Fonds F0274 - Frank Eyck fonds.

Original Digital object not accessible

Identity area

Reference code

CA ACU ARC F0274

Title

Frank Eyck fonds.

Date(s)

  • 1840-2009; predominant 1949-2004 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

5.17 m of textual records and other material:

7 audio recordings:
2 audiotape cassettes
3 vinyl records
2 CDs

3 microfilm reels

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Canadian author, historian and University professor, Ulrich Franz Josef (Frank) Eyck was born in Berlin, Germany, on July 13, 1921 and died on December 28, 2004 in Calgary, Alberta. Dr. Eyck was born into an educated upper middle class German Jewish Family. He was educated in Berlin and London, England. In 1935, the Nazi’s persecution of Jews, forced Dr. Eyck to emigrate to England. During the Second World War, Dr. Eyck, then known as Frank Alexander, was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man. He took up an offer to serve in the British Army from 1940-1946 and was a member of the information control unit that helped establish a democratic press in northern Germany.

After the war, he studied modern history at Worcester College, Oxford, 1946-1949. He worked as a journalist with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), London, from 1949-1956. At the BBC, he edited the weekly German language programme, Hier Spricht London. Later he compiled news from abroad. From 1956-1968, he was a research fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford. Dr. Eyck taught history at Liverpool and Exeter University, 1958-1968, and the University of Calgary, 1968-1987. In 1972 he was made a fellow of the prestigious Royal Historical Council Fellowship. From 1974 to 1979 he was ViceChairman of the Council of the Inter-University Centre of Post-Graduate Studies in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia and in 1982, he was visiting professor at the University of Wűrzburg, Germany. He was also associated with the New York based Leo Baeck Institute, devoted to the history and culture of German speaking Jews.

A respected scholar, Dr. Eyck was the author of several books on British and German history including the Frankfurt Parliament : 1848 -1849; The Prince Consort: A Political Biography; and Politics and Religion and Politics in German History. Dr. Eyck also edited the book The Revolutions of 1848-49. Dr. Eyck wrote a memoir A Historian’s Pilgrimage: Memoirs and Reflections which his wife Rosemarie Eyck completed and published after his death.

Dr. Eyck also wrote the authoritative biography of George Peabody Gooch (G.P. Gooch: A Study in History) a noted British historian, Liberal politician and editor of the British Documents on the Origins of the Great War as well as the founder and editor of the journal the Contemporary Review which figured prominently in the debate about British foreign policy before, during and after WWI and II. Gooch was a colleague of Eyck’s father, also a historian, politician and lawyer and an ardent supporter of the Eyck family and other refugees from Nazi Germany.

Archival history

Donated by Frank Eyck in 2000.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Fonds consists of scholarly research, lecture notes, presentations, essays, book reviews, scholarly and personal correspondence with noted historians and politicians from the early 20th Century to the post WWII years from Great Britain and Germany, some personal correspondence with his parents during his time as a schoolboy, notebooks from his internment and military training, manuscripts of his scholarly publications, photographs and audio recordings of interviews of himself and his wife about their experiences living in Nazi Germany as well as broadcast recordings of interviews of Dr. Eyck’s research subjects. There is extensive original, transcribed
and photocopied correspondence and other materials Eyck compiled on his research subjects for his book on Prince Albert, the Queen Victoria’s consort, and his biography on George Peabody Gooch.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The fonds is arranged into 6 series: (1) Research and scholarly activities; (2) Professional
activities; (3) Teaching; (4) Correspondence; (5) Personal papers; and (6) Interviews.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

No restrictions on access. However, researchers consulting materials from the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, acquired for the book The Prince Consort, who wish to quote them in any publication, including dissertations, must have permission from the Assistant Keeper of the Royal Archives.

Original Gooch papers, Dr. Eyck selected from Gooch’s estate for his biography of Gooch, have been copyrighted to the University of Calgary by the Gooch Estate.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Text in English and German.

      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Finding aids

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      Related descriptions

      Notes area

      Note

      Title based on contents of the fonds.

      Note

      Transcribed and photocopied 1950s-1970s.

      Alternative identifier(s)

      ckey

      3211228

      Access points

      Place access points

      Name access points

      Genre access points

      Description control area

      Description identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Digital object (Master) rights area

          Digital object (Reference) rights area

          Digital object (Thumbnail) rights area

          Accession area