W. Kaye Lamb, 1904-1999, Founding Fellow 

Highlights

Distinguished leader in both the library and archival fields in Canada (Provincial Archives of British Columbia, University of British Columbia (UBC) Archives, Public Archives of Canada and National Library of Canada); accomplished historical editor; instituted innovative federal government archival and records management practices and facilities; instrumental in establishing the National Library of Canada; helped foster archival learning (lectured in the early days of the UBC Master of Archival Studies program) and the archival community (helped found the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association). 

Education & Background

Born in New Westminster in 1904, William Kaye Lamb received both his BA (1927) and his MA (1930) in History from UBC. While working on his MA he also undertook studies at the Sorbonne and École Libre des Sciences Politiques (1928-1932). He achieved his PhD from the London School of Economics (1933). 

W. Kaye Lamb began his career in 1934 as the Provincial Archivist and Librarian of British Columbia, and in 1936 began concurrently serving as Superintendent and Secretary of the Provincial Library Commission. During his tenure, he founded and edited the British Columbia Historical Quarterly (1936-1946) and oversaw the institution of the province’s first legislation governing the retention and disposal of government records, the Document Disposal Act. He left in 1940 to serve as the UBC University Librarian. 

In 1948, Lamb was appointed Dominion Archivist of Canada, leading the institution then known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC, now Library and Archives Canada) and played a decisive role there, implementing numerous changes to modernize the PAC as well as records management practices in the federal government. He strengthened PAC’s role in the management of Canadian public records and established a system of four federal records centers to store semi-active records. In addition, he greatly broadened the scope of PAC’s holdings, incorporating film, television and sound archives. To provide better service to researchers, he expanded the use of microforms, developed new descriptive practices to replace item-level “calendars”, and revived the PAC’s publications program, introducing the Union List of Manuscripts.  

In his role as Dominion Archivist, Lamb shepherded the creation of a separate National Library of Canada; when Prime Minister Mackenzie King first offered Lamb the position as Dominion Archivist, he accepted on condition that he would be responsible for establishing a National Library. In 1953 he was appointed as the first National Librarian of Canada, serving this role while continuing as Dominion Archivist. Lamb oversaw construction of new headquarters for the National Library and National Archives at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa, completed in 1967. In that same year distinguished Canadian artist Lawren Harris was commissioned to paint his portrait. In 1968 Lamb retired. 

Contributions to the Profession 

W. Kaye Lamb nurtured the early development of the Canadian archival profession by supporting archival education and the formation of professional associations. In the absence of university-based archival education programs, he started a program offering archivists from across Canada a training program consisting of a month-long program of classes and workshops at the Dominion Archives. In the days before archival associations existed, he helped establish an Archives Section within the Canadian Historical Association. 

Lamb served as president of many organizations in the field of libraries and archives within Canada and internationally, including the British Columbia Library Association, the Pacific Northwest Library Association, Canadian Library Association (1947-1948), the Society of American Archivists (1964-1965), and the Society of Archivists (Great Britain and the Commonwealth). He also served as President of the British Columbia Historical Association (1936-1937), the Canadian Historical Association (1957-1958), the Royal Society of Canada, and the Champlain Society (as president 1953-1964, and honorary president 1971-1999).  

Lamb also contributed internationally, carrying out surveys of library and archival institutions in Nigeria and Guinea for the Ford Foundation in 1961, and a major archival study for the Government of Australia in 1973. 

After his retiring from the federal civil service in 1968, Lamb continued to pursue his life-long research interests, publishing books and articles on the Canadian Pacific Railway, Pacific Northwest exploration and fur trade, and Pacific Coast shipping. Most notably, he edited the journals of Captain Vancouver, documenting his travels to the North Pacific Coast and around the world. This massive undertaking was published in four volumes.  

In the early years of the UBC Master of Archival Studies program, he served regularly as a guest lecturer about the history of Canadian archival development.  

Lamb died in Vancouver in 1999. His contributions to the Canadian and international archival and library communities are commemorated by the Association of Canadian Archivists’ W. Kaye Lamb Prize for Archivaria, the Canadian Library Association’s W. Kaye Lamb Award for Service to Seniors, and the British Columbia Historical Federation’s W. Kaye Lamb Scholarship for student essays in BC history. 

Honours, Awards and Recognition 

• Royal Society of Canada (RSC), elected1949 
• SAA Fellow, 1960 
• RSC J.B. Tyrell Historical Medal, 1965 
• Officer of the Order of Canada, 1969 
• International Council on Archives, Honorary Life Member, 1969 
• Bibliographical Society of Canada, Honorary Member, 1969 
• Honorary degrees from universities of: British Columbia (1948), Manitoba (1953), Toronto (1954), Saskatchewan (1956), Assumption [now Windsor] (1958), Victoria (1964), McMaster (1966), New Brunswick (1967), and York (1968); D.S. Litt awarded by University of Victoria (Toronto), 1961 
• ACA Fellow, 1979 

• Archivaria 15, theme issue titled “Archives and Libraries: Essays in Honour of W. Kaye Lamb.” 
• Ian E. Wilson, Jean-Pierre Wallot, and Jay Atherton, “In Memoriam: William Kaye Lamb, OC, FRSC, 1904-1999,” Archivaria 47 (Spring 1999): 176-18. 
• Basil Stuart-Stubbs, “William Kaye Lamb: A Eulogy”, 1999. https://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/misc/lamb_eulogy.pdf 
• Ex Libris Association, William Kaye Lamb entry, Biographies of Canadian Librarians and Archivists https://www.exlibris.ca/doku.php?id=biographies:william-kaye-lamb  
• Several archival institutions hold W. Kaye Lamb records, including UBC, the Vancouver Maritime Museum, the Royal BC Museum and Archives, and Library and Archives Canada.