ^Frederick H. Armstrong, "Canadian Business History: Approaches and Publications to 1970," Canadian Business History Selected Studies, 1497-1971, ed. David S. MacMillan (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1972), p. 272. 6Hugh G. J . Aitken, "Introduction," Gilbert Norman Tucker, The Canadian Commercial Revolution 1845-1851, ed. Hugh G. J . Aitken (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1964), p. xv. ^Armstrong, pp. 274-79; MacMillan, "Introduction," p. 3; Porter, pp. 149-57. ^MacMillan, "Introduction," p. 3. ^Traves, p. 5. 1 0 Ib id . ^Armstrong, p. 282; Traves, p. 6. 1 2Traves, p. 5. ^Questionnaire return, Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia, November 29, 1985. 1 4 Porter, p. 141. 1 5 R . T. Naylor, The History of Canadian Business 1897-1914 (Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, Publishers, 1975), II. 1 6David Alexander, The Decay of the Trade: An Economic History of the NewfoundlanaTaltfish Trade 1935-1965 (St. JoTTn's: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1979). 'Maggie Siggins, Bassett (Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, Publishers, 1979). i 0 Alan Wilson, "Problems and Traditions of Business History: Past Examples and Canadian Prospects," Canadian Busi ness Hi story Selected Studies, 1497-1971, ed. David S. MacMillan (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1972), p. 304. ^Douglas McCalla, "Accounting Records and Everyday Economic Life in Upper Canada, 1790-1850," Archivaria, 21 (Winter 1985-1986), 149-57. 2 0 I b i d . , p. 156. 2 1 I b i d . , p. 157. 2 2Gerald F. Ham, "The Archival Edge," American Archivist, 38 (1975), 8. 99 CONCLUSION The rise of horizontally or vertically integrated corporations to positions of prominence within the North American economy initiated the systematic collection and preservation of business records in archival repositories on this continent, but subsequently discouraged archivists from acquiring business records. As archivists in the United States of America moved from preserving business records as tools with which to teach students of business administration, to collecting business records for use by a wider range of scholars, they realized that their institutions could not cope with the volume of records annually created by modern corporations. Archival repositories in Canada have not been laboratories for business administration schools, but as Canadian archivists began to take an interest in the records of businesses during the 1960s they also became aware of the inadequacy of the resources at their disposal for preserving corporate records. On both sides of the border, archivists who have written about business records seem preoccupied with the idea that for the forseeable future, archival repositories will lack the resources to care for the records of contemporary business. Focussing their energies on discussions of ways and means by which companies can be aided and persuaded to establish in-house corporate archives, these writers neglect to discuss the fate of records of small businesses. Canadian archival literature, and the comments of some historians, suggest that repositories in this country have not made 100 significant efforts to acquire and maintain business records. The findings reported in this study give substance to this impression. Only six of the repositories surveyed mention business records in their acquisitions policies. Surprisingly, reference to business records in an acquisitions policy is not an indication of a repository's importance as a collector of business records. Instead, i t seems that archival institutions interested in acquiring business records develop business records acquisitions programs rather than alter their acquisitions policies to include specific mention of the records of businesses. Of the collections of business records that have been preserved by Canadian archival institutions, three quarters were reported to be less than one metre in extent. Probably two-thirds of the business collections reported are less than thirty centimetres in extent. The value to researchers of such small and fragmentary collections is doubtful. On the whole, collections of business records over one metre in extent are not very comprehensive. The latter tend to document the daily operation and administration of businesses but not the policymaking and executive actions of businessmen. Financial records and correspondence are seldom preserved in complete runs in business collections over one metre in extent. On a more positive note, i t seems archivists are aware of the value of pictorial