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Click this link to see a gallery of photos from our Chilliwack conference, including our keynote address, bus tour, and gala awards dinner!
History prof Madison Heslop delivers an entertaining lecture to the Vancouver Historical Society on the murder of a policeman on Vancouver's waterfront in 1913, showing how the toxic concentration of rootless male labourers, rooming houses and liquor outlets prompted a kind of moral panic in the wider community.
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Heritage BC recognized the Kootenay Lake Historical Society for its outer deck and weather envelope rehabilitation project on the SS Moyie at Kaslo.
Heritage BC recently announced the recipients of its annual awards, recognizing incredible achievements across the province in the categories of Conservation; Small But Mighty; Education, Communication, and Awareness; Indigenous and Diverse Cultures; Planning and Management; and Volunteers as well as the Ruby Nobbs Distinguished Service award.
The full list of winners can be found here.
The BCHF board of directors welcomed four new members to the team last Saturday at its Annual General Meeting. Directors are elected to a one-year term and take on various portfolios within the organization.
Rizwaan was born and raised in Sparwood on the ancestral land of the Ktunaxa Nation. He has an associate degree from Douglas College, a BA in Archaeology from SFU, an MSc. in Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic Archaeology from University College London (UK) and a PSc. in Collections Management from UVic. He is a Director of the Indo-Fijian Cultural Society of Canada and has been working in culture resource management for over two decades. Rizwaan is an archaeologist for the Semiahmoo First Nation and a member of the Historical Discrimination against People of South Asian Descent Advisory Committee, in Vancouver, and the South Asian Canadian Museum Engagement Committee. Rizwaan was a guest editor of BC History Magazine and has curated an exhibit titled, “Surrey’s Pocket of Paradise” at the Museum of Surrey and authored a Chapter in the book, “The Social History of South Asians in British Columbia,” published by the University of the Fraser Valley, all where he showcases the heritage and history of British Columbia’s Indo-Fijian communities.
Chelsea Brown is a recent graduate of Oxford University where she received her Master of Studies in Global and Imperial History (2020). She has been involved in data management and collections projects at various institutions in the UK and Canada, including Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO), the Ashmolean, the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (MAE) at Simon Fraser University, and at several Provincial Heritage Properties here in BC. Chelsea has been working at the Kilby Historic Site since 2017 in various capacities between schooling, becoming curator in 2022. Recent projects at the Kilby Historic Site have included the repatriation of over 30 Indigenous baskets to the Sts'ailes and Sq'éwlets First Nations, collection digitization, and emergency planning.
Sarah oversees the development and implementation of the Chinese Canadian Museum’s public programming and exhibitions. She is the co-curator of Odysseys and Migration exhibition and curator of the historic period rooms at the Wing Sang Building. She holds a BA in English Literature with a minor in First Nations and Indigenous Studies, and a MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia, with a community-centered research background in Chinese and Indigenous relations on Musqueam territory. Born and raised in Prince Rupert, northern BC, she is passionate about establishing relationships and connections with individuals and communities across the province. As a filmmaker she has produced a number of documentaries featuring Chinese Canadian stories. She is an active volunteer in Vancouver Chinatown and is Past-President of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC. She enjoys creative projects, nature walks, and opportunities to spend time with her niece, nephews, and goddaughters.
Laura VanZant is the Assistant Curator at the Revelstoke Museum & Archives. She received her B.A. in History & Archaeology from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2017 and an Advanced Diploma in Museum Studies from Algonquin College in 2019. She is the former Curator of the Revelstoke Railway Museum and has also worked for Parks Canada and the Museum of Dufferin. Her passion is for community stories and sharing unheard voices and making the museum experience more accessible for all visitors. In her spare time, you can find her kayaking with her husband, curled up with a book and her cat, or cross stitching in her favourite chair.
A story looking at how coal fields in Port Rupert and Nanaimo were first cared for and worked by Indigenous miners has won the BC Historical Federation’s Anne and Philip Yandle Best Article Award.
