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An excerpt from the Fall 2025 edition of British Columbia History.
Fanny and Evan Hooson, who are buried in the Pender Island cemetery, were among those lost in a 1911 shipwreck.
Established in 1905 on land donated by Rutherford Hope, its white stone crosses cascade down the gentle slope beside Bedwell Harbour Road. A headstone in memory of Fanny Hooson and her son Evan references the sinking of the S.S. Iroquois in 1911, which took both of their lives and reminds us that cemeteries also form a community archive.
The S.S. Iroquois sinks in a squall off of Sidney. Twenty-one people drown, including Pender school teacher Fanny Hooson, 38, (ne Lawson), her 3 year old son, and several new workers for Coast Shale Brick Factory. The ferry capsized three years earlier but was returned to service. The initial capsizing should have been a warning of the vessel’s unseaworthiness when overloaded.
Only 10 people survived — some rescued by members of the Cowichan First Nation in dugout canoes and by other bystanders. The wreck is now a Provincial Heritage Site near Sidney and during a 2020 dive by the Underwater Archaeological Society a whiskey jug could still be seen fused to the flywheel. Three-year-old Evan is buried at Pender Island Cemetery; Fanny’s body was never recovered.
Langley City mayor Nathan Pachal and Clyde Duncan, former president of GCCABC (Guyanese Canadian Cultural Association of B.C.) Courtesy Mark Forsythe
The names connected to streets, parks, and landmarks can lose relevance and meaning, unless their stories are carried forward. Indeed, the names of some streets and communities (e.g., Trutch, Queen Charlotte City) are being eliminated, which has generated heated debate among academics and the public.
Recently the Langley Heritage Society assisted in developing content for a trio of new interpretive signs in Langley City’s Douglas Park to provide some context for visitors. James Douglas was born of a Creole mother and Scottish father in British Guyana, and he would become one of BC’s most significant figures during the transition from fur trade territory to British colony.
The signs were unveiled by Langley City mayor Nathan Pachal, who also is of mixed heritage. He noted, “A lot of the history of Black folks has been ignored. The fact that Douglas was Black and biracial spoke to me and it shows that we belong here.”
James Douglas was a man of his times who, for a while, served two masters: the Hudson’s Bay Company and the British Crown. He is credited with resisting American expansionism and possible annexation during the chaotic gold rush era that began in 1858. He was knighted for his leadership and may still provide lessons in creative ways to assert sovereignty.
Locomotive #2141 in action. https://kamrail.com
For the first time in almost six years, the legendary “Spirit of Kamloops,” locomotive #2141, has rolled out of the Kamloops Heritage Rail Society shop under its own steam. The locomotive was built in 1912 for Canadian Northern Railway and was mothballed at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. It recently underwent testing for Technical Safety BC and Transport Canada certification with the hope that tourists will once again be climbing aboard.
The society has plans to launch a 230-kilometre round trip from Kamloops to Vernon in 2026, creating one of the longest steam-powered rail excursions anywhere. This still requires insurance, access to CNR tracks into the North Okanagan, and more fundraising.
The society’s new board of directors is dreaming big and keen to build a modern roundhouse conference and hospitality facility to help boost Kamloops as a tourist destination. Indeed, hardcore rail enthusiasts have been known to circle the globe in search of unique steam locomotive experiences. The #2141 is owned by the City of Kamloops; the society is tasked with maintaining and operating the locomotive. Kamloops Heritage Rail Society is accepting donations for its steam dreams through the Kamloops Heritage Rail website: https://kamrail.com.
Triplexes at North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site. Courtesy North Pacific Cannery
The Port Edward Historical Society, stewards of the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, has restored triplexes that were once home to Japanese Canadian fishermen and their families. The updated units are available to rent at the cannery museum site, located at the mouth of the Skeena River where time stands still. Rentals in the onsite bunkhouse are also an option.
Built in 1889, North Pacific is one of the few remaining cannery sites on the BC coast. Funding for restoration came from the Japanese Canadian Legacy Society, established as a redress initiative by the provincial government in 2020. The triplexes form part of the multicultural history of BC’s fishing industry where Indigenous, Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans laboured and lived, in mostly segregated conditions. A new interpretive display highlighting Japanese-Canadian cannery history is also part of the restoration project.
Parks Canada notes North Pacific Cannery is the oldest surviving cannery on the west coast of North America; it closed in 1981 after almost 100 years of operation. For more information, visit the Society’s website at northpacificcannery.ca.
