Today Y is for The Year
Blogging about British Columbia Genealogy Resources
©1905, J. S. Ogilvie Pub. Co. Unused comic postcard. Personal collection.
Well, Y was a hard one! I had planned to do the Yukon Territory but after the CO-VID 19 shutdown I decided that was a no go. I swapped out a number of the planned topics and resources for this A-Zed series. I'll get back to them - later.
Talking about the Yukon always seems a pretty natural thing here even in southern BC. British Columbia and the Yukon have always had family, commercial and economic ties (as does Seattle, Washington State.) Of course, most of us think Gold! when they hear someone went there. Only a few made it big; some miners and entrepreneurs stayed; some returned home; some settled in parts of BC or in Alaska.
In fact, in the 1930s, it looked as if the Yukon would become part of British Columbia. That never happened. There certainly were political issues involved there but likely economics played a role. Then came WW II and both the Yukon Territory and British Columbia benefited from the construction of the Alaska Highway.
In fact, in the 1930s, it looked as if the Yukon would become part of British Columbia. That never happened. There certainly were political issues involved there but likely economics played a role. Then came WW II and both the Yukon Territory and British Columbia benefited from the construction of the Alaska Highway.
If you do want to learn more about the Yukon, I'm recommending some books and websites below. I hope you are able to get these through your library digitally now, otherwise make a date to read them in better times. I read them in my usual haphazard order, but - see the footnote - last winter I went back and read them this way.1
Now about Y is for The Year.
The United Nations designated 2020 as: International Year of Plant Health. I'm afraid that's mostly been forgotten now but the other designation for 2020 by the World Health Organization is: International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
I hope that after 2020 is over, we'll be appreciating still the medical people, including nurses and midwives, who've been working even harder during this pandemic. Thank you all!
And I wonder how we will remember this. People will have different experiences, of course, but there should be common threads. I'm not keeping a journal unless you count my daily chats with the dear daughter. But I know many people, including genealogists, are.
Where I live in Greater Vancouver, BC, will we remember the jokes, the 7 pm noise making (including the 9 o'clock gun) to celebrate health care workers, the fruitless trips to the grocery store, the Zoom video chats and meetings. Or will we remember the individuals and companies and organizations that have stepped up to offer help to others, or in genealogy and education, good things for us to do and learn. Or all of it?
And what will we call it? The year of ... the Pandemic or Isolation or the year I got so much genealogy done!
Hard to say, isn't it? Something to think about while we are still in it.
Genealogically, so far I've mostly been blogging for the A-Z April 2020 Challenge and cleaning out and reorganizing my hard drives. Now that the Challenge is almost over, I was wondering what I'll do next.
When this year started, I had plans to revise some of my handouts and resources - most of that is done. And to produce 3 new ones for spring events. The events are all cancelled but I did work up the background resources, handouts and most of the slides. (I want to present right up to date info so I always have a few last minute slides.)
Along with that, I've made a list of the other projects I'd like to finish this year - I do usually have a lot of small projects to work on. That keeps me sharper, I think. So I've picked two of those to have completed by June. Along with that, I'll still be working on those hard drives.
And I'm taking advantage of some of the many great learning opportunities in genealogy these days. Today I attended a Findmypast session with Jan Baldwin on North American records; Friday, I'm attending the Scottish Indexes conference. Do check Conference Keeper and the Genealogy Calendar if you have spare time.
If you have Scottish families, you need to attend the Scottish Indexes conference too. I was at the first one - very good presentations and a nice variety of topics. And well organized. Each session is presented twice so that attendees can better fit the conference into their own time zones.
I've been saying I need a time zone map to put on the fridge with my calendar. (Yes, I still do have a paper one although I mostly use one online now.) Webinars, meetings, conferences - everything's a different time zone. But I realized this morning that I can set several time zones up on my phone so I'm trying that out.
What about you? How are you doing? Relaxing? Reading? Baking? Indexing?
I do know that 2021 is already designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Peace and Trust! I'm certainly willing to do my bit with that one.
The United Nations designated 2020 as: International Year of Plant Health. I'm afraid that's mostly been forgotten now but the other designation for 2020 by the World Health Organization is: International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
I hope that after 2020 is over, we'll be appreciating still the medical people, including nurses and midwives, who've been working even harder during this pandemic. Thank you all!
And I wonder how we will remember this. People will have different experiences, of course, but there should be common threads. I'm not keeping a journal unless you count my daily chats with the dear daughter. But I know many people, including genealogists, are.
Where I live in Greater Vancouver, BC, will we remember the jokes, the 7 pm noise making (including the 9 o'clock gun) to celebrate health care workers, the fruitless trips to the grocery store, the Zoom video chats and meetings. Or will we remember the individuals and companies and organizations that have stepped up to offer help to others, or in genealogy and education, good things for us to do and learn. Or all of it?
And what will we call it? The year of ... the Pandemic or Isolation or the year I got so much genealogy done!
Hard to say, isn't it? Something to think about while we are still in it.
Genealogically, so far I've mostly been blogging for the A-Z April 2020 Challenge and cleaning out and reorganizing my hard drives. Now that the Challenge is almost over, I was wondering what I'll do next.