business records even though they seldom mention photographs, blueprints and other visual records when writing on the appraisal of business records. The paucity of comprehensive collections of Canadian business records is perhaps reflected in the results of the analysis of sources 101 referred to by historians of Canadian business. Unlike most other Canadian historians who rely heavily on primary sources, the majority of which are housed in archival repositories, historians of Canadian business depend largely on secondary sources, and as a group they refer to archival documents to a very limited degree. Nevertheless, there is some interest amongst business historians in the holdings of repositories. Some business historians have relied heavily on archival documents as the source material for books and articles. Others have requested that archivists put a greater emphasis upon collecting and describing business records. The experiences of European and American repositories indicate that archival institutions need to collect a substantial body of business records before historians begin to make extensive use of the business collections held by the repositories. Archivists in Canada should not assume that they do not need to acquire business records because historians seldom request to look at such records. Perhaps historians, and other researchers, do not ask to see archival collections of business records because they believe they will be presented with meagre documentation of business activities. Several writers have discussed the steps that must be taken to ensure the preservation of business records in corporate archives, and these efforts are certainly worth pursuing. The Canadian economy, however, does not rest entirely upon large corporations such as the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and MacMillan Bloedel. Canada abounds in family businesses and small companies employing a few dozen workers, enterprises whose survival often depends 102 upon the skill and resources of individual businessmen. There is a danger of leaving to future generations a distorted view of our society's economic structure i f archivists concentrate on promoting the establishment of corporate archives and neglect the records of small businesses. By also working to acquire, in a systematic manner, the records of small businesses, Canadian archivists will be closer to ful f i l l ing their mandates of preserving comprehensive collections documenting the various aspects of the history of their respective regions. Establishing a program to acquire records of small businesses involves several activities. The f i rst step is to study the business community in the region served by the archival institution to determine what types of industries and companies are present, and to determine whether records of these industries and companies are already held by the repository. Comparing the results of its study of the business community with its holdings, a repository may discover i t has documented in detail one industry but neglected other industries, or that i t holds handfuls of records from many businesses, or that i t has acquired extensive collections of records of defunct companies but no records from businesses currently active in the region. Once a repository has drawn up a profile of the business community and compared this profile with its business holdings, the repository can determine what areas of the regional economy its acquisition program will cover, and devise strategies for implementing the program. Robert Lovett and Nicholas Burckel have suggested that an 103 archival institution should sol icit the records of companies typical or significant in the development of a region. Such activity would s t i l l leave the possibility that businesses common to all regions of Canada, such as corner stores, hairdressing salons, door and window manufacturers, and sheet metal working companies, would be disregarded. Preserving a cross-section of the economic activity of a region entails collecting the records of at least a sample of such common, and often essential, businesses. Acquiring records from a sample of hairdressing salons, market gardens, and other small businesses and manufacturers found in communities across Canada could, however, be dif f icult , since many of the businessmen selected may not wish to give their records to a repository. By publicizing its aims and engaging in public relations activi-t ies, such as sending a representative to speak to a Chamber of Commerce meeting on the historical value of business records, a repository may succeed in overcoming the suspicions of businessmen wary of exposing their affairs to public scrutiny and encourage firms to give their records to the institution, especially i f i t follows up such activities with visits to the businesses whose records i t seeks to acquire. Only a few Canadian repositories reported undertaking public relations activi-ties designed to encourage donations of records by the business commun-ity. A more widespread use of public relations programs should persuade more businessmen of the merits of offering their records for preserva-tion in archives and thereby increase the holdings of business records of Canadian repositories. 