BC Historical Federation Conference - Chilliwack, May 25-28, 2017

Coming up quickly in Chilliwack!

May 25-28, 2017 – BC Historical Federation (BCHF) Conference – Historical sessions, tours, workshops; AGM. 

Pre-conference workshops – download poster here 

Thursday – Two workshops - Archive Bootcamp; and Family Curator and Archivist: Taking Care of our Artifacts with BC Genealogical Society members Brenda Smith and M. Diane Rogers; 

Friday – Keynote; lectures; Book Fair; field trips: evening presentation: Grand Theft Terra Firma. 

Saturday – lectures, field trips, tours, gala dinner. 

Sunday – Little Mountain Cemetery Tour and Fraser and Harrison River Boat Tour. 

See the detailed schedule and Register at the BCHF website: http://www.bchistory.ca/conference/schedule-at-a-glance/

British Columbia History Journal - Now On-line Free

Cover photograph showing the sternwheeler 'Nasookin' almost at the Gray Creek wharf in about 1942. Since I usually travel by bus, I love this quirky British Columbian image! Just imagine how exacting those bus drivers must have been to 'balance' the bus just right every time so it would fit. British Columbia History, published quarterly by the BC Historical Federation (BCHF), Spring 2010, Special Transportation issue, Volume 43, Number 1.

Here I am at the British Columbia Historical Federation's annual conference. And right now I'm at the Book Fair which is open to the public today.

Available here is British Columbia History, the BC Historical Federation's journal, which is available to individual subscribers, or on some newstands, and at events like the BCHF Book Fair. British Columbia History is an excellent journal - if you have an interest in British Columbia's history and/or British Columbia families, you should be reading this regularly and checking back issues for articles of interest.

One of the most exciting things to happen recently in BC history and genealogy is the announcement that earlier issues of British Columbia History are now available free on-line.

On-line now are:

Full BCHF publications from 1923-2007 - including the BC Historical Association Annual Reports 1923, 1924, 1929, the BC Historical Quarterly 1937--1958, and BC Historical News/BC History 1968—2007 , together with indexes for the years from 1968-2005, all hosted on the University of British Columbia (UBC) Library's website.

You can browse by year and issue or search by keywords and date. Check the Help section for search operators you can use, like + or -. Note that the advanced search offers 'reversed stemming' searches, so, for example, you can enter the letters - wom - (the search is not case sensitive) and you will find results for passages with any words beginning with those letters - women woman women's, womanly, etc.

Since many of these are quite large files, you often will be prompted to choose the text version which is smaller and faster to load. You can then move back and forth in the text pages.

Also on-line are:

Covers and Tables of Contents for the most recent years - from 2008.

Indexes for Volumes 1-38 (2005).

For access to all these publications and indexes, go to the British Columbia History webpage.

This digitization project was done in partnership with the University of British Columbia Library as part of the BC History Digitization Program and it's intended that British Columbia History will continue to be digitized at five year intervals. The same UBC Library website also hosts British Columbia Reports, a law publication with the texts of legal decisions from 1884 to 1948, which will also be of great interest to genealogists and historians. For more about UBC's BC History Digitization Program, see the Program website.

The Editor of British Columbia History, Andrea Lister, is inviting submissions for future issues. Guidelines for authors are on the BCHF website. (Don't forget though if you are writing an article on British Columbia family history, you might like to submit that to The British Columbia Genealogist, the quarterly journal of the British Columbia Genealogical Society. Contact me for more information on that.)

The BC Historical Federation has been actively promoting interest in the history of British Columbia since 1922. Today the BCHF is the collective voice for over 177 member organizations, from local history groups and museums around the province like the Horsefly Historical Society, the Fort Nelson Historical Society and the Kitimat Museum and Archives to more specialized ones like the Historical Map Society of BC and the Women's History Network of BC. A list of all BCHF members is on the BC Historical Federation website: www.bchistory.ca

BC Historical Federation Book Fair - May 7, 2010 - Vancouver BC

Authors, heritage organizations and publishers will be on hand May 7th, 2010 to meet the public at the Plaza 500 Hotel in Vancouver at the British Columbia Historical Federation's Book Fair.

