Blog & News

As a poet and a writer she’s explored history (Children of Air India, un/authorized exhibit and interjections); science and poetry (Listening to the Bees); and forthcoming this spring, Book One of her epic fantasy in verse, Bramah and the Beggar Boy, that deals with history, science, bees, among other subjects.

Renée Sarojini Saklikar, who was Surrey’s Poet Laureate 2015-18, spoke to her work in these areas during the recent BCHF conference. You can watch her presentation below.

One of the most moving presentations of the recent BCHF conference was by Baltej Singh Dhillon, the first member of the RCMP to wear a turban. Dhillon went on to spend nearly 30 years with the police force. You can watch his presentation below, which is subtitled “A Journey Through Adversity Charged With Responsibility and the Discovery of Self-Resliency.”

Olivia Daniel, a University of the Fraser Valley student, is the recipient of a BC Historical Federation scholarship for her essay “Underneath a Hood or Covered in Soot: The Ku Klux Klan and Ritualized Racism in Abbotsford, B.C. During the Early 20th Century.” Her essay was written for History 490 instructed by Dr. Ian Rocksborough-Smith, University of the Fraser Valley. Below, Dr. Rocksborough-Smith interviews Olivia about her essay.

Chinatown Through a Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho Chow, written by Catherine Clement and published by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia is the recipient of the 2021 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, as presented by the British Columbia Historical Federation.

Yucho Chow was Vancouver’s first Chinese commercial photographer and its most prolific. His lens captured thousands of faces of all skin colours, religious beliefs and backgrounds and chronicled a tumultuous time in Vancouver’s and Canada’s early history.

Catherine presented at the 2021 BCHF conference gala awards evening (virtually) on June 5. You can see her presentation below.

This virtual field trip of Surrey’s Peace Arch will take you on a tour through history to look at the origins and construction of this impressive monument and surrounding parks and gardens. As the Peace Arch celebrates its 100th anniversary this program will also highlight many of the events and celebrations that have happened here.

The presentation was delivered by Barbara Hynek during the 2021 BCHF annual conference co-hosted by the Surrey Historical Society.

Surrey Centre Cemetery sits on the top of the hill above Mud Bay, overlooking farm land and the surrounding area as it has done for the last 135 years. As the local communities have grown and prospered, we can find jewels of local history in the stories of pioneer families in their final resting place.

Through granite, marble and even wood-carved stones that dot the historic grounds, we find those who forged a new home and built a community. The cemetery holds the stories of veterans of all conflicts, including the Boer and the US Civil War as well as the family of an emancipated US slave who came to call Cloverdale home. Other features of the cemetery include a butterfly garden and a tree descended from the fields of Vimy Ridge.

Sue Bryant took us on a tour as part of the 2021 BC Historical Federation conference. You can watch the video below.

Two outgoing BCHF directors received Awards of Appreciation during Saturday’s gala for their service to the organization.

Michael Gibbs, a past president of the Surrey Historical Society, was instrumental in the planning of this year’s conference and ensuring Surrey was its host city.

He wrote: “First of all, a heart felt thank you for this recognition of my contribution to the BCHF these past three years. An even greater vote of thanks, however, must go to all of you for your sharing of ideas, talents and commitment to British Columbia’s history. You have inspired me to appreciate that heritage and the real need to recognize its diversity and make it accessible to all, especially those who have felt their stories have yet to be told. While I am still trying to learn to use the ever-changing social media tools, you have been more than patient and have kept me engaged by sharing the benefits they offer. 
 
“Another legacy of being on the BCHF Board has been the chance to see the province in several BCHF Conference locations. The historical and environmental heritage of Nakusp and Sandon; the tours of Cumberland, Courtenay and Comox; and seeing Chilliwack up close (instead of from the freeway at 110 km/h), have encouraged me to travel more in our province.  My BC history library has grown considerably, with a number of those books written by BCHF board members.  I know it will grow even more as I enter bids at this year’s book auction. 
 
“Thank you all once again, and I look forward to seeing you in person at future BCHF events.”

