Skip to main content

Archives Week in Saskatoon


Only three months late, I thought I would share a bit about Saskatoon's archives week event, an archival "variety show" held at the historic Roxy theatre. This is the third year running we have held an event at the Roxy, and while it has taken some creative thinking on how best to make use of a theatre space (previously our "celebrity reader" events were held at the much more intimate jazz-house), we seem to have hit our stride with a variety show format. The idea grew out of the mixed format we employed last year, in which we showcased a variety of archival films, with a break in the film action for a skit on Canada's flag debate in the middle (Diefenbaker played by yours truly). This year, the evening consisted of a number of readings of materials from archival collections, accompanied by relevant images projected onto the big screen (see below), a showcase of archival footage, and an interactive historical trivia game provided by the Western Development Museum. We also took some time to remember our friend Neil Richards, who had passed suddenly in his home on January 12th. Neil was a long time supporter of the archival community, and had never missed an archives week celebration. He was also one of the earliest collectors of LGBTQ materials in the country, and donated the first collection of this kind in the province to the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan in 1986. The intermission was dedicated to showcasing examples from Neil's collections at the PAS and the University of Saskatchewan Archives and Special Collections, and I had the privilege of reading an excerpt from an interview with him on his thoughts of the importance of archives to the queer community.

Leesha Cowan reading a poem on first female U of S Metis grad Nan McKay. MC Jeff O'Brien stands to the left. 

In terms of results, the variety show event seemed to be a success. The Roxy was packed, and feedback was largely positive. Once again, City of Saskatoon archivist Jeff O'Brien did a fabulous job MCing, and our group of readers (all employed in the field) did beautiful work with their selected readings. I particularly liked the film from City of Saskatoon archives on the 1939 royal visit, which was remarkable for its bright colors. Future things we would like to improve upon include better representation of Indigenous histories through collaboration with those communities, as well as a focus on the history of Saskatoon as a physical (and perhaps political) space.

Always excited for next years event and looking ahead!
- Stevie Horn
University of Saskatchewan Archives and Special Collections

The SCAA would like to hear from you! What did your archives do for archives week? We love to hear about your success stories, and would love to highlight them on Outside the Box. If you have any stories or images you would like to share, e-mail them to Archives adviser Cameron Hart : scaa.advisor@sasktel.net
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New SCAA president 2024 - 2026

Hello, My name in Nicole Kruppi and I am the new SCAA President. Professionally I have worked most of my career (19 years) in the Records and Information Management field but like to think of myself as a long-suffering Archivist. My career has taken me across Canada. For the past seven years I lived in New Brunswick, Canada, working in the oil and gas industry at Irving Oil. Prior to that I lived in Calgary for nine years and worked for both the Public Service (Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), as well as spending time at TC Energy. Closer to home, which in my mind has been Saskatoon, I worked for the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in the Specific Claims Archive & Library, and the Saskatchewan Archives Board as both a Records Manager and Project Archivist. Prior to deciding that I wanted to be an Archivist when I grew up, I worked at SaskTel Mobility. I hold a Masters in Archival Studies from the Univer...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Northern Saskatchewan Archives

Home of the Northern Saskatchewan Archives  As we deal physically with the smoke of forest fires in our communities, our thoughts are with those who are dealing with the actual fires in the north. We were heartbroken to hear of the loss the hundreds pieces of Indigenous art and historical artifacts when Robertson Trading burned as a wildfire tore through part of the community of La Ronge, but relieved to know that Graham Guest, who serves as the Archivist at the Northern Saskatchewan Archives, in the Pahkisimon Nuye?áh Library System (PNLS), was able to save photos of some of the lost Robertson's material.  Below is a summary of several emails that Graham was able to send in July and early August to Gloria and myself at SCAA as well as James Hope Howard (Director of PNLS) and Linda Collins (Office Administrator PNLS) "Hello, all, Thanks for your concerns about our archives and Suzanne (Graham's partner) and me. We are still camping at Murray Point so I thou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friends of the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (FOPASK)

  Greetings, fellow FOPASKers. A few days ago Friend Ron sent along a couple of photos he had discovered in his family archive, which he sent along with this request: We have this photograph of Sprucedale Farm  It appears to be in southern Saskatchewan from  the lack of trees and rolling hills. With all your connections, would you have any way of finding out where this was located? I believe the owners were Don and Kate McLaren but I have been unable to find their names anywhere. With your sleuthing abilities perhaps you might come up with something.   With great appreciation,         Ron D About the gopher's sleuthing abilities, pshaw, although I did check a couple of books of Saskatchewan place names, finding Spruce Bay and Spruce Lake, both in the parkland zone on the NorthWest side. As Ron notes, Sprucedale doesn't look like a good fit. There is also the date on the barn, 1910, when there was still land to be settled on in southern areas of th...
Post a Comment
Read more