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Finding Aid

Labor-Progressive Party

Labor-Progressive Party collection. -- 1944-2001; 1944-1956 predominant. -- 50 cm of textual records.

The Communist Party of Canada was founded in Guelph, Ontario in June 1921 as a secret organization. It became a fully open party in 1924. In 1940 it was banned under the War Measures Act. In 1943 it re-emerged as a "new" party, the Labor-Progressive Party (LPP). The period from 1943-1945 was its most successful, with a claimed membership of 20,000. Tim Buck (1891-1973), a machinist and trade unionist, was general-secretary of the party for thirty-two years although he was forced underground during the 1940-1943 period. He also served as the national leader of the LPP.

There have been two accruals. The first accrual consists almost entirely of printed materials and ephemera. There is one file folder of typescripts and holograph notes. Included in the collection are the 1946 and 1949 constitutions, pamphlets, programs, election materials for Tim Buck and others, conference reports, and correspondence course outlines. Some of the material was issued by the Toronto and Yorks Committee of the party, others by the Ontario Committee. The majority of the collection consists of printed materials and periodicals from a variety of other organizations, in Canada and abroad. There is one signed petition to the Mayor and Council of the City of Toronto which was organized by the Toronto Councils of Unemployed. The second accrual (17-2001) consists of a cigarette once belonging to Tito, correspondence, a speech, Tim Buck programs, and printed autographed materials concerning Paul Robeson.

The collection is supplemented by catalogued periodicals issued by the Labor-Progressive Party: Club Life and National Affairs Monthly. Researchers should also consult the Tim Buck collection and the Canadian pamphlet collection.

Title based on content of collection.
The provenance and date of acquisition of the first accrual is not known. The second accrual was received in October 2001 from Karl Freeman.
Finding aid is available only at the collection level in hard copy and electronically for the first accrual; there is a file-level finding aid for the second accrual in hard copy and electronically.
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are not expected.

Contact: archives@mcmaster.ca
Last Reviewed: May 27, 2003
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