Fonds F 0066 - Essex/Kent Archival Project fonds

Tom Davies served as project manager for the Young Canada Works grant-funded Windsor Archival Project in the summer of 1979, which strove to identify original archival records held by a variety of institutions in the city of Windsor, Ontario. He subsequently also managed a wider project to similarly identify archival records in Essex County and Kent County. The results of his work were to have been published as Ontario’s Heritage: A Guide to Archival Resources Vol. 10 Essex and Kent Counties (ca. 1981), within the Ontario’s Heritage series spearheaded by the Toronto Area Archivists’ Group. However, like all but four of the projected thirteen volumes in the series, Volume 10 was never published.

The Windsor Archival Project arose from the research interests and advocacy of University of Windsor professors and local historians Larry Kulisek (History) and Trevor Price (Political Science). During the early 1980s the two Davies-led projects and the continued advocacy of Kulisek, Price, and others helped spur the development of the University of Windsor’s archives in Leddy Library, and the establishment of the Windsor Municipal Archives as part of the Windsor Public Library.

Sources: Tom Davies, “Report of the Windsor Archival Project,” (1979); Tom Davies, typescript of Ontario’s Heritage: A Guide to Archival Resources Vol. 10 Essex and Kent Counties (ca. 1981); Mark Walsh, “Documenting Our Side of the Detroit River: The Municipal Archives, Windsor Public Library,” Archivaria 22 (Summer 1986): 238-245; Trevor Price, “Report on the Proposed Establishment of a Windsor/Essex County Archives,” (ca. Fall 1979); contents of ASC reference file 5313 (City of Windsor Meetings), ca. 1979-1983.