This fonds primarily contains personal papers, publications, and oral histories (ca. 1870-1984) relating to the Basilian Fathers who served as teaching staff for Assumption College and Assumption University. Included are diaries, notebooks, correspondence, memoirs, recorded interviews, memorials, manuscripts and published works. Of special note are the extensive papers of Bishop Leo C. Nelligan, records of O’Connor House, and a few records from Rev. Pierre Tourvieille. Secondarily, this fonds contains extensive administrative records documenting the history of Essex College, found in the papers of professor W.H. Arison.

This fonds consists primarily of historic postcards depicting landscapes, buildings, attractions, infrastructure, and vehicles in the region of Southwestern Ontario, with a particular focus on Windsor and Essex County. Many of the postcards are undated, but formats include hand-tinted Early Twentieth Century (ca. 1900-1914) and White Border (ca.1914-1932) styles, as well as Linen (ca.1933-early 1950s), Standard/Chrome (ca. mid-1950s-1970s), and Continental/Modern (ca. 1970s - present) styles. Also included are a small number of photographs and ephemera items including arrest warrants, tokens, medallions, patches, maps, brochures, tickets, and advertisements, all relating to local people, businesses, events, or locations.

The years 1900 to 1914 were a so-called Golden Age for postcards in North America, thanks to the popularity of photography and mass production techniques that made them an affordable collectible item. Views of all kinds were produced, including residential neighbourhoods, churches and civic buildings, commercial districts, industrial plants, bridges, and landscapes. From 1900 into the 1930s, many postcards were black-and-white photographs with colour added. In subsequent decades glossy colour photographs became the norm, and a narrower range of views were produced (often depicting popular tourist sites, where they were sold as souvenirs). By the 1970s most North American postcards shifted from the traditional small size (8.5 x 14cm) to the larger European (“Continental”) size (10 x 15.5cm) and continued to feature a small range of local tourist attractions. All of these trends are reflected in the postcards contained in this fonds.

This fonds contains photocopies and translations of primary and secondary sources, as well as a small body of original notes and research correspondence, accumulated or created by Michael Power in the later 20th century, in the course of preparing three books and an article on aspects of Assumption College history. Series I contains materials documenting the early history of Assumption College and the role of the Basilian Fathers therein, particularly correspondence but also financial records, legal documents and legislation, histories and biographies. Series II contains biographical information and a few photographs related to the winners of the annual Christian Culture Gold Medal awarded by Assumption College as part of its long-running Christian Culture speaker series. Series III contains research material gathered in preparation for a short article about Rev. E.C. LeBel, a former president of Assumption University and first president of the University of Windsor. Some material duplicates original documents found in other AC fonds; some material comes from other archives or published works. It has been retained for its research value as a curated collection.

This fonds primarily contains the personal and professional correspondence of Father Stan Murphy received or sent in the course of his several decades as director of the Christian Culture Series (CCS) at Assumption College, as well as associated photographs, ephemera, and recordings of the lectures and other events. Some files relate to the Christian Culture Gold Medal and/or its recipients.

Also included are records relating to other elements of Father Murphy’s work at Assumption, as well as recordings of significant events at Assumption in the later 20th/early 21st centuries, including convocation ceremonies, CCS, and non-CCS lectures.

The fonds has been arranged by carrier media into Series I (Textual Files), which contains correspondence, biographical material, photographs connected with textual files, scrapbooks, ephemera, and more; and Series II (Recordings), which includes many formats of audio recording, as well as many more photographic images and some textual materials saved in digital formats.

This fonds contains personal, professional, and domestic records from the life of Joan Somers Sullivan in the later-20th and early-21st centuries. Series I (Personal Records) includes reminiscences about Joan, medical information, clippings related to community activitism (including traffic problems in Old Sandwich), and personal journals. Series II (Professional Records) features her resumé and qualifications, as well as administrative records, correspondence, public talks, research material, clippings, and publications connected with her pioneering effort to unionize legal secretaries in Windsor, Ontario during the 1970s. This includes talks for events held by the Faculties of Law at the University of Windsor and the University of Western Ontario, and articles published in the Windsor Woman women’s liberation newspaper and The Oyez Windsor law students’ newspaper. Series III (Domestic Records) contains recipes and household hints used in her later-life personal housekeeping, as well as lists of her annual Christmas baking.

