Call Number: Mss 7, Pc 86 (A.81-01, A.89-60)

Title: Paul G. Hiebert fonds.

Dates: 1947-1980.

Extent: 0.25 m of textual records. -- 391 photographs.

Biographical sketch: Paul Hiebert was born at Pilot Mound, Manitoba in 1892. His father started a store in Altona where Hiebert attended school. He graduated from United College in 1916 with Honours in Philosophy and later obtained an M.A. in Gothic and Germanic Philology from the University of Toronto. In 1922, he received a second Masters, this time in Chemistry and Physics from McGill University where in 1924 he also received his Ph.D. in Chemistry. On completion of his studies, he returned to Manitoba where he taught Chemistry at the University of Manitoba for twenty-eight years. Later in life he became a minister for the United Church. Hiebert began writing poetry as a child to pass time while working in his father's store. He wrote his first and best known novel, Sarah Binks in 1947 which won the Stephen Leacock Award in 1948. In 1966, the sequel, Willows Revisited, a humorist novel, won second place in the same competition. He also wrote Tower in Siloam (1966), Doubting Castle (1976), For the Birds (1980) and Not as the Scribes (1984), along with numerous articles on a variety of subjects published in newspapers and periodicals. Despite his success as a humorist and author of fiction, he regarded his philosophical writings as his finer achievements. On retirement from the university in 1953, he moved to Carman, Manitoba, with his wife Dorothy, where he died in 1987.

Custodial history: The fonds was donated by Dr. Paul Hiebert in three instalments in 1975, 1981 and after his death, by his wife, Dorothy, in 1989.

Scope and content: The fonds contains correspondence, assorted news clippings, a photo album, and typed drafts of his published manuscripts: Sarah Binks, Tower of Siloam, Willows Revisited, Doubting Castle and For the Birds. Included is an original typescript with revisions of Here Lies Sarah Binks, a stage production produced in Toronto by Don Harron in 1970. Two manuscripts of unpublished works are also included in the fonds.  The photograph collection consists of 391 photographs documenting Paul Hiebert's life and career.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.

Finding aid: A printed finding aid is available in the Archives reading room and an on-line finding aid is available at the link below:

MSS 7 (A.81-01, A.89-60).