history

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

VIDEO: B.C. man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

 

(July 6, 1946): ‘Illustration shows one of the two mobile chest x-ray units operated by the Division of TB Control, Provincial Board of Health. Designed to x-ray whole communities at a time, at a rate of 100 persons an hour, these units are the latest development of science in the early detection of tuberculosis. The above “mobile germ-hunter” cost $20,000 and was purchased by funds raised in B.C. from the annual Christmas Seal sale. A community-wide chest x-ray survey will be conducted in this district on July 11th and 12th.’ (Photo credit: <em>Journal</em> archives)

In 1921 a fire destroys an Interior town and kills two people

Plus forest fires, heatwaves, and province-wide plans to test for an infectious and deadly disease

  • Jul 22, 2021

 

Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)

Cast in bronze, then into Victoria’s Inner Harbour: So who was James Cook?

Likeness of British maritime explorer commissioned in 1976, forcibly removed on July 1

 

A major fire broke out at Cache Creek Elementary School in the early morning hours of June 20, 1971, causing $300,000 in damages. (Photo credit: <em>Journal</em> files)

From the archives: In 1971 fire rages through Cache Creek school

The devastating blaze caused some $300,000 in damage to the building

  • Jun 24, 2021
A major fire broke out at Cache Creek Elementary School in the early morning hours of June 20, 1971, causing $300,000 in damages. (Photo credit: <em>Journal</em> files)
Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)

‘She was a killer’: The B.C. woman who pioneered female sharpshooting

Gwen Spencer Hethey made military men ‘look like turkeys’ says her son

Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)
(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)

Beaver secretion found as part of ancient throwing dart in Yukon

Researchers saying it’s earliest known evidence of Indigenous peoples using the substance

(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)
A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Beheaded statue of Egerton Ryerson, toppled Sunday in Toronto, won’t be replaced

Ryerson is credited as one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system

A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
From the Ashcroft <em>Journal</em>, May 27, 1971. The original cutline reads ‘Dusty Anderson and Joyce Woodburn were the aggregate winners at Cache Creek School Sports Day last Friday. Congratulations to the both of you.’ (Photo credit: <em>Journal</em> archives)

A journey back through 125 years of the Journal archives

What was making news, including a Victoria Day celebration in 1896 and a new Clinton bank in 1946

  • May 26, 2021
From the Ashcroft <em>Journal</em>, May 27, 1971. The original cutline reads ‘Dusty Anderson and Joyce Woodburn were the aggregate winners at Cache Creek School Sports Day last Friday. Congratulations to the both of you.’ (Photo credit: <em>Journal</em> archives)
Frank Ludwig in the control room. (Photo submitted)

The Day They Closed The Old Mill Down in song

Former member of Trooper captures the essence of small town struggles and triumphs

Frank Ludwig in the control room. (Photo submitted)
A petition launched by a group of University of Victoria students calls for the renaming of Trutch Street. (Google Maps)

B.C. students lobby to get racist official’s name off Victoria street

University of Victoria students say Trutch Street puts racist history on a pedestal

A petition launched by a group of University of Victoria students calls for the renaming of Trutch Street. (Google Maps)
The booklet roots present day activism in the history of racist policies, arguing the history must be acknowledged in order to change. (CCPA)

New resource dives into 150 years of racist policy in B.C.

