Cole Harris

Richard Colebrook Harris (July 4, 1936 – September 26, 2022), better known as Cole Harris, was a Canadian historical geographer and university professor.

Education Harris received a Bachelor of Arts degree (1958) from the University of British Columbia, followed by a Master of Science degree (1962) and a Ph.D. (1964) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison supervised by historical geographer Andrew Clark. He left Muriel, their three children and their partners, and eight grandchildren.

Awards Harris was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1982. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded Harris a Gold Medal in 1988, and awarded him the Massey Medal in 2003. Harris was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004.

Selected publications The Seigneurial System in Early Canada: A Geographical Study - 1966 Canada Before Confederation: A Study in Historical Geography - 1974 (edited with John Warkentin) Letters from Windermere, 1912-1914 - 1984 (edited with Elizabeth Phillips) Historical Atlas of Canada, vol. I: From the Beginning to 1800 - 1987 The Resettlement of British Columbia: Essays on Colonialism and Geographical Change - 1997 Making Native Space: Colonialism, Resistance, and Reserves in British Columbia - 2003 (nominated for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize) The Reluctant Land: Society, Space, and Environment in Canada before Confederation - 2009