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This series contains Native Indians' Participation Sub-Committee files. The records include correspondence and reports regarding carving commemorative totem poles.

This series contains records of the committee organized to celebrate the centenary of the union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and the centenary of confederation in Canada. The committee chairman was L.J. Wallace, Deputy Provincial Secretary. Types of records include administrative files dealing with particular events and activities, and project files dealing with commemorative projects undertaken by local communities.

GR-1449 consists of two records series: Administration files and Project files. The former documents the many events organized and authorized by the committee, while the latter deals with funding local community projects throughout the province.

Related records are to be found in GR-1489 - Applications for Pioneer Medallions. These medallions were presented by the centennial committee to B.C. residents who were either born in Canada or were a resident of Canada prior to 1892.

Resolution of the Council of the Borough of Middlesbrough, England, sending greetings to the people of British Columbia on the occasion of the Captain Cook Bicentennial Year.

Records of the committee established by the Centennial Celebration Act of 1956 to celebrate the centenary of the mainland colony of British Columbia in 1958. Includes records of various sub-committees and applications from communities for provincial grants for commemorative projects. General chairman of the committee was L.J. Wallace, Deputy Provincial Secretary. Records in this unit were maintained by committee's secretary, W.B. Ireland, Provincial Librarian and Archivist.

GR-1448 consists of the files kept by W.E. Ireland who, in addition to his duties as Honorary Secretary, served as a member of the screening committee for applications for community projects. He also served as chairman of the subcommittee on Historic Sites and Publications which commissioned Margaret A. Ormsby's British Columbia: A History.

The British Columbia Centennial '71 Committee was established by the British Columbia Centennial '71 Celebration Act of 1969 [SBC 1969 c.2]. Its mandate was to make and carry out "all arrangements necessary for organizing a celebration of the centenary of British Columbia joining Canada." As had been the case in the centennial celebrations of 1958 and 1966-1967, the Deputy Provincial Secretary, L.J. Wallace, was primarily responsible for overseeing the organization of the 1971 celebration. Following a tradition established with the earlier centennials, the provincial government offered per capita grants to assist communities with local events and projects. The government - through the Centennial '71 Committee - also organized and helped to finance a large number of major events and programmes. Events included a Provincial Festival of Sports and a Royal Visit by HM the Queen. Educational, cultural and historical programmes included the Queen Elizabeth II scholarships, Stop of Interest plaques, and a large number of school pageants. In addition to the above, the Centennial Committee presented pioneer medallions to B.C. residents who were either born in Canada or were a resident of Canada prior to 1897. Applications for medallions may be found in GR-1490. Records include administrative and sub-committee files (dealing with particular events and activities) and project files (dealing with commemorative building projects undertaken by local communities throughout the province). Boxes 1-12 (Files A-A-1 to A-W-3) contain Administrative files, Boxes 13-44 Project files, and Boxes 30-47 Local Committee files. .

The series consists of a copy of the program for the dedication ceremony of the site of British Columbia's Centennial Survey Monument which took place at the new Museum and Archives precinct at the corner of Government and Belleville Streets in Victoria on Wednesday June 21, 1967.

The program includes a description of the ceremony, speeches, press release, photocopies of relevant newspaper articles, photocopy of invitation and guest list and six black and white photographs of the ceremony including the unveiling of the monument and an aerial view of the site.

This series contains commemorative certificates, cartoons and momentos presented to Deputy Provincial Secretary L.J. Wallace by various organizations and community groups to mark centennial celebrations of 1966, 1967, and 1971.

This series contains correspondence, reports, and miscellaneous papers regarding planning and revision of school curricula. The first box contains ministerial correspondence, progress reports, plus files on Indian education, industrial arts, home economics, and women's studies. Box 2 contains files regarding secondary guidance, English and business education. It also files regarding a Captain Cook study kit from 1978. Box 3 contains files regarding an introduction of core curriculum, 1977. It also includes departmental papers, reports, selected correspondence and "reaction sheets" from teachers, parents, and pupils.

The series consists of newspaper clipping books created by the Canadian Confederation Centennial Committee of British Columbia between 1961 to 1968.

The series consists of papers of the Educational activities subcommittee of the Canadian Confederation Centennial Committee of BC created by the Dept. of Education between 1964 and 1967.

As part of Canada's 1967 Centennial celebrations, commemorative medallions were presented to B.C. residents who were either born in Canada or who were living in the country prior to 1 January 1892.

GR-1489 consists of application forms for these medallions. The forms provide the names of applicants, date and place of birth, names of applicants' fathers, maiden names of applicants' wives and mothers, names of applicants' brothers and sisters, and other genealogical details.

