A Beginner’s Guide to Online Canadian Historical Images

 

Are you ready for another resource guide? This time I wanted to address the issue of online Canadian historical images. Many of us love to add images to lectures or presentations. However, you’ve likely learned by now that it is really hard to find Canadian historical images online. Google is fantastic, but even if you put the word “Canadian” next to an image search, you’re still going to end up mostly with American images. Unwritten Histories to the rescue!

The inspiration/origins of this blog post can be found on Kenneth R. Marks’ blog, The Ancestor Hunt. I was really excited to see that several weeks ago, he published several lists of online historical photograph repositories, organized by province. He kindly gave me permission to repost these lists here. However, Marks’ original list was geared more towards genealogists and history buffs rather than professional historians and/or educators. So instead, I’ve put together a short guide to how to use these images and where to find them, designed specifically for historians and/or educators. And by that I mean that I have limited this list to freely-available, online collections from institutions, museums, archives, universities, libraries, and historical societies. As with my previous guides, this is done mostly to ensure that the sources listed below are authentic and their provenance is clear. The links included here are also primarily of online image repositories, rather than online exhibits, since otherwise this list would never end. That is also why, with a couple of exceptions, I’ve listed the repositories and not each specific collection. And to be clear, by “images” here I am referring primarily to photographs, maps, and illustrations.

Here’s how the guide is organized. First, I discuss the issue of copyright with respect to historical images. Second, I discuss the issue of representation and the power dynamics involved in photographs, including the issue of metadata. Third, I have compiled a short list of my favourite online image sources, with information about each. And finally, I have put together an edited version of Marks’ list, organized by province.

I’ve tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible. However, I am sure that I missed something. If I did miss a collection that you think should be on the list, please let me know in the comments below! Let’s consider this a work-in-progress.

One final note:  information on using photograph images in teaching and research is beyond the scope of this blog post, though it is in the pipeline! In the meantime, I highly recommend Samantha Cutrara’s work on this, particularly her online seminar for Canada’s History, “Using Primary Sources as a Form of Social Justice” and her fantastic (and free!) e-book, Doing Digital Humanities and Social Sciences in Your Classroom.

Without any further ado, on to the photos!

 

Copyright

A quick caveat: obviously, I am not a lawyer. This section represents my understanding of Canadian copyright law with respect to the use of online images. Special thanks to Krista McCracken for their help with this.

If you don’t want to read through all this, here’s the TL;DR version.

• If the photograph is produced before 1949, it can be used however you want.
• If the photograph was produced after 1949:
  • If created by an individual or an employer, it is protected by copyright for the lifetime of the creator, plus fifty years.
  • If created by or for the federal/provincial/territorial governments it is protected by copyright for fifty years.

Keep reading for a more detailed breakdown of what this all means.

When it comes to using images, for any purpose, it’s important to know about Canada’s copyright legislation. All photographs, historical or otherwise, are protected under Canada’s Copyright Act. This means that photographs cannot be reproduced without explicit permission by the creator for the duration of a particular work’s copyright. How long does copyright last? That depends. In general:

• For most works, copyright protections for photographs produced after 1949 last for the life of the creator*, plus fifty years.
• Any photograph produced by or for the federal/provincial/territorial governments that is not protected by Crown copyright lasts for fifty years.

*This means the photographer, not the people appearing in the picture. Copyright will generally stay with the photographer unless they specifically transfer it to their client. However, unless specified otherwise, if the creator was an employee of an organization, the copyright generally stays with the organization. If you don’t know when the author or employer died, then a work enters into copyright either the year of publication plus fifty years or the year of creation plus seventy-five years, whichever comes first.

Obviously I’m simplifying things here, but it is generally enough for most people to function. However, if you would like to see a much more detailed breakdown, check out this guide from UBC.   Even better, if you have any questions or concerns, go and speak to a librarian at your institution. Many larger institutions even have librarians that specialize in copyright issues, and they will be happy to help.

