Fonds JGD/MG01 - John G. Diefenbaker fonds

George Bannerman Siblings of William Thomas Diefenbaker John Diefenbaker by an unidentified body of water John Diefenbaker with Jawaharlal Nehru John Diefenbaker with Jawaharlal Nehru John Diefenbaker in a boat Boats on river in India Boats on river in India Boats on river in India John, Olive and Elmer Diefenbaker at Temple John and Olive Diefenbaker at the Taj Mahal John Diefenbaker on a boat with rifle John Diefenbaker with cousins Olive Diefenbaker at Lady Irwin College and Cottage Industry Emporium Olive Diefenbaker at Lady Irwin College and Cottage Industry Emporium
Results 1 to 15 of 7999 Show all

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

John G. Diefenbaker fonds

General material designation

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Repository

Reference code

JGD/MG01

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1815-1979, predominant 1925-1979 (Creation)

Physical description area

Physical description

593.2 m of textual records and other material

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

Diefenbaker, John George, 1895-1979

Biographical history

John George Diefenbaker was born in Neustadt, Ontario, 18 September 1895 and died in Ottawa 16 August, 1979. A lawyer and a politician, he served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 to 1963.

Diefenbaker's family moved to the Fort Carlton region of the then North-West Territories in 1903; he attended school in several communities before the family moved to Saskatoon in 1910. After receiving a B.A. (1915) and M.A. (1916) from the University of Saskatchewan, he enlisted for service during the First World War; he subsequently completed his law degree (1919) and was called to the bar the same year.

First practicing law in Wakaw, he moved to Prince Albert in 1924. He ran unsuccessfully in the federal elections of 1925 and 1926 and the provincial elections of 1929 and 1938, before being elected as the MP for Lake Centre in 1940.

In 1956, Diefenbaker was selected as the new leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and became Prime Minister in 1957 - considered an upset. In March 1958, he led his party to the biggest majority government to that point in Canadian history, with 208 seats.

After the 1962 election, the Diefenbaker Conservatives were reduced to a minority, and they lost power in 1963. He was challenged as leader, and lost the vote at the leadership convention in 1967. Continuing to serve as an MP until his death, he was elected for the 13th time in May 1979. He died in August 1979 and was buried in Saskatoon on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan (next to the Diefenbaker Canada Centre) following a state funeral in Ottawa and a cross-Canada train journey.

Custodial history

Scope and content

Fonds includes personal correspondence and papers, as well as background and reference material assembled by John Diefenbaker
and his staff. There is also large collection of press clippings, supplemented by press clippings gathered by the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

The fonds is divided into twenty-three series: I Legal Series II Pre 1940 Series III 1940-1956 Series IV Leader of the Opposition, Dec. 1956 - June 1957 Series V Family Series VI Prime Minister’s Office Numbered Correspondence Series VII Reference Series, 1957-1967 VIII Prime Minister’s Office Unnumbered Correspondence Series IX Second Leader of the Opposition, 1963-1967 Series X Office Administration Series XI Member of Parliament, 1967-1979 Series XII Personal and Confidential Series, 1957-1979 XIII Reference Series, 1940-1957 XIV Memoirs Series XV Historical Series, 1815-1974 XVI Press Clippings Series XVII Photographs and Slides Series XVIII Audio-Visual Series XIX Scrapbook Series XX Poster Series XXI Speech Series XXII Prime Minister’s Office/ Second Leader of the Opposition Press Release Series
*XXIII Cabinet Ministers’ Statements and Speeches

Language of material

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Series I through VIII and part of series XII are available on microfilm; see series descriptions for details.

Restrictions on access

Some restrictions apply; see series-level descriptions for details.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Hard copy finding aids available; file-level descriptions also available in separate database (all series except XVI, XXI, and XXIII) - https://library.usask.ca/diefenbaker/. See photographs and slides series description for link to item-level image database.

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

Location note

This collection is stored off-site; please contact the Archives in advance to arrange in-person use

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Accession area