104 Some businessmen may not be swayed solely by statements outlining the argument for preserving business records for posterity. An archival institution wishing to acquire the records of a particular firm may have to offer a records management service as an inducement. Such a course of action is in the repository's own interest i f i t wants to acquire a comprehensive rather than a fragmentary record of a firm's activity. By working with a firm to establish a records retention and disposal schedule, a repository is in effect conducting an on-site appraisal of the firm's records. Rather than wait for a business to donate its records willynilly and risk receiving unrelated bits and pieces of material, a repository which aids a business to establish a records rentention and disposal schedule should be assured of acquiring in time a comprehensive collection of business records. Needless to say, any repository entering such an arrangement would protect itself with a legally binding agreement guaranteeing regular transfers of records from the firm to the archival institution. Providing records management assistance may not be feasible in every case in which a repository seeks to acquire the records of a small business, but i t ought to be considered when an archival institution is attempting to acquire the records of a business that is of significance to the region served by the repository. Canadian repositories should not be dissuaded from acquiring business records by the view of some writers that archival institutions cannot cope with the voluminous records of large integrated corporations. As Christopher Hives and the members of the Consultative Group on Canadian Archives have pointed out, the preservation of such large bodies of records is better left to the corporations concerned, suitably aided by the archival profession. Archival institutions can improve their holdings of Canadian business records, however, by developing and implementing a program to acquire records of small businesses that encompasses the various steps outlined above. 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Weilbrenner, Bernard. "Sources for Economic History in the Public Archives of Canada." The Canadian Archivist 2, no. 3 (1972), 9-14. Wik, Reynold M. "Adventures in Business Records: The Vanishing Archives." American Archivist 14 (1951), 195-200. Williamson, Harold E. "The Professors Discover American Business." Readings in United States Economic and Business History, ed. Ross M. Robertson and James L. Pate. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966, pp. 25-34. Wilson, Alan. "Problems and Traditions of Business History: Past Examples and Canadian Prospects." Canadian Business History, ed. David S. MacMillan. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1972, pp. 303-16. 112 APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE Part I General 1. How many archivists work in your institution? 2. How is responsibility for business records assigned amongst the archivists of your institution? 3. What is the total annual budget for your institution? $ 4. What is your institution's annual budget for acquisitions? $ Part II Acquisitions 5. Please include a copy of your institution's general acquisitions policy, or outline the policy on a separate sheet of paper. 6. Does your institution have a written acquisitions policy for business records? Yes Please include a copy of your written policy with this questionnaire. No 7. Does your institution have a program to acquire business records? Yes Date of establishment of program No Please state the reasons 8. What is your institution's policy regarding access restrictions on business records i t wishes to acquire? 113 9. Does your institution acquire the records of active companies? No Please go to question 12. Yes Please answer questions 10 to 11. 