This fonds consists of photocopies of the papers of Paul Martin Sr., one original manuscript letter, and cartoons depicting him. Martin’s papers encompass daily diaries, draft memoirs, interviews, speeches and broadcasts, news coverage, and a small amount of correspondence, notes, and ephemera. These cover his political and diplomatic career as a Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister for health and welfare and external affairs, and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The records thus reflect his direct experiences of public life as well as (in his memoir drafts and interviews) his reflections on these experiences.

Series 1: THE HON. PAUL MARTIN PAPERS contains records of the public service career and retirement projects of Paul Martin Sr. (1949-1980s). Subseries include:
A. The Diaries, 1974-1979;
B. A Carbon-Copy Transcript of the Norah Story (and Josephine Phelan) Interview of the Hon. Paul Martin, ca. 1968-1973;
C. The Member for Essex-East: A Study of the Career of Paul Martin, by Norah Story, 1975;
D. Different Edited Versions of A Very Public Life, vol. I, Far From Home, 1982-1983;
E. Different Edited Versions of A Very Public Life, vol. II, So Many Worlds, 1984-1985;
F. On Becoming Canada’s Foreign Minister (unpublished mss.), date unknown;
G. Speeches, Addresses, Broadcasts, Magazine Articles, Interviews, 1949-1974;
H. Newspaper Articles, 1928, 1957-1958, 1962, 1964, 1968-1971, 1973-1974, and 1983;
I. Selections from the Memoirs of Brooke Claxton; The Making of the United Nations, 1945-1946: A Memoir, by Escott Reid, 1947, 1958, 1970-1982, and undated;
J. Miscellaneous, various dates.

Series 2: CARTOONS contains 197 editorial cartoons featuring Paul Martin Sr. or issues in which he was involved, collected by him during the course of his career.