Using an endowment from Sorokin's son, Dr. Sergei Sorokin, former Harvard University and Boston University medical professor, the U of S will digitalize the collection, making it widely available to researchers and the public through the Library's website. Until now, access to the collection required a personal visit to the University Library. The digitalized material is expected to be available by the end of July 2008.

Acquired by the U of S in 1968, the Sorokin Collection, part of the University's Special Collections, contains original letters, notebooks, photographs, books, and manuscripts. Highlights of this one-of-a-kind collection include signed correspondence to Sorokin from scientist Albert Einstein, dated January 21, 1951, referencing comments from Sorokin appearing in The New York Times, as well as letters from 31st President of the United States Herbert Hoover written to Sorokin when Hoover was the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the late 1920s. An annual lecture has been held in Sorokin's honour since the collection came to the University.

"We are honoured Pitirim Sorokin's son has created this endowment so our students and people around the world will have on-line access to this body of significant and important work," said Williamson. "As the father of sociology, Professor Sorokin's legacy is substantial and through Dr. Sergei Sorokin's endowment, we are making this intellectual inheritance available to the world."

The digital collection will offer a summary of what physically amount to approximately two metres of manuscripts, notebooks, and clippings; 4.4 metres of correspondence; and 27 metres of books from the private library of Pitirim Sorokin.

Unable to attend the event, Dr. Sorokin emailed this message from his home in Winchester, Massachusetts: "I am pleased that this critical body of my father's works will be made accessible to so many people through use of modern technology. The greater part of his analysis of social change is right on target today, and I am sure he would have been pleased at having a web site to help disseminate these ideas."

Born in Russia, Professor Sorokin taught in St. Petersburg, but soon after the 1917 Russian Revolution was forced to emigrate to the U.S. due to his political views. He became an internationally renowned scholar in the developing field of sociology, and founded the department of sociology at Harvard University, where he taught the rest of his life.

Located in the heart of Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan is one of the leading medical doctoral universities in Canada. With 58 degrees, diplomas and certificates in over 100 areas of study, the University is uniquely positioned in the areas of human, animal and plant studies. World-class research facilities, renowned faculty and award winning students make the U of S a leader in post-secondary education.

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For more information, contact:

Edna Jen Warrington
Library Development Officer
University Library
University of Saskatchewan
Telephone: (306) 966-5944