George F. Curtis, O.C., was born in England in 1906. He was educated in Saskatchewan and received his law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1927. Named a Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Curtis earned a BA in Jurisprudence (1930) and a BCL (1931) at Oxford University.

Dr. Curtis practiced law in Halifax, N.S. and was a professor at the Dalhousie University Law School for several years. He was appointed the first dean of the Law Faculty at the University of British Columbia in 1945 and held the position until 1971. He was then named Dean Emeritus.

Awarded an honorary degree from Dalhousie University in 1952, Dr. Curtis also received honorary degrees from the universities of Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and British Columbia. Dr. Curtis won the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law and was inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 1995. He was named Queen's Counsel in 1957, and in 2003 was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

George Curtis died in Vancouver in 2005.

Governor General of Canada. (2007). Order of Canada. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://www.gg.ca/honours/nat-ord/oc/index_e.asp.

The Canadian Bar Association. (2007). Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://www.cba.org/cba/Awards/hnatyshyn/.

Government of British Columbia. (1995). Order of British Columbia: George Frederick Curtis – Vancouver. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://www.protocol.gov.bc.ca/protocol/prgs/obc/1995/1995_GCurtis.htm.

Governor General of Canada. (2007). Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://www.gg.ca/honours/medals/hon04-qegj_e.asp

The fonds was acquired in August of 1978. Its previous ownership is unknown.

Fonds consists of correspondence pertaining to meetings held in 1945 in the Maritimes and British Columbia to discuss the establishment of a world court for permanent peace, a speech given by George Curtis at Dalhousie University in January 1939, and two manuscripts written by Dr. Curtis in 1936 and 1941.

The Ronald St. John Macdonald fonds (MS-2-615) contains materials pertaining to various United Nations committees from the 1950s to 1990s including the International Court of Justice, General Assembly, Security Council, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Other holdings containing papers regarding various peace movements include the Kell Antoft fonds (MS-2-743), papers of Veterans Against Nuclear Arms and Defence Research Education Centre and the Nova Scotia Committee to Aid American War Objectors fonds (MS-10-7), documentation on support for Vietnam War resisters who can to Nova Scotia.

All records are open.

[Identification of item], George F. Curtis fonds, MS-2-319, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.