Collection consists of recordings made by Ruth Ann Borchiver in which she interviewed former members of the Canadian Communist movement, living in Toronto, for her doctoral thesis in applied psychology at the University of Toronto. The first interviews were conducted in 1984 and 1985 and the second interviews were mostly conducted in 1986 and 1987.
Borchiver asked participants about the events that led to their adoption of Communism; their reaction to perceived inconsistencies in Communist politics; their response to Khrushchev’s 1956 “Secret Speech” and other revelations about Stalinist rule; and their responses to significant events in Soviet history, including the Moscow trials of the 1930s, the Soviet non-aggression pact with Germany (commonly known as the Hitler-Stalin Pact), and Soviet interference in Yugoslavia.

Borchiver’s analysis centred on three themes: the conditions which led to the participants’ “conversion” to Communism, the conditions which led to the disconfirmation of their beliefs, and the conditions of proselytizing behaviour following their disconfirmation. The result is a description of ideological change from a millenarian outlook for achieving change through revolution to a tempered belief in incremental social change. Her methodology is socio-historical biography, using semi-structured interviews.

The first interview questions followed, but were not limited to, the following topics: early experiences of socialist ideation, feelings of achievement in the movement, reactions to revelations of the mid-1950s including Nikita Khrushchev’s Secret Speech (1956), and their current beliefs regarding socialist ideas. The second interview focused on the following topics: Trotskyism, the Moscow Trials, Social Democracy, the German-Soviet Pact, and Soviet interference in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

The study was conducted on twelve people who were active in the Canadian communist movement prior to 1960, commonly referred to as the “Old Left.” Respondents included three women and nine men, who ranged in age from 65 to 83 years old and joined the Communist Party of Canada between 1923 and 1935. One participant was expelled from the Party in 1949, nine defected in 1957, and two left in 1960. Six participants were in the full-time employ of the Party for most of their careers, and six were leading Party activists. Six were European immigrants and six were born in Canada of immigrant parents. The thirteenth interviewee, who is not included in the final dissertation, was interviewed in hospital but not recorded.

The fonds consists of recordings of prominent speakers and theorists in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies. Many, but not all, of the recordings were done at McMaster University. The topics covered are wide-ranging, and there is enormous diversity within each series. A small selection of some of the more well-represented topics includes post-secondary education in El Salvador, the arms trade, violence in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Central America, women and violence, nuclear disarmament, trade unionism in South Africa, and human rights in Guatemala. Some of the speakers are Noam Chomsky, Chief Ovide Mercredi, Ursula Franklin, Mubarak Awad, Helen Caldicott, Ramsey Clark, Joseph Rotblat, Gwynne Dyer and Gene Sharp.

The fonds is very comprehensive and includes: 32 notebooks in which Cockburn composed most of his song lyrics from 1969 to 2002; song sheets and scores; correspondence, including fan mail; awards, including gold records; promotional material, including posters; tour books; scrapbooks; photographs; a copy of each of Cockburn’s recordings; video and film items; and other material. The eighth accrual consists mostly of audio recordings as well as some additional textual materials and realia.

The collection consists of interviews contained on audio cassettes along with transcripts of many of the interviews. Most of the interviews are in English but some are in French.

There have been two accruals. The first accrual consists of correspondence, news, a few clippings and one manuscript. The second accrual consists of correspondence, manuscripts, news clippings, broadsides and posters, and photographs.

The collection consists of printed materials issued by a large number of organizations, mainly student groups, although organized labour and women's groups are also represented in the collection. There is only a small amount of material for each organization, usually one file. The collection is supplemented by an uncatalogued pamphlet collection which also includes some international pamphlets. There are also a small number of button badges and some posters. Note: student organizations at McMaster University are part of the McMaster University fonds.

The archives consists of campaign files, internal organization material, international operations, videos, and material of photojournalist Elaine Briere, who worked with ETAN.

The collection consists of approximately 200 pages of love letters exchanged between Katina Paxinou and Sir Sydney Waterlow between 1938 and 1939. There are 45 letters written by Paxinou, 30 by Waterlow. The letters are written in French with occasional sections in Greek and English.

