Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1964-2012 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Textual: 4.6 linear meters
Photograph: 1 print : colour ; 8x10 in.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Lisa Balfour Bowen is a bilingual former Canadian journalist, who is best known for her political correspondence in Quebec. She has had a 35 year career, having been published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, The Gazette, Montreal Star, Maclean’s, Canadian Art, and others.
Balfour Bowen was born in Hamilton, ON, and studied at the University of Toronto, the Sorbonne, and Harvard. One of the most notable periods in her career was during the 1960s when she reported on political and social issues facing Quebec in the defunct Montreal Star. She was then appointed political correspondent in Quebec City’s National Assembly, making her the first female anglophone political correspondent appointed to this position. Due to her strong belief in supporting bilingualism, she worked as a bilingual policy adviser to the Government of Ontario’s Federal-Provincial Affairs Secretariat under Premiers John Robarts and Bill Davis.
Her philanthropic work has also been great and far reaching. She helped found French for the Future, and is a former director of the Toronto French School and the Alliance Française de Toronto. Balfour Bowen has had a great impact in the Toronto Arts community, helping to found and/or establish the Toronto Arts Awards, Tarragon Theatre, and the Friends of the Library, Trinity College.
Awards and honoraries she has received:
- Ordre de la Pléiade (2001)
- Ordre du Mérite Francophile (2001)
- Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
- Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2004)
- Honorary Doctorate, Laurentian University (2008)
- Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
- Senior Fellow of Massey College (2012)
- Honorary Doctorate, Université Sainte-Anne (2015)
Archival history
Donated to the archive by Lisa Balfour Bowen.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The Lisa Balfour Bowen fonds contains many aspects of her long career. Her time as an arts reporter and writer is well represented, as many of the gallery programs collected from visits have been included. Her time as a political corresponded is also represented, as there is correspondence between her and those in the public eye. The inclusion of note and original typed articles reflects not only her writing ability and skill as a journalist, but the way in which the news industry used to publish and proof their articles.
The collection is broken into three series:
Series 1: Press Accreditation cards and letters
Series 2: Published Articles
Series 3: Subject and Research Files.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Preservation concerns may limit access, consult archivist.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Contact archivist for further finding aid information.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created August 16, 2019 by Elizabeth Carroll.
Language(s)
- English