This event is a feature of the Federation's annual conference. Don't miss it!

Open to the public from 10am to 5 pm, Friday, May 7th, 2010 at the Plaza 500 Hotel & Convention Centre, 12th and Cambie, 500 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M2

Easy access by public transit; also parking available. See the Hotel link for a map.

The Book Fair is organized by the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS).

The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF), encourages interest in the history of British Columbia through research, presentation, and support and the Federation provides a collective voice for its 177 member societies, representing 23,316 individuals.

Slumach - a Website for Those Who Prefer Facts Over Fiction

The British Columbia Historical Federation and David Mattison award a cash prize each year for the best website on BC history.

At the annual BCHF banquet, 16 May 2009, Fred Braches's, Slumach: a website for all who prefer facts over fiction was awarded the prize for 2008.

Since the 1890s, various (and many) stories have circulated in British Columbia about a 'lost' gold find in the Pitt Lake area. This 'lost mine' is usually associated with Slumach, a man hung in 1891 as a murderer.

Fred Braches has collected material from original sources, and more modern articles on his website. His blog has more information about modern investigations, lectures, etc. No matter what one thinks of the stories, it's a fascinating read.

Slumach - a Website for those who prefer facts over fiction

British Columbia Historical Federation Conference, May 8-11, 2008, New Westminster, B.C., Canada

Register now for the 2008 British Columbia Historical Federation workshop and conference programs at http://www.bchistory.ca/

The conference, at the Inn at Westminster Quay in New Westminster, features speakers on early B.C. history and B.C.'s first capitals at Langley and New Westminster and includes several historical tours, including a trip to Fort Langley.

Even if you are not attending the conference, you can visit the authors, book sellers and historical groups at the conference Book Fair, Friday afternoon, May 9th, 1 to 6 pm, when it will be open to the public.

***The conference early bird registration fee deadline has just been extended to March 31st, 2008.

The Non-profit Financial Planning and Reporting pre-conference workshop on Thursday, May 8, at Douglas College in New Westminster will be useful for any non-profit group. Speakers: Albert Foster Certified General Accountant, Harry Peterson of Shaw Sabey and Associates (Insurance Brokers), and a Canada Revenue Agency representative.

B.C. Historical Federation Conference details: http://www.bchistory.ca/

New Westminster Cemetery Tour, May 11, 2008, British Columbia, Canada

Fraser & St. Peter's cemeteries, New Westminster, May 11, 2008

Archie and Dale Miller will lead a tour of Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster from 10 am to noon. Contact Archie Miller directly to book. E-mail: information@senseofhistory.com or call 604-526-6113.
Tickets are $10.00 each.

'Overlooking The Fraser River - A Cemetery With A View': The Fraser Cemetery (and the adjacent St Peter's Catholic Cemetery) occupies a prominent location in the Sapperton neighbourhood of New Westminster. ...The histories of many Lower Mainland communities can be told in these cemeteries as they trace roots back to the early days of the Colony of British Columbia when this was the formal available burial ground.

Archie and Dale Miller, your guides for this May 11 event, have been, together and individually, researching this site for over 40 years, and bring with them a wealth of information and a great enjoyment in telling the tales. ...if you have a reference to someone you are seeking who is buried in Fraser or St. Peter's, tell them that as well when you book - they may be able to include 'your person' in the stories told.

As time, weather, and group interest allow, a short introduction to the Woodlands and B.C. Penitentiary cemeteries will be included after the Fraser sites have been viewed. This will require a short drive to these extra locations. (Walking from Fraser etc. is not practical.)

This tour is associated with the 2008 B.C. Historical Federation conference. For more about the conference, see: http://www.bchistory.ca/