British Columbia History

Dear Editor, After reading about the SS Master in your spring issue, I was inspired to reach out. We are a tour operator in the Greater Vancouver region, and we offer tours of the West Coast aboard a historic BC-built tugboat called the Union Jack. A

Where do we find history? What does each source tell us about what happened in the past? If we’re looking for factual information, we explore documents such as census records—as Andrea Lister did in her how-to article about searching the census for I

In 1899, at the church on the Coldwater Reserve, two widowed mothers and neighbours married two Nicola Valley cowboys. Daniela (Gutierrez) Shuttleworth and Johnny Garcia married in the spring; Pauline (Sisyesq’et) Tinmelsh and Henry Charters married

A census is intended to count a country’s population at a single point in time. The information gathered shows population growth, demographic trends, occupations, and so forth. The data is then used by governments to plan infrastructure and budget fo

Vancouver Fashion Week was the catalyst for two fashion designers to create contemporary Coast Salish music with their family. Aunalee Boyd-Good and Sophia Seward-Good are the sisters behind Ay Lelum, The Good House of Design, a second-generation Coa

The songs and verses written in and about British Columbia in the period 1890 to 1914 allow us a fascinating look into the culture of past times. This is particularly so for the region of BC known as the West Kootenay. This era saw the establishment

The gold rush in BC’s Cariboo region began in 1861. Soon after, thousands of would-be gold diggers arrived in the creeks. It was typical of the period and the work involved in the diggings that songs would be made. California’s 1849 gold rush generat

BC History was lucky to catch up with Winnie L. Cheung, Executive Director of the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre–Museum of Migration (PCHC-MoM). Your connection to Cantonese opera is a deeply personal one. Can you tell us about it? I am the eldest

While volunteering at the Penticton Museum and Archives, I became aware of the incredible contributions made by pioneer women who helped support the first two Penticton hospitals in the years 1912 to 1939. Their efforts have now faded from public awa

The Ida Halpern fonds is a remarkable collection of audiovisual, textual, and photographic records documenting the songs, ceremonies, and culture of the northwest coast of Canada. Between the 1940s and 1980s, ethnomusicologist Ida Halpern captured an

As the snow fell, he sat on his horse, wearing just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with a red bandana around his neck. That’s Edward Mayo Geake as described in 1931 by villagers at Pouce Coupe in northern BC. He was a man of mystery and the subject

The popular singer Lucille Starr is known mostly for her huge hits, “When the Sun Says Hello to the Mountains” and “Jolie Jacqueline.” She was the first female country music singer in Canada to sell more than one million records, the first woman to b

My great-great-great-grandmother’s name was Annie. She was born on May 20, 1866 and passed away on March 13, 1936.6 I know she had another name that her mother called her at birth, but we will probably never know what it was. I sometimes wonder if sh

Loki the Magpie is a tad lonely. He’s accustomed to swapping tales with visitors to the animal biome at the Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre in Prince George, but when the facility was forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, things s

On a hot summer day in 2005, I walked the dusty road through the former village of Paldi with author Joan Mayo. A century ago, Paldi (11 km northwest of Duncan, on Vancouver Island) was the bustling centre of sawmilling and logging operations establi

Anniversaries are often celebrated with a gift. For Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the gift came in the form of a new dedicated space for the KPU Archives. The opportunity to create an Archives Research Room in the library (Surrey Campus), coincide

Every month, new British Columbia history books and digital media are released. One of my goals with “Refracting History” is to share as many titles as possible with readers so you can seek out the ones that intrigue you. The search for great books t

The Lun Yick Chinese Opera House Company was built in Nanaimo around 1910, near the corner of Pine Street and Park Avenue. Lun Yick was the name of the group that purchased land for the theatre building by raising funds from Chinatown residents. The

Richard Forrest of the Lytton Museum and Archives patiently responded to questions from BC History during this terrible time. He was asked if he had any advice he could share with other small museums. The losses are greater than most people are awar