Commemorating Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30th 2024

Posted on October 3, 2024 @3:41 pm by ewith017

Each year on September 30, people across Canada wear orange to recognize, commemorate, and raise awareness about the history and ongoing legacies of the Indian Residential School system (IRSS). Here at the Chung | Lind Gallery, we are commemorating the day with this blog post by Gallery Attendant and Exhibitions Assistant, Emily Witherow, which introduces readers to the history of Residential Schools in the Yukon, and specifically those schools which were attended by Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in children.

Warning: This story contains details about Indian Residential Schools, graves of missing Indigenous children, experiences of spiritual, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and suicide. Please see bottom of the page for information on resources including mental health resources.

About the Indian Residential School System

From 1867 to 1996, the Canadian government and Catholic religious institutions (specifically the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, United and Methodist Churches) removed over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children from their families and sent them away to 140 state-funded religious schools. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this system was educational in name only; it was created with the intention of assimilating Indigenous peoples into “civilized” society by weakening ties to family, culture, language, religion, and by indoctrinating children into dominant Euro-Canadian culture.[1] As such, it was a key element of Canada’s “Indian policy,” which for over a century aimed to “eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities.”[2] This process is best described as “cultural genocide.”[3]

Residential schools, which were underfunded, overcrowded, and poorly maintained, were sites of neglect and abuse by supervisors. Indigenous languages and cultures were suppressed, discipline was harsh, life was highly regimented, and students’ educations were neglected in favour of manual labor. Thousands of children died at these schools without the dignity of a proper burial and without their families knowing. When they returned to their communities, survivors often felt alienated from family members, did not learn important parenting skills, and lost their pride in their culture and heritage. This trauma has had long-term intergenerational effects upon Indigenous families and communities.

Thanks to the activism of survivors like Phil Fontaine (Sagkeeng First Nation) in the 1990s, IRS survivors pursued Canada’s then-largest class action lawsuit, leading to a formal apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2008, the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, and the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2009. After spending years collecting stories from nearly 7,000 survivors, documenting the history and legacy of the IRSS, and founding a national research centre, in 2015 the TRC published several documents including its Final Report, Summary Report, Ten Principles of Truth and Reconciliation, and the 94 Calls to Action.

Orange Shirt Day originates from Phyllis Webstad’s (Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation) experiences at St. Joseph’s Residential School in Williams Lake, BC. On her first day of school in 1973, school staff stripped Phyllis of the new shiny orange shirt her grandmother had bought her, never to be worn again. On September 30, 2013, Phyllis spoke publicly for the first time about her experience at St. Joseph’s, founding the Orange Shirt Day movement.

 

“When you wear an orange shirt it’s like a little bit of justice for us Survivors in our lifetime, and recognition of a system we can never allow again.” – Phyllis Webstad [4]

 

In 2021, following the discovery of gravesites of missing children at Kamloops Residential School and in response to the TRC Call to Action 80, which calls the federal government to establish a statutory day to honour survivors and publicly commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, the Canadian government designated September 30 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Klondike Gold Rush:

 

The Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection, currently on display at the Chung | Lind Gallery, sheds light on life in the Yukon before and after the discovery of gold in 1896, but also speaks to the longer-term changes brought about by the migration of tens of thousands of stampeders to the traditional lands of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation.

Since time immemorial, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (meaning “the people who live at the mouth of the Klondike”) made their seasonal home at Tr’ochëk, an ancestral fishing village at the confluence of the Yukon and Tr’ondëk (Klondike) Rivers. Every summer, around sixty to eighty individuals lived, fished, hunted, and harvested on the bank of the river, relying on the annual salmon run and the caribou and moose who grazed in the swamp across the river.[5] Although the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in had encountered missionaries, fur traders, and prospectors within their traditional territories since at least the 1870s, the discovery of gold at Gakdëk (Rabbit Creek) in August 1896 catalyzed a long-term catastrophic process of colonization, assimilation, and dispossession. By 1898, the moose pastures across the river had been replaced by the new town of Dawson City, and Tr’ochëk was quickly overrun by gold seekers who dispossessed Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in of their land and cabins, renaming it Klondike City (and later, Lousetown). Fearing Dawson City’s corrupting influence, Chief Isaac moved his peoples downriver to Moosehide Creek (Jëjik Dhä Dënezhu Kek’it) while protesting miners’ destruction of the environment, overhunting, and land theft.[6] Anglican Bishop William Bompas and fellow missionaries also advocated to the Canadian government on their behalf to secure a reserve at Moosehide.[7] Reverend Benjamin Totty later established a church and mission school in Moosehide Village to convert and teach Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in children, although they continued learning the language, values, beliefs, and traditions of their people.[8]

