After a number of years of transcribing entries from John Richard Barker's Journals, we decided to look for a way to safely archive the actual journals and find out if they have a value to HISTORY.
Turns out, they do.
The Journals have been donated to Manitoba Archives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The actual journals, 20 of them, have been shipped and received by the people who save documents for the historical significance of the Province.
When we approached the Archives about John's 50 years of Jounalling we did not expect the kind of enthusiastic response that we got. The person in charge of these types of acquisitions was very excited because she said that daily journals that are written in such meticulous (tho often boring) detail are very rare. The journals describe the daily struggles and hopes and aspirations of a family from 1932 until 1978.
The journals are now, or soon will be, put into the archival files and it is up to them how, if, when, where or to whom they are used. We have signed over all rights and any decisions for their use is now in their hands.
At this time we don't know if or when they will or ever will become public.
If you know or knew John Richard Barker Sr. you can now say that he and his meticulous daily writing has become part of Manitoba history. We are sure that he did not write his journal for anything except his own interest, but we hope that what he wrote will contribute the common man's point of view during his lifetime.
You may notice, if you have read this blog previously that many photos are not available. I am working on that glitch, I think it is because many of those photos are not on my computer anymore and I did not upload them correctly. So, working on it as I have the time and inclination to do so.