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Bricks & Brews: A Heritage Talk and Tasting at Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions
Tuesday, May 19th, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions, 67 W 6th Avenue
$45+tax
Bricks and Brews is back for 2026! Come celebrate the kickoff to this year’s Heritage Discovery Day with a heritage talk and tasting at Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions and discover the story of two little houses that could. Join heritage consultant, Elana Zysblat as she walks you through the story of two turn-of-the-century homes that had survived on what had become an industrial-zoned block and were temporary neighbours on the shores of False Creek as they sat in storage while their properties were adapted for mixed-commercial uses. Both have transformed for contemporary new uses while helping to make heritage buildings cool again for younger demographics.
The illustrated presentation will be hosted in the covered, heated patio of the trendy Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions, (the incarnation of the 1901 Coulter House), and ticket price includes both a look at the interior and a welcome drink*! Food and additional drinks from the menu will be available to order during the event. Register Here
Heritage Hour: Chinese Canadian Architects and the Vancouver They Built
Tuesday, May 26th, 7pm - 8:30pm
University Women's Club at Hycroft
$20/15+tax
Despite the various threads in the narrative about Vancouver’s architects and architecture, there has been a lack of research focusing on the collective experiences of Chinese-Canadian architects within the city’s architectural and social history. In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, this talk traces the legacy of Chinese-Canadian architects in shaping Vancouver’s urban landscape, exploring how architecture serves as both an artistic expression and a social function.
About the Speaker:
Edith Yiting Pan (PhD, Architecture, Cambridge) is a Jack and Doris Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at SFU, specializing in 19th- and 20th-century construction history and architectural heritage.
Register Here
Heritage Conservation Education: Maintenance and Repair of Wood Windows
Saturday, May 30th, 10am-2pm
Vancouver
$75+tax
Learn how to repair common issues and perform proper maintenance with Ryan Bahris. Windows are one of the key character defining elements of buildings, and with proper maintenance, they can have a life cycle of a hundred years before needing replacement. This in-person workshop will discuss the design and construction of wood windows, and practical considerations for their conservation and maintenance.
This workshop earns 2 credits towards VHF’s Heritage Conservation Certificate.
About the Instructor:
Ryan Bahris is the owner and operator of Extraordinary League Contracting Ltd. (EXLE).
For more information about the VHF's programs and events please contact mail@vancouverheritagefoundation.org .
The full calendar of events can be found here: Calendar of Events - Vancouver Heritage Foundation
Something BIG has rolled into the Britannia Mine Museum, bringing childhood dreams of giant trucks to life in a hands-on, larger-than-life experience.
Step into the world of modern mining this summer with the colossal Cat® 793C Mining Truck, generously donated by Finning Canada towering over 21 feet tall and weighing more than 325,000 lbs. Visitors get to climb up onto the upper platform of one of the largest mining trucks they’ll ever experience up close and see mining from the perspective of those who operate these massive machines. This mining truck once operated in a northern British Columbia mine, working over 78,500 hours and hauling more than 43 million metric tons.
Showcasing the scale, engineering, and impact of modern mining, it towers over the existing WABCO Haul Truck that was originally donated to the museum in 1991.
“We’re excited to debut the Cat® 793C Mining Truck as our newest attraction at the Britannia Mine Museum,” says Cheryl Hendrickson, Executive Director of the Britannia Mine Museum. “It allows visitors to experience the immense scale of these mining giants firsthand, encouraging a deeper and more informed understanding of modern mining.”
Over the course of one dedicated week, a crew of four Finning Canada specialists finished the complex assembly of the Cat® 793C Mining Truck right on-site. It took 88 hours of shop labour, 149 hours of field labour and six transported loads to get the truck to the museum. See the time lapsed assembly video here.
This massive machine is the centrepiece of the museum’s newest summer exhibit, “Giants at Work: Big Jobs, Bigger Machines,” showcasing the incredible scale and power of monumental mining equipment that keep today’s mining industry moving. Running from May 16 to September 7, visitors will learn about towering mining trucks to massive excavators, bulldozers and loaders that support large-scale mining operations and discover the skilled people who operate, maintain, and work alongside them every day.
