Jean Tener, 1931-2016, Founding Fellow 

Highlights

University archivist specializing in literary records, founding member of ACA, serving as Treasurer; also active in the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) and the Archives Society of Alberta Society (ASA); Archivaria author. 

Education and Background 

Born in London, England, Jean Frances Tener (née Baker) emigrated to Canada in 1952. She received a BA (1970) and MA (1976) from the University of Calgary. After beginning her archival career Tener attended the Public Archives of Canada course held in conjunction with the University of Ottawa (1976-1977), and later took a University of Washington certificate course in Advanced Archival Arrangement and Description (1979). 

Professional Career 

Jean Tener joined the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of the University of Calgary Library in 1973, where she quickly became involved with the growing archival holdings, specializing in literary records. Tener was appointed University Archivist in 1984, a position she held until retiring in 1991.

Contributions to the Profession 

Jean Tener was active in the archival profession during the period when archivists began to define themselves as information professionals rather than as historians, and was one of the original members of the ACA. Active in the ACA, she served as its third treasurer (1978-1981), overseeing ACA’s first bold step of meeting in a hotel rather than on a university campus. Tener also served on the Alberta Archives Council (1988-1990) and on the executive of the Archives Society of Alberta (ASA) (1986-1988). Tener represented Alberta on the CCA General Assembly (1988-1990), serving on the CCA’s Board of Directors (1988-1990) and as a member of its Planning and Priorities Committee (1992-1993). She contributed several articles and book reviews to Archivaria, relating to topics ranging from literary archives, to accessibility and copyright. 

Honours, Awards and Recognition 

• ASA Honorary Member, 1991 
• ACA Fellow, 1992 

Further Information 

• Apollonia Steele, “In Profile: Jean Tener”, ASA Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2004, vol 23, no. 3. 
• Jean Dryden and Apollonia Steele, “Obituary, Jean Tener, 1931-2016”, Archivaria 82 (Fall 2016): 195-197. 

Photo source: ACA Files.

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