University of Toronto Archives and Record Management Services
Finding Aid – Michael Bliss fonds
Contains the following accessions:
• B1986-0032
• B1987-0043
• B1988-0076
• B2006-0015 University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1986-0032
List of Contents
(Compiled by M.B. on organization of the material for transfer to the University Archives, August 1986)
SERIES 1: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1967-1975
"These files consist of virtually all of my ingoing and outgoing correspondence, beginning in the summer of 1967 when we moved to Harvard to be Claude Bissell's Teaching Assistant during his tenure as Mackenzie King professor of Canadian Studies there. The normal organization is simply by date - but my filing system has never been meticulous and many letters may be out of order [users are welcome to straighten them out by date], or may have slipped into other files in the collection. Some correspondence with particular colleagues and/or friends has been filed separately for some years. Some important letters or exchanges have been given separate files. The correspondence is highly professional - with a wide range of Canadian historians and covering everything of interest to young historians - and also personal, containing correspondence with family friends and students, political letters [I was extremely upset about the Vietnam War, and wrote to various political figures] and many others.
The files relating to my editorship of the Social History of Canada series bet ween 1971 and 1976 could have been put in Series 3, but are included in this series because so many of the letters contain material of more general interest. As well, quite a bit of Social History material found its way into the general files, so they also go together for user convenience."
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /001 (01) General correspondence Feb.-Sep. 1967 /001 (02) General correspondence Sep.-Dec. 1967 /001 (03) General correspondence Jan.-Apr. 1968 /001 (04) General correspondence May-Aug. 1968 /001 (05) General correspondence Sep.-Dec. 1968 /001 (06) General correspondence Jan.-June 1969 /001 (07) General correspondence July-Dec. 1969 /001 (08) Correspondence with R. Craig Brown 1967-1969 /001 (09) Correspondence with G. Ramsay Cook (thesis supervisor) 1967-1969 /001 (10) Correspondence with Paul Rutherford 1967-1969 /001 (11) Correspondence re Citizenship of Professors 1969 /001 (12) General correspondence Jan.-June 1970 /001 (13) General correspondence July-Dec. 1970 /001 (14) General correspondence Jan.-June 1971 /001 (15) General correspondence July-Dec. 1971 /001 (16) General correspondence Jan.-June 1972 /001 (17) General correspondence July-Dec. 1972
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1986-0032
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /001 (18) General correspondence Jan.-June 1973 /001 (19) General correspondence July-Dec. 1973 /002 (01) Exchange with Ralph Heintzmann (on the writing of Canadian 1973 history) /002 (02) General correspondence Jan.-June 1974 /002 (03) General correspondence July-Dec. 1974 /002 (04) Correspondence and clippings re Banfield affair, U of T (free 1974 speech) /002 (05) General correspondence Jan.-June 1975 /002 (06) General correspondence July-Dec. 1975 /002 (07) Letter to C. C. Berger, re mss of The Writing of Canadian 1975 History /002 (08) Social History of Canada Series, correspondence Dec. 1970-Aug. 1972 /002 (09) SHoC. correspondence Sep. 1972-1 Feb. 1973 /002 (10) SHoC. correspondence 1 Feb. 1973-1 July 1973 /002 (11) SHoC. correspondence 1 July 1973-May 1974 /002 (12) SHoC. correspondence May 1974-March 1975 /002 (13) SHoC. correspondence 1975-1976 /002 (14) SHoC. correspondence relating to The Foreigner by Ralph Connor (and the suppression of our reprint) /002 (15) SHoC. Reviews of publications
SERIES 2: FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, 1967-1975
"These files include extensive correspondence with my mother; some correspondence with my brother, J.Q. Bliss, who died in 1969; much correspondence regarding my young brother, R.Q. Bliss; letters from members of Elizabeth Bliss's family; and the beginnings of correspondence with our children."
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /003 (01) Family Correspondence 1966-1969 /003 (02) Family Correspondence 1970-1971 /003 (03) Family Correspondence 1972-1973 /003 (04) Family Correspondence 1974-1975 /003 (05) Documents re Guardianship of R. Q. Bliss /003 (06) Documents re estate of Mary Ward (aunt)
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1986-0032
SERIES 3: CONSULTING, APPRAISALS, EDITING
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /004 (01) Appraisals of manuscripts, grant applications, etc. 1970-1975 /004 (02) Appraisals of Pierre Berton manuscripts, history of the CPR 1970-1971 /004 (03) Correspondence and appraisals re Dominion Bridge history 1970-1973 /004 (04) Appraisal of Morland-Latchford film strip 1972 /004 (05) Canada's Illustrated Heritage Series, general and 1970-1975 miscellaneous
"This was a 16- volume illustrated history of Canada, published between 1974 and 1977 by a subsidiary of McClelland & Stewart, on which I was historical consultant. Folders 06-25 contain appraisals, correspondence, evaluations, annotated chapters, et cetera, relating to the books in the series. Some files are listed by the book's author, others by the decade covered. The most noteworthy book in the series is probably that written by Margaret Atwood on the period from 1820-1840, the book of hers that has been least noticed. Folders 9 and 10 contain my appraisals of her work and comments on her manuscript."
