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Henry Drake Petersen was born in Amityville, Long Island, New York, on August 31, 1946. He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on October 17, 2012. He never married or had children.

Petersen was educated in the Amityville public school system, graduating from Amityville Memorial High School in 1964. He then enrolled in Long Island University's Richard L. Conolly College in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, earning his B.A. with honours in history in October 1968.

While at Long Island University, Petersen was on the Dean's List and a member of Phi Alpha Theta national history honour society. He had a tuition scholarship and a New York State Regents scholarship. He worked as a residence hall counselor and university tutor. His extracurricular activities included All-University Chorus, which sang at the New York World's Fair in-fall 1964; L.I.U. Theatre, where he was stage manager and costume designer; Student Orientation Committee; Forum Linguae; International Student Association; Inter-Faith Council; and the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius.

In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, Petersen, age 23, left the United States and went to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he had family connections through his mother, whose sister, Alida Wicks, had moved from New York to Cape Breton with her husband in 1964.

Not long after coming to Halifax, a friend invited him to dinner at King's College, which so impressed Petersen that he applied for a donship. From September 1970 to September 1971, he was Don of Middle Bay at the University of King's College, and from September 1971 to June 1972, he was Don of North Pole Bay. While serving as Don, he participated in student groups, including the Quintilian Debating Society, the Haliburton Literary Society, and the King's Dramatic and Choral Society.

Fonds consists of correspondence written by 93 Anglican bishops from dioceses across Canada. Most of the letters were written during the bishops' episcopates, although a few date from before the bishop's consecration. Most of the letters are manuscript, but 95 are typewritten originals. Several of the letters were written to Owsley Robert Rowley, relating to his requests for data and photographs of the bishops for Rowley's book, The Anglican Episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland. The letters range in date from those written by Charles Inglis, the first Bishop of Nova Scotia, in the late 18th century, to letters written in the late 1930s by Archibald Lang Fleming, first Bishop of the Arctic. Subjects discussed in the letters include the mundane, such as arrangements for visits or acknowledging receipt of a book, to those of major significance, such as the development of the Church in the West. The bishops wrote of missionary work, clerical appointments; establishment of new parishes, and political and business figures. Topics include colonial politics; missionary work in the North in harrowing conditions that required travel to remote areas by snowshoe, canoe, motor boat and airplane; debate concerning surplice usage while preaching; Bishop Medley's opinion on church architecture; residential schools; missionary work; financial difficulties; mining; railroads; Lambeth Conferences; Synods; Governor Schultz [John Christian], who was involved in the Louis Riel rebellion; Lord Mount Stephen and Lord Strathcona, prominent figures in Canadian railway history; canon law; elections of bishops; and the University of King's College. The bishops' letters were written in locations spanning Canada, including St. John's, Newfoundland; Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia; Carcross and Dawson City in the Yukon; Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg. In addition to the 777 letters in the collection, there is a poem written by Aubrey George Spencer; a writing sample and autograph from Bishop Stanser; a letter from Charles Ingles, rector of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; a letter from J. How to Dr. F. W. Vroom attached to letter of John Inglis; a printed proclamation from John Medley announcing Bishop Kingdon's consecration; a letter from Rowley to Archbishop Matheson; a lease; and an advertisement. These documents are filed in the relevant bishop's series.