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Reclaimed Voices, Revelstoke Museum & Archives’ (RMA) latest exhibit breaks down “glorified nostalgia” and shines a spotlight on stories long overlooked in dominating historical narratives. Hosted in the second floor exhibit room, soon to be accessible by the upcoming lift, the exhibit features panels focusing on some of the lesser known stories in Revelstoke, such as the historical Japanese population, Sinixt populations during Revelstoke’s earlier years, children who called Revelstoke home, and more.
“This exhibit came about due to a recognition that as museums and archives we are often missing stories and perspectives,” Cathy English, Curator, told a packed room at the opening of Reclaimed Voices. “I do a lot of research from the local newspapers, going back to 1890, but I have to be constantly aware that these stories were written mostly from a white, British, male perspective, and there is often racist content, as well as a total ignorance of other cultures and genders.”
Read the full article and learn more about the exhibit here.
Vancouver Historical Society President Michael Kluckner presents an informal history of Senakw/Vanier Park at the opening of a lecture in September, 2024
Watch the full video here.
In this unique two-part presentation, Jen Baron describes from a cultural ecologist's point of view the evolution of BC's forests and how, when they're managed as commodities, wild fires become more destructive; then, artist Liz Toohey-Wiese explains how a diverse group of painters and sculptors have come together to create shows and books on the subject of Fire.
The Kootenay Columbia Educational Heritage Society was established in 2005 to collect and preserve the history of education in School District No. 20 (Kootenay-Columbia), which comprises the former School Districts No. 9 (Castlegar) and No. 11 (Trail). The Society manages an archives in the basement of the JL Crowe Secondary School in Trail and has undertaken a number of projects over the years to inform the public of the history of education in the School District.
Their latest project is to digitize the high school yearbooks of the current and former high schools in the District and make them available to the public via the internet. They have partnered with UBC Okanagan Library/Special Collections and Archives to have the yearbooks placed on their BC Regional Digitized History website with a link available on their website.
The site currently contains the yearbooks of the JL Crowe High School (72), the Trail High School (7) and the Trail Jr. High School (9). This fall the yearbooks of the Rossland High School will be digitized and in 2025 the yearbooks of Castlegar and Beaver Valley schools will be digitized. The last 25 years of the current school yearbooks are being withheld for privacy reasons.
To view the yearbooks, click here.
In 2024, with your help, we were able to fund four incredible projects through the Centennial Legacy Fund (CLF), awarding a total of $10 000 to support small, innovative, and hard-to-fund projects in BC. In the coming weeks we will be highlighting these projects, and we hope you will consider partnering with us again to make these grants possible in 2025! The Centennial Legacy Fund is sustained through donations from individuals and organizations like you who believe that historical research, preservation, and commemoration are essential for building a bright future together.
To donate to the Centennial Legacy Fund, click the link to be redirected to the BCHF CanadaHelps page, and receive an automatic tax receipt upon donation.
The UBC Library needs your help! They are digitizing British Columbia directories in order to make them available publicly online, and are looking for 2 indexes. Can you help find them? Read the request from Doug Brigham below:
"I'm reaching out to the local history community to try and locate copies of two indexes for British Columbia directories:
I would like to digitize the indexes as part of a project I'm working on: a map-based platform for locating BC towns and directories. The indexes are held fairly widely in libraries, but I'm having trouble locating copies that I can use for digitization.
If you have copies of either of these indexes that you are willing to sell or donate to the project - or if you know someone who might be - I would appreciate hearing from you!
And if you'd just like to connect to talk about BC directories, I'd love that too."
If you can help, contact Doug at doug.brigham@ubc.ca
Ron Verzuh at the Mac-Pap memorial next to the BC Legislature.
On Nov. 11, 2024, volunteers will place white flowers on the graves of British Columbians who volunteered to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The commemoration at B.C. cemeteries is the unique initiative of the Mac-Pap Tribute, a group dedicated to recognizing what many see as “forgotten soldiers.”
The Mac-Paps, or Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, were part of the International Brigades that fought General Francisco Franco’s fascist forces as they seized power from the elected government. More than 1,600 Canadians fought alongside the Spanish Army.
