Gary Mitchell Remembered

On May 30, in front of colleagues and friends, we announced the renaming of the BCHF’s Centennial Legacy Fund grant, which will now be known as the Gary Mitchell Centennial Legacy Fund.

The renaming of the award acknowledges Gary Mitchell’s commitment and support for grassroots public history preservation and research initiatives in the province.

Gary retired from government service in 2014 as Provincial Archivist and Vice-President, Archives, Collections and Research at the Royal British Columbia Museum. He was recognized for his decades of service with his appointment in 2014 as Provincial Archivist Emeritus.

As well as being a lifelong Canucks and Whitecaps fan, Gary pursued interests in Canadian history, vexillology, public administration, and heraldry. He volunteered with many heritage organizations, including the BC Historical Federation (President), the Archives Association of BC (President), Association of Canadian Archivists Foundation (Director and Secretary), the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada (Fellow) and the Royal BC Museum Foundation.

Randy Scott, a long time friend of Gary’s, was present at our annual conference in Vancouver to receive the honour on behalf of Gary’s family.

Two grants from the Gary Mitchell Centennial Legacy Fund were presented this year. One to the Vancouver Island Muslim Association and one to the Alberni Valley Museum.

The Alberni Valley Museum was provided a $2,094 grant, which will facilitate the documentation of first-hand accounts of Search and Rescue wardens and volunteers, detailing largely undocumented rescue operations. The project will also make private photograph collections publicly accessible for future generations while preserving their context.

The Vancouver Island Muslim Association was awarded $5,000 for its project to research, identifiy, and interview early Muslim residents of British Columbia to document and preserve their histories. The stories compiled will be shared through the Muslims in Canada Archive.