Sub-séries A - Early MOA activities and curatorial research

Under the direction of Deirdre Norman, Photographic Archivist, and curator Audrey Hawthorn, a collection of photographs for curatorial research purposes was created – the collection included original prints and negatives as well as copies, and identification prints were created to accompany the identification data for each image. The photographs were collected from various sources, including Museum curatorial staff and anthropologists from UBC and elsewhere. It appears that in some cases the originals were donated, while in other cases copies were made for the Archives and the originals returned.

After the retirement of Audrey Hawthorn in 1976, the collection was not added to and some of the original arrangement order was lost. A project was undertaken in 1995 to reappraise the photographs, update the identification data, perform any necessary preservation work, and rearrange the photographs to facilitate better access. Photographs that MOA did not hold copyright for were removed and placed in the care of Bill McLennan. In addition, the photographs were physically rearranged so that prints, original negatives and copy negatives are all in separate drawers.

In 2005 the segregated images were accessioned back into the archives and were all given the accession number 2005-002.