Opening in January of 1944, Winston Hall was constructed as a Women’s residence for wartime housing by the War Munitions and Supply Ministry of the Federal Government. When the property was deemed to be surplus, City Council acquired it through an agreement with the Director of the Veterans’ Land Act (October 15th 1945) and by arranging to borrow $80,000 for the purchase under By-law 3954 (October 9th, 1945). The Ontario Government approved the agreement between the Director of the Veterans’ Land Act and Council through enacting the City of Fort William Act, 1946.

Council appointed five of its members to the Winston Hall Committee on October 23, 1945 in order to direct the management of the facility. The committee first convened 2 days later on October 25th, 1945 and elected Alderman Booth as the chair. Renovations, the appointment of management, personnel, lease and rental arrangements were items addressed by the committee. At various points, the fixtures in Winston Hall included a grocery, concessions, bowling alley, assembly hall and classrooms for the Canadian Vocational Training School.

Between 1945 and 1948, other programs to manage construction of post-war housing were administered by a Housing Committee that was established by council on January 9th 1945. After 1949, however, the Winston Hall Committee advised in these local improvement matters between the City of Fort William and Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation and was thenceforward known as the Winston Hall and Civic Housing Committee. In Fort William, the last project of this kind was identified as project 10. Details regarding agreements between Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the City of Fort William can be found in the City Clerks Files under Housing.

On November 9, 1950 the members of the Winston Hall and Civic Housing Committee advised council to authorize the sale of the Winston Hall property to Mr. Alan Guyer. Council had already approved a leasing arrangement for the property on May 30, 1950 under by-law 4342. After coming to an agreement of sale on November 28, 1950, By-law 4424, passed through Council on March 30th, authorizing the sale to Mr. Guyer for the Winston Hall Property and ending the City’s commitment to the management of the property.

Photographs and documents, generally collected because they would be of interest regarding the history of Port Arthur and Fort William. Includes rail and CPR, ships, fishing, and social and sporting groups.

These papers consist of personal letters recounting family matters and official letters regarding immigration from the British Isles to Ontario, specifically among William C. Noxon, Alf Cooper and V.B. Wadsworth regarding a proposal to settle Hebridean farmers in Northwestern Ontario in 1924.

Fonds consists of Lindstrom's professorial and scholarly research files throughout her career, as well as records documenting her academic activities. Research files pertain to her publications and monographs such as "Defiant Sisters : A Social History of Finnish Immigrant Women in Canada, 1890-1930" (both the English and Finnish editions), and "From Heroes to Enemies : Finns in Canada, 1937-1947," as well as book chapters, articles, papers, presentations and lectures, and her involvement with the National Film Board production "Letters from Karelia," and subsequent research. The research files span the activities of Finnish and Finnish-Canadian organizations across the political spectrum, such as the Finnish Organization of Canada (left wing), and Loyal Finns in Canada (right wing). Records include oral history interviews (audio cassettes and transcripts), research notes, clippings, a significant and extensive number of photograph and letter collections passed down through generations of Finnish Canadians, diaries, correspondence, publication drafts, academic and professorial notes, microfilm of Finnish language newspapers published in Canada and archival records, financial records of Finnish-Canadian organizations such as newspapers and post-World War II relief funding bodies, scrapbooks, photocopies of rare and unusual documents such as two volumes of a Soviet register of Finnish War Crimes, a list of persons found in the mass grave at Karhumaki, and Soviet lists of North American Finns who journeyed to Karelia to help build a socialist utopia there, academic and professorial files, publicity files, files pertaining to her work with the School of Women's Studies, and her own papers as a university student. The fonds also includes letters written by Lindstrom as a newly-arrived teenaged immigrant to Canada to her best friend in Finland; many of these letters were published in Finnish with English translation in 'Letters from an immigrant teenager' in 2012.

The Urban Renewal Department was established as a department of The City of Thunder Bay upon amalgamation of the City in 1970. The department was headed by a Director of Urban Renewal, who reported to the City Coordinator. The main responsibilities of the department included property acquisition and the relocation of persons and businesses affected by these acquisitions, neighbourhood improvement, commercial development, including retail and parking areas, installations and improvements to city infrastructure and industrial development. Between 1970 and 1974, the Urban Renewal Department also engaged in social services activities including activities relating to welfare and job assistance. Following the reorganization of The City of Thunder Bay in 1975, the Urban Renewal Department became known as Urban Redevelopment and was incorporated under the Planning Department, reporting to the Director of Planning. It was at this time that social services activities were withdrawn from its portfolio.

Series consists of records of the Urban Renewal Department of the City of Thunder Bay and predominantly refers to the period of change and development immediately following amalgamation. The records of the Urban Renewal Department relate to a variety of areas within the City, however, the majority of records in this series refer to the development of the downtown area of the former Port Arthur ward. Included are agreements and draft agreements relating to construction, leases and property acquisition.

