British Columbia History

I love when research works. When you can focus the lens of time a little bit more, so looking back through the years and misty half-memories you can see more clearly, and find that one crisp moment that shines so brightly it lights up all the corners

As a German-born coal miner, Herman Elmer was an exceptional member of local union 2334 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) at Michel, British Columbia. In a community populated by British, Canadian, American, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian

Craigdarroch Military Hospital patient Private Ralph Forrester, Regimental No. 524673, came to my attention through an email from his grandson, Dr. Hugh Whitney, chief veterinary officer for Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr. Whitney’s mother, Mary Whitn

Almost 10,000 Canadians were diagnosed with shell shock during the First World War. However, mental illness was not well understood by military medical officers of the time. There was little sympathy for so called “shell shock” cases (known today as

Past Forward profiles websites, podcasts, and apps that explore British Columbia’s diverse history through stories and experiences. Two of the websites profiled are Virtual Museum of Canada online exhibits, which are developed with museums across the

A Vancouver keyboard tuner peering inside an old parlour piano might be surprised to find a gold leaf signature etched into its dark wood. There, a clearly formed cursive script spells the name “Nellie Melba.” Still legible, the inscription echoes th

This is an edited excerpt from a policy paper prepared by Karen Aird, Gretchen Fox and Angie Bain on behalf of First Peoples’ Cultural Council for release in August of 2019. The complete version can be found at www.fpcc.ca Cultural heritage is more t

It’s a perfect day for paddling. Clear skies, mild, and Mount Baker’s peaks are bathed in fall sunlight. We watch a huge sturgeon surface and splash nearby, and feel the rumble of trains as we paddle beneath the 1909 CPR bridge that crosses the Frase

When I first arrived in Nelson, to take up the role of Archivist at Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History in 2017, I was immediately struck by the size of the museum’s bound newspaper collection. The great bulk of this collection consists of

I first started reading BC history books as a teenager, drawn in by a desire to learn more about my community and the connection of my story. Very little regional history was taught at my Nanaimo high school in the 1990s and Canadian history was hype

A collaboration between oral historian Robert Budd and northwest coast First Nations artist Roy Henry Vickers that illuminates the history of the Skeena River region. An ecologically diverse area in the path of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeli

When skiers at SilverStar Mountain Resort, 22 km northeast of the city of Vernon, BC,launch themselves on any of the 133 named downhill runs, they are playing with history.1 The downhill runs have been named for old mining claims; flora, fauna and na