“The Indigenous Miners of British Columbia’s First Coal Fields,” by John Sutton Lutz (pictured), appeared in the Winter 2023 issue of British Columbia History magazine. It was chosen by a panel of judges from among two dozen eligible articles published in the magazine last year.
One judge called the article “thought-provoking, intriguing, original, and innovative. It presents newly discovered, never-before-published ethnographic and archival material that shines a new light on Indigenous-colonial relations … Lutz portrays Indigenous peoples as having been powerful players in BC’s settler economy, who successfully exercised their rights and asserted their title to their traditional land/territory and resources.”
Another judge said the article “provides a fresh, well-researched and timely look at long-standing historical storylines and injects a new dose of reality and cultural recognition into the mix” while leaving the reader “questioning the lens through which we typically view early resource extraction narratives.”
The award was announced Saturday during the federation’s awards gala in Chilliwack and comes with $250 and a certificate.
“British Columbia History is a remarkable publication that brings the most interesting stories from our past to a wide audience,” Lutz said. “The diversity and quality of the stories and the care in editing is truly impressive. I really appreciate the honour of this award.”
Lutz is a professor of history at the University of Victoria. He is the author of Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations, co-editor of the collection Towards a New Ethnohistory: Community Engaged Scholarship Among the People of the River, and co-editor of To Share Not Surrender: Indigenous and Settler Visions of Treaty Making in the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. His current research focuses on the impact of smallpox on the Indigenous People of the Pacific Northwest.
Philip Yandle was the founder, editor, publisher, printer, binder, and distributor of the BC Historical News from 1968 to 1977. His wife Anne Yandle was also very active in BC Historical News for almost 40 years and served as the book reviews editor until the year in which she died. In 2007, the British Columbia Historical Federation renamed its Best Article Award Award in honour of Anne and Philip Yandle.
The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF) has announced four recipients of the 2023 Centennial Legacy Fund grants.
They are: the West Coast Ringette Historical Society ($2,500), Indo-Fijian Cultural Society of Canada ($3,700), Spencer Legebokoff ($700), and Letitia Johnson ($3,100).
Successful projects commemorate or preserve historical sites, cultural landscapes, or objects, and encourage new research, interpretation, or publication of British Columbia history.
The West Coast Ringette Historical Society's 50th Anniversary Documentation Project captures and documents the oral histories of former ringette athletes, coaches and builders in British Columbia. Ringette is a Canadian sport invented for female athletes in 1963, which was brought to BC in 1974. This is the first time ringette history in BC has been collected and documented.
The Indo-Fijian Cultural Society of Canada’s project will capture oral histories of the first Indo-Fijian Immigrants to British Columbia and the elders of BC's Indo-Fijian Community. The Indo-Fijian community is one of the four largest Diasporas in the world, yet there has been no previous research conducted on the heritage and history of the Indo-Fijian people in British Columbia and their contributions to BC’s society.
Spencer Legebokoff’s Doukhobor History Poetry Project will see him researching niche aspects of village life and politics and writing inspired poetry. As a result, the body of Doukhobor literature as well as literature that represents the history of the West Kootenay region will be expanded.
Letitia Johnson’s project called “Lasting Local Effect: Japanese Canadian Healthcare Professionals and Changes to Medicine in Remote Interior British Columbia (c.1940s-1990s)” will see her research how the labour of Japanese Canadians, as racialized healthcare professionals, changed remote medicine in BC in the 1940s. This project will be the first to consider how the presence of Japanese Canadian healthcare practitioners changed the healthcare provided in rural and remote areas of BC from the 1940s onwards.
The Centennial Legacy Fund was initiated in 2017 to acknowledge, in turn and collectively, Canada 150, British Columbia’s Union with Canada 1871 Sesquicentennial 2021, and the centennial of the founding of what is now called British Columbia Historical Federation, in 1922.
CLF Chair Quentin Wright congratulates Spencer Legebokoff at the BCHF Awards Gala on May 4.
The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2023-24 W. Kaye Lamb Award for Best Student Works.
