The series consists of 63 black and white photographs or postcards created or acquired by Hutchings in the 1920s and 1930s which mainly document the 1936 Skeena flood and its impact on Anyox and Terrace. There are also snow slide photographs taken near Lillooet and Fernie in the 1930s. In addition there are some photographs of Smithers, postcards of the Revelstoke area and several other miscellaneous photographs.

The series also includes 27 black and white copy prints loaned by Hutchings for copying by the Provincial Archives in 1972. These prints show the town site of Anyox including the dam, the smelter and various fires.

This series consists of photographs, negatives, slides and architectural drawings created by various provincial mental health institutions from 1901 to 2002. These records regard the following institutions: New Westminster Provincial Asylum (later Public Hospital for the Insane or Provincial Hospital for the Insane), Essondale (later Riverview), 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. Most records were created by the Essondale or Riverview Hospital Audio Visual Department.

Photos, negatives and slides cover a broad range of subjects which may overlap with or relate to other series of mental health photos at the archives. There are three broad categories of subjects: photos of institutions, pathological photos, and staff and patient photos. Images from these categories may all be intermingled together and specific subjects may be duplicated over multiple media types.

Photos of institutions include interior and exterior images of the buildings, facilities and grounds. This includes the construction and renovation of facilities. Most publicly operated mental health facilities in the Province are represented, as well as some additional medical facilities.

Pathological photos include images of adults and children with various mental and physical conditions or injuries, including full body shots and close ups. This includes close ups of human anatomy, dissections and brain samples. There are also images demonstrating various medical treatments patients underwent.

Staff and patient photos cover many aspects of daily patient and employee life. Many of the images document public events at the hospitals such as sports days, parties, dances, parades, graduations, opening ceremonies and other events. Additional subjects include patient leisure activities; recreational therapy; occupational therapy such as woodworking and sewing; patient care; hospital services such as laundry, food series, pharmacy and dentist; a variety of patient and volunteer programs; patients working at colony farm; staff demonstrating their work; passport style headshots of patients and staff; and group photos of staff from as early as the opening of the hospital.

Each media type is organized separately. They are represented by the following subseries:

1. Photographs. Most photos date from the 1940s to 1970s, though altogether they range from the early 1900s to early 2000s. Almost all photographs are black and white, but some later ones are in colour. There are duplicates and copies of some images throughout the collection.

Each photograph will include varying amounts of information on its back. Some photos are unlabeled and include no information. Photos may be labelled with numbers, descriptions and/or dates. Many are stamped with Audio Visual Department, Mental Health Services, Essondale or Riverview. Some photos indicate the folder they were originally stored in and are labelled with an item number. These numbers likely relate to the organizational structure used by the Audio Visual Department and may correspond with the organization of other Mental Health Services photographs in the Archive’s holdings. It appears that when, or before, these photos were collected by the Riverview Historical Society they were removed from this organizational system and filed alphabetically by subject. The files are currently arranged alphabetically in two groups (one for each accession number).

2. Large format photographs and albums. There are some large format prints and framed photos which were on display in the hospitals or Historical Society building. These photos are of patients and staff, including an early group photo of staff. These may be prints of older photos. There are also large scale prints of furniture sketches for the for the "Provincial Mental Hospital Mount Coquitlam", likely the Male Chronic Building.

Of the photo albums, three of them include similar photos of the interior and exterior of the Male Chronic Building, the first hospital built at Essondale, around its opening in 1913. The fourth album includes early portraits of patients labeled as having been diagnosed with Dementia Praecox, the original name given to Schizophrenia Kraepelin.

3. Negatives. Most negatives are stored in their original envelopes, unless they required rehousing. Envelopes contain images related to a specific topic and may be labelled with a title, date and four digit number. Negative envelopes are arranged chronologically by this number up to number 3160. Many envelope numbers are missing. Negatives in container 972114-0009 were transferred separately but appear to have numbers which fit into this numbering system. Some envelopes are unlabeled or are missing some information. Envelopes may also include some associated photographic prints.

4. Slides. Slides date from 1949 to the 1980s. They have been arranged into several groups based on the numbers written on individual slides. Slides are arranged chronologically by this number, or their date if they were not numbered. Note that there may be gaps in numbering. Slides in file boxes 3 and 4 have a variety of numbering systems, no numbers or only contain a date. They contain similar subject matter to A, B and P slides in the other file boxes. Numbers with A and B prefixes include images of institutions, staff and patients. Numbers with P prefixes document pathological images.

