Print preview Close

Showing 159 results

Archival description
Collection
Print preview View:

Speech from the Throne

  • GR-3346
  • Collection
  • 1872-1876; 1905; 1960-2023

The collection consists of an incomplete set of copies of the Speech from the Throne, created between 1872 and 2023. The collection was made by the BC Archives using copies of the speeches, including red-ribbon copies, drawn together from various government office sources.

The Speech from the Throne is given by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia who addresses the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia at its opening and/or closing sessions. The speech outlines the executive government's plans at the start of each session of the Legislative Assembly and reviews the accomplishments of the government at the end of each session.

British Columbia. Lieutenant Governor

Sisters of St. Ann Archives collection

  • SSA
  • Collection
  • 1850 - 2021

The collection consists of records related to the creation and function of the Sisters of St. Ann in St. Joseph's Province, which covers the geographic area of British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, Oregon and Washington State. The SSA Archives acquired records created by the Sisters and the Corporation, as well as associated bodies such as parent-teacher organizations or alumnae societies for the schools they were involved in. The collection is currently arranged into 53 fonds, with the records created by The Sisters in one main fonds (PR-2415) which is comprised of approximately 140 series. The additional fonds are records created by external related bodies, such as the St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae, Providence Farm in Duncan, and the Friends of St. Ann's Academy.

The Sisters of St. Ann were involved in education and healthcare throughout British Columbia as well as in the Yukon and Alaska, and the records in this collection represent those activities, as well as the place of the congregation in the broader Catholic landscape of Western Canada. Records reflect the Sisters' presence in parochial and residential schools as well as hospitals, but also their relationship to their motherhouse in Lachine, Quebec, and the reporting structures of a congregation of women religious. There are many series that are related to a specific institution where the Sisters worked, but additional information about that institution will be held in administrative series such as the Provincial Bursar records or the Provincial Superior records.

The records in this collection are on numerous formats, including textual, photographic, audio and visual recordings, artworks, published library materials, objects, and digital records.

The Sisters of Saint Ann

Provincial Archives sheet music collection

  • PR-2375
  • Collection
  • 1899-2018

Collection includes published sheet music, many with lyrics, collected by the Provincial Archives. The majority of the collection includes materials published prior to 1970.

If a piece was assigned a number within a publisher's series, this number has been included in brackets after the statement of responsibility for the piece. The file list also includes information on publisher's series and the statement of responsibility for that series, if applicable.

Archives discrete item collection

  • F1
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1849]-2017

The collection consists of single items, reports, photocopies, photographs and other small collections donated and loaned to the BC Archives which document all aspects of the political, economic, social and cultural history of the province. There are private records produced by individuals, businesses and organizations and acquired by the Archives over many years from all areas of the Province and varying widely in subject matter. They consist of account books and journals, letters and diaries of gold seekers, pioneers, missionaries, and school teachers, literary manuscripts, photographs, the papers of natural historians and students and the personal and family papers of notable settlers and residents of the province.
There are also some provincial and federal government records which either came to the Archives as single items or files or were removed from other series.

British Columbia Archives

Dr. John Bindernagel Research Collection into the Sasquatch

  • PR-2410
  • Collection
  • 1968-2012

The collection consists of material created and collected by Dr. John Bindernagel as part of his research into the Sasquatch. A large part of the material is not original, but was collected by or given to him throughout the course of his career.

The collection consists of original and copies of photos, eyewitness drawings, historical articles relating to Sasquatch sightings, plaster casts of tracks, television and radio interviews featuring Bindernagel, as well as interviews made by Bindernagel.

Bindernagel, John Albert

Riverview Hospital historical collection

  • Collection
  • 1872-2008

This series consists of a variety of records created by various provincial mental health institutions from 1872 to 2008. Records relate to the administration and operation of Riverview Hospital and related mental health facilities at the Essondale site in Coquitlam, as well as other facilities across the province. These mental health institutions include: Victoria Asylum, New Westminster Provincial Asylum (later Public Hospital for the Insane or Provincial Hospital for the Insane), Home for the Aged Coquitlam (later Valleyview), Home for the Aged Terrace (later Skeenaview), Home for the Aged Vernon (later Dellview), Crease Clinic, Colony Farm, Colquitz, Woodlands School, Tranquille and other medical facilities.

The names and administrative structure of these institutions changed over time. Mental health functions were originally part of the Provincial Secretary’s mandate; they were transferred to Mental Health Services when it was created in 1950.

