Blog & News

Ride the rails… virtually! The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society introduces you to their rolling stock, station and volunteers through two video productions presented at this year’s BCHF conference. Your hosts John Sprung, Michael Gibbs and Stephen Plant take you through a question and answer period and introduce the videos.

Video content is produced and copyrighted by the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society, located in Cloverdale. Visit their website: https://fvhrs.org/ and their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLpkQn01Ltvkjs6Sm2fi9KQ

Métis Artist Pat Calihou introduces you to his heritage by way of a 40 foot traditional bateau he built in 2019-20 at Fort Langley National Historic Site. Pat’s great-great grandfather Michel Calihou was a river boat pilot for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Edmonton in the early 1800s and also built the large, heavy vessels, called York boats, that carried furs and goods between trading posts and forts.

Pat shares his struggles and triumphs of building a full size bateau, in the winter, using hand-forged nails and hand-bent planks. The presentation was delivered as part of the BC Historical Federation’s 2021 virtual conference.

How can historians use new digital tools to enliven and deepen our study of the past? In this presentation, Dr. Kyle Jackson introduces the field of digital history on a global scale, as well as several local experiments underway at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the City of Surrey Archives.

Students Emily Deasy, Lucas Akai and David Piraquive share their experiences as authors of a smartphone app tour comparing the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 pandemics in the Lower Mainland.

This presentation was originally delivered at the 2021 BCHF annual conference.

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.”