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Western Libraries Digitized Collections

Digitized Collections

  • Cover of the 1916 edition of the Christmas Echo, showing a child playing with blocks that spell "Christmas"

    The Christmas Echo

    The annual Christmas edition of the newspaper The London Echo, published by A. Talbot & Co. in London, Ontario. These special editions were printed on high quality bond paper.  Included are many stories, articles on local individuals, groups,  events and businesses, with numerous photographs. Within each issue are many advertisements for local businesses or regional/national products, with some in colour as well. The 1916 and 1918 editions have photographs of London area soldiers and a few women (nurses mainly) who are serving or lost their lives in World War I.
  • A photograph of an audio tape

    Keepers of the Ways collection

    This collection consists of digitized audio tapes and cassettes from interviews with 27 women who were actively involved in keeping traditional native arts alive. Keepers of the Ways was a project of the Native Women of Southwestern Ontario and began in 1987.
  • Selected Manuscripts

    This collection includes digitized manuscripts from Western Libraries’ special collections.
  • Wawanosh, Sands, Mern Family fonds

    This collection includes selected items from the Wawanosh, Sands, Mern Family fonds. The Wawanosh family were prominent members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, formerly named Chippewas of Sarnia reserve. Joshua Wawanosh (ca 1781-1871) served as hereditary chief for three terms, 1827-1844, 1848-1853 and 1868-1870. Joshua and Eliza Wawanosh had 5 children, David, Joseph, Thomas, William, and Elizabeth. David, Joseph, and Thomas died of tuberculosis. David Wawanosh served as hereditary chief between 1853 and 1867. William Wawanosh served as the first elected chief between 1874-1877 and 1899-1901. The digitized collection includes selected Chippewas of Sarnia records and Wawanosh family correspondence in series 1 and 2.
  • Barnett Legacy Collection

    John Davis Barnett donated over 40,000 books and thousands of pamphlets, the largest single gift ever received by a Canadian library, to the University of Western Ontario in August 1918 and became Western's first librarian. Barnett's goal was to provide the nucleus of a national library, and so the donation was received with the understanding that his books would be available to everyone.
  • Canadian Black History Collection

    This collection includes digitized black history resources from a Canadian context that are held in Western Archives and Special Collections.
  • Folio

    This collection includes volumes of Folio, a publication of creative works by Western University students, published between 1947 and 1972.
  • Historic Cookery Collection

    A selection of volumes from our special collections and archives pertaining to medicinal and food recipes, dating from the 1600s to the early 1900s. The selection contains handwritten volumes, scrapbooks, as well as published books, many of which were created or compiled in Canada.
  • John and Amelia Harris Family fonds

    This collection from the John and Amelia Harris Family fonds contains the personal diaries of Amelia Harris (1798-1882) from 1857 to 1882 which detail her day-to-day life primarily in London, Ontario; the personal diaries of Lucy Harris (1845-1901) from 1883 to 1886; the travel diary of Lucy Harris during her 1897 trip to Japan; and the travel diaries of Milly Harris (1868-1959) from 1893 to 1903 which detail her trips around the world and include news clippings, magazine cutouts, photos, and pressed flowers.
  • Medical Scrapbook Collection

    The Medical Scrapbooks contain clippings which focus on Western’s Medical School, medicine in London, southwestern Ontario and the world. The scrapbooks were created by Western’s medical school and are a great resource for local medical history.
  • Muncey Photograph Collection

    Photographs taken in and around Muncey, Ontario in the 1940s. These photographs were found with a donation from the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association Lodge No. 89. They were removed as not being relevant to that fonds. The group of photographs were initially named “Peter Family Photographs and Muncey [Munsee] Reserve” and has been renamed “Muncey Photograph Collection."
  • Nursing Diaries Collection

    The Nursing Diaries collection of diaries, certificates, a photograph, and a yearbook about two nurses, from the 1920s and 1950s. This includes material from the Ruby Muriel Carter fonds and the Kathleen McIntyre fonds.
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