BCHF BUZZ

BCHF 2021 conference registration now open

The wait is over… registration for BCHF’s 2021 virtual conference is now open! History presentations, virtual field trips, gala book prize, silent auction, and more. The conference is hosted in partnership with the Surrey Historical Society and will be held via videoconference June 3 to 5.

Nominations sought for BCHF council

In advance of our AGM in June, we are looking for a couple of great people to join our board for the next three years. We are especially seeking potential members from northern BC and the north coast. We are a working board — a collaborative, respectful group comfortable with learning from each other and working by consensus. Please look around your community and nominate someone you know. Or don’t wait: nominate yourself! Simply drop a line to jane@bchistory.ca if you would like to talk about possible involvement with the federation at the council level.

Women of the BCHF

For International Women’s Day, celebrated this month, we got to know the women of the BCHF council and learn more about the work they do.

Spring issue of British Columbia History highlights public history

Wendy Wickwire is the guest editor of the spring issue of British Columbia History. The University of Victoria professor emerita reflects on the role of public history. Also in this edition, Vern Giesbrecht interviews multisport athlete Ted Hunt; we print the winning W. Kaye Lamb essay, “Vancouver’s Chinatown: Literary mappings of seclusion,” by Harry Deng. Plus we launch our revamped books and multimedia section, “Refracting History.”

Putting the pub in public history

Mike, an English sheepdog-terrier cross, was trained to serve bottled beer in the Bowser Hotel, 1937–41. Photo: Vancouver City Archives, 586-348

In an excerpt from the spring issue of British Columbia History, Glen Moffard recounts his fascinating with hotel and pub lore, which led to the publication of two bestselling books and a popular Facebook site.

Explaining settlers to ourselves

These watercolour sketch maps show some of the Indian Reserves Peter O’Reilly’s work touched. Source: Indian Reserve Commission. Federal Collection; Minutes of Decision. Correspondence and Sketches, Volume 9.

In another excerpt from the spring edition of British Columbia History, Kelly Black, the executive director of Point Ellice Museum & Gardens, explains how his organization responded to a call to action “to make visible the disruptive processes of colonization that seek to replace Indigenous peoples with a settler society.”

Time Travels: Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin

Leonard Palmantier was one of the founders of the Williams Lake Stampede. Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin

In his regular column for British Columbia History, Mark Forsythe looks at the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin in Williams Lake, home to the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame, where saddles, spurs, and other memorabilia are displayed along with stories about the people behind them.

Nominations still accepted for Inspiration Awards

The BCHF continues to accept nominations for our Inspiration Awards, recognizing individuals or organizations working or volunteering in the history, heritage or cultural sector who have been a beacon of light during the challenging days of the pandemic. The deadline is May 1, with the awards to be presented at our conference in June. Click the button below for the nomination form.

MEMBER NEWS

The Francophone Pioneers of Vancouver: A Little-known History

In this 1899 photograph we see Magloire Desrosiers, with mustache and hat, inside his tinsmith workshop. (City of Vancouver Archives CVA 235-2)

The BCHF’s own Maurice Guibord is the Vancouver Historical Society’s lecture speaker this month. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 p.m., he will talk about little-known Francophone history in Vancouver. Magloire Desrosiers was born in Quebec into a French family in 1862, and moved to Vancouver in 1888, where he lived until his death in 1936. The online event is free. To register as a non-member contact presidentvhs@gmail.com.

HISTORICAL NOTES

Shíshálh Nation wants action after burial site desecrated

A shíshál burial site along Sechelt Inlet before and after logging. Jessica Silvey/CBC

The chief of shíshálh Nation is demanding action after a burial site along Sechelt Inlet was reportedly desecrated by logging. Warren Paull says it happened despite BC’s Heritage Conservation Act, which he calls broken.

Provincial funding announced for heritage projects

Architect Gene Kinoshita has designed a shelter for the Merriwake, a Japanese-Canadian fishing boat being restored as a dryland exhibit at Slocan.

Sixty-eight heritage projects around the province will benefit from $20 million in government infrastructure grants. Among them are a shelter for the Merriwake, a 92-year-old Japanese-Canadian fishing boat at Slocan, the Old Kamloops Courthouse, and a Kamoops heritage railcar that will be turned into a classroom.

The Isnardy family of Williams Lake

The Chimney Creek House, built in 1875 by Amadee Isnardy. The image is a watercolour by Wilfred Wright.

Barry Sale looks at the story of Amadee Isnardy, who came to BC in 1859 and married, Julienne Willamatkwa, the daughter of the chief of the Stl’atl’imx First Nation. Early in 1862, the two of them set out for the Cariboo.

IN MEMORIAM

Ken Waldon 1934-2021

Ken Waldon, who has died at 86, was the leading force behind the creation of the Fintry Provincial Park Society. Waldron was hired as curator of Fintry Manor in 2002, built by James Dun-Waters. It has since become a major heritage site and attraction on the west side of Okanagan Lake.

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)

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

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