“When you start doing the research you start falling in love with them and feel terrible that nobody knows about them and nobody’s acknowledging them. So it’s just a little way to pay tribute to these people,” said MacPap Tribute organizer Pamela Vivian. “They’re not recognized here in Canada, no one talks about them, barely anyone knows about them.”
The Canadian government prohibited the Mac-Pap volunteers from going to Spain. In fact, it passed the Foreign Enlistment Act which had stiff sanctions against fighting fascism there and the RCMP enforced it, relentlessly following the volunteers. Many tried to re-enlist to fight Hitler in the Second World War but were barred because of their history.
Going further, the King government did not support the Spanish government in its fight for democracy against Franco who was assisted by both the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini and the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The civil war is viewed as the prelude to the world war, with Germany and Italy using Spain as a testing ground for the war machinery that would lead to the death of tens of millions.
“Many Mac-Paps were denied the right to serve and some contributed to the war effort as Merchant Mariners,” Vivian said. “This tribute is a way to honour them this Remembrance Day.”
The organizers can be emailed at macpaptribute@gmail.com.
Some people also saluted the Mac-Paps on Oct. 28, 2024, when 86 years ago, a woman known as La Pasionaria stood on a platform in Barcelona, Spain, to thank the International Brigades volunteers as they were asked to stand down. The war ended several months later.
Ron Verzuh is a writer, historian, and BC Historical Federation board member.
Mac-Pap memorial next to the BC Legislature.
A group of Witsuwit’en hereditary chiefs, elders, artists, and youth will visit Paris this month to view a historic totem pole taken from their territory nearly a century ago. The K’ëgit pole was sold under pressure in the late 1930s, and has since been housed at the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum since 2001.
“It’s quite emotional when I think about our people,” said Hagwilnekhlh Ron Mitchell, current House Chief of the C’inegh Lhay Yikh (House of Many Eyes) of the Likhsilyu Clan (Small Frog). “I will be happy to see the totem pole and a part of our house and chief’s history, but sad at the same time.”
In 1938, surrealist artist Kurt Seligmann travelled to B.C. to purchase a totem pole, driven by his fascination with Northwest Coast Indigenous art. After consulting with anthropologist Marius Barbeau, who had studied the region’s totem poles, Seligmann selected the K’ëgit pole from the Witsuwit’en village of Tsë Cakh (Hagwilget). The pole, revered for its age and craftsmanship, depicts the story of K’ëgit, a supernatural figure. It was originally raised in the early to mid-1800s by C’idimsggin’ïs, a former house chief of C’inegh Lhay Yikh.
The delegation asserts that the pole was sold under duress. With backing from the Department of Indian Affairs and the local Indian Agent, Seligmann purchased the pole from Likhsilyu House Chief Hagwilnekhlh Arthur Michell and other Witsuwit’en members for a mere $100. The community leaders were pressured into agreeing to the sale, which resulted in the pole being shipped to Paris. It was displayed at the Musée de l’homme (Museum of Man) before being moved to the Quai Branly Museum.
SD54 District Principal of Indigenous Education ’Ilhdesinon Birdy Markert, a descendant of the pole’s original sellers, views the visit as a step toward healing. “It’s an emotional uncovering of past stories regarding our traditions that are difficult to pull apart,” she said. “I want young people to understand what our ancestors went through as they dealt with colonization and how hard they fought to keep our culture and traditions alive.”
Read the full article here.
Join Library and Archives Canada for an introduction to available resources for military history research. Learn how to search for service records for personnel from the First and Second World Wars. Discover techniques for accessing the collections and digitized records such as war diaries, photographs and other resources.
WHEN: Thursday, November 7, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
WHERE: Online
Hosted by the Vancouver Public Library.
Register here.
In 1909, Charles “Chappy” Chapman, Fred Perry, Billy Gray and Charles Macdonald set off for the headwaters of Seymour Creek in North Vancouver. The four friends, members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club, planned to survey the rugged and virtually unexplored terrain during a summer holiday. They carried survey and photographic equipment, gear and supplies for two weeks, and a pie. Chapman’s granddaughter, Lid Hawkins, discovered his journal decades later. She blended his notes and spectacular photographs of the area to create Holiday 1909, as a tribute to their adventure.
British Columbia Historical FederationPO Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, Canada, V1M 2R7Information: info@bchistory.ca
The Secretariat of the BCHF is located on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish speaking Peoples.
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