/004 (06) CIH. Prehistory volume /004 (07) CIH. Harold Horwood volume /004 (08) CIH. Leslie Hannon volume /004 (09) CIH. Atwood volume /004 (10) CIH. Atwood volume, manuscript /004 (11) CIH. 1840-60 (Joy Carroll) volume /004 (12) CIH. 1840-60 (Joy Carroll) volume /004 (13) CIH. 1860s volume /004 (14) CIH. 1870s volume /004 (15) CIH. 1880s volume (Jack Batten) /004 (16) CIH. 1890s volume (June Callwood) /004 (17) CIH. 1890s volume (June Callwood) /004 (18) CIH. 1900s volume /004 (19) CIH. 1910s volume /004 (20) CIH. 1920s volume (rewritten by Jack Granatstein) /004 (21) CIH. 1930s volume (Max Brathwaite) /004 (22) CIH. 1940s volume /004 (23) CIH. 1950s (Sandy Ross) /004 (24) CIH. 1960s (Alan Edmonds)
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1986-0032
SERIES 4: WRITING: Unpublished and obscure
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /005 (01) Grade 13 English Lit Exam /005 (02) "Sailing the Ackroyd Dinghy" 1959 or 1960 /005 (03) Undergraduate essays, University of Toronto 1958-1962 /005 (04) Lecture notes in Canadian History, from Barbara Fraser 1963 or 1964 /006 (01) Sermons, Meditations, and other religious writing 1959-1963 /006 (02) Articles in Hay River Newspaper 1961 /006 (03) Political Science Essays, U of T 1965 /006 (04) Essays and Notes re UK History, U of T 1964-1966 /006 (05) Canadian Urban History, unpub. paper with Paul Rutherford 1970 /006 (06) Miscellaneous unpublished articles 1972-1975 /006 (07) Undergraduate notes re Plato
SERIES 5: PUBLICATIONS: Drafts, Correspondence, Reviews Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /007 (01) Early articles and manuscripts 1964-1965 /007 (02) Reaction to early Maclean's articles /007 (03) Material re Canadian History in Documents /007 (04) Reaction to Canadian History in Documents /007 (05) Book reviews 1968-1975 /007 (06) Journalism for Financial Post 1969-1970 /007 (07) Draft of "Cultural Tariffs" article (pub. In Star-Spangled Beaver) /007 (08) Reaction to The Wretched Canada /007 (09) Sex: Speeches and articles 1969 /007 (10) Abortion article 1973 /007 (11) Material re Confederation (Franklin Watts) /007 (12) Sex article, Maclean's 1973-1974 /008 (01) Article on Controls 1975 /008 (02) History and Bacon article 1975 /008 (03) Draft of article for Canadian Collector /008 (04) Grant applications, Flavelle biography /008 (05) Draft of article on Flavelle and War (for War and Society in North America), corrections by Bob Cuff /008 (06) Appraisals of Ph.D. thesis, "A Living Profit" /008 (07) Reaction to book A Living Profit
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1986-0032
SERIES 6: EVALUATIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS, STUDENTS and COLLEAGUES 1969-1979
"About 1972 I began making typed appraisals of essays, with carbons. Thus I had a copy for reference, which was particularly useful in commenting on second essays. My filing of these, as well as general letters of evaluation, has always been erratic and inconsistent. Often I did not keep copies of letters of evaluation - I've written thousands of them, it seems"
Access: Restricted, under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Contact the Archives for access requests.
Box /009
5
University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
Finding aid compiled by Michael Bliss on organization of the material for transfer to the University Archives, July 1987
Introduction
“This collection is directly continuous with the set of papers donated to the archives in 1986, Accession B1986-0032. The Series organization follows principles set out in the Finding Aid to those papers, and the introductory notes in that document, particularly to Series 1 and 2 are also relevant here. One new series, 7: Humour, begins with this collection. There are a few inconsistencies in my cataloguing (and rather more problems with my filing), but the Finding Aid ought to overcome at least the former problem.
A few of my files from this period are still in my possession because of their continuing relevance to my scholarly and literary concerns. It is anticipated that they and my later papers will eventually come to the University Archives in a format following the principles of these two accessions.”
