70 candles for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By Lori Podolsky

John Peters Humphrey, 1930, by Blank & Stoller
McGill University Archives, John Peters Humphrey fonds (MG4127), 2002-0086.04.10

“That there can be no peace unless human rights and freedoms are respected” (John Peters Humphrey, 1947)

John Peters Humphrey, the first Director of the Human Rights Division at the United Nations, and along with Eleanor Roosevelt (Chair) of the United States, Charles Habib Malik of Lebanon and Peng Chun Chang of China, formed the initial drafting committee to create the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  Quickly the committee expanded to include five additional members – William Roy Hodgson (Australia), René Cassin (France), Hernán Santa Cruz (Chile), Alexander E. Bogomolov (Soviet Union) and Charles Dukes (United Kingdom).   The Universal Declaration of Human Rights codified the basic rights for all persons, regardless of gender, ethnicity, class or religion, at an international level.

In December of 1948, after eighty meetings and sixty-eight countries voting to adopt the articles of the UDHR received consensus.  Initially, Canada voted to abstain, then changed its vote, allowing the Universal Declaration to be adopted on December 10, 1948.  Today, the UDHR stands as a pillar document recognizing the rights of life, education and employment, housing, religion, peaceful assembly, and political affiliation, to name a few, and to protect against discrimination.

First Handwritten version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. McGill University Archives, John Peters Humphrey fonds (MG4127).

First handwritten version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. McGill University Archives, John Peters Humphrey fonds (MG4127).

First handwritten version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. McGill University Archives, John Peters Humphrey fonds (MG4127).

The McGill University Archives holds the John Peters Humphrey fonds (MG 4127).  The fonds includes the original and annotated drafts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related materials relating to Humphrey’s tenure at the United Nations, his lecture notes as a professor of law at McGill University and his personal papers and correspondence.  Related fonds on employment equity, civil rights, and the United Nations include the Madeleine Parent fonds (MG 4269), Paul-André Crépeau fonds (MG 4271) and Tamer Oppenheimer fonds (MG 4267), respectively.

Written by Lori Podolsky, Archivist, McGill University Archives