 

The Moosehide Day School was an early harbinger of the Indian Residential School System and the assimilationist policies yet to come. In the decades after the Klondike Gold Rush, six Indian Residential Schools were established across the Yukon Territory; St. Paul’s Hostel in Dawson City (1920-1943, Anglican Church); Choutla Residential School in Carcross (1903-1969, Anglican Church); Yukon Hall (1960-1985, non-denominational), Coudert Hall (1960-1971, Catholic Church), Whitehorse Baptist School in Whitehorse (1947-1960, Baptist Church); and Shingle Point School in Shingle Point (1929-1936, Anglican Church).[9] From 1903 to 1969, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in children generally attended one of two schools; the St. Paul’s Hostel, and the Choutla Residential School.[10]

 

Please take a moment to read more about the Choutla (Carcross) Indian Residential School and St. Paul’s Hostel below. We have included several quotes from anonymous survivors cited in Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą: Finding Our Way Home, who are best situated to tell the truth about these histories, having lived through them. For UBC students, staff and faculty interested in learning more, this community scrapbook is available to check out from Xwi7xwa Library. More information about this book is included in the Impacts, Legacy, and Healing section below.

Choutla (Carcross) Indian Residential School:

 

Disgusted with the “moral perversions” that stampeders had brought with them to the Klondike, Bishop Bompas moved his diocese headquarters and established a mission school in Carcross in 1903.[11] Following his death in 1906, the new “Carcross Indian School” (also known as Choutla/Chooutla Residential School) was built outside of Carcross in 1911.[12] From 1911 to 1969, around 1,300 First Nations children attended the school from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and northern British Columbia. Upon their arrival at Choutla, children were taken to the basement and told to line up and strip as staff shaved their hair and threw away their clothes. Students were forbidden from speaking Hän and were required to pray each night before bed. Any breach of school regulations, especially theft or “unauthorized socialization,” was dealt with swiftly and harshly.^[13]

 

“I was only 4 ½ when I went. I wasn’t even in kindergarten yet. They just dragged us out. Put us on the bus. I didn’t know where I was going. They just said I was going to School. And that’s it. They didn’t say where.” – Survivor [14]

 

“I don’t know, soon as you get there, you’re not a child anymore… you don’t know what’s going on… Gotta get up in the morning, gotta go down and eat, do your chores, and this and that… And at night I cry, lonesome, lonesome cry, nearly every night, under blanket cause I don’t want them to see me cry… or else I’ll get punished over that.” – Survivor [15]

 

“We weren’t allowed to speak our language. And we wondered why.” – Survivor [16]

 

Following a “half-day” schedule, students at Choutla were taught reading, writing, and basic math in the morning, and trade skills in the afternoon. In reality, however, students’ educations suffered as they worked to keep the school open, sewed, gardened, harvested crops, hauled wood, and cut and bailed hay for animals. This work was so difficult and dangerous that in 1941, the Department of Indian Affairs investigated the cases of seven boys who were hospitalized from September 1939 to August 1941 as a result of accidents caused by their work of cutting and transporting wood.[17]

 

“It was more like a work camp than a school.” – Survivor from Champagne, YT [18]

 

Although some parents initially supported their children being educated at these schools, many later appealed to authorities to have them return home, their pleas falling on deaf ears.[19] Because the riverboat trip between Dawson City and Carcross was expensive, children generally did not go home for holidays and had minimal contact with their families throughout the year.[20] Some children tried to run away, although most were unsuccessful.[21]

 

“My brothers and sisters, we were separated in school… can’t even talk to each other once in awhile.” – Survivor [22]

 

“I don’t remember very much about going home in the summer… My mom and dad, every time I went home they’re just like strangers to me…” – Survivor [23]

 

On April 17, 1939, the Choutla Residential School burned to the ground. While the old school had had a reputation for poor health, harsh discipline, bad food, and unpleasant living quarters, after the fire, conditions worsened. In 1942, a doctor wrote to J.E. Gibben, the Indian Agent at Dawson, reporting that overcrowding, unprotected water supply, and inadequate toilets had led to a high incidence of communicable diseases like measles, “in which every child was affected with but one exception,” causing at least one death.[24] During this time, there were several incidents of physical abuse such as strapping, cutting hair, and corporal punishment – the school’s principal even admitted to strapping students so severely that they had to be held down.[25] Despite these investigations and rampant abuses, a new school building was completed in 1954 and ran until 1969.