SERIES 1: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1976-1982
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /001 General correspondence 1976-1982 /002 (01) Correspondence re Governing Council 1976-1978 (“I saved only a few of the more important documents generated during my term on the Governing Council. Mountains of incoming Governing Council paper, all in the Governing Council archives, were thrown out. Copies of routine correspondence during my year as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee are in the Governing Council's archives”) /002 (02) Governing Council. Student fess issue 1977 /002 (03) Governing Council. Macdonald Review. Brief and correspondence 1977-1978 /002 (04) Governing Council. Macdonald Review. Responses to report /002 (05) History Department. Documents re Retirement Planning Committee 1979-1980 (MB Chair) /002 (06) University of Toronto Press. Manuscript Review Committee. 1982 Correspondence and resignation letters /002 (07) Grants. Connaught Fund. Correspondence 1980 /002 (08) Grants, general. Applications and correspondence 1976-1982 /002 (09) Hannah Institute. Correspondence re grant and re Queen's Chair 1984-1985 /002 (10) Conservative Party and Joe Clark, correspondence 1976-1980
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /002 (11) Insulin. Correspondence 1981 ("assorted; there are other relevant letters in my general correspondence files and in material accompanying my manuscripts in the Fisher Collections”) /002 (12) Insulin. Correspondence re records of U of T's insulin committee 1981 /002 (13) Insulin. Correspondence (pre-publication) 1982 /002 (14) Insulin. Correspondence (post-publication) 1982 /002 (15) Insulin. Reviews of TDOI /002 (16) Insulin. Correspondence with I. Verway 1982 /002 (17) Correspondence re Naylor Review 1976-1977
SERIES 2: FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, 1976-1982
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /003 (01) Family Correspondence 1976-1978 /003 (02) Family Correspondence 1979-1980 /003 (03) Family Correspondence 1981-1982 /003 (04) Documents re estate of Anne L. Bliss
SERIES 3: CONSULTING, APPRAISALS, EDITING
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /004 (01) Appraisals of manuscripts, grant applications, etc. 1976-1980 /004 (02) Appraisals of manuscripts, grant applications, etc. 1981-1982 Canada's Illustrated Heritage Series, general and miscellaneous /004 (03) correspondence 1977 /004 (04) CNR Lands Case. Research notes and correspondence 1977-1978 /004 (05) CNR Lands Case. Memoranda between MB and Ross Murray /004 (06) CNR Lands Case. Manuscript of MB's history of the CN lands /004 (07) Pacific Petroleum / Westcoast Transmission, history project, correspondence and other documents 1979 /004 (08) CNR Lands Case. Research notes and correspondence 1976 /005 (01) Appraisals of outlines and scripts for CBC production, Empire Inc. (Mark Blandford, director) 1979-1981 /005 (02) Empire scripts and outlines, annotated drafts
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
SERIES 4: WRITING: Unpublished and obscure
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /006 (01) Essays on Marxism 1962-1964 Lectures, Canadian history, general post-Confederation, rough [ca. 1968-1974] /006 (02) drafts /006 (03) Lectures, Canadian economic history (HIS 361), rough drafts [ca. 1968-1974] /006 (04) Lecture on Harvey Cox's "The Secular City" [ca. 1970] Unpub. paper, "The Moral World of Canadian Business", delivered 1979 /006 (05) at CHA 1979 /006 (06) History in the schools, unpub. talk 1979 /006 (07) Trudeau, unpub. article 1980 /006 (08) Business History in Canada, unpub. lecture 1981 /006 (09) Arts and Sciences in the University of Toronto, drafts of article Sep. 1981 /006 (10) Canadian history, talk to King's Course (medicine) students 1980, 1982 /006 (11) "Puritanism to Playboy", lecture 1982
SERIES 5: PUBLICATIONS: Drafts, Correspondence, Reviews
(Note: "A few of my research notes for the Flavelle biography were donated to Queen's University to be part of the Flavelle collection there. The correspondence files relating to the Flavelle biography are incomplete; most of the 1976-1978 correspondence on that topic is in my general correspondence files.
The drafts and manuscripts of The Discovery of Insulin (1982) and Banting: A Biography (1984), as well as the transcripts of interviews I conducted, were donated separately to the Fisher Rare Books Library to be part of the University's many collections relating to the discovery of insulin. Correspondence and reviews relating to the books will be found in Series 1, both in the general files and in specified files.")
