From: University of Saskatchewan Archives,
"On Campus News" Articles,
Published Nov. 14, 1997, page 13
Website
In his book, Seeking a Balance (1983), Michael Hayden informs us that, at the time of its founding in 1907, the University of Saskatchewan dedicated itself to serving the people of the province. One of the early professors who exemplified this commitment to serve the needs of the surrounding community was Arthur Silver Morton, professor of history and University librarian from his appointment in 1914 until his death in 1945.
Morton is especially remembered for his monumental work A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, published in 1939. His career is all the more remarkable, however, for the role and impact he had as a popularizer and conservator of the history of Saskatchewan.
In addition to his teaching duties, he pursued a variety of heritage activities that provided both his students and the people of the province with a consciousness of their region's past and that laid the foundation for further historical study.
As part of his duties at the U of S, Morton, a scholar and teacher in medieval and church history, delivered public lectures around the province for the Department of Extension. The contacts he made with the people of Saskatchewan during the course of his extension work inspired him to turn his attention to the history of western Canada, a relatively uncharted field in 1914.
In 1915, Morton wrote to President Walter Murray that "...the outlook one has in a land which is still in the making is very stimulating as the opportunities are very great. I shall do my best to equal them." In the 30 years that followed, he established himself as a leading authority in western Canadian history.
Morton recognized that, in order to study the history of the Canadian West, he had to start at the very beginning and collect and preserve historical materials before they were lost. To facilitate this, he founded several local and provincial historical societies, including the Historical Association of the U of S.
Building a strong citizenship
He hoped that this student organization would "contribute to the larger life of the University and share in the building up of a strong citizenship in Western Canada." Interest in the association remained high throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and into the 1940s. The name was changed to the Morton Historical Association in 1941, and Morton remained the honorary president until his death in 1945.
The Museum Committee of the Historical Association acquired a substantial collection over the years, including artifacts that reflected the cultures of western Canada's Native peoples and newly arrived immigrants to the prairie West.
Initially, the Museum was housed in the attic of the Physics Building. It later moved to the tower in Qu'Appelle Hall, the Little Stone Schoolhouse, and finally, to the attic of the College Building (now the old Administration Building), where the collection was destroyed by a fire on October 27, 1947.
As the University librarian, Morton found another opportunity to promote the study of the West. He built up the Library's supply of books relating to western Canada through the collecting activities of the Historical Association's Canadiana Committee.
His Prairie Province Collection became the nucleus of the University Library's Special Collections Department. Most impressively, Morton spent every summer from 1923 to 1930 at the Dominion Archives (now the National Archives) in Ottawa hand-copying fur trade documents for the Canadian history section.
These documents allowed him both to master the primary source materials for himself (resulting in the publication of his major book in 1939) and to provide the University Library with permanent additions to its Canadiana Collection for the use of students.
By 1930, he could state with confidence that "we now have in our Library the largest body of material outside of the Archives in Ottawa, for the history of the prairie provinces."
20 lost forts
Morton was an enthusiastic explorer of historic sites in the province. Over the years, he located the remains of many fur trading posts, often with the assistance of his students, former students, and colleagues from other University departments. He found more than 20 lost forts, including Fort à la Corne, near Kinistino, the François Finlay Fort, at Nipawin, and Peter Pond's post, five miles west of Prince Albert.
His most important and lasting contribution to Saskatchewan heritage, however, was his creation of the province's first archival institution. The Historical Public Records Office set up by Morton on the University campus in 1937 was the precursor of the present-day Saskatchewan Archives Board (SAB).
Formally established by legislation in March of 1945, two months after his death, the SAB is unique in Canada. With two repositories, one on the Saskatoon campus and the other in the provincial capital, the SAB has afforded greater access to original sources, especially for students.
Over the years, there has been debate in the Saskatchewan Legislature concerning the location of the archives office at the U of S. Defenders point out that the existence of this office on campus has proved to be a powerful stimulant for scholarly research, facilitating the publication of an impressive number of works relating to the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the province. Morton is the creator of this exceptional archival system which not only benefits the academic community and the government, but also makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of Saskatchewan.
- Joan Champ, archivist at the Canada Diefenbaker Centre
(Joan completed her MA thesis on Morton in 1990)