10. Have records of active companies been acquired a) as a single accession b) under an agreement to receive further accessions on a periodic basis c) From individuals who took business records with them when they retired d) other (please specify) 11. Which of the following acquisition strategies have been used to solicit the records of active companies? a) contacting the company/ individual in person b) responding to approaches from the company/individual c) placing advertisements in newspapers, etc. d) other (please specify) 12. Does your institution acquire the records of defunct companies? No Plese go to question 15. Yes Please answer questions 13 and 14. 114 13. Have records of defunct companies been acquired a) from the liquidator of the company b) from individuals (or their heirs) who kept the business records when the company ceased operations c) other (please specify) 14. Which of the following strategies have been used to sol icit the records of defunct companies? a) contacting the liquidator/individual in person b) responding to approaches from the liquidator/individual c) placing advertisements in newspapers, etc. d) other (please specify) 15. Which of the following methods has your institution used when acquiring business records? a) purchase b) donation c) donation for tax credit d) other (please specify) Part III Extent of Collections 16. What is the total number of collections of business records held by your institution? 17. What is the total volume of these records in cubic metres? rrr If a l i s t giving the names and extent of the collections held by your institution is readily available or easily compiled, could you please include this l i s t with the questionnaire. If not, the following questions are optional, though i t would be appreciated i f you could take the time to respond. 115 Optional Questions 18. Please indicate the number of collections of business records that fall into each of the following size categories. a) less than 1 metre** b) 1 to 9.9 metres3 c) 10 to 99.9 metres3 d) 100+ metres3 e) microfilm Total number of reels of microfilm 19. Please indicate the number of collections of business records that fall into each of the following economic categories. a) primary industry b) secondary industry c) tertiary industry N.B. Primary industries extract natural resources, i .e. agriculture, mining, forestry. Secondary industries manufacture products, i .e. automobiles, furniture, processed foods. Tertiary industries provide services, i .e. wholesale or retail merchandising, banking, transportation. 116 Definitions For the purposes of this questionnaire the following terms are defined. Business records Business records are defined as all recorded information, regardless of media or characteristics, made or received and maintained by a company in pursuance of its legal obligations or in the transaction of its business. Collection A collection is a body of manuscripts or papers, including associated printed or near print materials and audiovisual materials, having a common source. The business records of one company therefore constitute a collection. Company A company is an organization established to engage in commercial or industrial activity. For the purposes of this study a company may comprise an organization employing hundreds of people, such as General Motors or the Bank of Montreal, or a one man operation such as a corner store or a blacksmith's forge, but not a crown corporation. Crown corporations are excluded from this study because they are quasi-governmental bodies, and the disposition of their records may be regulated by government. These definitions are adapted from Frank B. Evans et a l . , A Basic Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers. APPENDIX B Repositories that received questionnaires Public Archives of Canada Provincial Archives of British Columbia Provincial Archives of Alberta Saskatchewan Archives Board Provincial Archives of Manitoba Archives of Ontario Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Public Archives of Prince Edward Island Public Archives of Nova Scotia Provincial Archives of Newfoundland Yukon Archives and Records Service Archives of the Northwest Territories Victoria City Archives City of Vancouver Archives City of Edmonton Archives Hamilton Public Library, Special Collections City of Toronto Archives Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives City of Ottawa Archives University of British Columbia Library, Special Collections Simon Fraser University Archives University of Manitoba, Department of Archives and Special Collections, Elizabeth Dafoe Library Repositories that returned questionnaires Public Archives of Canada Provincial Archives of Alberta Saskatchewan Archives Board Provincial Archives of