Blog & News

The winter edition of British Columbia History magazine will be on its way to mailboxes as soon as the postal strike ends and will be available digitally in the meantime. Megan Koyanagi is the guest editor and the theme is Chinatowns. Stories include:

• Beyond Chinatown: The Chinese and English Phrase Book; by Imogene Lim
• A Match Not Made in Heaven, by Catherine Clement
• A Sense of Belonging: Chinese Societies, by Larry K.F. Chin
• Canned Salmon and China Lily: Chinese and Indigenous relations in Small-town British Columbia, by Sarah Ling
• Remembering Smithers Chinatown, by Kira Westby and Eric Holdijk
• Not So Uncommon an Oath: The “Chicken Oath” in BC Chinese Canadians’ Testimonies, by Andrew R. Sandfort-Marchese
• Sharing Stories of My Chinese Community, by Elwin Xie

Plus we have regular contributions from Front Words columnist Mark Forsythe, writer-in-residence Spencer Legebokoff, and books editor Dalys Barney. Dalys also looks at The Longest Shot, a recent book celebrating the legacy of Larry Kwong, the first player of Asian descent in the NHL.

To subscribe or order individual copies go to https://www.bchistory.ca/magazine

Vancouver's beachside neighbourhood Kitsilano is examined and analyzed in this well-illustrated lecture to the Vancouver Historical Society by Michael Kluckner, beginning with the Sen̓áḵw indigenous village at the mouth of False Creek. Kitsilano's notable characters and housing are described over a century of development and returning to the mini-city now being built on a portion of the old Indian Reserve and the high-rises proposed for its the long-settled streets.

Kelowna's Bob Hayes, a recipient of a 2017 BCHF Certificate of Recognition, has died at 69.

Hayes was an elementary school teacher and regular history contributor to the Daily Courier.

His BCHF award was the result of a nomination from the Kelowna Museums Society, whose executive director wrote: "His approach is inclusive, he is an assiduous researcher, his demeanour is kind and humble, and his generosity is selfless."

Read more from Castanet.

Just in time for holiday gifting, Revelstoke Museum & Archives is releasing their new book, "Stories Beneath The Surface", an accompaniment to their on-site and digital exhibits of the same name.

The photographs in this book portray life in the valley prior to the building of the Hugh Keenleyside dam, particularly the area known as Revelstoke Reach, from Revelstoke to Arrowhead. Discover the rich history of this region, as you dive beneath the surface and discover the lost stories of the valley.

"Stories Beneath The Surface" is available in-person, or online through the museum's store. 

Full Summary:

On June 9, 1969, the Hugh Keenleyside dam on the Columbia River was officially opened just north of Castlegar, B.C., creating a reservoir that stretched over 240 km.

The reservoir created by the dam wiped out or severely affected several communities between Revelstoke and Castlegar, and displaced 2000 people.

The construction of the dam was part of the terms of the Columbia River Treaty between the governments of Canada and the United States, and it was originally built solely as a storage dam, with no hydro-electric generation. It was built to control the flow of the Columbia River into the state of Washington, for flood control, irrigation, and maximization of the Grand Coulee Dam. The people who lived on the Columbia River were not consulted, nor were the Sinixt people or any other Indigenous nations.

More than 50 years later, the impacts of a dam built so far away and so long ago are often not understood by people moving to the valley. People visit the “flats” south of Revelstoke and notice the fluctuation of the water, but don’t know its cause. The stories of the valley have been flooded out along with the farmland and the communities that once existed.

Photo from the Oliver & District Heritage Society Collection.

For over 10,000 years the Sylix Okanagan Indigenous peoples have inhabited and used the land and waterways in Oliver and the Okanagan Valley for hunting and gathering purposes, and this continues today.

One of the earliest records of ‘’settlers’’ engaging in agriculture and irrigation within the Okanagan Valley dates back to the 1890’s with Chung Wu, an immigrant from China. He built a waterwheel alongside the Okanagan River to water vegetables in his garden; these vegetables were sold at the nearby mining towns of Fairview and Camp McKinney. Chung Wu left the area after a flood affected his crop, leaving him unable to restart his business.