When this year started, I had plans to revise some of my handouts and resources - most of that is done. And to produce 3 new ones for spring events. The events are all cancelled but I did work up the background resources, handouts and most of the slides. (I want to present right up to date info so I always have a few last minute slides.)
Along with that, I've made a list of the other projects I'd like to finish this year - I do usually have a lot of small projects to work on. That keeps me sharper, I think. So I've picked two of those to have completed by June. Along with that, I'll still be working on those hard drives.
And I'm taking advantage of some of the many great learning opportunities in genealogy these days. Today I attended a Findmypast session with Jan Baldwin on North American records; Friday, I'm attending the Scottish Indexes conference. Do check Conference Keeper and the Genealogy Calendar if you have spare time.
If you have Scottish families, you need to attend the Scottish Indexes conference too. I was at the first one - very good presentations and a nice variety of topics. And well organized. Each session is presented twice so that attendees can better fit the conference into their own time zones.
I've been saying I need a time zone map to put on the fridge with my calendar. (Yes, I still do have a paper one although I mostly use one online now.) Webinars, meetings, conferences - everything's a different time zone. But I realized this morning that I can set several time zones up on my phone so I'm trying that out.
What about you? How are you doing? Relaxing? Reading? Baking? Indexing?
I do know that 2021 is already designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Peace and Trust! I'm certainly willing to do my bit with that one.
"Sour Doughs" on the trail.; Dawson, Y.T.; Landahl's Emporium Dawson. No date; unmailed. Image MSC130-13843, courtesy Philip Francis Postcard Collection, Simon Fraser University Library.
REFERENCES - for Yukon history and genealogy
Prelude to Bonanza: The Discovery and Exploration of the Yukon by Allen A. Wright, 1976.
The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush by Kathryn Morse, 2003.
Reading Voices: Dan Dha Ts’edenintth’e by Julie Cruikshank, 1991.
Life Lived Like a Story: Life Stories of Three Yukon Native Elders by Julie Cruikshank, 1990.
Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters and Social Imagination, by Julie Cruikshank, 2005.
The Yukon Archives has a guide online, Genealogical Research at the Yukon Archives (.pdf).
There is a 'one-stop' Yukon Genealogy search site (although it didn't seem to be working lately). That includes names from the Yukon Archives and the Dawson Museum. Right now you can search the Archives catalogue online and/or you can search and view many of the wonderful photographs in the Dawson Museum's collections. Here is a link to one of people on the boardwalk,
"Dominion Day, Bonanza YT, 1902".
Don't neglect the newspapers in Yukon, BC, Alaska and Washington State, for starters. I noticed a funny one while working on my W is for Winners. A bride to be from the Yukon, but born in Vancouver, BC, Nellie Earsman, was given a shower by her friends and aunt which featured a 'Klondike Pie' full of gifts. I think of a Klondike pie as a hearty, cheap 'stew' featuring mostly easy to store vegetables (some meat, carrots, lots of potatoes - lots!) all in a big pan. I wondered - for the shower did they use a gold pan? Or maybe a wash tub? Minus the veggies and meat, I'm sure. (And I wondered if her friends were from the Yukon too - surnames included Carmack, Black, Mowat... The Vancouver Sun, Friday, 4 June 1937, page 10. She married William Murray Taylor.)
Planning a trip to the Yukon? Don't miss any of the museums, like the Yukon Transportation Museum, MacBride Museum on the Copperbelt and the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, and many more. Check the Yukon Museum Guide website which includes cultural and interpretive centres. And try the Six Degrees of Beringia challenge right now. (There are publications there to download and read free too.)
"Dominion Day, Bonanza YT, 1902".
Don't neglect the newspapers in Yukon, BC, Alaska and Washington State, for starters. I noticed a funny one while working on my W is for Winners. A bride to be from the Yukon, but born in Vancouver, BC, Nellie Earsman, was given a shower by her friends and aunt which featured a 'Klondike Pie' full of gifts. I think of a Klondike pie as a hearty, cheap 'stew' featuring mostly easy to store vegetables (some meat, carrots, lots of potatoes - lots!) all in a big pan. I wondered - for the shower did they use a gold pan? Or maybe a wash tub? Minus the veggies and meat, I'm sure. (And I wondered if her friends were from the Yukon too - surnames included Carmack, Black, Mowat... The Vancouver Sun, Friday, 4 June 1937, page 10. She married William Murray Taylor.)
Planning a trip to the Yukon? Don't miss any of the museums, like the Yukon Transportation Museum, MacBride Museum on the Copperbelt and the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, and many more. Check the Yukon Museum Guide website which includes cultural and interpretive centres. And try the Six Degrees of Beringia challenge right now. (There are publications there to download and read free too.)
CATCH UP ON ALL MY A-Z APRIL 2020 BLOGGING CHALLENGE ARTICLES - https://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-blogging-for-a-to-z-april-challenge.html
1 comment:
To me "year" conjures up how long we may have to continue with social distancing and partial quarantine while we await a vaccine or some other definitive intervention against C19. I have been doing the same as you -- blogging A to Z in April, planning on how to address my genealogy files and a mountain of photos that need scanning, and attending genealogy webinars. I am also planning a new blog series about the 1918 influenza pandemic in which my paternal grandfather's brother died. Have amassed material for years -- now's the time to use it!
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