Victoria Normal School, 1929. The Provincial Normal School was a teacher training post-secondary institute, run by the Dept. of Education. The term, normal school, derived from the French Ecole Normale Supérieure, provided instruction in the norms or standard practices of teaching. In 1901, the first Provincial Normal School was opened in Vancouver. By 1915, a second school opened in Victoria to train teachers from Vancouver Island, the Upper Fraser Valley and communities in the interior of the province. By 1956 the responsibility for provincial teacher training was transferred to the University of British Columbia. Collection of A. Marwood.
W. Kaye Lamb Award for the Best Student Essays
Each year, the British Columbia Historical Federation offers two W. Kaye Lamb Scholarships for student essays relating to the history of British Columbia.
• Lower prize for a student in the 1st or 2nd year is $750
• Upper prize for a student in the 3rd or 4th year is $1,000
Eligibility
The essay must be written by a student registered in a university or college in
British Columbia.
Stipulations
The winning essays may be published in the Federation’s quarterly journal, British Columbia History. Other submissions may be published at the discretion of the editor.
Publicity
Notice of the winning essays will be posted in the British Columbia Historical Federation's publications.
Application
Candidates must submit their application for this scholarship by May 15th and include:
1. A covering letter of application providing: Name, Postal Address, e-Address,
College or University, Student Year, Name of supervising instructor, and
an explanation in 300 words or less
• why you are interested in British Columbia history
• why you chose your topic
• any future plans to continue studies of British Columbia history
2. A letter of recommendation from the instructor for whose course the essay was written
3. An essay of 1500-3000 words for 1st or 2nd year or 1500-5000 words for 3rd or 4th
year students on a topic relating to the history of British Columbia.
4. BCHF reserves the right not to award a prize in a given year should applications not be of
sufficient quality.
Submit the covering letter of application, the letter of reference from your instructor and three printed copies of your essay to
Marie Elliot
W. Kaye Lamb Essay Scholarship
℅ BC Historical Federation,
P.O. Box 5254, Station B, Victoria, V8R 6N4
essays
In an effort to reduce spam, only the first part of each email address is included on the last line for each Officer. Add "
bchistory.ca" to complete the email address. For example, if the last line says Officer, then the email address would be: Officerbchistory.ca
Historical Note
In 2001, the Federation renamed its scholarships in honour of W. Kaye Lamb who was British Columbia’s
Provincial Archivist and Legislative Librarian (1934–40), University of British Columbia Librarian (1940–48),
Canada's Dominion Archivist (1948–68) and National Librarian (1953–67). He started the British
Columbia Historical Quarterly (1936), was a founding member of the British Columbia Historical Association
and was the author of many history publications about Canada and British Columbia.
Winners
The date shown is that of the second half of the academic year.
L: indicates 1st or 2nd year.
U: indicates 3rd or 4th year.
• 2011
L: Bruce Dyck, "The Fringe: 1201-1299 West Georgia." (Langara College)
U: Alice Huang, "A Potlatch of Provincial Proportions: The Representation and
Participation of Aboriginal Peoples in the British Columbia Centennial of 1958." (UBC)
Honorable Mention:
L: Jo F. Coffey, "William A.C. Bennett, A Man and Premier for the Time, 1951-1972."
(Okanagan College, Salmon Arm)
U: Kelsey Siemens, "The Mennonite Menace: Perceptions of Conscientious Objectors in
the Fraser Valley, 1939-1946." (University of Fraser Valley)