Kids of all ages can explore the science and engineering behind these giant machines through interactive, hands-on activities designed for curious minds. The family-friendly interactive exhibit highlights how the mining industry has and continues to innovate and evolve to meet the needs of modern society, not only through advances in technology and heavy machinery, but also through the people behind the work. From early hand tools to today’s automated giant machines and data-driven systems, it showcases the innovations that have transformed how resources are discovered, extracted, and managed.
But the adventure doesn’t stop there. Visitors can “step into the driver’s seat” of the brand-new CAT Mining Truck Simulator, where guests can take the controls and experience what it’s like to operate a massive mining truck, haul loads and navigate through a virtual mine environment. Experience the focus and skill required to operate machines of this scale safely and efficiently, all within a guided, hands-on simulation. This new ticketed attraction is the closest most people will ever get to driving a 325,000-pound mining giant.
Located 45 minutes north of Vancouver on the picturesque Sea-to-Sky highway, the Britannia Mine Museum provides unique and memorable experiences that engage visitors of all ages. Visitors can enjoy hands-on exhibits and crowd favourites like the underground mine train, gold panning, the award-winning special effects BOOM! show inside the historic 20-storey Mill No. 3 building, the minerals and gem gallery, the gift shop, and the Beaty Lundin Visitor Centre.
The CAT® 793C Mining Truck attraction and “Giants at Work: Big Jobs, Bigger Machines” summer exhibit are included as part of general admission. Visitors can conveniently purchase tickets for the Mining Truck Simulatordirectly on-site. General admission tickets and annual memberships are available online at www.britanniaminemuseum.ca.
The Museum at Campbell River announces the upcoming retirement of Executive Director Sandra Parrish. After more than 30 years with the Museum, including 12 years as Executive Director, Sandra will officially retire this fall.
Throughout her career, Sandra served in many roles including Collection Manager, Exhibit Manager, Associate Director, and Executive Director, helping guide the Museum into the respected institution it is today. Her contributions include the installation of the Museum’s permanent exhibits and the restoration of the Japanese fishing boat Soyokaze, a project that earned the Museum the 2003 Award of Outstanding Achievement from the Heritage Society of British Columbia.
Sandra’s leadership strengthened the Museum’s financial stability, supported staff and organizational excellence, and continued its journey toward reconciliation through meaningful relationships with First Nations and the wider community. Her commitment to professionalism and stewardship helped ensure the Museum continued to uphold the high standards expected of a Class A museum.
While Sandra’s leadership and dedication will be deeply missed, the Museum wishes her all the best in her retirement. The Museum at Campbell River Board of Directors will soon begin the search for the Museum’s next Executive Director as the organization looks toward the future.
Nick Marino discusses his 2023 book East Side Story: Growing Up at the PNE and his upcoming book I'll Pay You in Bullets: A History of My Vancouver Family.
He talks about the history of the Pacific National Exhibition, including the games, the rides, the shows, and the underground economy he was introduced to while working there as a teen in the 1980s. He also examines the deep roots that his family has established in Vancouver since moving from Italy in the late 1800s. He connects the two books through family members and finishes with a trip to Italy and a family reunion.
Watch the full video here.
The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is proud to announce the completion of our 2025-2026 digitization project, Tomoni: Living with Ability, Atsu’s Story. Digital scans and descriptions for over 900 photographic and textual materials from the Uyeda Family of Nakusp collection (NNMCC 2025.1) are now available for viewing at nikkeimuseum.org
Spanning from the 1920s to 2020, the Uyeda Family of Nakusp collection captures the experiences of Yonezo and Yukiye Uyeda and their four children, Masayuki, Teruko, Atsushi, and Michiyo. The family lived in the Queensborough neighborhood of New Westminster, BC, from the 1920s until the onset of the Second World War when the Canadian Government forcibly relocated the family to Kaslo, BC, then to the New Denver internment camp. They settled in Nakusp, BC in 1947, having been prevented from returning to New Westminster due to wartime restrictions extended after the Second World War ended.