Manitoba Archives of Ontario Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Public Archives of Prince Edward Island Public Archives of Nova Scotia Provincial Archives of Newfoundland Yukon Archives and Records Service Victoria City Archives City of Vancouver Archives City of Edmonton Archives City of Toronto Archives Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives City of Ottawa Archives University of British Columbia Library, Special Collections Simon Fraser University Archives University of Manitoba, Department of Archives and Special Collections, Elizabeth Dafoe Library Repositories that received questionnaires Repositories that returned questionnaires Brock University Library, Decew Campus York University Archives University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library Queen's University Archives McGill University Archives Mount Allison University Archives Dalhousie University Archives Glenbow Alberta Institute Archives University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library Queen's University Archives McGill University Archives Mount Allison University Archives Dalhousie University Archives Glenbow Alberta Institute Archives Unidentified BRONSON COMPANY Appendix C 1 (pag* 1) Originals, n.d., 1809-1974. 69.025 m. Finding Aid No. 186 The founder of the Bronson Company was Henry Franklin Bronson, a New Englander, who along with his business partner John J. Harris set up the Harris and Bronson Company in Ottawa during the 1850's. By the turn of the century, the company had undergone three reorganizations which transferred complete control to the Bronson Family. In 1867 the company changed i t s name to the Bronsons and Weston Company, in 1888 to the Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company and in 1899 to the Bronson Company. Ersxine Henry Bronson and-Walter Goodman-Bronson carried on the family business after the death of their father in 1899. Frederick Erskine Bronson ran the Bronson Company after the death of Halter Goodman Bronson in -1932.. In the sixties, Frederic Bronson donated a large portion of the Bronson Company's land holdings to the National Capital Commission. A few years later, the National Capital Commission expropriated the rest of the company. The Bronson family also had an interest in several other business concerns including the Ottawa Power Company Limited which they owned outright. Separate series have been created for the records of these companies and a brief historical sketch i s found at the beginning of each series description. In 1966, the National"Capital Commission transferred the Bronson Papers to the Public Archives of Canada from the Company's head office on Victoria Island. In 1976, A.M. Laidlaw, President of the Company and executor for the Bronson Estate transferred additional company and family records. T.ese records were withdrawn from the company's main office in order to prepare for the expropriation negotiations. In 1979, Genevieve Laidlaw transferred some miscellaneous company and family records including family photographs. Finding Aid No. 186 i s a f i l e l i s t . Books, maps, plans, photographs and trade catalogues have been transferred to the appropriate divisions. 1966 Accession The Bronson Company and i t s predecessors, Ottawa, n.d., 1857-1950. 27.525m (Vols. 1-385). Journals, 1857-1889. 1.1 m (Vols. 1-17). Harris, Bronson and Company, 1857-1867. 5 cm (Vol. 1) MG 28 BRONSON COMPANY III 26 (page 2) 120 Bronsons and Weston Company, 1867-1888. 60 cm (Vols. 2-10). Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company, 1888-1901. 45 cm (Vols. 11-17). Ledgers, 1864-1900. 60 cm (Vols. 18-28). Harris and Bronson Company, 1864-1866. 7.5 cm (Vol. 18). Bronsons and Weston Company, 1867<-1888. 52.5 cm (Vols. 19-24). Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company, 1888-1901. '30 cm (Vols. 25-28). Cash books, 1888-1934. 60 cm (Vols. 29-38). Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company, 1888-1904. 30 cm (Vols. 29-32) . Bronson Company, 1904-1934. 30 cm (Vols. 33-38). Miscellaneous Records, 1871-1943. l.S m (Vols. 39-90). Letterbooks, 1857-1900. 3.325 m (Vols. 91-1S2). Harris and Bronson Company, 1857-1864. 2.5 cm (Vol. 91). Bronsons and Weston Company, 1864-1888. 75 cm (Vols. 92-111). Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company, 1888-1900. 1.35 m (Vols. 112-132). Bronson Company, 1900-1938. 1.2 m (Vols. 133-152). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1853-1950. 20.1 m (Vols. 153-385). The Li t t l e River Redwood Company, California, 1874-1933. 