This fonds consists of records pertaining to Jim Davies’ personal life and his involvement in Windsor’s gay community and other activist circles. Series I: Papers includes material relating to the local labour movement and the local women’s movement during the 1970s, including reflections on labour theory and labour unions, as well as minutes and outlines relating to the establishment of The Women’s Place and the Lincoln Road Co-op Daycare, both of which responded to issues identified by the local women’s movement. There are two Windsor Gay Unity membership cards, several documents relating to the discriminatory firing of Jim Davies from the Wandlyn Viscount Motor Hotel, a Social Work course assignment by Davies proposing measures to reduce discrimination against gays and lesbians, and a City of Windsor proclamation of Pride Day 1998. Series II: Photographs includes images of staff involved with the AIDS Committee of Windsor, participants in several Windsor Pride parades and associated events, as well as personal photographs of Jim Davies with his friends and loved ones.

This fonds contains several images of H.L. McPherson, typescripts and correspondence related to his work as a special correspondent for the Montreal Gazette in the late 1950s (commenting on Canadian politics, economy, and society from a Windsor perspective), and correspondence McPherson received in response to his columns in the Windsor Star, which touch on topics including walnut trees, water fluoridation, annexation of other municipalities to Windsor, and the federal government. There are copies of a 2019 essay about McPherson by his daughter Helen Wainman and a 2020 reminiscence by his son-in-law Gord Wainman about Gord’s father Stanley Holmes Wainman (a First World War veteran). Also included is a copy of the 1991 inventory of the complete original McPherson accession. Although the clippings themselves were deaccessioned ca. 1994-95, the inventory serves as a guide to the months and years in which McPherson’s columns appeared in the Windsor Star.

This fonds primarily contains records related to a parcel of land along the Detroit River in what is now Riverside, designated as Lot 116. This property was once a farmstead, later subdivided for residential use and the site of Edith Cavell elementary school. One file contains a small number of documents (1849-1938) from the Parent family, largely relating to the home, goods, and property of their farm. There are also 8 photographs of the property (ca. 1920s and 1950s) including the farmhouse, the school, a streetcar shelter, and a young Haines Cox. Several blueprints and plans depict Lot 116, its planned subdivision (“Lundy Heights”), and drains, ca. 1900-1918. Copies of two newspaper stories provide context for the Parent house and the Edith Cavell school.

One file contains material (1824-1833) related to a Parent cousin named Paul LeDuc, in connection with LeDuc’s lease of unceded lands in Bkejwanong Territory (along the St. Clair River delta) from the Anishinaabe community there that would later be known as Walpole Island First Nation. These handwritten records include receipts, notes, and a lease. Of special note is a land use agreement between LeDuc and four chiefs identified as Chippewa (also given as Ojibwe) from the Chenail Ecarte community, signed by the chiefs with animal doodems (totems).

This fonds contains primarily of original typescripts, off-prints, and bound publications of creative work by University of Windsor professor Eugene McNamara, including early copies of local journal Black Moss. There is also a small amount of correspondence and notes relating to a 1984 publication, a file of reviews clipped from magazines, and a collection of Hollywood film production stills (mostly Golden Age-era).

This fonds consists of 19 large, mounted black and white prints (some with original captions) depicting heritage buildings in Windsor, Ontario. The former towns (now historic neighbourhoods) of Sandwich and Walkerville are heavily featured. These include Dillon Hall at the University of Windsor; Old Sandwich’s McGregor-Cowan House, Sandwich Baptist Church, St. John’s Anglican Church, the Registry Office, and the Gaol; and Walkerville’s Hiram Walker & Sons distillery, St. Mary’s Anglican Church, and Willistead Manor. There are also half a dozen images of architectural details appearing in a variety of otherwise unidentified homes or storefronts around the city.