 

While the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation lists twenty students who died at Choutla, independent researchers have found that at least sixty students died either at the school, in hospital after injury at the school, or during school-related activities.[26] In September 2023, the discovery of fifteen potential gravesites near Choutla appear to confirm the accounts of survivors and witnesses.[27]

 

St. Paul’s Hostel:

 

In 1920, St. Paul’s Hostel in Dawson City opened to house mixed-heritage children who were not eligible to attend Choutla. Like at Choutla, St. Paul’s students carried the burden of underfunding, and were expected to do chores like cleaning, chopping and stacking wood, and cooking. Food supplies were insufficient and of poor quality, and as the students lived off the products of the school’s garden, they regularly went hungry.[28] One student says that the school “knew how to just barely keep you alive, you know, as far as groceries was concerned.”[29] Survivors particularly remember the atrocious abuse they suffered at the hands of their principal, Charles F. Johnson, and his wife, Margaret Johnson.[30]

 

“My experience in the hostel was not good. The caretaker was an extremely hatred-filled man. We’d get brutal beatings for no good reason. We were starving, which affected our learning. We couldn’t concentrate, which hampered me in later years with jobs and such. Humiliation and fear were a daily occurrence.” – Survivor [31]

 

“For any little reason at all, they would beat you to death. So that come from Mr. Johnson himself. He’s the only one that ruled with an iron hand… and Mrs. Johnson was just as bad… When the girls got into trouble or something and needed discipline, she’d take them upstairs and… just give them a flannel nightgown to wear. Then she’d call Johnson in to beat them. He’s a savage, you know.” – Survivor [32]

 

In 1954, two years after the territorial capital moved to Whitehorse, St. Pauls’ Hostel was closed and eligible students were sent to the newly re-built Choutla Residential School.

 

Impacts, Legacy, and Healing:

 

Some children did not come home from Choutla. For those who did return to their communities, they often felt disconnected/alienated from their families and ashamed about their own cultures and experiences at residential school. (long-term intergenerational effects) Many had never learned important life skills, like how to parent, how to speak their language, or how to live off the land.

 

“We were happy to be home, but… to me I was coming out of prison and in a different world. I felt like that, you know… ‘cause I don’t know what my life was. I didn’t feel happy. I didn’t feel happy to be home.” – Survivor [33]

 

“Fifteen years of residential school… You know by the time I left there I didn’t have a clue about nothing. Like I never knew about those different types of foods, different types of clothes.” – Survivor [34]

 

“Didn’t hug my parents when I got off the bus… Blamed them for sending me away.” – Survivor [35]

 

The intergenerational legacy of residential schools is complex, and has contributed to ongoing issues within Indigenous communities. These include the dramatic overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in Canadian prisons, high rates of alcohol and drug use within Indigenous communities, and mental health disorders like PTSD, depression, and addictive and suicidal behaviours.[36]

 

“A lot of parents were forced to drink then. Well, not really forced. That’s what they turned to. That was the only thing they could do ‘cause they couldn’t go to the welfare, they couldn’t go to the cops and ask for help.” – Survivor [37]

 

“I used to feel like giving up on life and join the ones I miss and love. The ones that I’ve just gotten to know were taken away from me again. I sit and try to figure out why I’ve always had these suicidal thoughts. Then found out I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.” – Survivor [38]

 

For many years, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in survivors were unable to share their stories with others. Inspired by the kindness and empathy of friend Dorothy (“Dot”) Roberts, who, with her daughter Krystal, created a safe space to talk about their experiences, and with the help of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Council, community members, and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, survivors were able to hire a support worker and establish a weekly support circle named K’änächá (“Taking Care of Ourselves”). They used this space to support one another emotionally, file claims for abuse at school, and share pictures and memories of life at Choutla and St. Paul’s in a community scrapbook. In 2006, the scrapbook was placed on display at Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre in an exhibit on residential schools, and was later published as Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą: Finding Our Way Home. At the exhibit’s opening, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in held a Welcome Home ceremony to honour and acknowledge the children who had left Dawson to attend residential school.

