Archives & Library

The Archives and Library of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies was established in 1966 to serve the unique mountain regions of western Canada, the area bounded by the 49th Parallel on the south, the Peace River on the north, the Front Ranges on the east and the Columbia Mountains on the west. Major focuses of the collection include: family and personal life; exploration, discovery and travel; sport, recreation and leisure; tourism; arts and culture; corporate and organizational history; and community life. Holdings include textual records, photographs, moving images and sound recordings in over 625 fonds and collections as well as library materials incorporating 4,400 books, 2,300 pamphlets, 125 journal collections, 1,000 maps, newspaper clippings, microforms and various audiovisual and electronic resources. The Archives and Library is also custodian of the Alpine Club of Canada library, a renowned collection covering mountain recreation, culture and landscapes worldwide, and the Luxton Family fonds, textual and photographic records of a pioneer Banff family, maintained on behalf of the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation.

Fonds and Collections:

The archival term “fonds” is the whole of the records accumulated by an individual, institution, or organization in the course of that creator’s activities or functions. A “collection” is an artificial accumulation of records brought together on the basis of some common characteristic.