The $1000 first prize in the third-and fourth-year category was awarded to Megan Yaskow for her submission “Wilderness to Wonderland: Prince George’s Anxious Ambition and the 1958 British Columbian Centennial.”
Megan is a third-year history major at the University of Northern British Columbia. Born and raised in Prince George, her work has been focused on British Columbian history with specific interest in social history, heritage studies, and energy history. Experience working at both the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum and the Northern BC Archives has sparked specific research interest in museums and public history. Megan plans to continue her research of museums and memory through a Master’s Degree in History. Megan is currently working at the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum.
For the 2023-24 year a $750 runner-up prize for the third- and fourth-year category was awarded to Amanda Payne for her submission “No Place for a Walk: Sex Work, Crime, and Community in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood during the 1980s-1990s.”
Amanda is a fourth-year student at the University of British Columbia, completing her BA in Anthropology with a minor in History. She also works part time at the UBC Lab of Archaeology Archives where she helps process historical records related to archaeology in BC. She is currently preparing her application to the Master of Arts in History program at UBC.
The W. Kaye Lamb Award is presented annually to outstanding post-secondary student essays and projects relating to the history of British Columbia. The award has been presented since 1988, initially known as the BCHF Scholarship. It was renamed the W. Kaye Lamb Award in 2001. In 2004, the BCHF introduced two award categories: one for students in their first or second year of study, the other for students in their third or fourth year of study.
The awards were presented on May 4, 2024 at the BCHF’s annual general meeting and award gala dinner in Chilliwack, BC, on the unceded traditional territory of the Stó:lō people.
Amanda Payne accepts her award in Chilliwack on May 4.
On May 4, the BC Historical Federation presented its annual recognition awards in Chilliwack at the 2024 BCHF conference. The BCHF is proud to present the award winners across a number of categories.
Award of Appreciation
Emma Quan and Mark Forsythe were honoured for their time serving on the board of directors of the BC Historical Federation, each with an award of appreciation. Emma was instrumental in managing the organization's Instagram account and contributing to decisions of the board at regular meetings and Mark served as vice-president and spent many hours interviewing local historians and organizations, sharing history through video and in British Columbia History magazine. Mark continues to work with British Columbia History magazine as a columnist.
Award of Merit
Awards of Merit are awarded to individuals and organizations who have made a significant contribution to the study or promotion of British Columbia history.
Earning an Award of Merit at this year's gala is the BC Black History Awareness Society for its 30 years of work creating awareness of Black history in B.C., celebrating historical and contemporary achievements and contributions. Recent projects undertaken by the Society include the development of the Hope Meets Action travelling exhibition in partnership with the Royal BC Museum, and the BC Archives Black History Records Research Guide in partnership with the BC Archives. Jamila Douhaibi accepted the award on behalf of the Society.
Also earning an Award of Merit is Dr. Lorne Hammond who was recognized for his work as curator in the history division at the Royal British Columbia Museum, spanning more than 25 years.
A fountain of knowledge and integral to the development of many popular exhibitions at the RBCM, Dr. Hammond’s expertise actively informed exhibitions including Festa Italian: Celebrating BC’s Italian Communities, Gold Rush: El Dorado in British Columbia, Century Hall and recently, Orcas: Our Shared Future. Lorne has written and lectured extensively on the energy and resource sectors in British Columbia and has been a staunch advocate and guide for younger generations of museum workers.
Award of Recognition
Awards of recognition are given by the BCHF to individuals who have given exceptional service for a specific project in the preservation of British Columbia’s history.
At the awards gala, the Maple Ridge Museum and Archives was recognized with an Award of Recognition for its exhibition: "What was Taken: The Forced Dispersal of Japanese Canadians in Maple Ridge." The exhibition, which explores the impact of internment on both Maple Ridge’s Japanese Canadian community and Maple Ridge itself, has provided a springboard and meaningful experiences for Japanese Canadian visitors to learn about their family histories. Many of these histories were not discussed by relatives who were interned. The exhibition has since been converted to a permanent exhibition.