However, there are two important exceptions. First, the Fair Dealing provision of Canada’s Copyright Act allows the use of photographs for research, private study, education, criticism, review, or news reporting, providing the image is properly credited. This means that you can use an image under copyright (for education purposes) in:

• A PowerPoint presentation
• On a classroom handout
• Your institution’s learning management system *

*Provided doing so does not violate your own institution’s copyright policies (some places require that you only use copyright-free images in material that can be accessed by students).

Second, some photographs are covered by a Creative Commons license.  This means that the creator of an image will allow it to be used in certain cases. If you’ve ever seen “CC BY” on an image, or even just a circle with two c’s inside, that’s what it is referring to. There are many different kinds of Creative Commons licenses and licensing conditions, and you can find out about all of them here.

Photographs produced before 1949 or where the creator of a particular work has relinquished their rights to the work are considered to be part of the Public Domain, which means they are completely free to use in any way that you want.

Expert Tip: While it is totally ok to charge for a reproduction, this means that archives cannot legally prevent you from downloading a digitized image from their collection created prior to 1949 and using it however you want. However, in general, it is considered best practice to always include the name of the archive where you obtained the image, and a link back.

There is one final matter to discuss here, and that is the use of graphic images, like my personal favourite primary source, travel posters. Graphic images are covered by the same copyright protections as all other works, with the exception of the provision for photographs produced before 1949.

Whew. Thank goodness I didn’t become a lawyer.

 

Representation

There is a second matter to consider when it comes to the use of online historical images, and that is representation. As I’ve mentioned in previous guides, historical representation matters, and one of the important ways that we can fight against systemic oppression is by ensuring that the photographs we use, regardless of settings, reflect the diverse nature of our country. However, I will be the first to acknowledge that the vast majority of online Canadian historical images mostly contain images of white people. What’s more, many images depict women, non-binary, and trans* folk as well as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in stereotypical and/or inappropriate ways. These two issues are due to a combination of historical collection practices, the historical expense of photography, and the motives of photographers. As Paul Seesequasis (Willow Cree) reminds us,

Photography is not benign. From Edward Curtis’s JP Morgan- funded photographic trek cataloguing a so-called “vanishing race” to Robert Flaherty of “Nanook of the North” fame who sought a romanticized capture of Inuit life, the outsider’s gaze has been dominant toward Indigenous peoples. It has also been highly suspect, from Curtis’s suitcase of ragalic “props” to turn of the century photographers like Walter McClintock, who, while surrounded by Blackfeet living a contemporary life, sought only camp scenes and traditional dress. The photos of Curtis say more about the photographer than they do the subjects, who are posed within his tragic trope and the myth of the “vanishing race.” (https://shekonneechie.ca/2018/06/21/turning-the-lens/)

This is neither the time nor the place to talk about the interpretation of historical photographs (a blog post for another day). But it is important that we be aware of the power dynamics involved in creating and disseminating photographs. In the past I have shied away from using images that I considered to be problematic. But I have since reversed my position, largely thanks to a conversation with Melissa Shaw. She told me that as long as I was using the images in an ethical fashion, I was not responsible for the behaviour of either the original photographers or the individuals collecting images. This is my personal decision, and yours may be different. And that’s ok.

As a short aside, I’ve been really excited to see how many institutions and individuals (like Seesequasis) have issued calls for information about identifying subjects in historical photographs, as a way of correcting a historical power imbalance while paying tribute to those who have come before us. For instance, LAC’s Project Naming (originally conceived by Nunavut Sivuniksavut), calls on members of the public to identify the names of Indigenous individuals depicted in archival images as an important way of restoring their identities and historical value. These are important first steps.

 

Metadata

One final note on the issue of representation, particularly as it relates to searching online collections: metadata. Since Stephanie Pettigrew is much more informed on this, here is her definition of what metadata is:

Metadata, simply put, is “data about data.” It is a set of data that describes other data.

Metadata can be split into broad categories: Primary, Secondary, Supplementary, Derived, and Controlled. For the purposes of this project, we will be concerned mostly with Primary and Secondary, with some Supplementary.