Predominant in this series are agreements with the construction company, Headway Corporation Ltd, and with various retail corporations. Also included in this series are construction and development contracts, correspondence, financial records relating to budgeting and cost estimation for urban renewal projects, site plans, meeting minutes and reports. In addition to the records of the Urban Renewal Department are records of the City Coordinator and meeting minutes of the nonprofit organization, Thunder Bay Community Projects Incorporated.

Included in this series are a small quantity of records of the former City of Port Arthur’s Urban Renewal Committee created prior to the amalgamation of Port Arthur with The City of Thunder Bay.

Tourist Registers for the City of Fort William for the period 1927 to 1928 are stamped as the property of the Civic Tourist and Convention Bureau under the direction of secretary manager D. G. Dewar and his assistant Josephine Vanderkaa. The Civic Tourist and Convention Bureau was formalized under By-law 2664 of 1926. Managed by a Committee of the same name (see Series 6), staff at the Tourist Bureau promoted tourism, made arrangements for visitor accommodations and promoted the tourist trade. In performing these functions, the Bureaus register served much like a guest book, recording visitors to Fort William, the date of their visit, length of stay, and where they were from.

The responsibility and origin of the records for the 1907 to 1909 period are unknown. In these years, only the visitor’s name and home is given. Some listed names are identified as distinguished visitors or entertainers. Most names, however, appear to be regular travelers.

On March 5, 1926, the Industrial Committee, being a sub-committee of Council, established a Tourist Executive in order to manage a program for the tourist business. The Tourist Executive drew representation from the Board of Trade, Retail Merchants, the Parks Board, Trades and Labour Council, Motor Club, and the Fish and Game Club in addition to the members from the existing Industrial Committee. Alderman Schoales acted as the first Chair of the Tourist executive which in turn recruited additional members from the community at large for the following sub-committees; Printing and Publicity, Canvassing, Tourist Information, Roads, Hotels and Transportation, and Camp Grounds. Renamed the Fort William Tourist and Convention Bureau when it was formalized under By-law 2664 in December of 1926, its’ purpose was to: “foster and promote the tourist trade… to establish Fort William [as a] centre for the holding of conventions…to undertake publicity…arrange for the accommodation of tourists and their cars, [and to] arrange for road marking and sign boards and such other measures as may be deemed advisable”. (FW By-law 2664)

By 1938, representation on the Tourist Bureau had expanded to include representation from the Parks Board, the Chamber of Commerce and the Hotelkeepers Association. The Committee oversaw a local tourist information bureau, sent representatives to various North American Outdoor shows and maintained an affiliation with the Duluth Arrowhead Association in order to distribute promotional material to potential American tourists. In general, efforts to improve highway and road markings, entertain tourists, promote and distribute material to entice visitors and encourage conventions are noted throughout the minutes. In addition, minutes of the Joint Tourist Committee Minutes of Port Arthur and Fort William are included after 1944. Among the issues addressed by the Joint Committee were the use of shared promotional material, the development of Kakabeka Falls and Sibley as Tourist destinations, and the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway along the north Shore of Lake Superior.

In 1938 Council passed By-law 3555 in order to generate funds through taxation for the purpose of giving grants to bands. A Band Committee appears to have been established as a committee of council to oversee matters relating to the Fort William Pipe Band and the Fort William City Band. Minutes of this Committee are included for the period April to December
1940 and relate mostly to the payment of accounts for Band expenditures. The Band Minutes themselves refer to the Committee as a committee of council, but the relationship between the Band and the Tourist and Convention Bureau Committee is unknown.

A handful of annual reports (Series 16) remain for the Civic Tourist Bureau which supplement the minutes by providing information on Tourist issues as well as statistical information on tourist attractions attendance and the number of tourists crossing through the Pigeon River Border.

According to Council Minutes, Council representatives were appointed to the Fort William Tourist Committee until 1969. It is unknown what happened to minutes after 1950.

This Series consists of meeting minutes relating to the management of the Fort William Tourist and Convention Bureau. Five bound volumes exist, for which there are no indices. Reports and Joint Tourist Committee Minutes of Port Arthur and Fort William are interspersed after 1944.

The records consist of both Routine and Standing Orders given by the Chief of Police. Routine orders cover a variety of subjects including appointments, transfers, training, promotions, procedures, resignations and postings. Standing Orders cover policies, procedures and directives.