The Irrigation Canal (‘’Ditch’’) Project was initiated by BC. Premier John Oliver (1918-1927) and his government to help support returning World War One veterans who were often unemployed and impoverished. The Oliver region has a dry, semi-arid climate, and Premier Oliver sought to harness the agricultural potential of the land. Veterans would be provided with work constructing the canal in exchange for discounted land to farm, supporting the drive to grow more fresh produce in post-war BC. The plan became known as the South Okanagan Lands Project (SOLP). The ‘’Ditch’’ started just north of Gallagher Lake and stretched south towards the US border; upon completion it was over 40 km long and was gravity fed by utilizing the natural slopes of the land. Nine labour or ‘’Ditch’’ Camps were established for construction workers to live in, providing all the necessary amenities. The camps each housed up to 150-300 men. Very few women are recorded as being employed on the canal, with none on physical construction.

Read more, and watch the full video, here.

From the Association of Canadian Archivisits:

"Join us for a special Lunch and Learn session on December 16th: "Archival Googling: Using Archives Portal Europe as an aid for Archives in the web sphere". In this workshop, participants will test first-hand how archival research in multiple archival institutions can be conducted via Archives Portal Europe, an online archive catalogue repository which allows simultaneous archival research in thousands of institutions from more than thirty European countries in 24 languages and 5 alphabets through one simple online search system. Participants will engage with the new opportunities (and challenges) offered by Archives Portal Europe as an international aggregator of archival descriptions."

Register here.

The SASI received over 3 million photographs taken by the legendary BC photojournalist, the late Mr. Chandra Bodalia. These extraordinary images have been entrusted to SASI for stewardship and preservation.

As part of its key initiative, the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive, at the South Asian Studies Institute, plans to digitize, preserve, and provide open access to these invaluable photographs. This important project is a collaboration with the RBCM and BC Archives, ensuring that the rich visual history captured by Bodalia is safeguarded and made accessible for future generations.

Read more here.

From the Grist Mill & Gardens: 

As we prepare to celebrate 40 years as a heritage site next year, we've been diving into our archives—old photos, documents, and stories that capture the incredible journey of the Grist Mill & Gardens. It's been a joy to revisit these moments and reflect on everything that makes this place so special.

Now, we’d love to hear from YOU!

Do you have a favorite memory of the Grist Mill? Maybe a photo from a family visit, a special event, or even a quiet moment in the gardens? Your stories are a vital part of our history, and we’d be honored to include them in our 40th-anniversary celebrations."

Share your memories and photos here.

From the Museum of Vancouver:

"The Museum of Vancouver is pleased to announce that a donation of $5,000 has been made to the Association of Forest Communities of Petén (ACOFOP) in Guatemala, thanks to purchases of art, furniture, jewellery and more from Reclaim + Repair: The Mahogany Project. A cheque presentation ceremony was held at the Consulate General of Guatemala in Vancouver on October 28, 2024.

Reclaim + Repair: The Mahogany Project was on view at the Museum of Vancouver from July 20, 2023 through September 2, 2024. Thirty-one local designers and makers were selected to create 22 objects made from vintage mahogany. This wood was harvested from the 1950s to 1970s in Guatemala and Nicaragua and came from a local business that designed and manufactured boating equipment. When it closed, the leftover wood was stored for decades before it was donated it to the MOV’s upcycling design program, SAGE. The MOV partnered with Propellor Studio, who selected the designers whose work would become part of the exhibition.

Works created for the exhibition were for sale with the goal of donating a portion of the sales to Indigenous-led reforestation efforts in Central America, where the mahogany was extracted.

Thanks to support from the Consulate General of Guatemala in Vancouver and the National Council for Protected Areas (Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas, CONAP), the Association of Forest Communities of Petén (Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Peten: ACOFOP) was selected to received $5,000—one-third of the sales from The Mahogany Project exhibition."

Read the full release here.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 is the only immigration law in Canadian history to have prevented a particular group from entering the country on the basis of race, specifically barring people of Chinese descent from legally entering Canada from 1923 until 1947 with very few exceptions. Preventing entry denied many prospective Chinese people opportunities for new experiences and economic gain in Canada. However, it also meant that the Chinese already in Canada were prevented from having their families join them in their new lives across the Pacific. 

Mah Tin Yick was one of many Chinese whose life was profoundly impacted by this draconian law. Arriving in Victoria from China in 1885, just before the head tax was implemented, Mah Yick settled in Salmon Arm, British Columbia and ran a hand laundry business with his family. However, tragedy struck when his partner passed away just after the Exclusion Act came into effect, leaving him struggling to care for his two young daughters on his own. 

On this episode of the School Room podcast, host Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee is joined by Janet Bradley Worthington, Mah Yick’s granddaughter. Tune in to hear about how Mah Yick was personally impacted by the family separation the Exclusion Act brought on, the role the Oriental Home and School played in Janet’s family history, and what it took for Janet to uncover these stories through searching Chinese Canadian archival records.