Primary: Information pertaining to images/maps such as the file name, file size, format, resolution, last access, last modification, author, editor, etc.

Secondary: Descriptive information, dates, referencing information such as subject headings, access information such as use restriction, etc.

Supplementary: Extended descriptions or anecdotal data not provided by the original source. This could include errors in print runs, enhanced context, etc.”

For more on metadata, check out this link:

The problem with many image archives is that they are searchable only by supplementary metadata, rather than primary metadata – assuming that researchers know the primary metadata they’re looking for in the first place. And supplementary metadata is very subjective. This subjectivity can mean that it is very difficult to search online image archives. What do I mean by that? Well, the language that we use to describe the world has changed significantly. However, most archival collections are only processed once, and as a result, can contain a lot of dated language or metadata that is no longer relevant. What’s more, our own cultural biases often influence how we classify images. For instance, today, we generally don’t like classifying images by race or ethnicity. However, if you’re using LAC’s image database, it is nearly impossible to find images of Chinese-Canadians unless you know a person’s specific name.

 

My Favourites

Special thanks to Stephanie Pettigrew, Laura Larson, Shirley Tillotson, Claire Campbell, Sarah Van Vugt, Ben Bradley, Linda Steer, Carla-Jean Stokes, Gillian Leitch, Dale Barbour, Nancy Marguerite Anderson, Ed Dunsworth, Susie Colbourn, Patrick Mannion, Jared Wesley, M. Diane Rogers, @gfss_history, and @edmon_guy for their fantastic suggestions!

 

Library and Archives Canada

• Ok, hear me out. Yes, the search functions can be terrible and the website is down a lot. But, LAC has the largest and most comprehensive collection of online images relating to Canada. Its holdings include roughly 30 million photographic images in total going back to 1507. Obviously, only a small fraction of those images are available online, but that is still an enormous amount. Previously, the best way to search images on this site was by using their enhanced image search, which allows for users to search through architectural/technical drawings, art, maps, objects, photos, and stamps. However, you could really only do keyword searches and there was no way to organize the results. Lucky for us, they are currently beta-testing a new search engine, Collection Search (beta), which, in my opinion, is far superior! While it, again, is only keyword searchable, the images can be sorted by date and type of material. Just don’t forget to limit your search to images! And also keep in mind that they have organized many images into albums over on Flickr!

Expert tip: When I refer to “organizing results,” what I mean is the ability to either change the order in which they appear (alphabetically, by date, relevance, etc.) or having the ability to search within your search (by selecting online images from a certain period, for example). When it comes to looking through a huge collection, the ability to organize results can be a huge time saver. The reason I prefer organizing results rather than just inputting strict search terms is that I like to see everything that is available before narrowing it down. However, this can be challenging from a programming perspective, so it’s not super common.

 

McCord Museum

• Oh how I love this collection. The McCord Museum online collection contains over 130,000 images of artwork, photographs, textual archives, and objects relating to (what would be known as) Canada going back to the 11^thcentury, with a particular focus on Montreal. However, also included in the database are an additional 17,500 images from seven other museums (Centre d’études acadiennes de L’Université de Moncton, Guelph Museums, Musée minéralogique et minier de Thetford Mines, New Brunswick Museum, North Vancouver Museum and Archives, Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives, and the Musée acadien de L’Université de Moncton). You can search within six different collections: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings; Dress, Fashion, and Textiles; Indigenous Cultures; Decorative Arts; Photography; and Textual Archives. However, I generally just go for the quick search, which is a keyword search. And yes, the results can be organized. This archive is particularly good for images of objects and clothing that would have been used in daily life, particularly around the turn of the last century.  Like, would you look at this jar? I die.