Under Section 5 of the Municipal Act (2001), powers of a municipal government must be exercised through by-laws, approved by City Council, which enable the municipality to govern its own affairs and respond to local issues. These by-laws work within the framework of provincial and federal legislation. By-laws relate to a broad range of issues and generally provide for a system of licenses, prohibitions, and requirements of persons. The Office of the City Clerk holds responsibility for maintaining Policy Manuals and the corporate by-law and reporting system. The City Clerk and the City Solicitor share the responsibility of interpreting
by-laws for municipal officials. City Council passes new by-laws and votes on amending and existing by-laws in Council meetings, based on recommendations and advice from the City Clerk. The City Council is governed by a board of 13 elected members including the Mayor, who each serve a four year term. One elected official presides over each of the seven wards within the City and an additional 5 elected officials represent the broader regional areas surrounding the City.

Council Meetings and Committee of the Whole Meetings are now held in accordance with Bylaw 139-2006. Council discusses issues in Committee of the Whole Meetings based on the following four key divisions; Community Services, Planning, Operations and Administrative Services. The City Council also delegates responsibility to three sub-committees; the Committee of Adjustment, the Heritage Advisory Committee, and the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.

Mayors presiding over Council in the time reflected in this series include Saul Laskin (1970-1972), Walter Assef (1973-1978 and 1981-1985), Dusty Miller (1979-1980), Jack Masters (1986-1991), David Hamilton (1992-1997), and Ken Boshcoff (1998-2003).

Series consists of by-laws established by The City of Thunder Bay beginning from the point of the City’s amalgamation in 1970. By-laws established by the City cover a range of issues including Agreements pertaining to items such as land acquisitions, leases, employment unions and major institutions within the City such as Canadian Pacific, Canadian National Railway and the Hydro Electric Commission; road maintenance, traffic systems and parking regulations; appointment of municipal officers; zoning; capital works and development of infrastructure, including urban renewal, licenses; rules of procedure for City Council; and taxation. In addition to these general items, early by-laws established in the City relate to the establishment of traffic light systems and intersections, the development of Boulevard Lake, and the establishment of a ward system for the City. Recent by-laws from this series also cover accessibility provisions, heritage designation, animal control and records management.

By-laws contain indexes for each year which can be located in the first box pertaining to each year. Indexes are arranged alphabetically by topic and name. For example, there are alphabetical arrangements of street names, names of people for appointed positions, corporate names and institutional names. There are also topical terms such as taxation, official plans and agreements.

A vast and varied collection of records documenting the experiences of Finnish immigrants to Northwestern Ontario. Includes correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, interviews, published material, and ephemera. The photograph collection is extensive and covers a wide range of subjects.

The records are arranged into the following series:
A - Bay Street Project
B - Finnpraxis Project
C - Collections
D - Photographs
E - Miscellaneous
F - Finnish Experience

The Fort William Street Railway line was originally built and operated by the City of Port Arthur. In a decision by the Ontario Municipal and Railway Board of 1908, the Street Railway was to be managed by representatives from both Municipalities until December 1913, when each Municipality would manage its own Street Railway service. A special committee was appointed by the City Councils of Fort William and Port Arthur as early as 1907. Six representatives were appointed from both Municipalities including Mayor Clavet and Mr. George Hodder (Chair) from Port Arthur and Mayor Murphy from Fort William. Mr. McNaughton, Municipal Clerk for Fort William, was appointed Secretary of the Committee. In addition to Street Railway concerns, this Joint Committee discussed matters relating to telephones, and the supply of gas to the two Cities. Minutes exist for 1907 and 1909 and one meeting in January 1910.

In addition to this joint committee, the City of Fort William established a special Street Railway Committee at a meeting of Council on April 7, 1908. In addition to questions regarding the Street Railway, the Committee was to address the question of the Mount McKay and Kakabeka Falls Railway Co. Members appointed were Alderman Oakley, Peltier, Dean and the Mayor. In January of 1909 Aldermen O’Donnell, Dean, Fergusson and Oakley were appointed.

Minutes remain for the period May 1908 to August 1909 and December 1913 to April 1915. By-law 1709, passed in 1915 discharged the Street Railway Committee as a Subcommittee of Council.

After the dissolution of the Fort William Street Railway Committee, the Public Utilities Committee assumed responsibility for the management of the Fort William Street Railway.

The Reverend S.C. Murray fonds consists of memoirs written by S.C. Murray concerning life in Port Arthur and church affairs.

Records of Rev Toivo Pajala, minister of Saalem Pentecostal Church.

The collection consists of legal files and documents, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and drawings from the legal firm Wink & Cameron (Port Arthur). The collection consists of the following series:

1. Legal Documents
2. Drawings

Photographs of Bertrand's travels in Northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota, probably 1940s and 1950s. Includes Kakabeka Falls, the Port Arthur Waterfront, and several reproductions of unidentified older portrait photographs.

Most subjects are not identified in any way.

Photographic prints; negatives are also described as #13d.