Collection search - Canadian Authors Association fonds [textual record, graphic material]
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Canadian Authors Association fonds [textual record, graphic material]
Hierarchical level:FondsContext of this record:Fonds includes:10 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s) -
Finding aid Textual record (Electronic) The finding aid is a file list. MSS0355 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000059.pdf -
Record information Canadian Authors Association fonds [textual record, graphic material]
Date:1868, 1921-1997.Reference:R2799-0-3-E, MG28-I2Type of material:Textual material, PhotographsFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:99319Date(s):1868, 1921-1997.Place of creation:No place, unknown, or undeterminedExtent:11.65 m of textual records.
103 photographs : b&w and col.Language of material:EnglishScope and content:The fonds consists of ten series and seven sub-series documenting the history of the Canadian Authors Association, from the year of its establishment to 1997. The series are as follows: Constitution and By-laws; Financial Records; Executive Committee and National Council; Annual Conventions and Conferences; Membership; Branch Records (divided into sub-series National Office Branch, Toronto Branch, Sarnia Branch, Ottawa Branch and Manitoba Branch Files); Publications (including the sub-series Canadian Author and Bookman, in addition to correspondence and other material related to other CAA publishing projects such as the "Spirit of Canada", "Writers' Guide", and "A Century of Canadian Literature/Un siècle de littérature canadienne"); Special Projects and Awards (including files on Graphic Publishers Ltd., Ottawa, 1931-1950, a collection of autographs of Ottawa authors, 1943-1944, n.d., files on the Writers' War Committee, 1943, and documentation on copyright, public lending right, and briefs to various Royal Commissions, as well as on awards); Correspondence (covering a wide range of subjects including conferences, meetings, membership and awards, and including a separate run of Secretaries' Files, 1921-1946); and CAA Affiliations (including a sub-series on the Academy of Canadian Writers).
The fonds also consists of photographs, including one from 1868, depicting the funeral of Hon. Thomas d'Arcy McGee, Montreal, Que., photographed by James Inglis, which was acquired from the Canadian Authors Association.Provenance:Additional name(s):Biography/Administrative history:Canadian Authors Association : The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) was founded in Montreal in 1921, largely to improve copyright protection for Canadian writers. It was composed of ten regional branches, which met at annual conventions, and a national executive. While it originally included a French section, this was replaced by la Société des écrivains canadiens in 1938, with which the CAA remained affiliated. The CAA's founding members included such prominent literary figures as Stephen Leacock, Pelham Edgar, B.K. Sandwell, John Murray Gibbon and W.A. Deacon.
Among the Canadian Authors Association's early accomplishments were the institution, with the co-operation of publishers in Canada, of the Canadian Book Week in 1921 and the founding of a quarterly, the "Canadian Author and Bookman" that same year. During its first decade, it promoted Canadian literature by sending authors such as Wilson MacDonald, Bliss Carman and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts on tours of Canadian Clubs across Canada. It was active in the passing of Canada's original copyright legislation in 1924. In 1936, it began to publish the "Canadian Poetry Magazine", and was instrumental in the founding of the Governor General's Literary Awards in 1937 (which were taken over by the Canada Council in 1959). It also adjudicated the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour 1946-1960 and since 1963 has administered the Vicky Metcalf Short Story Award. It also presents annual CAA Literary Awards.
In 1946, the Canadian Authors Association began a campaign to bring a Public Lending Right program to Canadian authors, which came into being in 1986 and on whose Executive Committee the CAA is represented. The CAA continued its interest in copyright matters and is a charter member of the Canadian Copyright Institute. It has represented writers in briefs to royal commissions, including the Massey Commission on National Development of the Arts, Letters and Sciences (1949-1951) and the Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission (1963-1967).
Over the years, some 25,000 writers have been members of the Canadian Authors Association including, in the early days, Bliss Carman, Robert W. Service, Ralph Connor, E.J. Pratt, Mazo de la Roche and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. During the last decades, other literary organizations have achieved a more prominent position in representing the interests and concerns of Canadian writers, but the Canadian Authors Association continues to attract some 750 members a year. Its stated mandate is to promote recognition of Canadian writers and their works and to foster and develop a climate favourable to the creative arts. Its objectives are to work for the encouragement and protection of writers; to speak for writers before government and other inquiries; and to sponsor awards and otherwise encourage work of literary and artistic merit. It also undertakes to publish various publications, including "The Canadian Writers' Guide", to improve the professionalism of Canadian writers.Additional information:Custodial history:From 1921 to 1947, the archival records of the Canadian Authors Association had a nomadic existence, being housed wherever the national office or executive resided, as the CAA's original constitution determined that the head office alternated between Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg, and it was not until 1947 that a national head office was established in Toronto. During its early history, some CAA records may have been retained by prominent members and deposited with their private papers in various university and public archives. In the late 1980s, the CAA initiated an attempt to consolidate its archives and solicited the return of older archival material from various repositories across the country. In 1987, the CAA's newly established Gelber Library became the central repository for the CAA archives, some of which had been returned from interim custody by the University of Calgary and Victoria College, University of Toronto. A few former CAA officers, such as Betty Dyck and Eric Crowther, also returned files. Despite consolidation, the archival records remained unorganized, however, and the Gelber Library was closed in 1995. Bibliographic materials from the library were donated to Simon Fraser University and the CAA archives were transferred to the custody of CAA archivist Eleanor McEachern. In 1998 they were transferred to the National Archives of Canada. The 1998 acquisition represents an addition to a small collection of CAA materials, of various provenances, previously held by the National Archives and acquired between 1946 and 1991.Arrangement note:The current series, sub-series, and file organization represent an imposed order. Assigned file titles or additional title information not appearing on the original files have been placed in square brackets.Associated material note:Records of the Canadian Authors Association may also be found at the University of Calgary Library (Special Collections), Glenbow Archives, British Columbia Archives, Provincial Archives of Manitoba, University of Toronto, and Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management. The material held by these institutions consists of early branch records.Subject heading:- Lamb, W. Kaye (William Kaye)
- Grove, Frederick Philip
- Ottawa (Ont.) - Authors, 1943-1944 Allan, Ted, 1953
- Canadian Authors Association - Records and correspondence, 1943-1944 Authors - Ottawa
- World War II - Public opinion, 1943 authors - Canadian
- Publishers and publishing - Canada, 1931-1950 Aylen, Elise, 1943-1944
- Bird, Will R., 1953
- Bourinot, Arthur, 1943-1944
- Burpee, L.J., 1943-1944
- Campbell, Marjorie, 1953
- Canadian Copyright Act
- Cappon, James, c.1921-1946
- Coldwell, M.J., 1943-1944
- Dafoe, J.W
- Drummond, W.H
- Eayrs, Hugh S
- Edgard, Pelham, 1943-1944
- Garvin, John W
- Gibbon, John Murray
- Gordon, Reverand C.W
- Governor-General's Awards
- Graphic Publishers, Ltd., 1931-1950
- harris, Jack, 1953
- Literature - Canadian
- Livesay, J.F.B
- Niven, Frederick
- Phelan, Josephine, 1953
- Roberts, sir Charles G.D
- Salverson, Laura, 1943
- Sandwell, B.K
- Sinclair, Lister, 1953
- Stevenson, Lionel, 1953
- Theriault, Yves, 1953
- Walker, David, 1953
- Wartime Information Board, 1943
- Young, Scott
Source:PrivateFormer archival reference no.:MG28-I2 -
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