 

Nova Scotia Archives

• I cannot say enough good things about this website. It just makes me happy. However, since we’re just talking historical images today, that’s what I’m going to focus on. The Nova Scotia Archives contains a massive collection of images, from artwork to photographs to textual documents, spanning all of the province’s history. They are particularly strong on Acadian history, Black Nova Scotian history, and anything to do with sailing/shipping. There are three ways to search this collection. First, they have compiled resource guides for a number of topics and fonds. There is a separate search function for each of these guides. This is usually the best option unless you are looking for something super specific. Second, you can do a keyword search in the search bar at the top of each page. Unfortunately, you can’t organize the search results, but it will search across all of their holdings at the same time. Finally, you can use the advanced search options through MemoryNS to look for digital objects.These search results can be organized.

  

UBC Open Collections

• This database contains more than 225,000 images, including photographs, periodicals, maps, and textual documents, mostly relating to BC and UBC history. This is where I get most of my cool travel poster images from. You can use their search function, which is pretty much the same as the Toronto Public Library one, or you can search within each individual collection. One of the best parts is that they’ve digitized just about every BC historical newspaper that was ever published. They also have a particularly strong collection relating to Chinese-Canadian history, thanks to the Chung Collection.

 

Canadian Museum of History

• This is a bit of a hidden gem, because I don’t think many people know about it. The Canadian Museum of History maintains an enormous database of images, particularly photographs of objects from their collections. The random results search function is really fun to use, but the entire database is fully keyword-searchable. While you can’t limit searches, and there isn’t any way to limit your search, their collection makes is worth the trouble.
  • And there is a corresponding database for the War Museum of Canada too!

 

Ad*Access

• If you’re a big fan of the Nursing Clio blog, as I am, then you have surely marvelled at their wonderful Sunday Morning Medicine illustrations. But because they are so awesome, they have revealed where they obtain these images. And even better, some of them are Canadian! Ad*Access is an initiative of Duke University Libraries and collects together more than 7,000 Canadian and American advertisements printed in newspapers and magazines from 1911 to 1955. The collection concentrates on five different categories: beauty and hygiene; radio; television; transportation; and WW2 propaganda. Their search guide is particularly awesome, and even includes pre-set searches that allow you to study groups of particular interest. This one is both fun and a crowdpleaser.

 

Library of Congress

• Like it or not, the Library of Congress is the best place to find good maps, for both Canada as well as North America. Obviously they have lots of other cool stuff too, but as far as Canadian history goes, they have several collections of maps that are of interest, including: American Revolution and its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789; Cities and Towns; Discovery and Exploration; General Maps; Panoramic Maps; the Rochambeau Map Collection; Railroad Maps, 1828-1900; and Transportation and Communication.

 

Online Repositories by Province/Territory

National

• Library and Archives Canada
• Canadian War Museum
• Canadian Museum of History
• Canadian War Poster Collection (McGill University)
• The British Museum
• The National Archives UK Collections – Canada
• The Canadian Jewish Network
• Ad*Access
• Library of Congress
• W.H. Pugsley Collection of Early Canadian Maps
• The Canadian Letters and Images Project
• Canadian Geographic Mapping
• The British Library’s Canadian Colonial Copyright Collection
  • And here is their Wikimedia page if you want to see just their pictures
  • And a guide here.
• Ingenium Digital Archives
• The National Archives (US)

Expert Tip: For period artwork, Stephanie suggests The British Museum or the Louvre. And if you want to search the Louvre for specific entries, you can Google the name of the painting with the word “Louvre” and it will show up. Don’t forget to also check Wikipedia, especially the Wikimedia Commons, for artwork, as well as all kinds of other images.

 

British Columbia

• Alberni Valley Museum Historic Photograph Collection
• BC Archives/Royal BC Museum
• Bulkley Valley Museum Photo Archive
• Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack Historical Society
• Chilliwack Museum and Archives
• City of Vancouver Archives
  •  Also, their Flickr account
• City of Vancouver Photos
• City of Victoria Archives
• Cowichan Valley Archives
• Digitized Okanagan History
• Esquimalt Municipal Archives
• The Exploration Place
• Jewish Museum and Archives 
• Langley Photographs
• MemoryBC
• New Westminster Photo Database
• Pender Harbour Living Heritage Society
• Reciprocal Research Network
• Saanich Archives
• SFU Digitized Images and Photographs Collections
• Sto:lo Research & Resource Management Centre
• UBC Historical Photographs
• UBC Museum of Anthropology Archives
• UBC Museum of Anthropology Collections
• UBC Open Collections
• University of Northern British Columbia Digitized Photograph Collections
• Vancouver Public Library Photo Collections