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /007 (01) Flavelle biography. Correspondence 1972 /007 (02) Flavelle biography. Correspondence 1973 /007 (03) Flavelle biography. Correspondence 1974-1975 /007 (04) Flavelle biography. Correspondence with Macmillan (publisher) 1976-1983 /007 (05) Flavelle biography. Reviews
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
SERIES 5: PUBLICATIONS: Drafts, Correspondence, Reviews
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /007 (06) Flavelle biography. Letters exchanged with H. V. Nelles 1978 /007 (07) Flavelle biography. Grace Ballem file 1978 (“see General Correspondence for many, many more letters to and from GB”) /007 (08) Flavelle biography. Post-publication correspondence 1978-1980 /007 (09) “Peterboro Methodist Mafia” and other talks re Flavelle /007 (10) Flavelle. Miscellaneous talks about /007 (11) Flavelle and the Wm. Davies Company. Unpub. talk at Kamloops Society /007 (12) “Ideology and Domination”. Paper on JWF (later published) 1978 delivered at the Western History Society /007 (13) Flavelle and Philanthropy, unpub. talk at Kamloops Society /008 (01) A Canadian Millionaire: The Life and Business Times of Sir Joseph Flavelle. First drafts, with changes, etc., chapters 1-3 /008 (02) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 4-6 /008 (03) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 7-9 /008 (04) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 10-12 /008 (05) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 13-15 /008 (06) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 16-18 /008 (07) A Canadian Millionaire. Drafts, chapters 19-21 /008 (08) A Canadian Millionaire. Final manuscript with editorial revisions, author’s comments, etc. /009 (01) Canadian Business, review of Newman's Bronfman Dynasty 1978 /009 (02) Canadian Business, articles on Joe Clark and Tories 1979 /009 (03) Canadian Business, article on C.D. Howe biography 1979 /009 (04) Confederation: A New Nationality (Grolier, 1981). Manuscript and 1981 correspondence /009 (05) Confederation article, World Book Encyclopaedia n.d. /009 (06) Cox, George. Article for Canadian Journal of Life Insurance 1979 /009 (07) Dictionary of Canadian Biography, commissioned biographies 1974-1981 /009 (08) Economic Council of Canada, commissioned paper, "The Evolution of 1981-1982 Industrial Policies in Canada" /009 (09) Financial Post, article on controls Nov. 1982 /009 (10) Financial Post, "Canada in 1907" 1982 /009 (11) Insulin article for Hollenberg book 1982-1983 /009 (12) Insulin, Banting, Best and Collip account (Bull. Hist. Med.) 1983 /009 (13) Ontario and energy policy, article, Edmonton Journal 1979 /009 (14) "Rich by Nature, Poor by Policy", article 1980
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University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
SERIES 5: PUBLICATIONS: Drafts, Correspondence, Reviews
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /009 (15) Saturday Night. Joe Clark article 1983 /009 (16) SN. Depression article 1982 /009 (17) SN. Dome article, corresspondence n.d. /009 (18) SN. Dome, research notes, interviews, rough drafts n.d. /009 (19) SN. Dome, manuscript, proofs n.d. /009 (20) SN. Dome, printed material n.d. /009 (21) SN. Evans and Health Care article 1982 /009 (22) SN. J.K. Galbraith article, notes, correspondence 1980-1981 /009 (23) SN and Reader's Digest, Elizabeth Hughes article n.d. /009 (24) SN. Brian Peckford article 1982 /009 (25) SN. Whistler article 1982-1983 /009 (26) Sherlock Holmes story (with Jack Batten) n.d. /009 (27) Toronto Star, miscellaneous journalism 1977-1979 /009 (28) TS. Decline of Britain article 1980 /009 (29) TS. Review of CBC production "Louis Riel" n.d. /009 (30) Years of Change, Canada 1967-1985 (Grolier, 1986). Correspondence 1982-1986 with Grolier /009 (31) Years of Change. First drafts and revisions /009 (32) Years of Change. Original manuscript /009 (33) Years of Change. Revised manuscript /009 (34) "War Business as Usual", RMC 1980, later published.
SERIES 6: EVALUATIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS, STUDENTS and COLLEAGUES 1976-1982
Access: Restricted, under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Contact the Archives for access requests.
Box /010
5
University of Toronto Archives Michael Bliss Papers B1987-0043
SERIES 7: HUMOUR
Access: Open
/Box (file) Title Date(s) /011 (01) "Canadian Rebellion" article, Star 1981 /011 (02) "Funniest Man in Toronto", jokes and award /011 (03) Talk at launch of Canada Since 1945 Apr. 1981 /011 (04) Review of Richard Rohmer book 1982 /011 (05) Sarah Binks parody 1981
6
University of Toronto Archives
Accession No. Provenance Heading
B1988-0076 Michael Bliss Personal Records
Access: Open: Copyright and publishing restrictions.
/Box (File) Title Date(s)
Series: Northern Enterprise: Five centuries of Canadian Business (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1987.