5. Architectural plans. Plans date from 1920 to the 1980s. They cover Crease Clinic, Valleyview and other buildings on the Riverview/Essondale site at various points in time. There is also a master list of the Provincial Mental Hospital cemetery.

The series consists of approximately 5250 black and white photographic negatives taken by Mental Health Services between 1948 and 1967. The negatives are acetate and are mostly in a 4 x 5 format with some 35 mm. There are 62 black and white prints interfiled with the negatives.

The photographs are of various British Columbia mental health institutions including the Boys Industrial School, Colony Farm, Colquitz Mental Home (Saanich), the Home for the Aged in Vernon and in Terrace, Woodlands School, Essondale (Coquitlam) and the Crease Clinic.

The photographs depict the grounds and buildings (both internal and external views) of the mental health institutions as well as photographs of construction and equipment. There are photographs of staff and patients involved in a variety of activities including medical treatments, events, ceremonies, leisure activities and other programs.

The negative files are arranged numerically in seven boxes: 1-657, 658-1004, 1005-1135, 1136-1242, 1245-1325, 1326-1409 and 1410-1499.

The item consists of two reels of original film footage from 1969. It shows Premier W.A.C. Bennett at the opening of the Cowichan Valley Forest Museum in Duncan, 17 May 1969; at Prince Rupert [ferry terminal?], 19 May; visiting the Terrace & District Hospital, Terrace Municipal Hall, and B.C. Vocational School, 21 May; and laying the cornerstone for the new Bulkley Valley Forest Industries Ltd. lumber mill at Houston, 22 May. R.G. Williston, H.R. MacMillan & Waldo Skillings also appear.

This series consists of wildfire mapping records including fire atlas maps and fire reports from the Prince Rupert Forest District. The records date from 1921-1980. Collectively these records provide a comprehensive image of the amount and extent of forest fires in the area.

The Prince Rupert Forest District was divided into smaller Ranger Districts. These Ranger Districts changed over the years, but included: Burns Lake, Hazleton, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Kitwanga, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), Ocean Falls, Francois Lake, Smithers, Telkwa, Houston, Pendleton Bay, Kitimat, Lower Post, Topley, Bella Coola, Southbank, Telegraph Creek and Atlin.

Annual fire reports are oversized handwritten tables that provide detailed information on individual fires for the years 1921-1967. The tables list: name of the fire; name of officer in charge; date; district fire number; fire origin; cost of fighting and source of funds; area burned; total area of damage done; amount of merchantable and unmerchantable timber burned; amount of range land burned; amount of property or other damage caused; and the cause of the fire. Possible causes include lightening, recreational activities, railroad clearing, smokers, brush or range burning, construction, industrial activities, incendiaries, miscellaneous known causes and unknown causes. The pages are arranged by year, with one page used per Ranger District. Each year includes a summary sheet with the totals for all Ranger Districts.

Fire atlas maps and overlays show the location and type of fires, as well as the extent of some burned areas. The majority of the maps are forest cover maps which have been annotated or had overlays added with this additional information. Many of the maps have been cut to fit in the bound volume they were originally stored in. This can make it difficult to determine the precise year the maps were created and annotated.

The series also includes one scrapbook of newspaper clippings related to forest fires, fire protection and firefighting for the years 1988-1991. This item was created by the successor of the Prince Rupert Forest District, the Prince Rupert Forest Region.

Ministries responsible for the creation of this series, and their dates of the responsibility, are:
Dept. of Lands (1908-1945)
Dept. of Lands and Forests (1945-1962)
Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
Dept. of Forests 1975-1976
Ministry of Forests 1976-1986
Ministry of Forests and Lands 1986-1988
Ministry of Forests 1988-2005

Industrial film. Problems faced in the construction of branch railway lines to isolated resource communities in various parts of Canada. Includes clearing of right-of-way, roadbed construction, track-laying and bridge-building on the line from Terrace to Kitimat.

This series consists of a variety of registers and record books created by various provincial mental health institutions from 1872 to 1998. These records were created by institutions including: Victoria Asylum, New Westminster Provincial Asylum (later Public Hospital for the Insane or Provincial Hospital for the Insane), Essondale (later Riverview), Home for the Aged (later Valleyview), Dellview, Skeenaview, Crease Clinic, Woodlands School and others. Not all volumes clearly identify which building or institution they are associated with.

