Donating Community Records to the City of Coquitlam Archives

Did you know that the City of Coquitlam Archives receives records from two distinct sources? The first is the City itself. The City has a file plan that identifies municipal records from various city departments that have enduring legal, historic, or archival value. Examples of these are City Minutes, Bylaws, Committee Minutes, aerial photographs, reports, legal documents and correspondence. These records are transferred to the Archives as the they reach the archival stage of their lifecycle. 

City Records in the VaultCity Records in the Vault.

The second group of donors is the Coquitlam community. The Archives acquires, preserves and makes accessible the records of businesses, organizations, families and private individuals that are of significance to the municipality and deemed worthy of long-term preservation. The Archives holdings are comprised of around 50% city records and 50% community records. This web exhibit will discuss how community records make their way to the City Archives.

Community records in the vaultCommunity records in the Vault.

Community records find their way to the archives via different routes. Donors who have experienced a life-changing event will often contact archivists. A frequent example of this is retirement and moving from a long-term residence. The process of packing up a house and moving to a new address can reveal a cache of family records long forgotten. Neglected boxes in attics and basements often yield archival records that eventually make their way to the archives vault. 

The passing of a family member can also result in archival donations. When a loved one dies, they leave families with legacy records that document their lives. For example, if the person was active within the Coquitlam community, worked at a Coquitlam business, or had attended and photographed events/geographic locations around the City; their records could be of interest to the Archives. Family members are unsure what do with these records and we ask that you reach out to Coquitlam Archives for assistance. Archivist’s can advise what items are archival and suitable for their repository. 

When a community organization dissolves because of declining or aging membership, it can also lead to a donation to the Archives. Long established community groups create and accumulate records that document different periods of Coquitlam’s history. This was the case with Club Bel Âge; a Maillardville, Francophone, seniors group that formed in 1964. When declining membership and worries about a potential new location became a factor, the President contacted the Archives to facilitate a unique and interesting donation in 2021. Coquitlam Archives was pleased to add this group’s historical record to the collection.

Prize Recipes of Mallairdville - Club Bel Age fondsPrize Recipes of Mallairdville - Club Bel Age fonds.

Petts Meat and Grocery - Club Bel Age fondsPetts Meat and Grocery - Club Bel Age fonds.

When a local newspaper closes, it can result in a donation that has immense archival value. Newspaper collections are well represented in municipal archives. They are much in demand due to their format and detail. Often when a local newspaper closes, sometimes at short notice, municipal archivists are called to assist with the transfer of newspapers and photographs. These valuable records that document municipal history would be lost forever if archives staff cannot take them into the archives and provide continued public access to them.

Newspaper collections in the vaultNewspaper collections in the vault.

Community records can also find their way into the archives when archivists are proactive and reach out directly to community groups. This is currently the case with the Burke Mountain Naturalists (BMN). The BMN are an active group with a proven track record of successfully advocacy on environmental issues within the Tri-Cities. In this instance, board members were invited to the Coquitlam Archives to see if there was interest in a donation. After taking a tour of the Archives and a chat with the archivist about benefits of donating, board members agreed to the donation. Members are currently working on the donation by labelling and identifying people/places that appear in their photographs. This is of great assistance to Archives staff, who might not know the unidentified people in the photos and, therefore, cannot fully describe them. The extra detail allows for greater discoverability. Archives staff are looking forward to processing the donation when it arrives at the end of this year.

Burke Mountain Naturalists

Burke Mountain Naturalists

Community donations come in all shapes and sizes and can vary from a single postcard to several boxes worth of material. The size of the donation is not a barrier for entry to the Archives.

IT.0018- Postcard of Proposed Municipal Hall - Ephemera CollectionPostcard of Proposed Municipal Hall - Ephemera Collection.

Riverview Horticultural Society DonationRiverview Horticultural Society Donation.

Think you might have some records to donate to the City of Coquitlam Archives? Here are some points to consider.

Leave a Legacy for Generations to Come

To complement the records of the municipal government, the Archives is always seeking historically significant records from members of the community, including:

  • Businesses
  • Community organizations
  • Families
  • Individuals
  • Non-Profits

Some Reasons to Donate Records

  • Contribute to passing knowledge from one generation to the next.
  • Make a lasting contribution to the historical narrative of Coquitlam.
  • Ensure the preservation of your records by placing them in a secure and controlled environment.
  • Ensure that Coquitlam’s documentary history is diverse and representative as its communities. 

What to Donate?

Items to donate include:

  • Audio/visual records
  • Diaries
  • Digital records 
  • Letters
  • Maps and plans
  • Photographs including family photos or geographic photos
  • Records documenting the operation and administration of a local organization
  • Records documenting the operation and history of a local business
  • Scrapbooks

Scrapbooks - Thomas G. Gaunt fondsScrapbooks - Thomas G. Gaunt fonds.

Once you have decided that you wish to make a donation, the sooner the better for preservation purposes, contact the City of Coquitlam Archives. Then the Archivist will review all potential donations and evaluate each to determine whether the records fit with our collection mandate, taking into consideration:

  • Significance to the history and culture of Coquitlam
  • Relationship to existing collections (i.e. does it fill a gap?)
  • Resources that are required to provide appropriate care and documentation

If the records you intend to donate are still in use — for example, recent minutes of an existing society — we can discuss a schedule of regular transfers.

How to Prepare Your Donation

  • Call or email the Archives to discuss your potential donation.
  • Please do not reorganize, repair or clean your records because tape and cleaning products may damage the materials.
  • Please maintain the original order of materials. We want to be able to arrange them to reflect how they would have been used or kept by the donor.
  • Document information about the history of the materials in a separate document. If possible, make a list of the files, documents, or photographs, identifying dates, names, events and locations.
  • When identifying photographs, please use only pencil if writing on the back and make sure to press lightly so as not to damage the images.

Archives VaultArchives Vault