The Doukhobor Collection

Four thousand Doukhobors meet with their new leader, Peter Verigin, 1881-1939, in Brilliant, B.C. on October 11, 1927.

About the Collection

The Doukhobor Collection database is comprised of over 260 primary source items (totalling over 500 images) dating from 1898 to 1975. Among these items are a variety of scanned manuscripts, photographs, books and book chapters, magazine articles, financial documents and interviews. The items in the Collection largely deal with the settlement of the Doukhobors in late 19th - early 20th century Canada. This material represents a significant portion of the manuscripts and photographs but only a fraction of the books and periodicals in the Library's holdings.

Although most of the manuscripts are in English, the collection includes items in Russian. Most of these items, such as circular letters from the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB) and some of the personal letters of Peter Verigin, 1859-1924, are accompanied by complete translations. Other items such as publications from the Doukhobor community and photographs with Russian inscriptions are not translated.

John Keenlyside, at the time, chair of the Friends of the Library, donated much of the Doukhobor material to SFU Library's Special Collections. Subsequent donations were made by John Ogloff and Terryl Plotnikoff.

Exploring the Collection

You can browse or search the collection.

This online collection does not represent the entire holdings of the library on the Doukhobors. Please see the finding aid (Adobe PDF) for additional manuscript and photograph materials and the SFU library catalogue for the print collection.

Historical interpretation related to the Doukhobor Collection:

• Doukhobor History to 1930
• The trial of Peter Verigin, 1881-1939, for perjury in 1932
• The 1932 incarceration on Piers Island
• The Schism after the Death of Peter Verigin, 1859-1924
• The Conflict with the Government over the Vital Statistics Act
• Count Leo Tolstoy and the Doukhobors
• Material available on the Sons of Freedom
• For more information on the Doukhobors in Canada

Material on this web site and in the database is subject to specific terms of use.

Other information

• Project staff
• Technical notes
• The Collection is registered in the British Columbia Digital Library and the Inventory of Canadian Digital Initiatives

Project funding

The Simon Fraser University Library gratefully acknowledges the support of the Young Canada Works in Heritage Institutions program in both 2000 and 2004, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Canadian Library Association in digitizing this material.

Questions or comments? e-mail electronic-document-centre@sfu.ca.