/001 First drafts (handwritten), 1985 Introduction to Chapter 13
/002 (01)-(05) First drafts (typscripts) of Chapters 15 to 19. No first draft of Chapter 14 located. (06) -(08) Second drafts (typescript) Chapters 1 to 14
/003 (01) Printouts of chapter bibliographies
(02) Letter from Albert Tucker re 1986 certain portions of ms
(03) Comments by Ian Drummond on chapters
(04) Printout of Chapter 8 with annotations by A. den Otter
(05)-(09) Third draft, two printouts of complete manuscript with /004 (01) comments by Duncan MacDowall, Sandy Campbell
/004 (02)-(08) Third draft, complete manuscript with comments by Ian Drummond.
/005 Fourth draft, typescript of complete manuscript; editing comments by Diane Mew; final revisions added by author.
University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
[NB: Content of this page of finding aid, description of Box 028 and Access Note under individual Series pages prepared by Harold Averill, January 2007; all other information prepared by donor] [access restrictions updated by Emily Sommers, February 2018]
Scope note
Textual, graphic, 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005], 11.32 m.
Personal records of Michael Bliss, Professor Emeritus of History, consisting of personal and professional correspondence (including letters of reference); manuscripts and publications, with associated research notes, correspondence, and reviews; lecture notes and associated teaching files; addresses; 1, 216 slides illustrating a wide variety of subjects in Canadian history; 93 slides illustrating the Montreal smallpox epidemic of 1885, and photographs relating to themes in Canadian business and general history.
Access: Restricted. Series 6 is restricted under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Contact University Archivist for access requests.
All other series are open.
This accession is stored off-site. Please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval. Materials may be consulted in the Archives Reading Room. Contact University Archives for further information.
Note: Notes on restrictions to and extent of series have been added by Harold Averill; also the description of box 028. Bliss’ original boxes 025, 029 and 030 have been renumbered and appear here as boxes 001P, 002P and 003P, and Bliss’ boxes of textual records (026-028 and 031) are now boxes 025 to 028.
Other Bliss accessions in the University of Toronto Archives: B1986-0032, B1987-0043, B1988-0076, B2017-0007, B2017-0008
1 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
Introduction
This donation consists of [thirty-one] boxes of material that was pulled together and organized - following the schema and conditions of my earlier donations - when I cleaned out my office at 88 College St. preparatory to retirement from the University of Toronto in 2006. At the same time I triaged all the material in my home office. These boxes contain most of the files from both places. I maintained some personal and family material, as well as my Osler and Cushing research materials and correspondence, most of which will probably go to other libraries. Most of my research material pertaining to the discovery of insulin and F.G. Banting is now donated to the Fisher Rare Books Library, where it joins other collections including some of my earlier papers. There also remain a number of files on my computer pertaining to my work before 2006 - these are well-backed up, but as of this date have not been printed out.
Further files will undoubtedly be generated from 2006, mostly on the computer, but perhaps the most important of them in hard copy. It is anticipated that the vast bulk of this material will come to the archives in future accessions.
2 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
Preliminary List of Contents
(Compiled by MB on organization of the material for transfer to the University Archives, January 2006)
SERIES 1: Correspondence, 1983-2005
Textual, 1968-2005 [bulk 1982-2005], 5.30 metres
These files consist of all my incoming and most of my outgoing correspondence for the last 22 years of my career at the University of Toronto. Most of it is filed in rough chronological order, though sometimes there are indexes. I am not consistent about back-to-front or front-to-back filing. Some of my correspondence is filed according to specific subjects. Particularly specialized correspondence, such as student reference letters, is in other series. My filing systems were always fairly ad hoc, and especially in the 1980s everything tended to be thrown into the general correspondence files, as it came in, everything lumped together, including much family material that should be in the files in series 2. Major changes in my system occurred late in 1986 when I first began using a computer for my correspondence, and again in 1995 when I moved to 88 College and had the help of a secretary, Andrea Clark. Generally these files contain material of every kind relating to a busy family, writing, and professional life.
Box 001: 7 folders of general correspondence, Dec. 7, 1982 – June 15, 1985
Box 002: 6 folders of general correspondence, June 1, 1985 – Nov. 19, 1988 (but see also Box 6, Folder 1)
Box 003: Print-outs from computer files of outgoing correspondence, Jan. 1986-1991 (containing indexes, but folding paper unseparated)
2 folders of miscellaneous correspondence, mostly incoming, 1986-1995 (completely unsorted – I believe these were letters that I threw into a bin in my office, as opposed to the more regular filing at home in these years)
Correspondence Catalogue, Oct. 1988 – Oct. 1993. This is an author/subject list of the next 1446 items of correspondence, which are numbered. The list was made, I believe, by my daughter Laura, who did some secretarial work for me in these years; after 1446 the index seems not to have been compiled.
