Library and Archives Canada Celebrates Human Rights Anniversary

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC)--in a joint partnership with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR)--acknowledged the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th.

A Canadian, John Humphrey, wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 with the encouragement of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The CMHR has embarked on its first virtual exhibition entitled, "Everybody Has the Rights: a Canadian and The Words that Changed the World", and the LAC has been key in the launch of this inaugural exhibition.

As the press release says, "The LAC identified archival records, offered interpretive captions for each document, digitized documents for the inaugural exhibit and provided advisory services and support for copyright permission requests."

There are four area in which the LAC website can provide you with information on human rights, and they are -

1. The Chinese Head Tax - You can find original certificates and registers of Chinese immigration and links to libraries and institutions if you go to www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/northern-star/index-e.html.

2. Black History - You can go to the "Under A Northern Star" webpage and read the historical papers of former slaves, read about the events being held at the LAC during Black Heritage Month. or see the photo of Africville, the Black community that once was part of Halifax before it was torn down in the 1960s.

3. Ukrainian History - There are immigration documents such as the passenger lists and land grants which provide a picture of what life was like from 1914 to 1939. They can be viewed at
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/framingcanada/026020-3500-e.html.

4. Aboriginal History - There are treaties records, Band and Agencies information, Government of Canada records, the database of Indian Reserves, Jesuit Records, Métis genealogy and the Project Naming web project on www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/aboriginal/index-e.html.

5. And you can go to the Canadian Genealogy Centre and view all the information there is there in a genealogical context in both official languages www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html