This series contains the records of John Diefenbaker’s personal and political activities before his election to Parliament in May 1940, excluding his legal papers (MG 01/I Legal Series) and his family correspondence (MG 01/V Legal Series). There is material about his education at the University of Saskatchewan and his military career during the First World War. There is a large section on the Saskatchewan provincial Conservative Party which he led from 1936 to 1939. This series also contains transcripts of the Bryant Commission Inquiry into jails and provincial police for which Diefenbaker served as legal counsel. Diefenbaker received many requests for assistance from members of the general public which provide information about the wide range of political, social and financial problems Saskatchewan experienced in the 1920s and 1930s.

This subseries includes all material on the general elections from 1940 to 1953, federal by-elections, and provincial elections.

This subseries consists of all files relating to the 1942, 1948, and 1956 conventions, national and provincial organizations, and the development of policy positions.

This series contains Diefenbaker’s papers for the six month period of his first term as Leader of the Opposition. Although Diefenbaker outpolled Donald Fleming and Davie Fulton after the first ballot, his rise to prominence had not been without its setbacks. This was his third try for the opposition which had escaped his grasp in 1942 and 1948. This series consists largely of post-convention correspondence and election material, but there are also files about headquarters organization, the appointment of advisors, and current political events such as the release of the report of the Gordon Commission on Canada’s Economic Prospects.

This series contains John Diefenbaker’s correspondence while Prime Minister, both incoming and outgoing, filed by his office staff. It contains correspondence with cabinet members, the Civil Service, other politicians, foreign leaders, personal friends and advisors, and the general public, all arranged in the same series of subject files. The topics covered include almost all the political and social questions of the period.

This series contains reference material collected by Diefenbaker and his office staff while Prime Minister and during his second term as Leader of the Opposition. It includes correspondence, reports, speech notes, press clippings, and some published material.

This series contains John Diefenbaker’s correspondence while Prime Minister, both incoming and outgoing, which was filed by his office staff. Together with the correspondence in MG 01/VI PMO Numbered Correspondence, it comprises the whole of Diefenbaker’s correspondence during the period, excluding that with his family. It contains correspondence with members of his cabinet, the Civil Service, other politicians, foreign leaders, personal friends and advisors, and the general public, all arranged in the same series of subject files. The topics covered include almost all the political and social questions of the period.

This series contains correspondence, clippings, memoranda, reports, speech material and memorabilia generated during Diefenbaker’s second term as Leader of the Opposition from April 1963 to September 1967.

This subseries contains correspondence about publishing John Diefenbaker’s memoirs. It includes correspondence with publishers, possible biographers, and Diefenbaker’s assistants and friends.

This subseries contains summaries and photocopies of documents compiled by research assistants, staff at the Public Archives, and others for use in writing Diefenbaker’s memoirs.

This series contains press clippings on a wide variety of Canadian and international social and political topics which John Diefenbaker collected.

This series contains the manuscripts of John Diefenbaker’s speeches as well as background material, drafts, suggestions from staff, and annotated delivery copies.

This subseries consists of personal records and general correspondence, including Diefenbaker’s financial records, invitations, and requests for assistance from persons outside of Diefenbaker’s constituency.

John Diefenbaker (1895-1979) and his brother, Elmer (1897-1971), were born in Ontario. Their parents, William T. Diefenbaker (1868-1945) and Mary Florence nee Bannerman (1872-1961), brought them to Saskatchewan in 1903 to homestead in the Prince Albert region. They were followed by William’s brother, Edward (1875-1960), who took up the neighbouring homestead. John married Edna Brower (1899-1951) in 1929; following her death, he married Olive Freeman Palmer (1902-1975) in 1953. John had no children, but his step-daughter, Carolyn Weir (1934- ), has several children. As the last survivor of his immediate family, John Diefenbaker inherited their papers, providing researchers with an opportunity to study both sides of the family correspondence. Olive Diefenbaker’s correspondence exceeds 13,000 pages, making it one of the largest collections of any Canadian political wife.