Registration open for 2023 BC Historical Federation AGM

You are invited to attend the BCHF annual general meeting on Saturday, June 3 from 10 a.m. to noon online via Zoom. Learn about the work of the BCHF, welcome the new board members, present a report on your organization and listen to a guest speaker (to be announced).

Help us freshen up the BCHF constitution

Over the past two years, the BCHF has re-evaluate its values. As part of that process, we knew we needed to take a fresh look at our constitution and bylaws. We plan to vote on this new framework at our virtual AGM, but would like your feedback, suggestions and advice. 

Climate Change & Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Councillor George Chaffee of Kwikwetlem First Nation points out the site of the Kwikwetlem Historical Cemetery to heritage planner Lucas Roque. (Courtesy First Nations Peoples’ Cultural Council)

In this excerpt from the Spring 2023 issue of British Columbia History, Karen Aird, manager of culture and heritage at the First Peoples’ Cultural Council, explains how climate change is impacting, or will impact, Indigenous cultural heritage in BC.

The BCHF view on the closure of Point Ellice House

Point Ellice House seen in a painting by Edward Goodall. (Image msc130-12698_01 courtesy of the British Columbia Postcards Collection, a digital initiative of Simon Fraser University Library)

The directors of the BC Historical Federation are sad to hear that Point Ellice House in Victoria is closing. Our hearts go out to the staff and volunteers of the Vancouver Island Local History Society, a member of the BCHF. 

MEMBER NEWS

Revelstoke Museum plans Reclaimed Voices exhibit

The Revelstoke Museum and Archives is planning a new exhibit called Reclaimed Voices that will give the museum the chance to tell stories often missing from usual museum narratives. The museum recognizes the settler community started with the displacement of the Sinixt people.

A Potted Memoir of Vancouver in the Gay ‘70s

In this video from the Vancouver Historical Society, journalist Kevin Dale McKeown describes the early days of Vancouver’s Gay and Drag communities in the 1970s, including his role creating the first Gay column, QQ Writes, for the Georgia Straight in 1970.

Golden was home to North America’s first gurdwara

Detail of a fire insurance map for the Columbia River Lumber Co. The Sikh temple was among the buildings in yellow near top right. (Library and Archives Canada)

The first Sikh temple on the continent was in Golden, according to research by the local museum. It was in an unused structure provided by the Columbia River Lumber Company, where many South Asian men were employed beginning around 1903.

HISTORICAL NOTES

BC Archives drops licensing fees

The BC Archives has dropped its licensing fees. The BC Historical Federation has campaigned to have these fees eliminated for a number of years. Fees have been dropped for photos, moving images, sound recordings, maps or documents for publications, film or television productions, or personal use. Processing fees, however, will still apply.

Province gives Chinese Canadian Museum another $10 million

The Wing Sang building will be the new home of the Chinese Canadian Museum. (City of Vancouver Archives)

The Chinese Canadian Museum is receiving an additional $10 million from the provincial government to support renovations and operating costs as the museum prepares for its public opening on July 1.

Canadian Heritage wants feedback on museums policy

Canadian Heritage is working on renewing the Canadian Museum Policy and wants your feedback by the end of June through an online survey. It says the new policy “will set out aspirations for the museums of the future and have an impact on how we protect our heritage and how Canadians will be able to access it.”

O’Keefe Ranch has to pay City of Vernon $182,000

Vernon city council has turned down a request from the society that manages the Historic O’Keefe ranch to have its $70,000 loan and $112,000 in insurance costs written off. 

Trail through the lens of its weekly newspaper

BCHF board member Ron Verzuh’s new book comes out soon. It looks at the rise of Trail as the industrial hub of the Kootenays from 1895-1925 through the eyes of its weekly newspaper, the Trail Creek News, and its series of publishers.

Rain and Rugged Terrain: A History of Chapman Land Survey

For more than a century, Chapman Land Surveying Ltd. measured and mapped the terrain of our province. In this presentation for the West Vancouver Historical Society, Bill Chapman talks about his family’s contribution to the story of British Columbia.

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.