These government records were collected by the Riverview Historical Society and include a wide variety of subject matter and media. This includes subjects such as: early development of the Essondale lands and Colony Farm; the construction and expansion of the facility; admissions, transfers, and discharges of patients; administration of patient care; administration of therapy programs; patient and staff recreation; staff and nurse training; operation of the audiovisual department; library services; research into new medical and therapeutic practices; research by staff regarding mental health practices at Riverview and further afield; community involvement; volunteer activity; policy development; the redevelopment of the Riverview lands; general administration; and, administration of other services at the site such as postal, food, laundry, banking, transportation and safety services.

The collection has been arranged into the following series based on record types:

GR-3924 - record books
GR-3925 - operational records
GR-3926 - newsletters
GR-3927 - photographs and other graphic material
GR-3928 - films and videos

Classified as 20000-20 in Operational Records Classification System (ORCS) schedule 144007.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Medals, Tokens and Numismatic Collection

  • PR-2365
  • Collection
  • 221 BCE – 2004, predominant 1845-2004

There are 4 main types of material in the collection: medals and awards of merit, tokens, numismatic paper, and numismatic coins. The category of “medals” also includes occasional items of jewelry, commemorative objects of various types and militaria, while the category of numismatic paper includes banknotes, tickets, ration books, scrip, coupons, passbooks and paper. Tokens were issued by a wide range of businesses including dairies, bakeries, and transportation companies.

Most of the material relates to British Columbia. There are occasional items (particularly paper and coinage) from other countries.

PR-2365 also includes the H.J. Sceats collection of Chinese, Japanese and Korean coinage (a gift to the B.C. Archives in 1937), and a collection of Roman and ancient British coins from an unknown source.

PR-2365 also includes 12.5 cm of associated textual material such as souvenir coin holders, cases, brochures, and letters of donation. These have been labelled with the same item number as the object to which they relate, and may be found in container 001967-0026.
The objects have been arranged by category of material (medals, tokens, numismatic paper and numismatic coins), with a few exceptions. Each object has a unique item number. Note that the item numbers in each container are not necessarily inclusive.

All items were re-housed and described as part of a volunteer project which concluded in 2017.

Provincial Archives of British Columbia

Allan D. Taylor film collection

The collection consists of video copies of 36 film items from the Allan D. Taylor collection held by Library and Archives Canada. These selected items (mainly newsreel footage and out-takes) depict British Columbia events, leisure activities, scenery and cityscapes in Victoria and Vancouver, on Vancouver Island, or in the Interior (for example, Kamloops and Lillooet), during the period 1907-1931. Several items filmed during World War One show events related to the war, including the departures of various military units for the conflict. The collection includes at least one item fillmed by Vancouver filmmaker A.D. "Cowboy" Kean, and a few others that are attributed to him.

Taylor, Allan D., 1916-1999

Carol Pearson collection

  • PR-2359
  • Collection
  • 1942-2000

Collection consists of correspondence inward to Carol Pearson from Emily Carr between 1942-1945. The letters were used by Pearson in her book entitled "Emily Carr as I Knew Her", published in 1954.

Also included in the collection are letters documenting the correspondence's provenance.

Pearson, Carol Denise

Earl Marsh collection

  • PR-2362
  • Collection
  • 1868-1999; predominant 1922-1975

The collection consists of the records gathered by Earl Marsh, who intended to preserve the history of the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service (BCCSS) and the maritime history of British Columbia generally. He primarily collected records from BCCSS employees and their family members, as well as libraries and archives.

The collection also consists of the employment records of Earl Marsh, personal correspondence pertaining to his collecting activities, and records Marsh probably used in his position as accountant for the BCCSS.

Marsh accumulated the bulk of his collection between 1964 and 1973, during the last years in which the BCCSS provided passenger services. The records themselves were created between 1868 and 1999, with the majority created between 1922 and 1975. Records in the collection pertain primarily to the province of British Columbia, Washington State, and the state of Alaska.

The main subject of Earl Marsh’s collection is the BCCSS. Marsh was interested in the practical operations of the organization and its regional context, so his collection includes records about the BCCSS’s privately-owned competitors, other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company engaged in shipping, and the establishment of government ferry services in British Columbia.

Operational records of the BCCSS provide insight into the lives of crew members who worked on ships, the financial state of the company, the design and construction of ships and shipping infrastructure, coastal weather and tide patterns, and significant shipwrecks.

As an employee of the BCCSS, Marsh had a special interest in crew members. The records reveal the job duties, union contracts, and company guidelines that shaped the lives of the workers. In addition, Marsh’s collection contains a small selection of records about the Chinese Canadian crew members of BCCSS ships. Many of these workers were employed at the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act and experienced systematic discrimination by their employer.

Marsh was also particularly fascinated by the passenger services offered by the BCCSS on their line of 32 “Princess” steamships. Prior to the First World War, Princess ships represented the height of elegance and efficiency in coastal transportation. Marsh gathered numerous photographs, menus, deck plans, and newspaper clippings that convey some of the glamour of passenger travel aboard these ships.