Entrance to Chief Dan George exhibit. Courtesy Mark Forsythe
Developed by the Museum of North Vancouver, an exhibit focused on the life and legacy of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George has been touring the province since 2017. Its most recent stop was at the Fort Langley National Historic Site, where visitors surveyed information panels, classic movie posters, videos, and paintings that tell a remarkable story of “Chief Dan George, Actor and Activist.”
Born in 1899, Dan George got his first acting role in CBC TV’s Cariboo Country. He also appeared in the film version of the ground-breaking Ecstasy of Rita Joe and was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Hollywood’s Little Big Man. He was also a musician, elected chief, First Nations rights activist, and environmentalist.
His poem “Lament for Confederation,” spoken during a Canadian centennial celebration event at Empire Stadium, was gripping and stark.
“How long have I known you, Oh Canada? A hundred years? Yes, a hundred years. And many, many seelanum more. And today, when you celebrate your hundred years, Oh Canada, I am sad for all the Indian people throughout the land.”
Dan George was at the forefront of the native rights movement. The exhibit notes: “Before reconciliation became part of the lexicon of First Nations relations, Dan George lived and practiced reconciliation.”
To host this travelling exhibit, contact MONOVA curator Andrea Terrón at Terrona@monova.ca. •
Mark Forsythe travels through BC and back in time, exploring the unique work of British Columbia Historical Federation members.
In his Vancouver Historical Society talk, Chris Wong shined a light on iconic venues and key musicians featured in his book Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver. Chris, who has been writing about Vancouver's jazz scene since the 1980s, introduced the audience to great Vancouver jazz musicians like John Dawe and Dave Quarin and characterful venues including the original Cellar Jazz Club and the Blues Palace in the talk. His presentation included numerous vintage images and excerpts of rare, unreleased music recorded live in Vancouver jazz clubs. Chris also talked about how he researched the 605-page book that goes from the 1950s to the present.
Watch the full video here.
The Museum of Vancouver (MOV), in collaboration with Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Faculty of Health Sciences and the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network (PC-ICCN), is proud to announce the opening of Living with Long COVID. The exhibition invites visitors into the often-invisible world of those living with the life-altering effects of a COVID-19 infection.
One-in-nine Canadians have already experienced Long COVID symptoms. Despite its prevalence, the condition remains widely misunderstood, under-researched, and stigmatized. Living with Long COVID brings these realities to light, offering a powerful platform for those living with its day-to-day impacts.
The project began in 2024 when people living with Long COVID, many of whom call themselves Longhaulers, expressed a desire to share their experiences with the wider public. With support from SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and patient advocates, a national call for submissions invited individuals to document a day in their lives. Forty-six participants from across Canada responded, contributing photographs and short reflections that candidly reveal moments of pain, joy, fatigue, resilience and everyday adaptations.
Living with Long COVID runs from October 4, 2025, to March 22, 2026 at the Museum of Vancouver.
BCMA and MOV Workshop: How to Be Hopeful in a Climate Crisis with Elin Kelsey: Thursday December 4th, 2025
9:00 am - 4:30 pm at the Museum of Vancouver
How do we sustain hope while facing the climate crisis? That is the question author and climate activist Elin Kelsey explores in her latest book, How to Be Hopeful. In this one-day workshop, Kelsey will share insights from her research and writing, framing hope as an evidence-based, active practice that nurtures resilience and fuels climate action.
Join the BCMA and Museum of Vancouver (MOV) for a day of learning and connection. We will begin with a talk by Kelsey, grounding participants in her approach to emotional awareness, community collaboration, and the agency of both humans and non-human species. Drawing from her book, she highlights practical strategies (such as sourcing solutions-focused news, practicing interspecies etiquette, and drawing strength from circles of support) that can inspire action in our own lives and institutions.
Building on these ideas, participants will engage in small- and large-group discussions about how to integrate hopeful practices into museum work and the sector’s climate action efforts. This workshop includes a catered lunch.
Workshop fee: $60.00 for BCMA Members, $75 for non-members.
Register here!
Join the AABC for the webinar "When Good Descriptions Go RAD" to navigate the theory and rules behind archival arrangement and description. Participants will review practical strategies for intellectual processing and how they can be used to create meaningful finding aids for staff and researchers alike. Rules for Archival Description (RAD) will be discussed along with how to strategically use access points. This webinar will be a useful refresher for experienced practitioners and beneficial for students and volunteers processing archival records.
