Sandra Thomson fonds

Born into a Ukrainian-Canadian family in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario in 1950, Sandra Mary Thomson was raised with an appreciation for history and heritage. She studied the Ukrainian language at the Fort William Prosvita, worked as a Sunday School teacher at the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and both danced and instructed at the Vesnyanka Dance School. Thomson earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from Lakehead University in 1971, and her Master of Arts in Slavic Studies (Modern Russian Prose) in 1974. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Studies (Russian Literature) at the University of British Columbia in 1981.

Thomson began her career with the Government of Alberta’s Department of Culture in 1982 as the Head of Programming for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, and in 1995, Thomson was appointed as Provincial Archivist of Alberta. Thomson held the position of Provincial Archivist until her sudden death on July 16, 2004. On October 3, 2005, the Provincial Archives of Alberta’s Reading Room was renamed the Sandra Thomson Reading Room in her memory.

The Sandra Thomson fonds includes photographs from Dr. Thomson’s childhood, journals, essays and poetry, family histories, correspondence, certificates, and agendas and meeting minutes from various historical and church committees. Please note that all audiovisual records must be duplicated prior to access.