Bright Light Awards
Each year, the BCHF awards organizations and individuals with three themed awards marking achievements in the access, preservation, and interpretation of BC history.
The Cultural Resources Accessibility Award, honouring those working to connect cultural heritage resources with people, was awarded to Catherine Clement, curator of the exhibit: “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.” As a result of Catherine’s work and advocacy, Library and Archives Canada opened up access to Chinese Immigration (C.I.) records, and her work led to the creation of a community archive of the C.I. certificates at the University of British Columbia.
The Storytelling Award, recognizing storytelling in non-print formats, was awarded to filmmakers Hayley Gray and Elad Tzadok for the documentary film “Unarchived”. The film, published by the National Film Board of Canada and made publicly available, examines the gaps in British Columbia’s documented histories and highlights the work of community archivists and historians who are fighting to create inclusive spaces and narratives for all.
Awards Chair Anna Irwin poses with Hayley Gray and Elad Tzadok, winners of the BCHF Storytelling Award.
The BC Historical Federation conference was a one-day event that featured the Federation’s Annual General Meeting, a keynote presentation, and a guided bus tour of S'ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō homelands).
The keynote presentation centered on masking and unmasking Stó:lō placenames, delivered by Dr. Keith Carlson, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous and Community-Engaged History at the University of the Fraser Valley and Director of the Peace and Reconciliation Centre, and Dr. Si:yémiya Albert “Sonny” McHalsie, Cultural Advisor / Sxweyxwiyam (Historian) at the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, andinstructor at the University of the Fraser Valley.
The presentation explained how place-naming was an integral component of the settler colonial process, and suggested ways in how we can take action to move towards decolonizing, re-Indigenizing, and re-naming places that are known to have original Indigenous names.
Si:yémiya provided examples of place names that guided Indigenous communities while travelling that reflected their knowledge of sites with bountiful food resources; that commemorated historical events and occurrences; and that documented stories of origin and transformation.
Carlson spoke to the process by which colonialists asserted a degree of control by naming spaces and associating new memories that reflected settler heritages. He suggests empowering Indigenous communities to create policies and processes that lead to re-naming on Indigenous terms.
The messages presented in the keynote presentation were subsequently seeded deeper into the minds of conference participants who joined a three-hour cultural bus tour of Stó:lō homelands where they saw and learned of original Indigenous place names and sxwōxwiyám (ancient stories) and sqwélqwel (personal and family histories) that give shape to Stó:lō culture, history and people.
Dr. Si:yémiya Albert “Sonny” McHalsie speaks to participants of the 2024 BCHF conference near Yale.
The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF) has awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing to Jennifer Bonnell, author of Stewards of Splendour: A History of Wildlife and People in British Columbia published by the Royal British Columbia Museum in 2023. The award was presented on May 4 at the BCHF’s award gala dinner in Chilliwack, on the unceded traditional territory of the Stó:lō people.
The book explores the history of wildlife conservation in British Columbia, from pre-contact Indigenous stewardship to the present. It examines the ways that scientists, Indigenous leaders, hunter-conservationists and naturalists contributed to and contested wildlife management practices in the province.
Historian and academic Jennifer Bonnell of Toronto was on hand to receive the award that includes a $2,500 prize -- the largest for historical writing in BC. Second prize of $1,500 went to Katherine Palmer Gordon for This Place is Who We Are (Harbour Publishing) and third prize of $500 to Jonathan Swainger for The Notorious Georges (UBC Press).
Three books received honourable mentions: Wayne McCrory, The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin (Harbour Publishing), Barry Gough's The Curious Passage of Richard Blanshard (Harbour Publishing) and Sam George with Jill Yonit Goldberg for The Fire Still Burns (UBC Press, Purich Books).
The Community History prize was awarded to Ellen Schwartz for Galena Bay Odyssey (Heritage House).
Jennifer Bonnell, winner of the 2023 BCHF Historical Writing Award.
British Columbia Historical FederationPO Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, Canada, V1M 2R7Information: info@bchistory.ca
The Secretariat of the BCHF is located on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish speaking Peoples.
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