The first two memoirs can be obtained through Library and Archives Canada, usually via inter-library loa,n while the third publication is hotlinked to the Carleton University Ugandan Archive:
A Man of Big Heart: The Memoirs of the late Maurice Mitchell provide an account of his immigration and refugee experience from 1925 (as the son of an Immigration Visa Officer) until his retirement as a senior Foreign Service Officer in 1976.
Recollections of an Immigration Officer: The Memoirs of Fenton Crossman provide a retrospective look at Immigration from 1930 to 1968. They include selected entries from the author’s personal diary, starting with his first assignment in Immigration as a male stenographer and ending with his retirement as the Regional Director of Immigration for the Atlantic provinces.
Seven Crested Cranes – Asian Exodus from Uganda: A detailed, lively account by Roger Saint Vincent of his experiences as leader of the Canadian Immigration Mission sent to Kampala in 1972 to select Asians being expelled from Uganda by President Idi Amin. Roger St. Vincent produced two versions of “Seven Crested Cranes”. The first is based on that originally published by the Canadian Immigration Historical Society twenty years ago and re-released for the fortieth anniversary of the Ugandan movement in 2012.
Bulletin 112 May 2025
Main Topics Covered
An overview of the CIHS’s work over the past 15 years, in partnership with many community,
academic and creative organizations, to tell the stories of the Southeast Asian refugee movements
to Canada from the perspective of the officials managing the governmental activities, and of those
refugees’ experiences coming to and living in Canada.
A visa officer’s experience in implementing a visitor visa requirement on citizens of India and
subsequently on citizens of Sri Lanka.
A reprint from the McGill Daily of Molloy Bursary recipient Madeleine Le’s family’s story of leaving
Vietnam.
A review of Neil Cochrane’s 2025 book Beyond Numbers.
Letter to the Editor from Dr. John Samuel, who wrote about immigration longitudinal research.
Part 1 of a former immigration officer’s remembrances of working at the local Canada Immigration
Centre in Kitchener, Ontario.
Remembrances about the late Clifton (Cliff) Shaw, who passed away in February 2025.
