Archives by date

We are very excited to be displaying posters created by students in the Coordinated Arts Program, just outside the Chung Collection exhibition room. These students were part of the Law and Society stream of CAP and came to the Chung Collection in January for a tour and an introduction to archival research. The students were all assigned to choose an item from the Chung Collection and use it to inspire a poster presentation, an essay or a video.  They presented their posters at the CAP conference in April, where several of the students met Dr. Chung who came to see their posters. We have selected a number of the posters for this display and the variety of topics is very interesting:

• Chinese-Aboriginal relations in B.C.
• The history of drug law enforcement in Vancouver
• Civil rights history in Canada
• Funeral and death rites in different cultures
• Traditional Chinese medicine
• Chinese in B.C. during the gold rush
• Relationship between the Japanese and Chinese communities
• The history of interracial marriage

Congratulations to the CAP students for their very interesting research! We hope that you found your experience using the Chung Collection to be a rewarding one.

We will keep the posters on display in the reading room until May 20th. They can be viewed during our regular summer opening hours (Monday to Friday, 9-5).

Running a hand laundry was a popular occupation for early Chinese migrants to North America due to the low start-up costs. It was so common that the sterotype of the “Chinese laundryman” became prevalent in North American popular culture.

A program tonight on CBC Radio One’s Ideas, promises to go beyond the sterotypes by exploring what it was like to grow up in a Chinese laundry. Tune in at 9 pm (9:30 in Newfoundland).

In the Chung Collection, try searching for keywords such as “laundry” or “laundryman” to see items related to laundries.

Happy birthday Vancouver! Today, April 6 2011, marks the 125^th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Vancouver.

Another birthday celebration in Vancouver’s past was the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1936.  The local Chinese Canadian community was very spirited, creating a “Chinese village” with a big, beautifully constructed bamboo arch, located at the corner of Pender and Carrell.  The Chinese village was accompanied by a souvenir pamphlet produced by Quene Yip (son of the “unofficial mayor” of Chinatown Yip Sang) called “Vancouver Chinatown.” These were concerted efforts on the part of Chinese Canadians to “open up” their community to the rest of the city and to tourists, trying to break down the barriers of fear and misunderstanding that existed in the early years of Vancouver.  A letter from his sister Susan Yip praised Quene’s efforts:

“It was an excellent idea to have composed such a booklet, giving the foreign visitors an insight into “Vancouver Chinatown”… for the right kind of publicity is very necessary for the Chinese and China nowadays in this world of international relationship!”

Search the Chung Collection for the keywords “Golden Jubilee” or “Chinese Village” for records of these events.

Vancouver 125 links:

Our friends at the City of Vancouver Archives have summarized the activities of the Golden Jubilee Society in 1936.

The Vancouver Sun has excellent coverage today of Vancouver 125 events.

Don’t forget to vote for the places in Vancouver that matter to you with the Vancouver Heritage Foundation (voting closes at midnight tonight!).

And of course, check out the City of Vancouver anniversary site for complete listings of events and activities.