Racist history must be acknowledged in order to change, authors say

The booklet roots present day activism in the history of racist policies, arguing the history must be acknowledged in order to change. (CCPA)
Rob Rondeau, PhD candidate at SFU, is embarking on a mission to find definitive evidence of human migration to the continent. (SFU supplied image)

VIDEO: Marine archaeologist looking for clues of ancient migration in B.C. waters

SFU researcher hoping to find 15,000 year-old archaeological sites underwater

Rob Rondeau, PhD candidate at SFU, is embarking on a mission to find definitive evidence of human migration to the continent. (SFU supplied image)
25 years later: The water skiing legend on Kalamalka Lake

25 years later: The water skiing legend on Kalamalka Lake

A group of waterskiers were towed behind a plane on Kalamalka Lake back in 1995

25 years later: The water skiing legend on Kalamalka Lake
The new BX Stop of Interest sign north of Cache Creek. (Photo credit: Barbara Roden)

Missing Stop of Interest sign returns, five years after going AWOL

Sign commemorating the B.X. Express Company disappeared in 2015

The new BX Stop of Interest sign north of Cache Creek. (Photo credit: Barbara Roden)
Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon discusses the current situation and actions relating to the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

30 years after Oka crisis, Kanesatake land claims remain unresolved

Serge Simon, the current Grand Chief of Kanesatake, vividly remembers the events of July 11, 1990

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon discusses the current situation and actions relating to the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
An image from the Royal BC Museum’s digitized collection of historical photographs shows an Interior Salish woman and child weaving baskets. The image is one of thousands posted in an online database. (Courtesy of the Royal BC Museum)

B.C. museum releases more than 16,000 historical photos of Indigenous life

Digitized images preserved and shared with Indigenous communities

An image from the Royal BC Museum’s digitized collection of historical photographs shows an Interior Salish woman and child weaving baskets. The image is one of thousands posted in an online database. (Courtesy of the Royal BC Museum)
Vehicles parade through Cloverdale in 1946. The actual parade is unknown as there were six in Cloverdale that year – May Day, the Rodeo, the Kinsmen’s Gymkhana (June 29th), the Fall Fair, August Memorial Service, and the Wild West Show. (Image courtesy of Surrey Historical Society)

BCHF conference once again slated for Cloverdale

Surrey Historical Society to host 2021 history conference

Vehicles parade through Cloverdale in 1946. The actual parade is unknown as there were six in Cloverdale that year – May Day, the Rodeo, the Kinsmen’s Gymkhana (June 29th), the Fall Fair, August Memorial Service, and the Wild West Show. (Image courtesy of Surrey Historical Society)
Fanny Rodgers shows a 45-year-old message left in the walls of her Castlegar home. Photo: John Boivin

Hidden message connects Castlegar homeowners decades apart

The Rodgers family was surprised when a message fell out of the walls as they were renovating

Fanny Rodgers shows a 45-year-old message left in the walls of her Castlegar home. Photo: John Boivin
A collection of new artifacts from the wreck of the Franklin Expedition’s HMS Erebus, is seen at Parks Canada Conservation Laboratories in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Artifacts include a hairbrush, handle of a stamp for a seal, clothes brush, comb, piece of sealing wax, chain, toothbrush and paintbrush. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Thumbprint, hairbrush: Franklin wreck in Nunavut waters reveals sailors’ lives

In 2019, the Parks Canada team produced extraordinary images of the HMS Terror

A collection of new artifacts from the wreck of the Franklin Expedition’s HMS Erebus, is seen at Parks Canada Conservation Laboratories in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Artifacts include a hairbrush, handle of a stamp for a seal, clothes brush, comb, piece of sealing wax, chain, toothbrush and paintbrush. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Sculptor Nathan Scott adds detail to the tremendous clay mutton chops of John Abbott. Looking on is the ill-fated John Thompson (front right), the 68-day leader Charles Tupper (back right) and Mackenzie Bowell (back left). (Dave Eagles/Kamloops This Week)

Kamloops sculptor casting Canada’s forefathers in bronze

Four of Canada’s early prime ministers will be cast in bronze at a shop in Knutsford, B.C.

  • Feb 9, 2020
Sculptor Nathan Scott adds detail to the tremendous clay mutton chops of John Abbott. Looking on is the ill-fated John Thompson (front right), the 68-day leader Charles Tupper (back right) and Mackenzie Bowell (back left). (Dave Eagles/Kamloops This Week)