Learn more here.
This month (April) is Sikh Heritage Month, and Dr. Sharanjit Kaur is co-curating an exhibit at the Sikh Heritage Museum on April 19th, 2026 with an incredible team of supporters. All are invited to attend!
When: Sunday, April 19th
Where: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site and Gur Sikh Temple (33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC)
Time: Exhibit viewing all day, 3v3 tournament all day, film + panel screening at 6pm.
Join the Vancouver Heritage Foundation's upcoming programs and events in April!
Virtual Lunch and Learn: Use of Reality Capture Technology for Heritage Projects
Thursday, April 9th, 12pm - 1pm (Online, By Donation)
Join A.J. Ballou and Ryan Holmes to explore how tools like 3D scanning, photogrammetry, and lidar are transforming the documentation, preservation, and interpretation of historic building projects and sites. The presentation will highlight practical applications utilizing 3D laser scanning, UAV LiDAR, and lessons learned from recent heritage projects.
Heritage Hour: The Francophone Pioneers of the Lower Mainland
Tuesday, April 21st, 7pm - 8:30pm (University Women's Club at Hycroft, $20 + tax)
From the very earliest decades of European settlement in the Lower Mainland, Francophones played an active part in the social, economic and religious development of the area. From Gastown to Langley, including, of course, Maillardville, familiar names will be encountered, right up to the new Francophonies that more recently augment this linguistic group.
Following our recent post on funding cuts to national heritage programs, the BC Historical Federation is highlighting the growing impact of provincial funding reductions across Canada.
As a member of the Canada History Collective, the BCHF is deeply concerned about the challenges being faced by our partners in several provinces. In Alberta, funding reductions are threatening the work of the Historical Society of Alberta and its local chapters—organizations that have preserved archives and community stories for generations. In Nova Scotia, twelve provincial museum sites have been permanently closed, a devastating loss to the communities and volunteers who sustained them.
These examples reflect a broader national pattern. Across the country, many provinces and territories are scaling back support for museums, archives, and local history projects. Combined with reductions to national programs, these cuts place enormous strain on the volunteers, researchers, and local societies who safeguard Canada’s historical record.
In response, the Canada History Collective Steering Committee has reached out in support of the Historical Society of Alberta and the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, emphasizing solidarity among Canada’s independent historical organizations. The BCHF joins these voices in reaffirming our shared values: inclusion, evidence-based storytelling, preservation, accessibility, professionalism, and transparency.
At a time when resources are shrinking, cooperation and advocacy are more critical than ever. The BCHF continues to stand with our partners across the country, supporting the preservation and sharing of Canada’s diverse histories—work that strengthens communities and connects us all.
Together, we honour our past by protecting the institutions and people who keep it alive.
The BC Historical Federation has joined with history and heritage organizations from across Canada as part of the Canada History Collective.
This is the first time groups from every province and territory have come together to speak as one. These organizations represent the wide range of communities, regions, and stories that make up Canada’s shared history.
Recent federal budget cuts are hitting the institutions that preserve our history hardest—places like Library and Archives Canada, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the Canadian Museum of History, and Parks Canada sites. These programs support the research and storytelling that help Canadians understand both the proud and painful parts of our shared story. Losing them puts that knowledge—and our ability to learn from it—at risk.
Together, we are stronger. The archives, museums, and community projects that protect our past depend on all of us standing up now. But numbers matter—and that’s where you come in.
We’re asking BCHF members, local societies, and supporters to read the letter below and see what speaks to you. Then send your own message to your Member of Parliament or to the same federal ministers. Every letter adds weight to our collective voice. When more people speak up, it becomes impossible for government to ignore.