 

“The whole community of Dawson came out and others, too, from around the territory. For many of us, this was the first time anyone said ‘Welcome Home.’” – Survivor [39]

 

When people in Canada participate in Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, it is an opportunity to recognize the injustice and brutality of the Indian Residential School system, honour survivors and intergenerational survivors, recognize ongoing impacts on Indigenous people, families, and communities, and to remember the children who never came home. As the TRC Summary Report states: “Reconciliation is not an Aboriginal problem; it is a Canadian one.”[40]

Resources:

If you have information on a child who did not return home from an IRS, please contact the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at nctr@umanitoba.ca or 1-855-415-4534.

For additional information on the IRSS, please consult the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, the Orange Shirt Society, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and the Truth and Reconciliation Final Report.

For additional information about Tr’ondek Hwech’in survivors’ experiences, explore the K’änächá Group scrapbook at X̱wi7x̱wa Library: Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą: Finding Our Way Home.

Mental Health Resources:

• 24-hour National Residential School Crisis Line – 1-866-925-4419 or 604-985-4464
• UBC Employee and Family Assistance Program – 1-800-424-0770
• KUU-US Crisis Line Society (crisis services for Indigenous people in BC) – 1-800-588-8717
• Tsow-Tun-Le Lum Society (toll-free support line) – 1-888-403-3123
• Hope for Wellness Help Line (crisis services for all Indigenous people across Canada) – 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat (https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/)
• Metis Crisis Line (BC) – 1-833-638-4722

 

[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Kingston/Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015), v. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf

[2] Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, 1.

[3] Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, 1.

[4] “September 30, 2024: Orange Shirt Day | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” UBC Department of Medicine, September 18, 2024, https://medicine.med.ubc.ca/september-30-2024-orange-shirt-day-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation/.

[5] Helene Dobrowolsky, Hammerstones: A History of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, 2^nd ed. (Dawson City: Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, 2014), xii.

[6] Dobrowolsky, Hammerstones, 28.

[7] Chris Clarke and the K’änächá Group, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą: Finding Our Way Home (Dawson City, YT: Tr’ondek Hwech’in Publication, 2009), 10.

[8] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 10-13.

[9]  “Carcross IRS School Narrative,” National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba, June 22, 2004, last updated August 19, 2004, https://t-r-c.ca/nctr/school_narratives/carcross.pdf#:~:text=This%20narrative%20history%20of%20a%20Residential

[10] From 1903 to 1969, Carcross, Chooutla, and Choutla are used interchangeably to refer to this residential school.

[11] The original school site chosen was two miles from Carcross on 160 acres of land, and cost around $16,000 to build. This building could accommodate forty students, whereas the 1954 building had a capacity of 120.; “Carcross IRS School Narrative,” https://t-r-c.ca/nctr/school_narratives/carcross.pdf#:~:text=This%20narrative%20history%20of%20a%20Residential

[12] (https://www.explorenorth.com/library/history/choutla-NCTR.pdf)

[13] Kenneth Coates, “’Betwixt and Between’: The Anglican Church and the Children of the Carcross (Chooutla) Residential School, 1911-1954,” BC Studies 64, (Winter 1984-85): 35.

[14] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 60.

[15] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 63.

[16] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 65.

[17] Quoted in Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 26.

[18] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 26.

[19] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 33.

[20] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 44.

[21] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 75.

[22] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 66.

[23] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 67.

[24] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 41.

[25] “Carcross (Choutla),” National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba, accessed September 29, 2024, https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/northern/carcross-choutla/.

[26] Juanita Taylor, “First Nations in Yukon hope search for unmarked graves of missing children can ‘bring peace’,” CBC News, June 18, 2023, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ground-search-chooutla-residential-school-yukon-1.6874540

[27] Sara Connors, “Search of former Yukon residential school locates 15 potential unmarked graves,” APTN News, September 27, 2023, https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/search-of-former-yukon-residential-school-locates-15-potential-unmarked-graves/

[28] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 50.

[29] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 50.

[30] Charles F. Johnson was trained as an engineer and mechanic and travelled to the Klondike in 1897 as a prospector, but in 1898 he became an assistant teacher at the St. Peter’s mission school in Hay River, NWT.  From 1910-1920, he worked as the manager of the Choutla Residential School, and from 1920-1927 he was the principal of St. Paul’s Hostel. Survivor Richard Dixon recalls that he and his brother Ollie “had the hell beat out of us” by Johnson; Ollie later needed a wheelchair. In 1933, Johnson was ordained as deacon. ; “Fonds glen-1332- Charles F. Johnson fonds,” Alberta on Record, Archives Society of Alberta, accessed September 29, 2024, https://edit.albertaonrecord.ca/charles-f-johnson-fonds#:~:text=Fonds%20glen-1332%20-%20Charles%20F.%20Johnson.; Genesee Keevil, “Dawson residential school finally recognized by feds,” Yukon News, June 30, 2007, https://www.yukon-news.com/news/dawson-residential-school-finally-recognized-by-feds-6974231.