The fonds consists of manuscripts, correspondence, journals, published material, photographs, and other material. It also includes materials related to her brother, Edward, as well as other family members. Please see the note on arrangement for a more detailed listing of the contents.

The fonds consists of three accruals of correspondence, minute books, financial statements, news releases, circulars, contact lists and issues of Hamilton Area Tools for Peace and Tools for Peace News.

Titles of series (with the exception of 22 and 23) are derived from chapter headings used by Thomson for a proposed autobiography for which the materials were gathered. Series 22 has been created by the archivist to contain all the correspondence to and from David Smith. Series 23 has been created to house audio-visual material in one place. The series are as follows: University Days and R.C.A.F.; Adult Education in Saskatchewan; UNESCO International Institute for Child Study; Quaker Conferences in Southern Asia; Peace Education and the CFSC in Canada; International Development: CUSO, Thailand and Canada; Canadian Council for International Cooperation; The Group of 78; Project Ploughshares; The UNSSODS I-II and World Disarmament Campaign; Peace Brigades International; Canadian Seniors for Social Responsibility; Religions for Peace (WCRP); International Council for Adult Education; Peace Fund Canada; Canadian Friends of Burma; Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee; Nonviolent Peace Force (Canada); Nuclear Disarmament and a Culture of Peace; Make Room for Peace (In the War Museum); Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention; Correspondence with David Smith and Audio-visual.

The fonds consists materials regarding his dismissal from McGill University and his thesis. The fonds was supplemented by books, many of them on political economy, which were catalogued.

The fonds contains minutes, correspondence, finance, and activities; mimeographed documents, newsletters and pamphlets; statements, minutes, lists and publications; and photographs.

There have been two accruals. The first accrual arrived in disarray. The only series containing files in their original order are the Estate Accounting series and 2 files in the Feinberg series. Organization had to be imposed on most other files because file labels bore no relationship to contents and contents were mixed. The fonds has been thus been organized into the following series: Organization of Russell Archives, Preparation of the Catalogue and Its Sales; Sale of the Archives; Sale and Continuing Relationship with McMaster University; Anton Felton Correspondence; Barry Feinberg Correspondence; Russell's Books and Articles; Publishing Projects Involving Other Authors; Film Projects; Legal and Financial; Estate Accounting; Russell Correspondence; Edith Russell Correspondence and Memorandum; Russell Biographical Information, Photograph, Meetings; Printed Materials. The second small accrual consists mainly of legal documents.

This collection consists of printed materials, including notices of meetings and information, issued by the following organizations:
Hamilton and District Co-ordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam
Hamilton Anti-war Committee
Hamilton Committee for Independent Canadian Unions
Hamilton Committee to Defend Civil Liberties
Hamilton Communist Club
Hamilton District Women's Liberation Movement
Hamilton Labour Committee for Jobs
Hamilton People's Movement
Hamilton Vietnam Mobilization Committee
Hamilton Women's Liberation Group
Hamilton Young Socialists

The collection consists of correspondence, poetry manuscripts, and typescript of part of Memoirs of An Infantry Officer (1930), the second volume of the Sherston trilogy.

The collection consists mostly of the research materials compiled by Monika Jensen-Stevenson and William Stevenson for their book, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, published by McClelland & Stewart in 1990. Included are: research notes, transcripts and notes from interviews, photographs, and many photocopied documents. The collection has been arranged into five series: Research materials: families and friends of POWs/MIAs, military personnel, CIA; Research materials: journalists, politicians, lawyers, and others; Other research materials; Photographs; Book drafts and other materials.

Fonds contains personal material and records related to Stephen’s professional roles, including speaking notes, correspondence, research material, and audio-visual material. Several series are arranged by the offices he held over the course of his career: i.e., Member of Provincial Parliament and Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (1963-1977), Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations (1984-1988), Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF (199), and United Nations Special Envoy to HIV/AIDS in Africa (2001-2006). See Arrangement field for more detail.

Fonds consists of correspondence, personal material from university, legal documents, personal and professional photographs, letters of support, ephemera and clippings from David’s political campaign, and condolence letters sent to David’s family following his death.