Fonds UAA Fonds 0612 - Mel Hurtig fonds

• Textual record
• Graphic material
• Sound recording
• Printed ephemera

212 m of textual records, 335 photographs, 161 audio-visual items, 21 posters/artwork and ephemera.

The Mel Hurtig fonds encompass a wide range of records, documenting the many areas of interest and pursuits Mr. Hurtig enjoyed in the professional, personal and political arenas of his life. In the first series, Hurtig Business Records, only a few files concern Hurtig’s Bookstore; most of the files relate instead to his publishing concerns. The series includes correspondence with authors and a series of files Hurtig called “Possible Future Books”, where book proposals and potential publishing projects were considered. The correspondence with authors is very interesting and the Hurtig Business records series provides the researcher with some sense of the complexity involved in the publishing world. There is extensive business correspondence files located in Series 1 and they have been arranged in date order by day, month and year. It is perhaps a misnomer to label Hurtig’s correspondence as business or personal or CIC/COC etc., because such tidy separations do not actually exist in his correspondence. All these ‘boundaries’ blend together. His letters to authors, for example, often contain information related to his CIC and COC initiatives, and the hundreds of invitations he receives for speaking engagements invite him to speak on topics encompassing his many interests and expertise. In the end, the letter-head the letters were sent on determined what series the correspondence was filed with; the letters located in this series were written on various Hurtig business logo stationery. The CIC and COC correspondence are likewise filed because of the letter-head or titles typed on the retained flimsy file copies. In more recent dates, the correspondence often consists of printed e-mails, again on numerous issues and topics, but is filed in the ‘Personal Records’ series because of when they were written in relation to Mel Hurtig’s stage of life and career. Separate finding-aids are available to the records of The Canadian Encyclopedia and The Junior Encyclopedia of Canada Mel Hurtig’s involvement with the Committee for an Independent Canada and with the Council of Canadians is well-documented in Series 2 and Series 3 of the fonds, particularly in regard to the issues both groups were involved with. Hurtig was a central figure in both organizations, and his correspondence files provide a valuable record of the day-to-day operations of these national bodies, as well as a more global view of the organizations and the public personas they presented. There are copies of board meeting documents and executive correspondence, as well as policy documentation, issue-oriented presentations, news releases and related clipping files. A major issue the COC, in particular, rallied against was the Free Trade Agreement and there is an extensive collection of research material and documents gathered for background reference and research purposes. The COC corresponded with federal politicians, well-known Canadians, and other action bodies (such as the Pro-Canada Network) in assembling their issues information library, as evidenced in the Series 3 files. Peace and disarmament issues are also extensively documented in the COC files. Series 4, consisting of Mel Hurtig’s political files, contains files related to his membership in and candidacy for the Federal Liberal Party and more extensively, his founding and leading of the National Party of Canada. The National Party records are fascinating in that they clearly document a unique event in the Canadian political landscape. In a time frame of about two years, a party was formed, ran a national election campaign, and was dissolved, with the records in this series documenting the dramatic unfolding of events. Mel Hurtig’s book writing files are retained in Series 5. There are complete drafts of the following Hurtig books: The Betrayal of Canada, At Twilight in the Country, The Vanishing Country, and Rushing to Armageddon. Chapter drafts contain editing comments, corrections and additions and deletions. There are also related clipping and publicity files that document the book signing and speaking tours post publication. Series 6 is broadly defined as personal records, and includes textual files, published material and photographs. While the files contain references to family and personal concerns, again there is the blurring of boundaries with a lot of the e-mail correspondence focusing on political and issue-oriented topics. Hurtig corresponds with well-known Canadians in campaigns designed to oppose missile defense, call attention to issues of Canadian sovereignty and affect political change. The photographs span a period of some sixty years, and also included in this series is a collection of books given to Hurtig by their authors, with Hurtig usually referenced in the book. The final series, Series 7, contains audio-visual records including video-tapes, cassette tapes, and compact discs. The subject matter of this material references all the previous series topics, and is listed in date order. The records are in excellent physical shape and provide a very complete documentation of the activities and passions of a well-known Canadian.