The records originated with different creators. The majority of the records were created by the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company, which was eventually taken over by the BCCSS, the BCCSS, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Some records were created by other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, such as the British Columbia Lake and River Service.

Documentary forms include scrapbooks about the BCCSS, subject files, scrapbooks about other shipping companies, original BCCSS volumes such as log and time books, ephemera and photographic negatives, files of personal records, and rolls of technical drawings. Records were originally arranged in groupings according to their subject (often indicated in a folder title) and documentary form. Within some subject groupings, Marsh arranged files alphabetically.

The subjects of BCCSS-related scrapbooks include the numerous ships in the Princess line, staff members, and other aspects of the organization's history. Among many other material types, the scrapbooks contain news clippings, original company correspondence and financial records, photographs, and technical drawings. Marsh arranged these scrapbooks in rough alphabetical order.

Marsh maintained subject files on numerous ships in the Princess line, BCCSS staff members and history, and the history of other shipping companies, including the Puget Sound Navigation Company and Black Ball Ferries Limited. He kept his files on BCCSS ships in rough alphabetical order.

Marsh’s scrapbooks about non-BCCSS companies cover other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and organizations based in Washington State and the state of Alaska. These scrapbooks were not maintained in any discernible order.

Marsh maintained log books and time books from the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and BCCSS; however, few complete sets of log books and time books exist for various ships. He also collected road maps and ephemera such as post cards, along with photographs, negatives, and slides, in random order in shoeboxes.

Marsh included his own personal correspondence and employment records in the collection. These materials were originally received in labelled files.

Marsh kept technical drawings in large rolls. Often, a roll featured upwards of 20 drawings of a single ship.

The archivist arranged the collection in six series that reflect Marsh’s original order:

MS-3254 - Scrapbooks, Canadian Pacific Railway Company records, and subject files
MS-3255 - Ship log books
MS-3256 - Time books
MS-3257 - Personal correspondence, employment records, and journal
MS-3258 - Photographs, road maps, and ephemera
MS-3259 - Technical drawings, map, and construction specifications for BCCSS ship Princess Louise II

Marsh, Earl John

Archives sound recording collection

  • F6
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1930-1995]

Collection consists of sound recordings collected or acquired by the BC Archives from a wide variety of donors and sources. The recordings include oral history interviews, radio broadcasts, and published sound recordings. Subjects include family history, local and regional history, industrial history, and broadcasting.

British Columbia Archives

Archives research collection

  • F2
  • Collection
  • 1785-1991

The collection consists primarily of copies or records collected by the archives, loaned to the archives or donated to the archives. These records encompass all aspects of the political, economic, social and cultural history of the province. They come from all over the world but have a BC connection. These copies come from other archives, universities, historical societies, institutes and individuals.

British Columbia Archives

Archives visual records collection

  • F5
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1850-1990]

The Archives photo collection (also known as the General file or genfile) consists of photographs collected by the Archives from around 1908 until the 1990s. The photographs were primarily collected because of their subject matter and little or no information was gathered as to their provenance and type. A single volume, arranged numerically by a classification code, appears to indicate that the first 14,000 or so photographs acquired were arranged by subject groupings.

By 1934, the annual report of the Provincial Library and Archives department noted that the "collection of photographs and prints in the Archives, which is estimated to consist of at least 14,000 items, is rapidly outgrowing the old filing system, and sooner or later the entire collection must be recatalogued and rearranged." In 1935 the new system of applying individual catalogue numbers known as "HP" or "Historic Photograph" numbers had begun. In 1940 the Provincial Archivist reported that half the photographs had been recatalogued. The cataloguing consisted of entering the photographs into registers in HP number order; the first number assigned was HP101 or HP000101. This system of item level numbering continued into the 1990s with over 100,000 photographs entered into the HP accession registers. While most of these photographs continued to be acquired because of their subject matter, selected photographs that formed part of original record groups, were also catalogued with an HP number.

The "original" photographs acquired in this way consist mainly of photographic prints in a variety of sizes and formats, but also include original negatives (both glass and flexible). In many cases, the Archives borrowed and copied photographs from individuals and other institutions. In these cases the "original" is a copy print made by the Archives at the time.

The prints are stored in HP number order in several runs: main run of several hundred boxes, one run of Maynard photographs, two runs of oversized photographic prints and one run of large oversized prints stored in map cabinets. Original negatives are stored by type (glass, nitrate, acetate, polyester etc.), usually by HP number. These original records are often know as "HP originals".

