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Dossier on the Klopot-Makarczuk's
homestead
ca. 1920s, by the Canadian
National Land Settlement Association
Polish women in the dress of their homeland are captured
in this photograph which is part of a dossier on the
family compiled by agents of the Canadian National Land
Settlement Association, an ancillary organization of
the Canadian National Railways (CNR).
[more]
Following the First World War, the federal government
authorized the Canadian National Railways to recruit
its own immigrants from eastern Europe. The CNR's
400 part-time field workers and 700 station agents
in western Canada assisted in locating the immigrants
on homesteads, handled negotiations for the purchase
of livestock and equipment, and disseminated information
on the latest scientific agricultural practices.
In the course of administering its immigration program,
the CNR and its ancillary organization the Canadian
National Land Settlement Association compiled separate
dossiers on each of the families that it brought to
western Canada. Besides recording the name, nationality,
and address of the immigrants, the dossiers contain
other pertinent information such as a description
of the family's financial situation and photographs
of family members and their homestead. Interestingly,
the CNR filed the dossiers under a system which
took into account a family's agricultural experience
and economic situation.
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