 

Yukon

• Klondike Gold Rush Photos
• Yukon Archives Images Database
• Skyline

 

North-West Territories

• Northern Heritage Center Photo Gallery
• Northwest Territories Archives Photos
• Yellowknife Historical Society

 

Nunavut

• Nunavut Images Collection
• The Nick Newbery Photo Collection

 

Alberta

• Alberta Folklore Photo Collection
• Alberta On Record
• Athabasca Historical Photos
• City of Edmonton Archives
• Glenbow Museum Archives Photos
• Peel’s Prairie Provinces
• Provincial Archives of Alberta Photo Collection
  • And their Flickr account
• South Peace Archives Soldiers Memorial Photo Archives
• University of Calgary Photo Archives
• University of Lethbridge Digital Collections

​

Saskatchewan

• City of Regina Archives
• Prince Albert Historical Society
• Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan
• Saskatchewan Archival Information Network
• Sask History Online Photos
• Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society
• Saskatoon Through the Ages
• South Saskatchewan Photo Museum
• University of Saskatchewan Photograph Collection

 

Manitoba

• Manitoba Archival Information Network
• Manitoba Historical Society Photographs
• University of Manitoba Digital Collections
• Winnipeg In Focus

 

Ontario

• Algoma University Archives
• Almonte Historic Photo Archive
• Archives Association of Ontario – Archeion
• Archives of Ontario
  • And their Flickr album
• Barrie Historical Archive
• Bruce County Museum & Cultural Center
• City of Niagara Falls
• City of Toronto Archives
  • And their Flickr album
• Etobicoke Historical Society Online Images
• Georgetown Vault Photos
• Grey Roots Museum and Archives
• Guelph Museums
• Hamilton Public Library Local History Photo Archives
• Hastings County Photo Archives
• Historic London Photographs
• Huron County Museum
• Ingersoll Historical Photo Gallery
• Lakehead University Archives
• Museum Strathroy-Caradoc
• Niagara Historical Society
• Oakville Historical Society
• Our Ontario
• Port Hope Photo Archives
• Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada
• Rainy River Historic Photos
• Sidewalk Labs
• Toronto Public Library Images Archive
  • And their Flickr album
• Waterloo Region Museum
• Woodstock Museum

 

Quebec

• Archives Historique de La Ville de Québec
• Archives de la Ville de Montréal
• Archives Lanaudière
• BAnQ Digital Collections
• BAnQ Image Collection
  • And their Flickr albums
• Eastern Townships Archives Portal
• Gatineau Valley Historical Image Bank
• Magog Historical Photos and Postcards
• McCord Museum
• McGill University Digital Collections
• Musée de la Gaspésie Photo Archives

 

New Brunswick

• ArchivesCANB
• Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
• UNB Loyalist Collection

 

Nova Scotia

• The Beaton Institute
• Dalhousie University Photographs
• Halifax Municipal Archives
• MemoryNS
• Nova Scotia Legislature Photo Galleries
• Nova Scotia Archives
• Pictou Historical Photograph Society
• Queens County Museum Photos and Postcards

 

PEI

• Government of PEI Public Archives Material Online
• Island Archives at the UPEI
• MemoryPEI
• PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation Photos
• Prince of Wales College Images
• Saint Dunstan’s University Digital Image Collection

 

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives
• Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador
• Memorial University Digital Archive
• The Rooms
• St. Anthony Historic Photos

 

---

I hope you enjoyed this week’s resource guide. If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup! See you then!

Liked this guide? Check out some of our other ones:

• Online sources on Canada During WW1
• Online sources on Black History in Canada
• Online sources on Loyalist History
• Online sources for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
• Peer-Reviewed Journals in Canadian History