3 folders of numbered general correspondence, Oct. 1988 – Oct. 1989 (numbers 1 – 228)
3 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 1: Correspondence, 1983-2005
Box 004: 7 folders of numbered general correspondence, Nov. 1989 – Sept. 1, 1992 (numbers 229-1100)
Box 005: 6 folders of numbered general correspondence, Sept, 1992 – April 1995 (numbers 1102-1868)
Box 006: Folders: General Corres, Mar 1- July 1, 1987 (this file seems to be out of order) Outgoing Corres Jan – Mar 1993 (printouts) Misc. Corres, 1994-6 (mostly fax) Corres, mostly incoming 1995 – indexed Outgoing Corres, 1996 (printouts) Corres, mostly incoming 1996 – numbered and indexed Corres, mostly incoming 1997 – numbered and indexed
Box 007: 15 folders of correspondence, 1994-Oct. 1999, files made by Andrea Clark. Mostly outgoing, but when I passed on incoming corres to Andrea, sometimes with notes for disposal, she would keep it in these files.
Box 008: 42 folders of correspondence, general and by subject, as follows: Correspondence, 1998; Misc Corres 2004-05 (2); History Dept Information 1968; Bliss cv; Bliss Personal; Bliss, re Move, 1995; Bliss Fax 1995; Bliss Book Orders, 1995- ; Nelles corres – exchange with Viv Nelles re our theses 1972; Bliss-Paul Rutherford corres; Office of Research Administration corres, 1980; Canadian Studies, corres. 1984; Royal Society, 1984; Garneau Medal, 1984; Canadians for Clark, organization, 1983; Duke University (possible move to), 1986; Bronfman bio. project, 1987; Plague grant corres 1987; Hannah Inst. Advisory Comm. 1988; Wiegand Lectures, 1990; Trillium Prize jury, 1992-3; Givertz & Purdy (Queen’s graduate students), 1993-4; Bliss Open House (office warming), 1995; Bliss Sabbatical 1996; Prime Ministers tv series, 1996; University of Toronto Press, 1996; AMS- Hannah dismissal of Jim Connor, 1997; Jacquie Duffin, re UofT appointment, 1997; Massey College; Civitas; University of Toronto history project; Medical Biography chair; University Professorship; Bliss Publicity; Dominion Institute; Gooderham history project, 1997; Gooderham & Worts historic site; Trudeau Fellows program; Writers Union; Jean Crowe; Organization for the Study of the National History of Canada; Misc. extra corres. See also: Box 17, corres. re the constitution and Meech Lake
Box 009: 113 folders of correspondence, emails, notes, etc., kept by Andrea, relating to special events – conferences, trips, meetings, etc. – 1995-2000; mostly but not exclusively routine and relating to arrangements, expenses, etc.
Box 010: 127 folders kept by Andrea, as above, relating to special events 2005-06.
4 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 1: Correspondence, 1983-2005
Box 011 (small): 68 folders, kept by JMB, as above, relating to special events, late 1980s to early 2000s; material that didn’t get to Andrea; folders are not in any particular order
Box 012: 66 folders, kept by Andrea, relating to a wide variety of subjects – including events, Order of Canada nominations, various articles and publications, reviews, offprints.
Box 028: 15 folders, correspondence, November 1999 – 2004
Access: Open
SERIES 2: Family and Personal
Textual, 1968-2004, 0.53 metres
(Note that access to material in this series requires permission of my widow during her lifetime)
Box 013: 7 folders relating to royalties from my books and corres. with the Colbert agency A printout of invoices and expense statements, 1898-1991 4 volumes of our family’s financial accounts, 1975-1986 31 folders of income tax returns and supporting documents for JMB and EB, 1968-1991
Box 014 (small): 7 folders of personal correspondence: Skican, 1983; Kingsville Book Party, 1984; Donwood Institute, 1984-5 (2); Leaside Traffic issue, 1991; letters to children, 1983; unsorted family correspondence, 1991-2004 (much of this removed from general corres. files).
