Fonds AM361 - Sherwood and Evelyn Lett family fonds

Sherwood Lett was born in Iroquois, Ontario in 1895. In 1912 he accompanied his family to Vancouver where he pursued university studies until 1916 when he enlisted for service in World War I. He served in France and was awarded the Military Cross. In 1919, as a Rhodes Scholar, he studied law in Oxford. After returning to Vancouver in 1922, he entered private practice, specializing in corporate and tax law until the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1942 he participated in the Dieppe Raid and was awarded the D.S.O. In 1947, as a member of an official three-man commission, he visited Japan. Following his return he was elected president of the Vancouver Bar Association and a bencher of the B.C. Law Society. In 1951, he was elected Chancellor of University of British Columbia. In 1954 he was appointed Commissioner to head the Canadian truce delegation in Vietnam. In 1955 he was appointed Chief Justice of the B.C. Supreme Court, and in 1963 Chief Justice of the B.C. Court of Appeal. He died in 1964.

Evelyn Sykes Lett (née Story) was born in Wawanesa, Manitoba and later grew up in Vancouver. Lett earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1917 as one of the early women graduates of UBC. During her time as a student, she helped found the Alma Mater Society and establish female students’ right to vote in student elections. Lett went on to obtain a Master’s degree in 1926. Two years later, she married Sherwood Lett. Following the Second World War, Evelyn Lett served on government commissions regarding the state of women’s employment in Canada. UBC awarded Evelyn Lett with an honorary degree in 1958. During her lifetime she worked as a board member and volunteer for such local institutions as the YWCA, Vancouver General Hospital, Salvation Army and the Vancouver Art Gallery and also served as president of the University Women’s Club. In 1997, Evelyn Story Lett was awarded the Order of Canada.