New BCHF board elected

A new BCHF board was elected this month by acclamation at the annual general meeting. New directors are (clockwise from top left), Chelsea Dunaway, Teresa Carlson, Jon Bartlett, and Monica Miller. We have 12 returning board members and say goodbye to Kennedy Neumann, Janet Ou, and Maurice Guibord, who are stepping down.

BCHF Centennial Legacy Fund recipients announced

Victor Menzies diary detailing daily life, April 1923. (Courtesy of the Pender Island Historical Society)

Three societies will receive funding from the BCHF Centennial Legacy Fund this year: the Barriere and District Heritage Society for their project to remember the McLure wildfire of 2003, the Boundary Historical Society for ground-penetrating radar at the upper Phoenix cemetery, and the Pender Island Historical Society to digitize and transcribe diaries in the Victor Menzies collection.

BCHF conference line-up revealed

The line-up of speakers at our upcoming conference will include BCHF directors Elwin Xie, Ron Verzuh, and Jon Bartlett, plus Rika Ruebsaat, Greg Dickson, Herman Edward, Quentin Wright, George Elliot, Todd Davidson, Jeannette Armstrong, Lally Graeur, Janet MacArthur, Lydia Kinasewich, and Spencer Coyne. Field trips to Granite Creek, Hedley, and Keremeos and our gala awards banquet are also part of the itinerary.

Summer issue of British Columbia History looks at collective futures

The summer issue of British Columbia History is guest edited by Aimee Greenaway, the curator of the Nanaimo Museum and our regular books editor. Greenaway has contributed a story on Brother XII, the spiritual leader, hard taskmaster, and creator of a short-lived utopian community in Cedar, as well as another (in conversation with Darryl Luscome) on the Finnish settlement of Sointula on Malcolm Island.

Front Words with Mark Forsythe

A totem pole carved by Louis Snow is revealed. (Photo: Michael Wigle)

This excerpt from the summer issue of British Columbia History looks at the restoration of a 1932 film of the SS Sicamous, the BC winners of the Next Great Save competition, the return of a Nuxalk totem pole, groundbreaking on the new Royal BC Museum collections and research building, the premiere of the film Bones of Crows, and the return of Percy Williams’ gold medals to the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

MEMBER NEWS

Ground-penetrating radar used at Phoenix cemetery

(Courtesy Boundary Historical Society)

As noted above, funding from the Centennial Legacy Fund is helping the Boundary Historical Society use ground-penetrating radar to check for unmarked graves at the upper Phoenix cemetery near Greenwood. The work is underway and you can click the link to find out more about the project.

Reckless Riders and Reckless Writers

In a presentation to the Vancouver Historical Society, Dr. John Belshaw explores changing attitudes to bicycles, drivers, and the language of shaming and blaming in this exploration of bicycle accidents and the news coverage of them since bicycles became common in Vancouver in the 1890s.

HISTORICAL NOTES

Chinese Canadian Museum receives $5.18 million

The Chinese Canadian Museum has received $5,179,000 from the Government of Canada in support of its building and space renewal at its new permanent location. The museum, located at the historic Wing Sang Building in Vancouver’s Chinatown, is preparing to open on July 1.

The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act

Exactly 100 years after the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act became law, the new Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver will open with a major, national exhibition: The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. In 2020, the BCHF awarded Catherine Clement $4,000 from its Centennial Legacy Award for the project.

Fort Steele locomotive turning 100

Fort Steele’s train crew is working hard to get locomotive 1077 ready for its 100th year in operation. The train engine was built in 1923 by Montreal Locomotive Works and used by several different companies in BC to move logs throughout its service life up to 1969. 

South Surrey Indigenous Learning House set to open

(Courtesy City of Surrey)

A new facility opens June 17 in Elgin Heritage Park to support Indigenous cultural practices, including carving and other creative disciplines. The unique venue includes enclosed studio space, as well as an open-air pavilion to support additional programming and gathering.

Film highlights Nelson’s air raid sirens

Shayne Kasai has just completed a film about five forgotten civil defence sirens in Nelson. “In this documentary, I explore a time of instability and how it affected Canada, and trickled down to Nelson,” Kasai writes. “These sirens will soon disappear which makes this story even more pressing.”

Book looks at Nelson’s high school namesake

L.V. Rogers is a name well known to Nelsonites, bestowed on the secondary school that opened there in the 1950s. Yet most would be hard pressed to explain who he was. In a new book, Patricia and Robert Malcomson answer that question and reveal the man behind the name.

ADVERTISING

The BCHF offers a number of advertising opportunities in our e-newsletter, which is distributed to our entire membership monthly. Advertisements are jpeg images sized to 600 px wide for electronic distribution. To submit an ad, contact Greg Nesteroff: greg@bchistory.ca

Members enjoy discounted advertising rates. Choose 12 months for the best deal:

1-3 months = $100 each ($100-$300 annually)
4 months = $90 each ($360 annually)
6 months = $80 each ($480 annually)
8 months = $70 each ($560 annually)
12 months = $50 each ($600 annually)

Rates for non-members are as follows:

1-3 months = $150 each ($150-$450 annually)
4 months = $140 each ($560 annually)
6 months = $130 each ($780 annually)
8 months = $120 each ($960 annually)
12 months = $100 each ($1,200 annually)

British Columbia Historical Federation

Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, V1M 247 • info@bchistory.ca

The BCHF Secretariat is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish speaking Peoples. The BCHF is on Facebook. Join the conversation.