Instructor: Lisa Glandt, AABC EAS Coordinator
Date: Tuesday, Nov 4, 2025 Time: 9:30 – 11:30am PST Location: online via Zoom Cost: AABC members: $25.00 per person; Non-members: $40.00
Registration deadline: Monday, Nov 3 @5:00pm To register for this event, please visit: https://aaobc.wildapricot.org/Webinars
Douglas R. Mayer, renowned historian and railway author, is proud to announce the release of Canadian Pacific Railway on the Revelstoke Division, Volume Nine, the latest installment in his acclaimed series documenting the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the Revelstoke region.
This new volume continues Mayer’s meticulous exploration of the Revelstoke Division, offering railway enthusiasts, historians, and local residents an in-depth look at the operations, people, and infrastructure that have shaped this vital section of Canada’s railway history. Featuring rare photographs, detailed maps, and first-hand accounts, Volume Nine brings to life the legacy of the CPR and its enduring impact on Revelstoke and surrounding communities.
Canadian Pacific Railway on the Revelstoke Division, Volume Nine is published by the Revelstoke Heritage Railway Society and is available at the Revelstoke Railway Museum gift shop and through the museum’s online store. This volume is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in Canadian railway history or the rich heritage of Revelstoke.
Available from the Revelstoke Railway Museum online store.
You are invited to join the Vancouver Heritage Foundation as they help launch Elder Larry Grant's new book, "Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong" on October 6th.
The event will take place from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the University Women's Club at Hycroft. You can register here.
About the author:
Larry Grant was born in a hop field outside Vancouver in 1936, the son of a Musqueam cultural leader and an immigrant from a village in Guangdong, China...When Larry Talks about reconciliation, he uses the verb reconciling, an ongoing, unfinished process we're all going through, Indigenous and settler, immigrant and Canadian-born.
A local history book 20 years in the making will be launched at the Silvery Slocan Museum in New Denver on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 1 p.m.
The King of Sandon: Murder, Myth, and the Man Behind B.C.’s Greatest Ghost Town is a full-length biography of John Morgan Harris, a mining magnate with a secret past and a complicated legacy.
Local historian and journalist Greg Nesteroff traces Harris’ life from rural Virginia, where he was born into a family of slaveholders, to northern Idaho, where he risked life and liberty to make a name for himself.
Harris arrived in the Slocan in early 1892, as part a wave of prospectors lured by a silver rush, and bought a promising mining claim that turned into his bonanza. While other tycoons spent their fortunes on mansions in urban areas, Harris built an entire city in the wilderness as a monument to himself. He owned the townsite, its principal buildings, power plant, and waterworks.
He was nicknamed the King of Sandon, but his subjects didn’t always see his rule as benevolent. He was frequently in court defending his interests, and one dispute over a mining claim dragged on for years before finally reaching the Privy Council.
When Sandon’s fortunes declined as the mines in the area played out, Harris refused to leave, even as his town crumbled around him. Although new life teased occasionally, his optimism that the city would boom again was never fully justified.
During the book launch, Nesteroff will present a slideshow and explain the book’s long genesis, including his trips to Harris’ birthplace and burial site in Virginia.
“I became interested in Johnny Harris because so many myths were associated with him,” Nesteroff explains. “While some things were said about him that were false, I was surprised that some of the most unlikely things turned out to be true.”
The book lays bare Harris’ darkest secrets and also looks at how, following his death, Sandon nearly faded from existence, only to be discovered by others determined to save what was left.
The book includes 237 photos and illustrations as well as eight specially-created maps. The King of Sandon is available for pre-order on the book’s companion website, kingofsandon.com, which also contains source notes, photo galleries, interviews, and many other special features.
The book will be available in stores throughout the West Kootenay following the launch.
Nesteroff will also speak on the book at the Slocan Valley Historical Society annual general meeting on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. at the W.E. Graham school library in Slocan.
The City of Castlegar has demolished the Pioneer Arena, an ice surface built over several years in the 1950s and '60s. The arena was marked for closure in 2016 but kept going until 2024. Medical offices and a housing project are earmarked for the site.
Read more at MyKootenayNow.com.
The City of Trail has torn down its earliest hospital, dating to 1896. The building was later a hotel and nurses residence. Demolition continues on an adjacent building from the 1940s that was once the C.S. Williams clinic. Both buildings have been vacant since the mid-1990s. The city would like to redevelop the downtown lots, although there is no specific plan yet.
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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