Where to Find Archival Records and Historical Information
Archival records that contain the information that you are looking for can be difficult to find amongst many different collections, fonds, and archival institutions. If there is one thing that we have learned in doing this work is that information can be found in unlikely places.
There are many different types of archives that all hold various types of information. Some archives will hold copies of the same original materials that are primarily held at different archives. This is important to know because if you encounter challenges accessing materials at one archive, there is likely another archive with the same materials where the materials are more easily accessed.This is because every province or territory has their own legislation and laws outlining who can access certain types of records, and how old the records have to be before they can be accessed.
The below tabs outline different major archival organisations where you can begin your search for archival records and historical information. Where you choose to begin will depend on your own research. The largest repository of archival records pertaining to the residential school system are held at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which brings together records relating to the operation of residential schools included in the from many different archival sources.
If the goal of your research is to find names of children who attended residential school or prepare for a remote sensing survey to search for unmarked burials, the NCTR is a great place to start your research. From there your search may widen to other major archives such as Provincial and Territorial archives. You may also want to search in local community archives or genealogical societies, as they often contain more specific histories of local communities which can be helpful. Starting at larger archives and using what you find to narrow down further record locations or particular topics or areas of interest is a process we have found to be the most effective.
The vast majority of records related to the operation of residential schools are held within the . The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation was established as a result of the . One part of the settlement agreement created the TRC and mandated the Commission to create a permanent archive for all of the statements, documents, and other materials it would gather over its years of operation.
have been created by the NCTR to aid in your research, which can help you to navigate the NCTR website to find what you are looking for.
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The NCTR has a large number of residential school records available to the public through their online portal. However, there are many records that cannot be made publicly available due to Privacy Laws. In order to gain access to these non-public records on behalf of your community, you may need to enter into a Proactive Disclosure Agreement with the NCTR. See more information on this process .
However, there are a number of records that are relevant to researching children who attended residential school that are not contained at the NCTR, but can be found elsewhere. Only records that were important to proving the attendance of students and their experiences during the IRSSA were kept and archived at the NCTR, so it is not a complete repository for all records pertaining to the entire residential school experience. Children were often moved from one school to another, transferred to hospitals or orphanages, or were successful in leaving the school. Likewise, community memory and information about previous cemetery or burial locations can be present in various community-based historic records or governmental records.
Provincial and Territorial archives contain archival records from many different sources on a wide variety of topics. They are often considered ‘total archives’, which preserve documented heritage of the Provincial or Territorial Government and individual residents including businesses, organisations, associations, and communities. These can include governmental records, genealogical records, maps, photos, homestead records, religious organisation records, recordings, publications, and many other document types. These archival institutions are the most likely to have important biographical data (such as genealogical records) about children who attended residential schools.
Not all records that are listed will be available online. You may have to contact the archive that produced the listing to gain access to the records either in person, or to order copies. Starting with an online repository is a good place to begin to figure out what records you might want to have access to and whether the archive holds records you are interested in looking at.
Many of these archives have finding aids or have developed research guides to help individuals access particular sorts of records. Some examples are provided below:
- Provincial Archives of Alberta:
- Provincial Archives of Alberta:
- Libraries and Archives Canada:
- Royal BC Museum:
The organisational structure and documentation types vary across different religious groups. Depending on what religious organisation you are researching, there may be specialised sub-groups within those organisations. Records relating to different sub-groups would be recorded and archived differently than others, so it is important to know which group was responsible for which institutions. For example the Catholic Church had several sub-organizations (usually called ‘orders’) involved in the residential school system including the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Sisters of Providence, and the Grey Nuns. Though these are all Catholic orders, their records will be arranged separately in an archival system, so it’s important to know which order was responsible for running a particular institution in order to track down the correct location of information.
but here are a few examples to get you started:
Smaller archives (sometimes called “Historical Societies”) are more likely to contain archival materials specific to a particular area's community history. They may record certain events in more detail, or have more detailed documentation or descriptions of local families. However, these organisations are most often run by volunteers or have very small numbers of staff and may therefore have restrictions in terms of hours, access, and increased costs associated with accessing information (such as memberships or generating copies of documents). Sometimes it might be difficult to get the answers you need by calling or emailing and might have more success attending in person to sort through the records to find what you are looking for. These organisations might be less likely to have information online about the content of their collections so calling ahead and in advance puts you in a good position to figure out whether it is worth attending to search for information.
That being said, some local archives have increased there online presence or digitised their materials or finding aids, so it is always good to check online to before calling or attending in person. For example, the has an online collection search tool available for at home research.
Another place you may find archival documents is within the archives at Universities or other educational institutions. They may hold related material that was donated or the university itself historically had involvement within the residential school system. For example, see:
- To find archival institutions based on location, go to:
- A database of Canadian archival repositories, maintained by the Canadian Council of Archives.
- This is the Directory of Corporate Archives in the United States and Canada. This includes companies that maintain their historical records themselves, as well as companies that contract with historical consulting firms to maintain their archives collections for them, and libraries that contain business records. Those businesses that contract outside the company for archival services are marked by an asterisk.
- A list of organisations in the United States and Canada that represent archivists and/or archival repositories.
- You can also try the of archives in Canada. Although this list may be incomplete, archives are grouped by type which can be useful if you are looking for religious archives only. Remember, the type of archive does not always indicate the type of records an archive contains, so it is best to look online for information (such as finding aids) published by the archive and use Wikipedia as a starting point only.
- Another resource is the which is also inclusive of other institutions such as day schools not always captured by other listings.
It’s very important to keep careful track of what you have searched and where you have found helpful records - an Excel spreadsheet is helpful for this. There are so many databases and catalogues that it is easy to forget which ones you have consulted, or which archival held a particular piece of information.
When working on long-term projects, keep track of which databases you have searched, your search terms, the search date (since new items are added all the time and it may be worth checking again later). If you find any digitised items, ensure you attach a citation of where it came from, the web link, and the date you copied it.