Fonds consists of records which partially document Tommy Douglas' activities as Premier of Saskatchewan, and, in greater detail, as leader of the federal New Democratic Party. It also provides a wealth of material on his activities as a member of the federal N.D.P. caucus and ranges from correspondence from his constituents to collections of the material used for his speeches. Together the disparate portions of this fonds demonstrate his wide-ranging interests and his influence, at first at the provincial level in Saskatchewan, and then at the federal level as leader of the N.D.P., and finally as an influential Member of Parliament. The textual records are divided into four series: Correspondence, 1944-1979, volumes 1-106; New Democratic Party, 1961-1979, volumes 107-121; Reference, 1945-1979, volumes 121-138; and Speeches, articles and press releases, 1943-1979,volumes 139-156. Microfilmed material consists of transcripts of interviews with Mr. Douglas conducted by Chris Higginbotham, 1858, 1961, covering major facets of Mr. Douglas' career. This material is located on microfilm reel M-1677. The fonds contains photographs pertaining to T.C. (Tommy) Douglas and his colleagues in the New Democratic Party, including Stanley Knowles, Frank Howard, Colin Cameron, Max Saltsman, Arnold Peters, David Orlikow, Grace McInnis, John Gilbert, Lorne Nystrom, Barry Walthers; portraits of Woodrow S. Lloyd, leader of Saskatchewan C.C.F.; film promotion photographs of Donald Sutherland; portraits of Don Harron, Pierre Berton, and Mike Magee; photographers represented include Yousuf Karsh, Robert C. Ragsdale, Duncan Cameron, Capital Press, Andrews-Hunt, Tony Archer, Newton, and Gordon Heenan. Also included in the fonds are sound recordings of Tommy Douglas reciting the poetry of Robert Burns, Hazen Argue explaining his leaving of the N.D.P., a commercially released record of songs; and a talk Douglas gave about medicare, 1959-1968. The fonds also contains a Black Friday medal and a Melfort Souvenir Coin, [1967]. Fonds contains 12 maps of Saskatchewan, Qualicum Beach and Galiano Island, B.C., along with a petroleum and natural gas map of Canada.
Douglas, T. C. (Thomas Clement), 1904-1986 : Thomas Clement Douglas was born at Falkirk, Scotland, on 20 October 1904 and emigrated to Canada in 1910. He was educated at Brandon College, McMaster University and the University of Chicago. In 1930, he was ordained as a Baptist Minister.
Douglas began his political career in 1934 when he ran unsuccessfully as a Farmer-Labour candidate in the Saskatchewan general election; however, the following year he was elected to the House of Commons as the C.C.F. member for Weyburn, Saskatchewan. In 1942, he was elected leader of the Saskatchewan C.C.F. and three years later he resigned his House of Commons seat in order to run in the Saskatchewan general election. He served as Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961.
In 1961, Douglas was elected leader of the federal New Democratic Party, a position he held until 1971, and he entered the House of Commons in 1961 as the member for the British Columbia riding of Burnaby-Coquitlam. Following his defeat in the 1968 general election, Douglas re-entered the House of Commons after a by-election victory in the riding of Nanaimo-Cowichan - The Islands, British Columbia. He served this riding until his retirement from active politics in 1979.