The Honourable Marc Miller Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture (Canadian Heritage) Minister responsible for Official Languages House of Commons, Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0A6
The Honourable Julie Dabrusin Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature House of Commons, Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0A6
The Honourable Mélanie Joly Minister of Industry Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions House of Commons, Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0A6
Ministers Miller, Dabrusin, and Joly,
We are writing to you to express our deep concern about the budget cuts affecting several organizations under your ministries. These organizations provide essential support for historical research, its dissemination, commemoration, and heritage preservation in Canada.
We are taking this step with full awareness of the situation. The Canada History Collective brings together the most important associations promote both grassroots and professional history working at the pan-Canadian, provincial and territorial levels, in both official languages. Many of these associations are federations, and the Collective represents hundreds of local societies and their tens of thousands of individual members. We therefore speak on behalf of those across the country who practice and share history, or who promote heritage.
We note with dismay that the recent round of budget cuts by the federal government is targeting several very important institutions and programmes in these areas.
Among the measures announced are:
• The elimination of Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program, which for the past twenty years has enabled numerous organizations to save invaluable archives from loss and oblivion. • Drastic cuts to the budget of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, a true cornerstone of Canadian history for over 60 years. • Significant restrictions imposed on the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum, particularly regarding outreach and community relations at a time when the enthusiasm for these institutions reflects a genuine thirst for history. • The cuts at Statistics Canada, a government agency that provides essential information for the formulation of current and future policies in light of past developments in Canadian society. • Significant job losses within your own departments, particularly affecting Parks Canada and Canadian Heritage. Public access to certain historic sites will now be limited owing to these layoffs. • The closure of the Canadian Register of Historic Places (maintained by Parks Canada), a veritable online encyclopedia listing more than 13,000 (!) heritage sites recognized by various levels of government.
It should be noted that these measures are in addition to the cuts that in some provinces are targeting the education and heritage sectors.
All these budget cuts weaken the practice and dissemination of history on a national scale. They come at a time when Canadian society is facing complex challenges that demand a solid and nuanced understanding of its evolution. Highlighting this past is neither a pastime nor a luxury. For the government, it is an essential—and ultimately modest—investment, given the commitment of tens of thousands of Canadians, both volunteers and professionals.
In short, we ask you to reinvest in the cultural, documentary, and scientific institutions that support historical knowledge in Canada. These organizations—whether archives, heritage sites, museums, or research projects—constitute the intellectual infrastructure of our collective memory. Weakening them compromises our ability to understand who we were and who we have become. This is why supporting history cannot be considered a mere expense: it is a crucial political choice for a democratic and pluralistic society, committed to transmitting a shared heritage and informing present and future debates.
We urge you to act swiftly, with the conviction that history—in all its forms and within all its communities—deserves a commitment commensurate with its importance to collective life.
Yours sincerely, Pan-Canadian Organizations (by order of seniority) Canadian Historical Association (1922) Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique française (1947) Réseau Mémoire, patrimoine, histoire (2022)
Provincial and Territorial Organizations Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society (1878) Manitoba Historical Society (1879) New Brunswick Historical Society (1882) Ontario Historical Society (1888) Newfoundland & Labrador Historical Society (1905) Historical Society of Alberta (1907) BC Historical Federation (1922) Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society (1957) Fédération Histoire Québec (1965) Yukon Historical & Museums Association (Heritage Yukon) (1977)
You don’t need to be an expert or have special connections to make a difference. A short, personal note from your organization—or from you—goes a long way.
1. Start with who you are. Say where you’re from and why preserving history matters to you or your community.
2. Borrow what you need. Use any lines or examples from the letter above—whatever fits your voice. There’s no “right” format; sincerity is what counts.
3. Send it by email. Copy your message into an email and send it directly to: • The Honourable Marc Miller – • The Honourable Julie Dabrusin – • The Honourable Mélanie Joly – Then CC your local MP so they’re aware of your concern. You can find their contact information here: ourcommons.ca
4. That’s all it takes. One letter might feel small, but hundreds together send a strong message. Every voice adds strength.
