Michael Swift, 1936-2013, Founding Fellow 

Highlights

A leader, thinker, and doer in the field of government records; Provincial Archivist of New Brunswick (1971-1978), Assistant National Archivist (1987-1997); 1992 Program Chair of the International Congress on Archives in Montreal; helped establish the ISAD-G international descriptive standards; a regular player on the annual ACA East-West baseball games. 

Education and Background 

Born in Minto, New Brunswick, Michael David Swift received his BA in 1958 from St. Dunstan’s University (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) and, after teaching high school for four years, his MA in modern political history from the University of New Brunswick (1964).  

Professional Career 

Michael Swift began his archival career at the Public Archives of Canada (PAC, now Library and Archives Canada or LAC) in 1964, working in the Manuscript Division with both private manuscripts and government records. A challenging assignment at that time was to create and edit the first Register of Dissertations in Progress in cooperation with the Canadian Historical Association.  

In 1971 Swift succeeded Hugh Taylor as Provincial Archivist of New Brunswick. As leader of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) he emphasized two main goals: promoting professional records management practices in government departments and securing a Records Centre to provide appropriate storage for semi-active records. Under his leadership the PANB moved to prominence. 

Swift returned to Ottawa in 1978 to become Director General of the Archives Branch of the PAC, a position he held until 1986. During these years, the PAC experienced a remarkable increase in the size and scope of its operations, a reflection of the tremendous growth of government. The most notable feature of the period was both the challenges and the opportunities presented by automation. Carman Carroll (first mentee and later a colleague) says of this time: 

Mike had responsibility for all separate media divisions (for all government and private sector records) within the institution. This was no easy task. Attempting to get all divisions moving in the same direction was at times, I am certain, akin to herding cats (think total archives, tyranny of the media, and a very interesting cast of characters as division chiefs, along with some very strong minds within the divisions). But Mike was up for the task, unflappable, even-handed, and always fair. he was bright, articulate, and not easily spooked! And he needed all of these qualities. 

In 1987, Swift was appointed Assistant National Archivist. This positioned Swift to play an influential role in designing, building, and occupying one of the finest archival storage facilities in the world, the Gatineau Preservation Centre, which opened in the spring of 1997. Swift retired from the National Archives of Canada in that same year, having been associated with the National Archives for more than 30 years and serving under three Dominion/National Archivists. 

In “retirement”, Swift ran a records management consulting business for several years. Among other projects, he led Mike Swift and Associates in carrying out a major review of the Saskatchewan Archives Board in 1997, for which the final project report was very well received. An active member of the Rotary Club of West Ottawa, he organized its archives and instituted its records management program. 

Contributions to the Profession 

While with the PANB, Swift served as President of the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association. In that capacity, he created the Committee on the Future, which brought in recommendations for the formation of the formation of Association of Canadian Archivists in 1975. As Assistant National Archivist, Swift chaired the Program Committee when the Canadian archival community hosted the 1992 International Council on Archives (ICA) in Montreal and subsequent ICA meetings that led to development and acceptance of the General International Standard for Archival Description, ISAD-G (1996-1998). Swift served on the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board from 1998 to 2004. Over the years he was an active participant in and contributor to the publications of the ACA and ICA. 

Honours, Awards and Recognition      

• ACA Fellow, 1997 

Further Information 

• Michael D. Swift, “The Canadian Archival Scene in the 1970s: Current Developments and Trends”. Archivaria 15 (January 1982), 47-57.  
• Carman V. Carroll, “Michael D. Swift, 1936-2013”, Archivaria 77 (Spring 2014): 169-171. 

Photo source: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, P154-193

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