9.5 m (Vols. 386-490). This company owned extensive stands of Redwood timber in California where i t carried on its lumbering operations. The Bronson operations in Redwood lumbering began in 1887 when the Bronsons and Weston Company acquired 3500 acres of redwood timber in Heimbolt County in California. In 1893 the Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York with members of the Bronson family owning 6400 of the 9600 shares. Minutes of Annual Meetings, Stock Ledgers, 1893-1931. 70 cm (Vols. 386-397). Ledgers, Journals, and Cash books,- 1893-1931. 2.5 m (Vols. 398-428). Letterbooks, 1904-1932. 20 cm (Vols. 429-432). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1874-1933. 6.1 m (Vols. 433-490). BRONSON COMPANY (page 3) 121 The Adirondack Match Company, Ogdensburg, 1892-1903. 67.5 cm (Vols. 491-504). This company operated a match factory at Ogdensburg, New York. W.G. Bronson was prominent in the formation and ownership of the company, which was sold to the Union Match Company in 1900. Minutes and Records of Stock holder's Meetings, 1893-1899. 5 cm (Vols. 491-493). Journals, Cash books and Ledgers, 1893-1899. 15 cm (Vols. 494-498). Letterbooks, 1893-1900. 7.5 cm (Vols. 499-500). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1892-1903. 40 cm (Vols. 501-504). The Eclipse Manufacturing Company, Ottawa, 1893-1920. 55 cm (Vols. 505-518). This company was originally called the Eclipse Office Furniture Company, but changed its name to the Eclipse Manufacturing Company. Frank Pierce and W.G. Bronson were directors and important shareholders. The Company secured disappointingly few orders for office equipment from Dominion government, but i t did get numerous orders from provincial governments. In 1913 the Company was bought out by the Steel Equipment Company of Canada. Minutes and Records of Shareholders Meetings, 1893-1913. 15 cm (Vols. 505-509). Journals, Cash books and Ledgers, 1903-1913. 30 cm (Vols. 510-517). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1908-1920. 10 cm (Vol. 518). The Ottawa Carbide Company, 1899-1911. 8.8 m (Vols. 519-631). Formed to manufacture calcium carbide for Lighting after an explosion destroyed the Dominion Carbide Company in Ottawa in 1899, E.H. Bronson was the President of the company. The company was sold to the Canada Carbide Company of Montreal in 1911. Journals, Cash books and Ledgers, 1899-1911. 90 cm (Vols. 519-545). Letterbooks, 1899-1911. 60 cm (Vols. 546-554). Memoranda and Correspondence, 1899-1911. 7.3 m (Vols. 555-631). MG 28 BRONSON COMPANY (page 4) 122 III 26 The Peoples Gas Company, 1902-1908. 1.S5 m (Vols. 632-651). Operated a manufacturing and sales plant in Ottawa for various types of gas lamps, burners and other supplies for gas systems. Letterbooks, 1902-1907. 15 cm (Vols. 632-634). Memoranda and Correspondence, 1902-1908. 1.4 m (Vols. 635-651). The General Illuminating Company Limited, 1904-21. 30 cm (Vols.652-658). Incorporated in 1904 to supply gas to the Ottawa area, i t was dissolved in 1921 after i t s assets were distributed among the shareholders. Minutes of Shareholders Meetings, 1904-1921. 7.5 cm (Vols. 652-653). Journals, Ledgers, Cash books, 1904-1910. 10 cm (Vols. 654-656). Letterbook, 1904-1910. 5 an (Vol. 657). Correspondence A-E, 1907. 7.5 cm (Vol. 658). The Ottawa Power Company Limited, 1888-1952. 52.5 cm - (Vols. 659-669). This company was the result of amalgamations of earlier electric and gas companies. E.H. Bronson was President of the Company and W.G. Bronson Vice-President. Journals, Cash books, Ledgers, 1899-1920. 12.5 cm (Vols. 659-664). Letterbooks, 1901-1920. 10 cm (Vols. 665-666). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1888-1952. 30 cm (Vols. 667-669). The Quinze and Blanche River Railway Company, 1902-1923. 25 cm (Vols. 670-673A). Incorporated in 1907 to build railways in Northern Quebec and also to build dans for electrical power. Journals and Ledgers, 1907-1918. 5 cm (Vols. 670-671). Letterbooks, 1907-1923. 2.5 cm (Vol. 672). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1902-1914. 17.5 an (Vols. 673-673A). MG 28 BRONSON COMPANY (page 5) 123 III 26 The Otter-Blanche Creek Improvement Company, 1912-1922. S cm (Vols. 674-675). Formed in 1912 to maintain dams and slides to facilitate the movement of timber down Otter Creek to Lake Nipissing. Stock Ledgers, 1912-1922. 5 cm (Vols. 674-675). The Burley Gold Mining Company, 1897-1901. 5 cm (Vol. 676). This company was formed to mine gold under water in the Lake of the Woods near.Rat Portage. Levi Crennell was President of the Company.' Letterbook, 1897-1901. 5 cm (Vol. 676). The Ottawa Gold Milling and Mining Company, 1901-1929. 