This effort reflects what the BCHF stands for—diverse voices, honest storytelling, and the preservation of the places and records that connect us. When we speak up together, we keep history open, accessible, and alive for everyone.
An excerpt from the spring 2026 edition of British Columbia History
Tintype photo of shayna-adjowa on a cabin stoop beneath a willow tree, near her home in Argenta, 2023. (Courtesy Tekoa Predika)
In the spring of 2020, the mostly white rural village of 1,200 that I live in held a Black Lives Matter rally. Incredible? Yes. Easy to endure? No.
You see, I am a Black-as-night woman and can count the number of other Black folk who live within a 50-kilometre radius of my home on my two hands and still have fingers to spare. The village coming together like this was astounding. The fact that the senseless murder of an urban Black man named George Floyd, over 2,000 kilometres away in Minneapolis, actually touched their hearts enough to do something was staggering.
Their supportive words and “We’re with you!” smiles were already a strange addition to my days. A simple walk down our village’s one main street would yield story after story of Black folk they had loved over the years, or assurances that they don’t see colour — or how much they really love my colour — and “Thank God nothing like that ever happens here, eh?”
“Yes!” I’d answer back. “Yes!” I’d smile into their glowing and concerned faces, all the while writhing inwardly to get off the damned street and back home.
Now don’t get me wrong. Through it all, I wanted with all my might to feel strong, to rise up as an unflinching political activist championing the cause for my people from my own backyard (YES!). But when the day of the rally came, Cultural Isolation, Racial Vulnerability, and the Empowered White Gaze ripped the “yes” right out my chest.
As my white townsfolks protested along our one main street, I shrank in my office above, clinging to a Langston Hughes poetry book.
Lovely, dark, and lonely one,
Bare your bosom to the sun,
Do not be afraid of light
You who are a child of night.
Like a motherless child, I chanted Langston’s poem aloud to myself, over and over, bathing my ears and my heart in his surgical insight.
… Face the wall with the dark, closed gate, beat with bare brown fists and wait. [1]
I did not set foot near the rally
That fateful day has shaped my research and artistic career profoundly. At that juncture, I earned my keep almost exclusively in the world of applied folkloristics — studying, interpreting, and embodying Afro-diasporic folklore and folkways as a professional performance storyteller and theatre artist. Anansi and Br’uh Rabbit, Little Eight John, and Mary May with her Redfish were among the Black figures I mined, compared, and contrasted across the diaspora to honour what their tales have meant for our people.
However, on the fateful day my little white town rallied for Black life, I found myself suddenly desperate for another kind of story — desperate to know if other Black folk like me, tucked away, alone, in rural settings, even existed. And if they did, if they were out there, I was now hungry for them. I spent nearly two years after that day slowly and deliberately seeking out and interviewing rural Black individuals from across the country. I had over 40 conversations with folks from all walks of life. It was a slow but steady river of inquiry, connection, and relationship that quietly began to repurpose my whole life and rural vision.
“Cotton Picking, Oakhurst Plantation — 1907. Clarkesdale, Miss.” Postcard is of a Mississippi cotton plantation near fields shayna-adjowa’s family members would have worked. (Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History)
Two-thirds of my interviewees were based in western Canada, where the Black population is significantly lower than in the eastern provinces. These Canadians in particular spoke to the complex experience that rural living afforded them. Several juxtaposed the freedom from the dramas faced by many Blacks in dense urban settings with the tensions of living in spaces where their neighbours regard their presence as a novelty.
Others spoke to the double-edged sword of having no one to witness them while out in the countryside, articulating the freedom from society imposed narratives regarding who they are and what they should and should not take interest in as Black individuals (living outside of an urban landscape subverted these assumptions implicitly). Yet, several of these same voices articulated the nebulous fear of finding themselves alone in the bush — hiking, foraging, etc. — with no one to witness what might happen to them when they encounter white countryfolk who subconsciously (or not so subconsciously) distrust their presence there.
