This collection contains an eclectic assortment of material – primarily images –relating to the history of Southwestern Ontario and its surrounding areas. The collection has been arranged into series that reflect the types of material received for digitization by SWODA. Series I contains photographs, including a number depicting the work and premises of a Windsor-area construction company, ca. 1920s-1970s; a 1943 group photo from a Windsor factory doing war production; and a Windsor elementary school class photo, ca. 1918; and mausoleums in Windsor Grove Cemetery, 1987-2021. Series II contains several hundred historic postcards in various styles (ca. 1900-2001) depicting landscapes, buildings, attractions, infrastructure, and modes of transportation primarily in Southwestern Ontario (especially Windsor and Essex County) and Detroit, Michigan. Five 1946 postcards depicting other places are all addressed to Miss F. “Rose” Perjul of Windsor, Ontario, mostly from newly demobilized soldier “Frank.” One postcard commemorates a 1959 royal visit. Further series will be added as applicable. Any known details about a specific item are included in the finding aid.

This fonds contains records connected with 22 Superiors or Presidents of Assumption College and University, ca. 1861-2009. For the most part it is organized chronologically by individual, although later accruals to the fonds have led to some quirks in file numbering or arrangement. Much of the fonds consists of administrative correspondence connected with institutional matters. There are also photographs, reports, publications, statistics, and notes on various subjects.

This fonds contains records of students and student activities at Assumption College and Assumption University, ca. 1870s-1980s. It also includes some records from Assumption High School in that period, and for the University of Western Ontario during the years of Assumption’s affiliation with Western. Included are roll books and testimonials; minutes of the Literary Society; newsletters, yearbooks, and student publications; handbooks for students, residents, and faculty; promotional and recruitment brochures for Assumption; ephemera relating to special events, convocation, dramatics, and athletics; program and course listings; and news clippings. There is a small amount of material relating to student grades or schoolwork, alumni, Second World War servicemen, and deceased Basilian Fathers. Of special note: correspondence relating to the Assumption victory song, a history of Holy Names College, and brochures for 1940s summer school offerings listing Wyndham Lewis and Marshall McLuhan as faculty.

This fonds primarily contains curated scrapbooks that document the people and events of Assumption College and University through the late-19th and 20th c. Additional oversize posters, photographs, and guestbooks (not housed in scrapbooks) are also present. The scrapbooks contain a mixture of news clippings, photographs, and ephemera (especially posters and programs from special events, but also athletic ‘school letters’, typescript sermons, and more), generally arranged by year(s). Photographs range from candid shots of students and professors around campus, to formal portraits of classes and sports teams; clippings cover news of the college/university, current students and alumni, Basilian fathers, and developments in higher education and Catholic education. Of special note are items relating to the 1951 royal visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, tributes to campus veterans and/or the war dead from the two world wars, promotional material relating to the Christian Culture Series and Father J.S. Murphy, and campus ministry in the later 20th c.

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.

The fonds consists of original Windsor Star editorial cartoons drawn by Mike Graston that reflect local, provincial, national, and international public affairs of the period 1981-2016. The images have been arranged by date of creation. Politics and politicians figure prominently, at all four levels.

Municipal topics include mayors and city councillors, elections, public utilities and infrastructure, local Canada-US border crossings, automakers and other major local employers, unions and strikes, strip clubs, casinos, the downtown core, and riverfront development plans.

Provincial topics include premiers and Windsor/Essex members of provincial parliament, party leaders, economic policies, education, health care, and elections.

National topics include prime ministers and Windsor/Essex members of parliament, party leaders, economic policies, taxation, national defence, elections, same-sex marriage, Quebec separatism, Western alienation, and many political scandals.

International issues include wars in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, school shootings, the British Royal Family, American presidential politics, and Canadian-American relations.

Social issues are a secondary focus, with recurring themes of technological change, demographic change in Canada, Western popular culture (including television, sports, music, and celebrities), Remembrance Day, public health, and the environment.

A small amount of biographical information about Mike Graston and past exhibits of his work is also included in a textual file.

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 contains records from University of Windsor librarian Jennifer Soutter’s 2006-2007 term on the Library Board of the Windsor Public Library (WPL). The records include administrative and financial documents, a controversial operational review and subsequent strategic planning exercise, discussion of a possible library branch in the historic John Campbell School, and contextual documents related to city demographics, public library models, and Ontario-wide public library initiatives. Many documents contain Soutter’s annotations.

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 financial records of Assumption College and University, ca. 1856-1999. These include general cash books, financial statements, correspondence, and records of accounts, as well as real estate acquired, constructed, maintained, or sold by Assumption and/or the Basilian Fathers in the vicinity of the present-day campus, from Tecumseh Road north to the Detroit River. Included are land deeds, contracts, and other legal documents, as well as architectural or schematic drawings and specifications for campus buildings. Notably, this includes records of property acquired in the early days of the college, and campus properties sold by Assumption in the 1960s to the University of Windsor. Of special note: a small number of 1950s-1960s records relating to Essex College, the non-denominational affiliated college that helped secure provincial government funding for the campus.