Access: Open
5 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 3: Consulting, Editing
Textual, 1980-2004, 0.93 metres
Box 015: “Chasing Rainbows”, CBC Series, 1986 – : Folder of appraisals by MB, various scripts in various stages of development, with notes, comments, etc. by MB
Medical Research Council of Canada, consulting projects, 1992-2000: 8 folders relating to several projects engaging JMB, including the development of the MRC’s first strategic plan, 1992-3, and the meetings about revising the plan which led to the decision to create the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Box 016 (small): John P. Robarts biography; MB correspondence relating to the rewriting of the manuscript to make it suitable for publication in the Ontario Historical Studies Series, 1986; two copies of the manuscript – the original by Alan McDougall, and MB’s revised manuscript
Box 017: Conservatives and the Constitution: 6 folders relating to a confidential project commissioned by Joe Clark to prepare a history of the Progressive-Conservative Party’s role in constitutional reform, 1980-81. The folders contain MB’s interviews with various Conservative front and back-benchers, including Joe Clark, John Crosbie, Jake Epp, and many others; also extensive party documents and memos, many private and confidential, relating to the constitution (most, but not all of these copied from the files of Rick Clippingdale, who had served as Clark's principal secretary)
Meech Lake to Charlottetown: 5 folders of various documents relating to the debates about constitutional reform, 1987-1992, including correspondence and documentation of MB activities, Deborah Coyne ms history of the struggle, various clippings, etc., crank letters to MB
Box 018 (small): 10 folders relating to a miscellany of consulting projects, boards, etc: Bill Kaplan’s CCPRM; Historica; Gairdner Fdn; Canadian Museum of the History of Medicine; Founders Hall, Charlottetown, PEI; PEI History Project, Ed Macdonald; Bank of Canada; Beaver editorial advisory board; Simon Fraser University, CD-ROM project re Prime Ministers; oral history of academic medicine/interview; deliberations of the jury to choose the design for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights
Access: Open
6 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 4: Writing, Lectures, Etc: Unpublished
Textual, 1960-2005, 1.6 metres
Box 019: MB student essays and reports, 1960-66 – 10 folders, inc. Methodist Church & WW I, undergrad. essays on Marx & Bakunin, US civil war historiography, reports on Farrer pamphlet, Pacific scandal for DG Creighton’s seminar, essay on John A. Cooper for GR Cook seminar, essay on the Reconstruction Party
Sex: 8 folders re a study of pre-Freudian sexuality that I became sidetracked in during 1970-1, inc. several drafts of unpublished manuscript
Addresses, projects: 19 folders relating to talks, activities, etc., including anti- abortion activities, free trade talks, Flavelle, Canada’s future, anti- vivisectionism
Adjudication of Fisher Fellowship, Massey College, 1998-9
Box 020: Lecture notes by subject. 120 folders of lecture notes, labelled by topic, but otherwise unsorted – given mostly in Canadian history survey courses (inc. HIS 262) and my course in strategies of Canadian economic development, HIS 361 – various years from the early 1970s into the late 1980s.
Box 021: 30 folders of lecture notes by subject, as above
1 folder of 1987 lectures in a course in the history of Canadian business
18 folders of miscellaneous course material, including lectures, course syllabi, lectures on business history, exams and essay topics
2 Harvard folders: re Social Sciences 12 course in Canadian Studies at Harvard, 1967-68; Bibliography compiled by MB for Claude Bissell at Harvard
Box 022: 16 folders of course material relating to my Canadian health care and Canadian politics seminars, 1990s-2005, including syllabi, presentation topics, etc.
1 folder related to Ph.D. field readings
2 folders of course evaluations (anti-calendars, etc)
Noble-Collip drum (re shock in mice) – research notes relating to its history
7 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 5: Publications, Research Notes, Reviews, Etc.
Textual, graphic, 1881 – 2005 [bulk, 1972-2005], 1.76 metres
Box 023: Flavelle bio. (A Canadian Millionaire) research material. 24 files of research notes, correspondence, photocopies, working papers etc. Includes researchers’ work on the family and early Peterboro history, the Scott act controversy of the mid-1880s; my interviews on Flavelle; extensive clippings from farm periodicals on the pork packing industry in Canada; files on J.W. Allison and Sam Hughes; the bacon scandal 1917; my notes from family correspondence – the Barrett Papers – which have since gone to Queen’s; various miscellaneous and retrospective notes, letters, etc.
Flavelle originals – 1 folder with 3 original JWF letters and one page of 188_ accounts in JWF handwriting
(This is material remaining after a major culling of my files, that included disposing of large quantities of photocopies made from the Flavelle Papers at Queens and the Imperial Munitions Board papers at the National Archives. What remains is material that could not easily be culled from those collections, indeed often comes from a wide variety of other sources, some of which, such as corporate minutes, may be virtually impossible to track down otherwise)
Box 024: Flavelle cont’d: 21 files as above, including extensive files on the University of Toronto, Victoria College, Toronto General Hospital, the Methodist and United Churches, JWF’s philanthropies, corporate minutes of Simpson’s, the Bank of Commerce, National Trust; JWF will; JWF published speeches and pamphlets; MB research expenses re JWF project
Reviews of Plague: A Story of Smallpox in Montreal. 1 folder Manuscript of Plague: The final manuscript, used in copyediting and typesetting, with editorial queries and authorial responses Illustrations used in Plague. Prints of pictures used in the book, some prints and photocopies of alternatives. See also slide collection.
