Annex T2-5; U3; U4; H
Date of the items: 1966-2015
Physical description: 7.6m (78 boxes – 1013 files)
Title: Peter Adams Fonds
Creator: Peter Adams
Repository: Trent Valley Archives
Reference number: TVA Fonds 287
Scope and Contents: Fonds consists of the papers of Peter Adams relating to his work at McGill & Trent Universities, in the community and as an Ontario MPP and federal MP from Peterborough.
A. Trent University Geography Department
- Departmental budgets, minutes, proceedings and correspondence
- Course Work
- Field Trips, Tours, Foreign Visits
- Special Projects and Publications
- Snow, Ice and Polar Studies
- Northern Studies, Libraries and Universities
- Eastern Snow Conferences
- Lake Ice Studies
- Malawi Project 1979 – 1985
- Arctic Studies with McGill University 1959-66
B. Community Initiatives, Programmes, Campaigns
- Parks Board
- St. John Ambulance
- United Way
- Cancer Society
- Canadian Red Cross Society
- St. John’s Church
- Terry Fox Run
- YMCA
- Energy Savers
- Peterborough Historical Society
- Trent Sport, Recreation and Wellness
C. Political Life
- Peterborough By-pass
- Peterborough County Board of Education (Boxes 16 – 24)
- Saving PCVS 1970
- M.P.P Annual Report 1988 – 1990
- M.P. Annual Reports 1993 – 2005
- Parliamentary Trips
- Contributions in Ontario Legislature 1987-88
- An Academic in Ottawa (April 2003)
- Political Photos
- Diaries
- Hansard – House of Commons and Committees
- Peterborough and Parliament (Book) 2013
Access Conditions: Open to researchers.
Finding Aids: In addition to this document, there is an Excel listing of all the files in the collection.
Accruals: None expected.
Custodial History: Donations were made by Peter Adams in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018. The papers were organized and sorted by Guy Thompson & Ruth Kuchinad. The papers generally follow the order that was established by Peter Adams and have been organized by series.
See also: F155, Peterborough Elections.
At the request of Peter Adams, MP, the Library of Parliament copied the newspapers that discussed Peterborough elections. These have been placed in Trent Valley Archives as Fonds 155.
Biographical Sketch: Peter Adams (1936-2018) was born in Sheffield, England and completed his undergraduate degree in England and his PhD degree at McGill University, Montreal, PQ in geography and glaciology. He was a Carnegie Arctic Scholar, member of the McGill Axel Heiberg Expeditions and director of the McGill Subarctic Research Laboratory.
In 1968, he was the Founding Chair of the Geography Dept. at Trent University, and Dean of Graduate Studies, Associate Dean of Science and Associate Vice-President, 1977-1987. His passion was Arctic research, authoring numerous articles on the Canadian Arctic, on the environment and other geographical topics. These include sixty peer reviewed scientific articles, several books and dozens of reviews, newspaper & magazine articles. He was also significantly involved in health issues, sports and athletics.
Peter became interested in community service and started his political career as a Trustee on the local Public Board of Education. He was elected MPP for Peterborough from 1987 to 1990 and to the House of Commons as MP for Peterborough in 1993, where he served until 2006.
Books include: Trent, McGill and the North: A Story of Canada’s Growth as a Sovereign Polar Nation (2007); Peterborough and the Kawarthas (3rd edition co-edited with C.H. Taylor, 2009); Peterborough Successes: Community organization in Peterborough in the 1970s and 1980s (2011); Découvrir le Rȇve de Champlain/Finding Champlain’s Dream (written and edited with E.H. Jones and A.G. Brunger, 2015).
Related Fonds at TVA: Several Collections at TVA contain references to Peter Adams; F550 Champlain 400 Project might be of interest to those interested in the Finding Champlain’s Dream project that Peter Adams worked on.
Access Points:
Peterborough, Ontario
Trent University Geography Department
Peterborough Collegiate Institute
St. John’s Church
Peterborough Historical Society
Peterborough Politics
Provincial Government
Federal Government
Canadian Arctic