Biography: James John Talman (1904-1993)

James J. Talman was an archivist, librarian, and professional historian who made many scholarly contributions to Canadian history. He was the Western’s University’s chief librarian from 1947 to 1970. Three of his major works continue to be studied today: Anna Jameson, winter studies and summer rambles in Canada (1943); Loyalist narratives from Upper Canada (1946, reprinted 1969); and The journal of Major John Norton, 1816 (1970). His papers are held in the J.J. Talman Regional Collection at Western’s Weldon Library. The J.J. Talman Library at the Archives of Ontario is a research and reference collection for the general public. His graduate BA portrait is taken from Western’s Occidentalia yearbook in 1926. My biography first appeared on the Ex Libris Association site in 2017.

James John Talman

Born September 15, 1904, Beira, Mozambique; Died November 21, 1993, London, ON

Education:
1925 BA (University of Western Ontario)
1927 MA (University of Western Ontario)
1930 PhD (University of Toronto)
1960 DLitt (Hons) (University of Waterloo)
1972 LLD (Hons) (University of Western Ontario)

Positions:
1931–1934 Assistant Archivist, Ontario Provincial Archives
1934–1939 Provincial Archivist of Ontario (1934-1939) and Legislative Librarian of Ontario (1935–1939)
1939–1947 Assistant and Associate Librarian, University of Western Ontario
1947–1970 Chief Librarian of the University of Western Ontario
Professor in History Department and Faculty of Graduate Studies in post-retirement, University of Western Ontario

Publications (selected):
J.J. Talman authored more than 300 publications. A comprehensive list was compiled by Hilary Bates, “Bibliography of academic and journalistic writings by James J. Talman” in Aspects of nineteenth-century Ontario: essays presented to James J. Talman, ed. by Frederick H. Armstrong, Hugh A. Stevenson, and J. Donald Wilson: 334-50. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.

Talman, J.J. and Elsie McLeod Murray, eds. (1943). Winter studies and summer rambles in Canada, by Anna Brownell Jameson. Toronto: Nelson.
Talman, J.J., ed. (1946). Loyalist narratives from Upper Canada. Toronto: Champlain Society.
Talman, J.J. and Ruth Davis Talman (1953). ‘Western,’ 1878-1953, being the history of the origins and development of the University of Western Ontario during its first seventy-five years London: University of Western Ontario.
Talman, J.J. (1963). Huron College, 1863-1963. London: Huron College.
Talman, J.J., ed. (1959). Basic documents in Canadian history. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.
Talman, James J. (1968). “Twenty-two years of the Microfilm Newspaper Project.” Canadian Library 25.2 (September-October): 140–148.

Associations/Committees:
1937–1940 President, Ontario Historical Society
1945-1946 President, Ontario Library Association
1954-1955 President, Canadian Historical Association
1956-1959 Treasurer, Canadian Library Association
1956-1959 Chairman, Governor General’s Award Board
Member of the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board and Ontario Conservation Review Board

Honours:
1949 Fellow of Royal Society of Canada
1963 Honorary Fellow of Huron College
1968 Cruikshank Medal, Ontario Historical Society
1970 Order of British Empire
1977 Award of Merit, Alumni Association, University of Western Ontario
1991 James J. Talman Award established by the Ontario Association of Archivists (now Archives Association of Ontario)

Accomplishments:
James J. Talman was an outstanding scholar-librarian whose career began during the Great Depression. It was, he said, a time when there were more positions for librarians than historians. Dr. Talman was a successful Canadian university library administrator in the postwar period. During his 23-year tenure, 1947-70, the Lawson library was expanded twice, new libraries were opened for law (1961), business (1962), health sciences (1965), education (the ‘flying-saucer library’ at Althouse College, 1966), and the natural sciences (1966). In the same period, the University’s holdings grew from 172,000 volumes to 1,500,000 and the library budget from $40,000 to $3,200,000. Dr. Talman was instrumental in expanding Western’s Regional Collection housing the history of southwest Ontario and it was later named in his honour. Construction of the D. B. Weldon Library (opened in 1972) was planned and underway before his retirement in 1970. In conjunction with his wife, Ruth Helen (Davis) Talman, he wrote Western 1878-1953; Being the History of the Origins and Development of the University of Western Ontario during its First Seventy-five Years (1953).

Sources:
“James John Talman, 1904-1993.” In Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada, 2000, 6th Series, vol. 11: 153-156. Ottawa: Royal Society, 2001.
“James John Talman, 1904-1993.” Ontario History 86.1 (March 1994): 1-8.
Stevenson, Hugh A. (1974). “James John Talman: historian and librarian.” In Aspects of nineteenth-century Ontario edited by Armstrong, Stevenson, and Wilson: 3-18. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.