Skip to main content
       Search       
Gay Pride Flag Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity
Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity
thumbnailthumbnail

Manuscript Collections

Manuscript collections are the unpublished papers created or assembled by a person, organization or institution. They can be held by libraries or archives. They can contain correspondence and diaries, minutes and business records, drafts of published works, notes, photographs, posters, etc. Most manuscript collections are physically organized into boxes and folders.

Manuscripts collections usually have finding aids that describe their contents and the order in which they are arranged. The level of description varies, from a general overview to the item specific. Some finding aids only provide a summary of the contents of the collection. Others list the contents of each box and the most detailed will describe each indivdual folder.

VIEW LIST OF AVAILABLE FINDING AIDS

If you wish to look at any of the materials described in the finding aids listed in this site you will need to visit the holding institution. Hours and use policies vary. It is usually a good idea to call ahead before a visit.

Saskatchewan Archives Board

Authority Record

 

Individual (PA 299)

Wilson, Doug, 1950-1992


About this records creator:

 

Authorized Heading

Wilson, Doug, 1950-1992

Biographical Sketch / Administrative History

Douglas Wilson was born in 1950 in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.  He received his Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan, with majors in Art and History.  He taught public school in Makwa, Saskatchewan, in 1969-1970 and 1973-1974.  He did post-graduate work in Educational Foundations at the University of Saskatchewan between 1974 and 1976.  During this period, he worked as a sessional lecturer and supervisor of practice teaching for the College of Education.

While living in Saskatoon during the early 1970s, Wilson was actively and visibly involved in the gay liberation movement.  He was instrumental in the organization and administration of groups such as the Zodiac Friendship Society (later the Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon) and the Saskatchewan Gay Coalition.  The latter organization fought for the human rights of homosexuals in the province, and in the later 1970s Wilson was the group’s leading activist.

On September 22, 1975, Dean J. Kirkpatrick of the College of  Education suspended Wilson’s work as a supervisor of practice teaching in public schools, on the grounds of Wilson’s open admission of his homosexuality and his public involvement in the gay liberation movement.  A Committee to Defend Doug Wilson was formed to fight the university’s action, and Wilson placed a formal complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.  The Commission planned to go ahead with a formal inquiry into the case, but the process was halted when the university won an application to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench for an order to prohibit the inquiry based on the argument that, at the time, discrimination on basis of a person’s sex referred to gender rather than sexual orientation.  The inquiry was never held.

In 1978, Wilson became the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Association on Human Rights, a position which he held until 1983.  In 1983 he moved to Toronto, where he worked for the Toronto Board of Education’s Race Relations office.   Wilson died from AIDS in Toronto in 1992.

Sources

Contents of the Doug Wilson fonds (F 414)

Contents of the Neil Richards fonds (F 413)

 


Archival records linked to this records creator:                                                       

 

 

F 414, Doug Wilson fonds

 

Saskatchewan Archives Board

Records Description

 

F 414

Doug Wilson fonds


About these records:

 

Title of Records: Fonds

Doug Wilson fonds

Dates of Creation

1974-1985

Physical Description

12 cm textual records

Link to Authority

Douglas Wilson was actively and visibly involved in the gay liberation and gay rights movement in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan in the 1970s and 1980s. 

See:

Wilson, Doug, 1950-1992

Custodial History

The executor of the Estate of Doug Wilson, Mary Louise Adams, donated the Doug Wilson fonds to the Saskatoon office, Saskatchewan Archives, in one accession in 1993:  S93-38 (7 June 1993.) 

Scope and Content

This fonds consists of records created, accumulated and used by Doug Wilson while he lived in Saskatchewan.  The records relate to his involvement and interest in matters of relevance to the Saskatchewan homosexual community, to the gay rights movement, and to Wilson’s dismissal from the University of Saskatchewan and his subsequent human rights claim put before the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.  The fonds includes correspondence, clippings, and publications about his work in the gay rights movement, as well as his involvement in the creation and administration of homosexual organizations in the province, such as the Zodiac Friendship Society / Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon, and the Saskatchewan Gay Coalition.  The fonds also includes correspondence, briefs and reports pertaining to Wilson’s work with the Saskatchewan Association on Human Rights, and original and reproduced cartoons drawn by Wilson.

Access Restrictions

These records are subject to access restrictions according to the terms of an agreement with the donor dated June 24, 1993.  Please consult reference archivist for assistance.

Terms Governing Use

Use, publication and/or reproduction of records are subject to terms and conditions of the Copyright Act.

Reference Tools

SAFA 218 (old guide GS-218) consists of a fonds level description and file level listings of textual records.

Related Records

(records held by SAB)

Related records are available in the Neil Richards fonds, F 413.  This fonds includes official records of the Zodiac Friendship Society / Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon, and of the Saskatchewan Gay Coalition, associations in which Doug Wilson played a key organizational role.  File VI.6. of the Richards fonds includes a videotape entitled “Gay Liberation,” which includes an interview with Wilson conducted in 1978.

Physical Condition note

Records are in good physical condition.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Source of Description

Old Guide GS-218

Content of the fonds

Notes

Location for retrieval: Saskatoon – Murray.

Former Codes

GS-218 (S-A 810)

Consulting the Records

To consult the records visit or contact the Saskatoon office.

Arrangement Note(s)

Arrangement reflects original order.

 

Doug Wilson fonds                                                                                       S-A 810

 

1974-1985                                                                                                       15 cm

 

 

1.         Biographical, [1980s] (Restricted)                                                      1.0 cm

 

2.         Committee to Defend Doug Wilson, 1975-1976 (Restricted)              2.0 cm

 

3.         Graphics (Original and Produced), n.d. (Restricted)                         3.0 mm

 

4.         Membership Lists, 1979 (Restricted)                                                 1.0 cm

 

5.         Miscellaneous (Canada), 1974-1985 (2 folders) (Restricted)            4.0 cm

 

6.         Miscellaneous (International), 1975-1982 (Restricted)                       1.0 cm

 

7.         Miscellaneous (Saskatchewan), 1975-1985 (Restricted)                  1.0 cm

 

8.         Original Correspondence, n.d., 1977-1984 (Restricted)                    2.0 cm