12.5 cm (Vols. 677-679). This company mined gold in the Yukon and British Columbia. Cash Journal, 1901-1912. 1.5 cm (Vol. 677). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1908-1929. 11 cm (Vols. 678-679). The Bronson Fibre Corporation Limited, 1940-1949. 1.2 m (Vols. 680-692). This Company operated a wood pulp plant in Ottawa. The plant was closed in 1943 due to lack of wood and the charter of the company was surrendered in 1949. Journals and Cash books, 1940-1946. 10 cm (Vols. 680-681). Letterbooks, 1941-1949. 7.5 cm (Vol. 682). Correspondence and Memoranda, 1940-1946. 1.025 m (Vols. 683-692). The Bronson Family Papers, 1833-1952. 6 m (Vols. 693-764). These papers."cover the public affairs of various members of the Bronson Family. They consist of Letterbooks, correspondence, and legal papers. Some of the subjects covered include E.H. Bronson's activities as an Ontario Cabinet Minister in the Hardy and Mowat governments; Mrs. E.H. Bronson's term as President of the Ottawa Maternity Hospital; Levi Crennell's career in Ottawa municipal politics and F.E. Bronson's work as chairman of the Federal District Commission. MG 28 BRONSON COMPANY III 26 (page 6) 124 1976 Accession The Bronson Company and its Predecessors, Ottawa, n.d. 1809-1974. 7.965 m (Vols. 765-824). Minutebooks and Annual Financial Statements, n.d., 1877, 1885-1968. 60 cm (Vols. 765-767). This material includes the Company's, official minutebooks, documents pertaining to incorporation and an incomplete run of annual balance sheets. Journals, 1870-1872, 1901-1974. 60 cm (Vols. 768-775). Bronsons and Weston Company, 1870-1872. 7.5 cm (Vol. 768). Bronson Company, 1901-1974. 52.5 cm (Vols. 769-775). Ledgers, 1901-1974. 30 cm (Vols. 776-779). Bronson Company, 1901-1974. 30 cm (Vols. 776-779). Cash books, 1934-1961. 22.5 cm (Vols. 780-782). Bronson Company, 1934-1961.' 22.5 cm (Vols. 780-782). Miscellaneous Records, n.d., 1884-1970. 152.5 cm (Vols. 783-797). Primarily records of the Bronson Company. Of note are the Time Books which contain data on wage rates and Telegram Book for the Bronsons and Weston Company and the Bronsons and Weston Lumber Company. Letterbooks, 1938-1954. 15 cm (Vols. 798-799). Bronson Company, 1938-1954. 15 cm (Vols. 798-399). Correspondence and Memoranda, n.d., 1864-1968. 2.375 m (Vols. 800-813). Primarily business correspondence for the Bronson Company and Predecessor companies. Some important files are those relating to the activities of the Owners and Leeses of hydraulic power at the Chaudiere, the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company, the Schyan River Improvement Company and the National Capital Commission Expropriation. Legal Files, n.d., 1908-1969. 2.2 m (Vols. 814-824). The Legal files were arranged using the alpha-numeric system employed by the Company. Some of the original legal files are missing. The Bronson Company's secret code used in their business transaction is found in Volume 817 file C 120. MG 28 BRONSON COMPANY (page 7) 125 III 26 The Ottawa Power Company Limited, 1889-1921. 50 cm (Vols. 825-830). Minutebook and Annual Financial Statements, 1889-1921. 15 cm (Vols. 825-826). This material includes the company's official minutebook, some incorporation papers and annual financial statements. Miscellaneous Records, 1899.-1915. 15,cm (Vols. 827-829). The company's stock certificates, stock register and transfer book. Legal Files, 1899-1921. 20 cm (Vol. 830). The legal files were arranged using the alpha-numeric system employed by the company. The Quinze and Blanche River Railway Company, 1907-1908. 5 cm (Vol. 831). Ledger, 1907-1908. 5 cm (Vol. 831). The Bronson Fibre Corporation Limited, 1941-1946. 5 cm (Vol. 832). Stock Certificates, 1941-1946. 5 cm (Vol. 832). The Bronson Family Papers, n.d., 1870-1963. 2.925 m (Vols. 833-866). These papers contain additional information on the public affairs of various family members. They consist of a letterbook, correspondence, legal papers and estate ledgers. Most significant is an E.H. Bronson letterbook and a series of correspondence arranged chronologically covering his political career. Included is correspondence from prominent provincial and federal liberals such as Oliver Mowat and Sir Wilfrid Laurier and many of Bronson's cabinet colleagues. Some of the subjects mentioned in the files of other family members include the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company and the Ottawa River Forest Protective Association Limited. 1979 Accession The Bronson Company and its Predecessors, n.d., 1850-1909. 15 cm (Vol. 867). -Correspondence, timber surveys and trade circulars. Of note are documents and plans relating to the boundary between Quebec and Ontario. The Ottawa Carbide Company, n.d., 1892-1902. 