Copy prints were made of many of the prints and are arranged by subject in several runs. Portrait/family files are arranged in alphabetical order; topographic (place name) files are arranged alphabetically by place name and then by subject within the place; and a small set of subject files (including ships) are arranged alphabetically by subject. There are a variety of indexes and lists of files available in the Archives to help determine which general file copy print files are available on request.

Copy negatives (arranged by negative number or photo lab number) were made from many of the prints and original negatives. These records were used for reproductions and are stored in a large negative cabinet.

British Columbia Archives

Douglas S. Wilson collection

  • PR-2232
  • Collection
  • 1947-1990

The collection mainly consists of copies of several short films by Oscar and Dorothy Burritt. The Burritts were film enthusiasts and amateur filmmakers who lived in Vancouver until 1947. Oscar C. Burritt also worked as a professional cinematographer and director. In later years he worked for CBC Television in Toronto. Both the Burritts were active in the film society movement, including the Vancouver Branch of the National Film Society and the Toronto Film Society.

The collection includes footage of Vancouver events and places, as well the amateur or experimental works "And--", "Bats Out of Hell", "Residue 2", "Suite Two: A Memo to Oscar", and "Three There". The collection also includes Douglas Wilson's 1981 oral history interview with Leon C. Shelly, who discusses his career as a film producer in Vancouver and Toronto. It also includes a photograph of a portrait of Dorothy Burritt, painted in 1947 by Peter Bortkus.

Wilson, Douglas S.

Archives moving images collection

  • F3
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1925-1990]

Collection consists of moving images collected or acquired by the BC Archives from a wide variety of donors. Subjects include the entire range of British Columbia history and cover most geographic areas of the province. They include commercially produced industrial and promotional films as well as amateur productions.

British Columbia Archives

B.C. Legal History Project collection

  • PR-1775
  • Collection
  • 1978-1989

The collection consists of interviews with members of the legal and judicial profession of British Columbia conducted as part of the B.C. Legal History Project.

University of Victoria. Faculty of Law

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation collection

  • PR-1968
  • Collection
  • 1927-1989; predominant 1941-1977

The fonds consists of radio and television programs produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and mainly broadcast from its Vancouver stations.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Vancouver, B.C.)

Jewish Historical Society of B.C. oral history collection

  • PR-1862
  • Collection
  • 1961-[ca. 1989]

The collection consists of oral history interviews and recordings collected by the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia between 1961 and ca. 1989. The interviews and recordings pertain to the history of Jewish people and related events in B.C.

Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia

B.C. music collection

  • PR-2250
  • Collection
  • [194-]-1988

The collection comprises about 1830 published sound recordings, mainly of music composed, arranged, and performed by British Columbia and Western Canadian musicians, or which was recorded in the province or released by British Columbia companies. A wide variety of musical genres are represented, including classical and orchestral music, country and western, electronic music, folk and folk-rock, jazz, pop, rock, new wave and punk. The recordings span the years from the early 1940s to 1988. The collection reflects the emergence of Vancouver-based record companies such as Aragon, Mushroom, and Nettwerk. The West coast musical scene of the 1980s -- which coincided with the collection's creation -- is particularly well documented.

Provincial Archives of British Columbia

Women's Labour History Project collection

  • PR-1996
  • Collection
  • 1979-1988

The collection consists of oral history interviews pertaining to women in the B.C. labour movement.

Diamond, Sara, collector

Knowledge Network : miscellaneous videotapes

  • PR-2364
  • Collection
  • 1980-1987

The collection consists of miscellaneous videotapes transferred from the Knowledge Network to the Sound and Moving Image Division, BC Archives.

Knowledge Network (B.C.)

B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers History Project collection

  • PR-1865
  • Collection
  • 1987

The collection consists of oral history interviews pertaining to B.C. ferry and marine workers conducted as part of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers History Project.

Lomax, Stephen

B.C. Rail oral history collection

  • PR-2001
  • Collection
  • 1986-1987

The collection consists of oral history interviews with former and current employees of B.C. Rail as well as residents living along the B.C. Rail lines.

BC Rail Ltd.

Central Junior Secondary School oral history collection

  • PR-1981
  • Collection
  • 1985

The collection consists of audio and videotaped oral history interviews with former students and teachers pertaining to the history of Central Junior Secondary School in Victoria, B.C.

Central Junior Secondary School (Victoria, B.C.)

Justice councils of B.C. collection

  • PR-1790
  • Collection
  • 1982-1985

The collection consists of interviews with people who were officially involved in Justice Councils in B.C. from 1974 to the 1980s.

Cossom, John, collector

Immigrant women interview collection

  • PR-1797
  • Collection
  • 1985

The collection consists of interviews with women who immigrated to B.C. pertaining to their experiences.

Farr, Carolyn M.

Results 1 to 30 of 159