The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF) is pleased to announce that Calvin Thalheimer and Olivia Daniel are the recipients of the 2020 W. Kaye Lamb Awards for the best student works for students at university or college in British Columbia.

Junior Division Recipient — Calvin Thalheimer

Calvin Thalheimer, an Okanagan College student, is the recipient of a $750 scholarship in the junior division for his essay “A Glowing Advertisement: How the Important Events in Vancouver’s History Launched the City as a Global Icon.” His essay was written for History 216 instructed by Dr. Howard Hisdal.

Calvin’s interest in history was piqued by a world history course he took with Dr. Hisdal. Since then, his interest in history as a field of study has only grown and Calvin plans to complete his degree with a minor in history. His interest in the stories of Expo 86 and the 2010 Winter Olympics stems from family experiences and connections with both events. Calvin’s father, Jarrod, was a torchbearer in 2010 as the torch passed through Oliver. Calvin looks forward to continuing his exploration of our past, particularly the history of British Columbia.

Senior Division Recipient — Olivia Daniel

Olivia Daniel, a University of the Fraser Valley student, is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship in the senior division for her essay “Underneath a Hood or Covered in Soot: The Ku Klux Klan and Ritualized Racism in Abbotsford, B.C. During the Early 20th Century.” Her essay was written for History 490 instructed by Dr. Ian Rocksborough-Smith.

Olivia Daniel is a fourth-year history and anthropology student at the University of the Fraser Valley. Olivia’s beliefs of social justice inspire her to research histories of hate in her neighbourhood. She is passionate about discovering local hidden histories to create a better community. Olivia has been a Research Assistant for several faculty members of both the history and anthropology departments.

Additionally, she is passionate about working with Indigenous communities. For the past two years, she has been a tutor at UFV’s Indigenous Student Centre. Currently, Olivia is a student ambassador for UFV’s Peace and Reconciliation Centre Collaboratorium, she is working alongside the Kwantlen First Nation to develop a digital archive. Once Olivia graduates, she would like to achieve her Masters in History.

The W. Kaye Lamb Award is presented to outstanding post-secondary student essays relating to the history of British Columbia. The award has been presented since 1988, initially known as the BCHF Scholarship. It was renamed the W. Kaye Lamb Award in 2001. In 2004, the BCHF introduced two award categories: one for students in their first or second year of study, the other for students in their third or fourth year of study.

The BCHF annual conference schedule for June 2021, including the awards gala, was presented online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The W. Kaye Lamb scholarships prizes, as well as the Federation’s other writing and recognition awards, were announced during the awards gala on June 5.

Three projects will receive funding from the British Columbia Historical Federation’s Centennial Legacy Fund this year. These grants support innovative work, new work, collections or resources in imminent danger, institutions that might otherwise not find funding; that the grants represent the geographical breadth of the province; that project funding could be partial.

The awards, as selected by the BCHF council, were announced Saturday at the BCHF’s awards gala.

Catherine Clement, Chinese Canadian Military Museum and Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC, Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act Project ($4,000)

2023 will mark 100 years since the passing of the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act (also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act). This piece of immigration law launched the darkest and most despairing period in Chinese Canadian history. The physical evidence of this story is contained in aging C.I. certificates (identity documents such as head tax certificates). The majority of these documents have been lost or thrown out. Very few are in public archives and any surviving certificates are buried in family collections. The grant will help find and scan these aging C.I. certificates and support a broad, province-wide engagement and community collection exercise in 2021 and 2022. The certificates will form the most comprehensive archive of its kind in Canada.

Stewart Historical Society/Stewart Museum, Ward’s Pass Cemetery Project ($2,200)

This project will commemorate the loss of two cemeteries in Stewart and remember the 231 people interred there. Some of their names are long forgotten. The first cemetery washed away by the Bear River in 1923 while the second cemetery at Barney’s Gulch was buried by a landslide in 1961. In-depth research using old cemetery records, newspapers, historical manuscripts, and genealogy records will be used to confirm the identities of the dead. Memory boards will be designed, printed, framed and placed on permanent display at Ward’s Pass Cemetery.

