The fonds consists of written and audio tape correspondence between Dennis Williams, a court reporter in the Northwest Territories, and Marjorie Nicol of Vancouver. It also includes other material sent by Williams, including articles on the NWT's Indigenous people, notes, information brochures, and other sound recordings.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Dennis Williams: life of a court reporter in the Canadian Arctic PERIOD COVERED: 1970-1977 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1977-08-04 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Marjorie Nicol born January 25, 1923 in Dayton, Ohio. Came to Canada with children after her husband's death. Settled in Vancouver where she teaches English as a second language. Met Dennis Williams through a mutual friend in 1969. At the time, Williams was the editor of the Ladner 'Optimist'. He had previously edited local newspapers in Trail and Nanaimo. Williams was born in England about 1921. He came to Canada following WW II in which he served as a bomber pilot. When he came to Canada, before he entered the world of journalism, he had placed his name on a government list to become a court reporter. While in Ladner his name came up for a job as court reporter in Yellowknife. He accepted it. Williams had some difficulty in adjusting to life in the North but became quite involved in his work and life in the Canadian Arctic. As a court reporter, he travelled extensively throughout the Northwest Territories. He corresponded regularly with Marjorie Nicol (whom he wanted to marry) and he decided that he wanted to write a book about the life of a court reporter in the Canadian North which would illustrate much about the conditions of the Native peoples in this area. As a result, he mailed a variety of materials to Marjorie Nicol which he asked her to hold for him so that he could use them to write his book. These materials included tapes which he recorded and which consisted largely of his personal experiences. Dennis Williams died, however, and the book remains unwritten. His book would have been very critical of the Canadian government's role in the North. Alcohol contributed to his early death. (End of interview);

The series consists of 64 cassettes of "tape letters" from Dennis Williams, a court reporter in the Northwest Territories, to Marjorie Osborne Nicol, a friend who lived in Vancouver. The tapes are a combination of Williams' comments about his experiences in the Arctic and personal correspondence with Mrs. Nicol.

The tapes were intended to form the basis of a book that Williams planned to write about his experiences in the NWT. He died suddenly in 1974 with the project uncompleted.