1 cm (Vol. 867). Patents and miscellaneous material. MG 28 III 26 BRONSON COMPANY (page 8) 126 The Ottawa Electric Company, n.d., 1908, 1909. 1 cm (Vol. 867). Correspondence and memoranda. The Ottawa Electric Street Railway Company, 1892, 1894. 1 cm (Vol. 867). Legal documents. Miscellaneous Legal Papers, 1898, 1900. 2 cm (Vol.-867). The Bronson Family Papers, 1896-1963. 26 cm .(Vols. 868-869) Correspondence,- trade brochures and newspaper-clippings primarily of F.E. Bronson and omsubjects such--as St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa and the Ottawa Women's' Canadian Club. . 1980 Accession The Bronson Family Papers, n.d., 1927-1929, 1931. 2.5 cm (Vol, 870), Correspondence, legal documents and newspaper clippings concerning the Federal D i s t r i c t Commission -of which Frederick Bronson was chairman. March 1980 -D. Moore 7-8640. Economic/Scientific 127 Appendix D l ) M G 28 S T - L A U R E N T , 3.B.M., ct Fils Enrg. (IS78-I969). General Store. Ill 103 Originals, 1S72-1969. 2.0S m. Finding Aid No. 157S. Jean-Baptiste Moise St-Laurent (1839-1915) father of Louis S. St-Laurent, opened a haberdashery in Sherbrooke in 1872. He moved to Compton, P.Q. , in 1878 and established himself as a general merchant. After Jean-Baptiste Moise's death his son 3.B. Maurice ran the general store. By 1945 3.B. Maurice was running the store with the help of his son 3.B. Marc, under the name 3.B.M. St-Laurent et Fils Enrg. In 1956 3.B. Marc began receiving a salary plus one half of the profits of the store. J . B . Maurice and 3.B. Marc were also insurance agents, and 3.B. Marc was the agent for several bus companies and for the Bell Telephone Company. 3.B. Maurice died in 1967. His brother Louis S. St-Laurent assumed responsibility for paying all bills outstanding at the time of 3.B. Maurice's death. In 1969 J . B . Marc closed the store, which was operating at a loss. In 1971 Louis S. St-Laurent and his sister Lora St-Laurent, acting as trustees for the estate of their mother, Mary Ann Broderick, sold the store and house in Compton to the Royal Trust Company. Messrs. Weyland and Chester ran a general store and blacksmith shop in Marbleton, P.O. , during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Chilton M. Vcyland was the manufacturer of Weyland's Hoof Ointment. Papers pertaining to the personal affairs of members of the St-Laurent family were transferred to MG 26 L, The Right Honourable Louis Stephen St-Laurent. One map of Saskatoon, 1907, was transferred to the National Map Collect ion. Trade catalogues were transferred to the Public Archives Library. Finding Aid No. 157S is a file list. Financial Records, 1872-1969. 1.5 m (volumes I -1S). Ledgers, 1872-1SS1, 1908-1910, 1957-1963. Journal, 1941-1967. Day books, 1872-192'* not inclusive. Daily sales report sheets, 1957-1969. Cash books, 1907-1909. Income tax returns for 3.B. Maurice and J . B . Marc St-Laurent, 1945, 1948-1962. Price lists. Invoices, 1927-1928. Correspondence, 1945-1969. 3 cm (volume IS). Ingoing and outgoing correspondence with suppliers, filed alphabetically. Agency records, 1880-1969. 40 cm (volumes 19-20). Insurance company advertising blotters. Insurance policies and correspondence, 1955-1969. Stanstead and Sherbrooke Mutual Fire Insurance Company: application registers, 1880-1927, receipt book, (page 2) 128 M G 28 S T - L A U R E N T , J . B . M . , et Fils Enrg. (1878-1969). Genera! Store. Ill 103 1904, 1907, policy of Fred G i l l , 1922. Bell Telephone Company bank books, 1952-1969, working advance disbursement reports, 1956, guide a l'usage des agents, instructions to agents, 1956, samples of remittance lists, 1956, 1967. Autobus Laramee Ltee: laissez-passer annuel de l'agent, vers 1959, sample of ticket reports, 1960-1962. Provincial Transport Company: agency bulletin, 1949, weekly ticket sales reports, 1958-1959. Weyland and Chester, 1895-1912. 11 cm (volume 21). Business records of Messrs. Weyland and Chester. Invoices and advertising broadsheets of Chilton M. Weyland. Invoices of W. Chester. The Standard Paint Company of Canada Limited, Ruberoid flooring and roofing samples, c i rca 1910. Miscellaneous, 1897-1898, 1902, 1962-1968. U cm (volumes 21-22). Advertising blotters. Agreements with suppliers. Asbestos Corporation Limited, annual report, 1966. Rosmar Corporation (Quebec) L tee , *i financial report, 1966. A . C . Nielsen Company of Canada, food index report, 1968, which includes a chart of the general store's average weekly sales, 1965-1968. Lennoxville Hotel guest register, 1897-1898.