Box 001P (small): Flavelle illustrative material: pictures, cartoons, etc. used in A Canadian Millionaire, w. alternatives and discards; assembled from a wide variety of sources, inc. signed photo of Grey of Fallodon.
Box 025: Book reviews: 6 folders of ms of book reviews submitted to a variety of sources, inc. the Globe and Mail, Saturday Night, the Globe and Mail Report on Business, and academic journals; 1 folder regarding my 1976 review of Naylor’s history of Canadian business.
8 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 5: Publications, Research Notes, Reviews, Etc
Writing projects: a miscellany of 17 folders regarding articles and projects: letter to Saturday Night re its disgraceful apology for Paul Rose; bio. of George Cox for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography; Dome Petroleum bailout; article on Trudeau for Time; Trudeau article for Granatstein & Cohen vol; various encyclopedia articles; articles on the Charter and the Constitution, 1981-2; “The Rise of King Street” for Loyal She Remains; articles on Conservative leadership, 1983; bilingualism article, Globe, 1983; the evolution of Canadian industrial policies article for the Economic Council of Canada; article on the founding of the Foreign Investment Review Agency; articles on Canadian topics for a German encyclopedia
Projects relating to Canadian business history: 20 folders, inc. notes on an overview of the Canadian business mind; speech on business history as a tool of public relations, 1970; draft paper on George Stephen of the CPR; notes on Stephen & Van Horne; notes and photocopies re the Macdonald-Stephen relationship/correspondence; outline of the 1920s chapter for Northern Enterprise; pre-publication talks relating to Northern Enterprise; post- publication talks; exchange with H.V. Nelles re his review of Northern Enterprise; post- publication feedback re Northern Enterprise; corres. with Manulife re Northern Enterprise project; expense statements re NE; notes on the branch plant in Canada; ms of Alan Sullivan’s unpublished bio. of F.H. Clergue; file of notes on John Macdonald, businessman; talks and articles on Canadian business history, early 1980s (2); oral biography of John Bradfield, c.e.o. of Noranda, compiled from interviews by MB; notes on letters of A.E. Kemp; Business History 2005 – MB visit to Joe Martin’s business history seminar at Rotman
Box 026: Manuscripts of Right Honourable Men: The Descent of Canadian Politics from Macdonald to Chrétien [2004]: Two complete manuscripts: (1) the print-outs used in the basic editing of the manuscript – with queries and comments from Phyllis Bruce, my editor, as well as Jack Granatstein & David Bercuson, and my responses; (2) the final copy-edited manuscript, with queries from the copy-editor and my responses. Reviews of Right Honourable Men: one folder
Box 028: William Osler: a life in medicine : two folders, one on negotiations with the publisher (1999-2000) and the other on the book launch, 3 Nov. 1999. [prepared by Harold Averill]
Access: Open
9 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 6: Evaluations and Recommendations
Textual, 1977-2005, 0.40 m.
Box 027
Access: Restricted, under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Contact the Archives for access requests.
10 University of Toronto Archives
B2006-0015 John Michael Bliss
Access: Restricted Textual, graphic 1881-2005 [bulk 1960-2005]
SERIES 7: Slides and Pictures
Box 002P: Canadian History Slide collection: 12 double-trays of slides containing 1,216 black-and-white and colour illustrations relating to the widest possible number of subjects in Canadian history. Printed list of the contents. [includes double tray of slides (#501-600) removed from box 012 – note by Harold Averill].
(This collection developed out of my involvement in the Canada’s Illustrated Heritage series, which brought me into contact with a number of collections of Canadian historical illustrations. In the 1980s I began (at my own expense) having slides made of good illustrations, first in business history, then in political history. I gradually began illustrating my Canadian history lectures with slides, and this stimulated the search for more slides of good material, including political cartoons. By the early 1990s my History 262 lectures were elaborate slide shows, averaging about 50 slides a lecture. I stopped lecturing in Canadian history before I made the transition to Power Point projection, and so this collection has never been scanned onto computers. While many of the photographs and some of the cartoons are well-known, sometimes old chestnuts, many others are not, making the collection a unique, and probably today, unduplicatable resource).
Box 003P: Smallpox slide collection: Two double-trays containing 93 slides of illustrations relating to the Montreal smallpox epidemic of 1885; compiled to illustrate Plague: A Story of Smallpox in Montreal. Printed list of slides. (Some, but not all of these slides were made from prints in the folder in Box 24)
Prints, negatives, relating to themes in Canadian business history – and general history. 3 folders, approx 300 pictures. Most of these were accumulated as possible illustrations for Northern Enterprise: Five Centuries of Canadian Business; most came from collections I had access to as described above. Some of the best of the prints were made into slides, as above; but not all.
Access: Open
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