The forms were originally distributed by local centennial committees throughout the province. Completed forms were then forwarded to the Deputy Provincial Secretary, who acted as chairman of the province's Canadian Confederation Committee. The forms were filed in duplicate: one set was filed alphabetically, by the name of the community in which the applicant resided (Boxes 1-18); a second set was filed by the name of the applicant (Boxes 19-33).

In 1971, to commemorate the centennial of British Columbia's entry into Confederation, the provincial government presented pioneer medallions to B.C. residents who were either born in Canada or were living in Canada prior to 1 January 1897. Persons who were eligible for the medallions were requested to make application through their local centennial committees. The four-part application forms were then forwarded to the office of the Deputy Provincial Secretary who was responsible for distributing the medallions to thousands of pioneers throughout the province.

GR-1490 consists of copies of the medallion application forms. These forms provide the pioneers' names, date and place of birth, and their occupation before retirement. In addition, the forms give the names of applicant's parents, maiden names of wives and mothers, names of brothers and sisters, and other genealogical details. One set of is filed alphabetically by name of community, a second set by name of individual applicant. There is also a file of forms for centenarians as well as chronological lists of pioneers born between 1860 and 1879.

This series contains official correspondence, reports, briefs to cabinet, articles and messages, etc. accumulated during W.A.C. Bennett's tenure as premier. It includes files on Dominion-provincial relations, civil defence, centennial celebrations, railways and major business corporations. Also includes copies of congratulatory letters sent to senior citizens by Bennett's successor, Premier David Barrett. Photographs transferred to Visual Records Division; maps, plans, and printed material transferred to Library and Maps Section. GR-1414 consists of a large number of records created and accumulated during the tenure of Premier William Andrew Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett [1952-1972]. The records originally comprised the Central Registry of the Premier's Office. Included are letters from private individuals and business corporations, inter-departmental memoranda, copies of the premier's articles and messages, briefs to cabinet and other reports submitted for the premier's consideration. This unit also includes documents pertaining to Dominion-Provincial relations, as well as correspondence from federal politicians and foreign diplomats. The records, which comprise this unit, were transferred to the Provincial Archives from the Premier's Office in November 1982. Ten years earlier-following the defeat of Mr. Bennett's Social Credit government-the records had been consigned to a vault in the basement of the Parliament Buildings. Sometime later they were placed in cardboard boxes and removed to a builders' shed in the Parliament Buildings precinct. There they remained, apparently untended, until 1982 when they came to the attention of the Archives. When the records were transferred to the Archives a number of file folders were found to be empty. In most cases, the empty folders concerned cabinet ministers and the work of various government departments. Similarly, contemporary file lists [see Box 131, File 11] indicate that a number of folders were missing from the original series of files. No files marked "Anonymous," for example, were among the boxes received by the Archives, despite the fact that files containing anonymous letters inward were maintained over the years by the Premier's Office. Nor were any "Confidential" files included with the transfer, although they were part of the Premier's filing system. These files may have been removed when W.A.C. Bennett left office in 1972, or they may have been removed sometime after 1976 when W.R. Bennett became premier. [In her interview (taped in 1978) Mrs. Mylrea noted that Premier Bennett asked her to "go through" the correspondence files on 31 August 1972, the day after his party's electoral defeat. Mrs. Mylrea spent the next two weeks reviewing "every piece of paper in those files." "I did not find one thing that nobody else could have looked at" she related, "there was nothing that anybody need be afraid that anybody could see, opposition or otherwise." Nevertheless, some of the files were removed and were taken by Mr. Bennett to his Kelowna home. [SMID 3236:1-2, pp.16-17] Researchers should also note the absence of W.A.C. Bennett's constituency files in this collection. According to the premier's secretary, records dealing with the South Okanagan riding were maintained separately in the premier's Kelowna office. After his death in February, 1979, the Bennett family donated the records to the Simon Fraser University archives. [SMID 3236:1-1, p.17] Despite the absence of certain files, GR-1414 is a remarkably rich collection of executive records. The evolution of the Social Credit Party can be detected in many of the memos and reports in the collection; public attitudes towards government policies can be seen in much of the correspondence inward, while the province's economic growth can be discerned in files devoted to industrial development or to particular companies. Federal-provincial relations are also well documented, as are the activities of local chambers of commerce and sundry community groups throughout the province. Indeed, as a source of documentation for British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, GR-1414 is unrivalled.

This series consists of the programme, memoranda, and minutes of meeting of the planning committee responsible for celebrations marking the golden anniversary of Canadian confederation. Records include correspondence, directories, advertisements and pamphlets relating to the diamond anniversary of Canadian confederation.