Collections
ESTONIAN MUSEUM CANADA ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY
The archives and library of VEMU, founded in 2009, are the largest Estonian-themed collections outside Estonia. The historical foundation of the collection is the Tartu Institute Dr. Endel Aruja Archive and Library which was founded in 1971. Following this, the collections have grown as several important archives and collections have been transferred to VEMU. The largest are: the video collection of the Estonian Cultural Heritage Society, the art collection and archives of the Estonian Arts Centre in Canada, and the library, document, photo and film collections of the Estonian Central Archives in Canada. Most of the materials in both the archives and the library are in Estonian. Archive materials can be used on site and copies can be ordered. Books can also be borrowed. The chief archivist, archival assistants and the volunteers of the Bibliography Club work with the collections.
There is also a separate lending library (officially called the Estonian Studies Library), which has been operated by volunteers at Tartu College since 2003.
What Do We Collect?
VEMU collects materials that are tied to:
• Estonians and Estonian culture, mainly in Canada, but also including other expatriate Estonian communities
• Relations between Estonians abroad and in Estonia
The library welcomes:
• Older Estonian publications – books and periodicals (until 1944)
• Periodicals and books from the Estonian diaspora (outside Estonia) (before and after 1944)
• Estonian related publications as well as publications in different languages that relate to Estonians and Estonia
• Estonian related pamphlets and small prints from outside of Estonia (leaflets, brochures, programs, posters etc.)
The archive welcomes:
• Archives of Estonian diaspora organizations
• Personal archives of expatriate Estonians (letters, memoirs, diaries, manuscripts, documents, etc.)
• Photos, negatives, slides, digital photos
• Sound recordings of memories, interviews, events and Estonian music recordings (audio tapes and cassettes, LPs, CDs)
• Film footage (films, video cassettes, DVDs)
The museum collection welcomes:
• Artwork from the Estonian diaspora
• Items brought from Estonia with refugees, items made in refugee camps, items reflecting the ethnographic life and activities of Estonians
Imposition of restrictions
In agreement with the museum, the donor of the materials can impose access restrictions on the material transferred. They may specify when the material is open to users, who may use the material, for what purpose, etc.
VEMU Archival Library
The library has more than 10 000 titles of books, 56 titles of newspapers and 275 titles of magazines:
• A representative selection of publications of Estonian publishers and organizations abroad, including complete collections of Orto and Estonian Writers’ Cooperatives (Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv) publishing houses
• A wide selection of books published in Soviet Estonia
• A small selection of books published in Estonia before the II World War
• A wide selection of books published in Estonia post re-independence
• A range of fiction, translated literature, memories and biographies, history, linguistics, folklore, Finno-Ugric peoples, fine arts, education, bibles and other ecclesiastical publications, etc. is represented
• Complete collections of all the Estonian diaspora periodicals and newspapers
• The most important cultural periodicals from Soviet Estonia and Estonia post re-independence
• The oldest books in the collection date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries
• Special collection: Library of the Estonian Society of Medicine Valley, Alberta, of Estonians who emigrated to Alberta at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries
Database: https://www.ra.ee/apps/valiseesti/index.php/et/site/searchBook
VEMU Document Archive
Archives of organizations and individuals from abroad (mainly Canada) (over 60 organized archives). Since 2021, the collections of the Estonian Central Archives in Canada (approximately 150 archives), have been relocated to VEMU from the Toronto Estonian House. There are also many uncatalogued archival collections in VEMU (about 100), for which date is not yet available in our database. If you have any questions, please contact the chief archivist.
Database: The document archive catalogue and descriptions can be found in the Estonian National Archives database AIS: https://ais.ra.ee/
VEMU Photo Collections
The photo collections consist mainly of photographs related to the history of the Estonian diaspora, but there are also photographs of pre-World War II, Soviet-era and Estonia post re-independence. Approximately 21 000 photos have been catalogued, described and digitized and can be seen in the database. At least 150 000 photos are waiting to be catalogued.
Database: https://www.ra.ee/apps/valiseesti/index.php/et/site/searchPhoto
VEMU Sound Archive
Our collection of LPs is one of the most complete collections in the world of records released by expatriate Estonians. There are also records of music and other recordings from pre-World War II Estonia, Soviet Estonia and Estonia post re-independence. The collection and database has over 1200 LPs.
Record (LP) database: https://www.ra.ee/apps/valiseesti/index.php/et/site/searchMusic
The collection of audio cassettes includes recordings of diaspora Estonian events, biographies and thematic interviews with people, including interviews with the Estonian Historical Commission in preparation for the collection “Estonians in Canada”. Most cassettes have been digitized and described (over 1650) if not yet added to the database. If you have any questions, please contact the chief archivist.
VEMU Film Archive
The collection includes film footage of various Estonian and Baltic events in Canada and elsewhere on various media (16 mm, 8 mm, VHS, digital). One of the most used collections is the video record of the Estonian Cultural Heritage Club (since 2012, known as the Estonian Cultural Heritage Society) from 1981-2017. There are 1200 recordings, all digitized with descriptions.
Information and digitized films from the archives of the CBC freelance operator Edgar Väär can be found and viewed in the Estonian Film Archive FIS database (100 films in fond no. 782): http://www.eha.ee/fa/public/
VEMU Art Collection
The VEMU art collection includes works by expatriate Estonians and Estonian artists from the 20th and 21st centuries (over 550 works). More than half (350 works) of which are works that have been given to VEMU from the Estonian Arts Centre. The most valuable works in the collection are Konrad Mägi’s “Landscape of Saaremaa” and Ants Laikmaa’s “Portrait of a Girl”, which were inherited from Laine Pant.
The art collection is not included in a database yet. If you have any questions, please contact the chief archivist.
VEMU Collection of Objects
The collection of objects includes items brought from Estonia with refugees, items made in refugee camps, items reflecting the ethnographic life, traditions and activities of Estonians.
The object collection is not included in a database yet. If you have any questions, please contact the chief archivist.