Doukhobors began settling at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in 1908. This postcard shows their jam factory and orchards at Brilliant, ca. 1920s.

Jonathan Kalmakoff and team, CCUB Lands Project ($2,200)

The CCUB Lands Project is a multi-jurisdictional, multi-stage, multi-year research project to identify and delineate lands formerly owned by the Doukhobor communal organization, the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood, Ltd. (CCUB) in BC between 1908 and 1938, including particulars relating to their purchase, land settlement and usage, and its eventual sale. At present, this topic is known only in very general terms by relatively few. This project will be a tremendous contribution to historical studies, enabling: (1) the identification, and subsequent preservation and marking of historical sites associated with the CCUB; (2) facilitate ongoing research in Doukhobor history in British Columbia; and (3) assist in the publishing of historical sketches, studies and documents. 

A remarkable book about an early Vancouver photographer whose work was almost forgotten was named the winner Saturday of the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, as presented by the British Columbia Historical Federation. The award comes with a cash prize of $2,500.

Chinatown Through a Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho Chow is by Catherine Clement and published by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia. Yucho Chow was Vancouver’s first Chinese commercial photographer and its most prolific. His lens captured thousands of faces of all skin colours, religious beliefs and backgrounds and chronicled a tumultuous time in Vancouver’s and Canada’s early history.

This coffee table book displays 344 pages of long-hidden, community photographs taken by Yucho Chow Studio. The private images showcase the different, marginalized communities that Yucho Chow chronicled in his lifetime, as well as the remarkable stories that accompany these photographs.

This book was also the people’s choice winner, as selected by the audience in real time during the awards gala.

Second prize, worth $1,500, went to Step into Wilderness (Harbour Publishing), by Deborah Griffiths, with Christine Dickinson; Judy Hagen and Catherine Siba. This book features never-before-seen photos from the Courtenay and District Museum collection, showcasing the growing community’s varied interactions with the wilderness they inhabit, from early hiking and skiing expeditions to encounters with wildlife, afternoon tea in the wilderness, beach races and early outdoor activity clubs.

The collection also explores the ways in which inhabitants have altered the landscape, including K’omoks Bay fish traps and stump blasting to clear fields. These unique and arresting photos are complemented by equally engaging accounts of individuals surviving and thriving in the midst of natural beauty and great devastation, including survivors of the great fire of 1922 and pioneer skiers on Forbidden Plateau during the Great Depression.

Third prize, worth $500 went to Lara Campbell for A Great Revolutionary Wave: Women and the Vote in British Columbia (UBC Press). This book rethinks the complex legacy of suffrage by considering both the successes and limitations of women’s historical fight for political equality. That historical legacy remains relevant today as Canadians continue to grapple with the meaning of justice, inclusion, and equality.

This book is for readers interested in women’s history, British Columbia history, or the history of women’s fight for political equality, including secondary school and university students. It will also find an audience among those concerned with gender equality and social justice.

Honorable mentions went to Pioneer Churches of British Columbia and the Salish Sea, by Liz Bryan (Heritage House); British Columbia in Flames: Stories from a Blazing Summer, by Claudia Cornwall (Harbour Publishing), and Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, by Nina Shoroplova (Heritage House).

The Community History Book Award, worth $500, went to Peter Smith for Silver Rush: British Columbia’s Silvery Slocan 1891 – 1900 (self-published). In the 1890s, mining camps like Sandon, Three Forks, Whitewater and their neighbours; New Denver, Silverton, Slocan City, Kaslo and Nakusp, thrived. Once the most productive mining region in British Columbia, prospectors and miners came from Idaho, Montana and other mining centres to reap the silver harvest. Capitalists flooded in from Spokane, Seattle, Vancouver, and investment centres across North America and the world. Plummeting silver prices, labour troubles and the Klondike gold rush eventually put an end to the silver rush but the legacy of that rush endures to this day.

The award recipients were chosen by a three-member panel of judges from nominees published in 2020.