Primary sources are, to put it simply, the stuff of history. They are what other disciplines might call the “raw data.” Without them, we can know nothing about the past. They’re the proof there even was a past!
Primary sources can be found in any number of places, but one of the more common places to find them is in an archive.
Dictionary.com defines an archive as
A place where public records or other historical documents are kept.
For your assignment, you will have a choice of how to access an archive: (1) by visiting an archive in person; or (2) by visiting an online archive or other online collection or database of primary sources.
Visiting an archive in the Lower Mainland:
Get experience going directly to an archive, talking to the archivists, and doing on-site searches through boxes of files! Here’s a few local archives:
City of Vancouver Archives
1150 Chestnut St
Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9
Phone: 604-736-8561
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/
archives@vancouver.ca
City of Burnaby Archives
McGill Public Library
4595 Albert Street
Burnaby, BC V5C 2G6
Phone: 604.297.4818
Email: rebecca.pasch@burnaby.ca
Website: https://www.burnaby.ca/About-Burnaby/About/History/Burnaby-Archives.html
City of New Westminster Archives
Anvil Centre
2nd floor, 777 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC V3M 1B6
Phone: 604-527-4640
Email: museum@newwestcity.ca
http://archives.newwestcity.ca/search.aspx
SFU Rare Books & Special Collections
Room 7100
W.A.C. Bennett Library
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6
Telephone: 778.782.5674
Email: scrb@sfu.ca
UBC Archives
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
1961 East Mall
Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1
Phone: 604-822-5877
https://archives.library.ubc.ca/
Royal BC Museum & Archives
675 Belleville Street,
Victoria, BC V8W 9W2
1-250-356-7226
1-888-447-7977
reception@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
VISITING AN ONLINE ARCHIVE OR COLLECTION
Archives Association of BC — the following page contains an extensive list of local photograph databases and galleries: https://aabc.ca/resources/historical-photographs/ and also MemoryBC (a project of the Archives Association of BC that links digitized collections from 200+ archives in the province: https://www.memorybc.ca/. Basically both of those links are humongous and contains links to many other archives. Look at the them!
BC Archives Collection Search (province of BC)
https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/
Glenbow Museum and Archives (Calgary)
https://www.glenbow.org/collections/archives/ and https://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhotosSearch.aspx
Library and Archives Canada (Archives – Advanced Search)
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search/arch_adv
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (through SFU login) — this is a fantastic project; every copy of the Globe and Mail going back to 1844!
https://databases.lib.sfu.ca/record/61245131120003610/ProQuest-Historical-Newspapers:-The-Globe-and-Mail
SFU AtoM (SFU’s Archive, not to be confused with SFU’s own internal records management archive)
https://atom.archives.sfu.ca/index.php/
SFU Digitized Collections
https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/
SFU Library Databases for Canadian History (loads of special databases containing sources from various community groups in BC, such as unions and particular ethnic groups):
https://databases.lib.sfu.ca/browse?subjects=History%20-%20Canada
UBC Archives Photographs Collection
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/arphotos
UBC Rare Books and Special Collections
https://rbsc.library.ubc.ca/
History Avenue 