One interviewee, a PhD candidate investigating the socio-political barriers between Blacks and the wild landscapes of Canada, shared the following:
[There is] the simple fact that slavery had Blacks working in specific places. Blacks found out in the woods were suspected to be up to no good. Plotting revolts, fleeing, hiding out, etc. … [this] takes you back to the history around how our mobility has been confined, in the sense that if you’re in the urban areas you are known … you’re in a little check box. But if you’re not in urban areas, if you’re in the rural areas or in the wilderness, you’re out of that check box. And the roots of that go back to slavery.
Her words resonated with me profoundly.
The relationship between Black presence in rural settings in North America and the horrific history of African chattel slavery are deeply intertwined. I, myself, come from the throes of this destructive history. My family, like countless others, endured generations of enslaved labour on plantation fields throughout the southern United States. From the first light of dawn to the pitch black of night, my ancestors worked bent-back amid rows of cotton and tobacco — the slave drivers whip as fierce as the hot sun. This was the reality for innumerable families like mine on Turtle Island for over 400 years.
Then, in the decades following the American Civil War, millions of freed slaves migrated away from the rural and deeply racist south toward the urbanized North, Mid-east, and West in search of social reprieve and greater opportunity. To remain a labourer on the land was to remain uneducated and in chains. The choice for many was simple.
Yet, to tell this story alone would be a lie and a lie that perpetuates a damaging myth of popular culture.
Though it is true that millions of Blacks settled in urban spaces, there were still those who chose to retain and build upon the agricultural knowledge they had honed through enslavement. Blacks, for example, who crossed the forty-ninth parallel into Canada forged strong farming communities in Nova Scotia (Cherry Brook and North Preston, among many others); in Saskatchewan (Maidstone); Alberta (Amber Valley); and right here in British Columbia (Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island). They cleared, worked, and cultivated land to exercise the full rights of freedom, equality, and basic human dignity that they deserved and fiercely sought.
Stark Family members who were part of a strong Black community on Salt Spring Island in the late 1800s. (Salt Spring Island Historical Society Digital Archives, Accession number: 98902401)
Yet still, the dominant narrative of Black life in popular culture continues to perpetuate the “Black means Urban” stranglehold. And the tragedy of this, as I’ve come to see it, is that far too many Blacks in North America are robbed of access to an immense heritage of Afro-centric and Afro-Indigenous land-based praxis and wisdom. Our Indigenous ancestors forced to cross the Atlantic were people of profound relationship with the life of, and within, the natural world. Our diverse healing modalities and medicines, cosmologies, folklore, and spiritual teachings from within the societies where slave labour was stolen (and beyond) attests to this. Yet, with Black life continually relegated to inner city streets there is precious little opportunity for us to recognize ourselves as intimate relations of the earth — creatures who not only have a meaningful place within it, but a visceral and ancestrally alive reason to protect it.
My journey with the Black & Rural project continues to this day — some five years later. What began as a desperate need to discover other rural dwelling Black Canadians in the face of paralyzing isolation in my little white town has blossomed into a journey of reclamation, restoration, and celebration of Afro heritage land-based wisdom, knowledge, and praxis on Turtle Island.
This, I’ve come to realize, is at the heart of why I choose to live where I do — to dare to believe that it is possible to be deeply connected to one’s ancestral roots while living as uninvited (and historically unwilling) guests upon unceded land. And now, through the work of Black & Rural, I have also come to realize that I am here in solidarity with all other Afro-heritage Canadians who dare to believe and embody the same.
Endnote
1. Langston Hughes, “Song,” in The New Negro: An Interpretation (Albert & Charles Boni, 1925).
shayna-adjowa jones is an Afro-centric folkloreist, researcher, and performance artist. She lives in the remote community of Argenta, with her three children and a conspiracy of ravens. Learn more about her work through her website, www.wearestoryfolk.com, or Instagram account, @wearestoryfolk.
British Columbia Historical FederationPO Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, Canada, V1M 2R7Information: info@bchistory.ca
With gratitude, the BCHF acknowledges that it carries out its work on the traditional territories of Indigenous nations throughout British Columbia.
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