The subjects of the volumes and their contents vary greatly. Many of them relate to other series in the BC Archives. The registers have been arranged in the following subject based subseries:

1. Casebooks. This subseries only includes one volume providing a description of each of the first patients at the hospital, including how and why they were admitted, their history and treatment. Later casebooks can be found in GR-1754.

2. Death and Cemetery records. This includes death registries, morgue records, cemetery record books showing the plots individuals were laid in and some medical certificates of death. Volumes may include information such as: name, date of death, date of burial, name of Minister, name of Undertaker, lot and block of cemetery plot, patient number, time in asylum, age, religion, cause of death, form of insanity, gender, and marital status.

3. Admissions records. These volumes provide basic information about patients entered on their admission. Many of these volumes likely relate to the Home for the Aged (later known as Valleyview) based on patient demographics listed in the records. Recorded information may include patient number, name, residence, date of admission, relatives, religion, nationality, occupation, age, gender, marital status, level of education, physical state, date of transfer, date of death or discharge, form of admission, ward, and remarks.

4. Number registers. These records relate to and may overlap with Admission registers. Upon admission each patient was assigned a mental health service number. This number system was used across all provincially operated mental health institutions. It appears that only a single register was used at any given time until about 1960, when individual hospitals began each using their own registers. Each hospital received a block of 100 numbers from the central registry. When they had assigned all numbers to their new patients they requested a new block of numbers. This means there is no single register in this group of records after 1960. Instead, blocks of numbers are spread among multiple registers. Number registers may record: patient number, name, address, date of admission, type of admission, and ward/building.

5. Discharge registers. These record how a patient left the hospital’s custody and may specifically note death, various types of leave, escapes and transfers. These may record: name, patient number, gender, date of release or death, date of admission, term of residence, condition, ward, gender, diagnosis, who or where released to, and remarks.

6. Treatments – operations. Record information about operations patients underwent. Includes: patient number, date, ward, name, age, diagnosis, operation, surgeon, assistant, nurses, anesthesiologist, anesthetic, specimen, and remarks.

7. Treatments – x-rays. Records x-rays conducted on patients and staff. May include name, region, doctor, date, ward, and x-ray number.

8. and 9. Treatments- miscellaneous. Each book records different treatments used in the hospital. This includes Electroencephalograms (EEGs), physiotherapy, behavior therapy, lobotomies. Subseries 8 relates to dentures.

9. Treatments – doctor’s orders and consultations. List the date, patients name and orders or notes.

10. Census and statistics. Note the date, number of patients in each building, staff on duty (including if away or late), patients died, admitted, discharged, on leave, from leave and transferred, as well as some notes on unusual occurrences.

11. Miscellaneous. Includes a variety of other registers related to the operations of the hospitals, and appeal examinations for patient release.

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.

SUMMARY: This program is a report on the 1959 Royal Visit, which was the royal couple's first tour of northern Canada and the Skeena area. The tape begins with commentator John Must at the Terrace airport, awaiting the Royal party. The plane arrives, and the Queen and Prince Philip are presented to local dignitaries and the First Nations chiefs of the area. Will Hankinson is the commentator in downtown Terrace, and he reviews the route through Terrace. The royal couple returns to the airport and departs. The program came from the Prince Rupert Studios of CBC.

The sub-series consists of oral history interviews about the history of the Bulkley, Nass, and Skeena regions, as well as the Kitimat area (of the Central Coast region) and Porcher Island (in the Central Coast Islands). As a set, the interviews cover the period from pre-contact to 1972, although the focus in the settlement era prior to the First World War. The communities discussed include: Aiyansh, Aldermere, Greenville, Hazelton, Kispiox, Kitimat, Kitselas, Metlakatla, Minskinisht, Oona River, Port Essington, Prince Rupert, Telkwa, and Terrace

The item is Public affairs video from 1978. It is a documentary about flooding that struck Terrace and the surrounding area over 11 days in October-November 1978, generated by heavy rains that followed a hot dry summer with many forest fires. The Introduction contains shots of forest fires, including aerial views and helicopters in action. The remainder of the program comprises extensive footage of flooding and flood damage to highways, railroads, bridges, homes and vehicles in the affected area, mainly accompanied by voice-over narration.

This series consists of plaint and procedure books for the County Court of Terrace from 1961-1970. The books cover primarily civil matters, including liens. Volume 1 consists of file numbers 1/61-260/64 and includes an index for Terrace Supreme Court for the years 1961-1965 tucked into the cover. Volume 2 consists of file numbers 1/65-140/70.