[31] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 51.

[32] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 51.

[33] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 83.

[34] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 82.

[35] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 82.

[36] Piotr Wilk, Alana Maltby and Martin Cooke, “Residential Schools and the Effects on Indigenous Health and Well-Being in Canada – A Scoping Review,” Public Health Reviews 38, no. 8 (2017): 1-23. https://papers.ucalgary.ca/paediatrics/assets/residenial-schools.pdf

[37] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 86.

[38] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 89.

[39] Clarke and K’änächá, Tr’ëhuhch’in Näwtr’udäh’ą, 98.

[40] Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, vi.

No Comments

---

What’s That Number?

Posted on August 29, 2024 @1:25 pm by Claire Malek

Many thanks to guest blogger Lily Liu for contributing the below post! Lily is a graduate student at the UBC School of Information and recently completed a Professional Experience with Rare Books and Special Collections Library.

---

What’s That Number? A Thirty-Minute Dive into Deciphering a Traditional Chinese Numeral System

During my time working with the Lock Tin Lee fonds at the RBSC, I came upon a certificate that used a number I had never seen.

From my RBSC peers, I learned that this number belonged to a system called Suzhou numerals (苏州码子; 蘇州碼子). As per their namesake, these numerals originated from the Suzhou region in China and were a traditional numeral system used by the Chinese before the introduction of Indo-Arabic numerals. Due to its ease of use, the Suzhou numeral system was popular amongst merchants, bookkeepers, and other calculation-centric occupations. It is the only surviving variant of the rod numeral system still in use today and can be found in the markets, old-style tea restaurants, and traditional Chinese medicine shops in Hong Kong and Macau.*

But what was the number on the certificate specifically? It did not correspond immediately to any numbers on the comparison chart for Suzhou numerals.

Deciphering the number became a collaborative effort between my curious roommate, myself, and the comparison chart. Our thought process proceeded as follows:

Option 1: 42?

〤 and 〢 are accounted for, but there are two additional horizontal strokes to the right that do not correspond to any number immediately on the chart, and the strokes look too intentional to be a mistake.

Option 2: 417?

Perhaps the writer just really elongated the short vertical stroke on top of the Suzhou numeral “7” (〧), and just really missed the stroke’s centre positioning and shifted it to the left? Yes…we were pushing it.

Option 3: 422!

My roommate spotted the smaller text that noted exceptions to the standard comparison chart.

Essentially, because numbers 1, 2, and 3 all use vertical strokes in the Suzhou numeral system, adjustments to these numbers’ standard forms are made whenever they appear consecutively to avoid confusion. In our case, when two “twos” appear consecutively, their form changes to “〢二”: the certificate’s number is 422.

Between reading up on the system and our back and forth quibbles we took a total of thirty minutes to arrive at the answer—but what a satisfying conclusion it was!

*Please note: The overview above is paraphrased from Wikipedia pages on Suzhou numerals, which are below. A link about counting rods (算筹; 算籌), the ancient form of mathematical calculation in East Asia, is also below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou_numerals

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%8F%E5%B7%9E%E7%A0%81%E5%AD%90

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_rods

No Comments

---

Visit the new Chung | Lind Gallery

Posted on May 8, 2024 @1:00 pm by cshriver

UBC Library is excited to announce the official opening of the Chung | Lind Gallery showcasing the Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection and Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection. The new exhibition space in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre on UBC’s Vancouver campus brings together two library collections of rare and culturally significant materials from Canada’s history.

Read more about the Chung | Lind Gallery:

• UBC Library opens Chung | Lind Gallery (UBC Library)
• Historic Chinese, Canadian Pacific Railway and Klondike collections unite in new UBC museum (Vancouver Sun)
• UBC gallery offers glimpse of life for early Chinese immigrants (CBC News)

 

We know that our patrons have missed being able to visit the Chung Collection Room as we have worked to prepare the new gallery. Thank you so much for your patience! We look forward to welcoming you to the new space and also introducing you to the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection for the first time.

The Chung | Lind Gallery, on level 2 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am-5 pm. The gallery is free and open to the public, and people of all ages are encouraged to attend. Small group tours and class visits are available by appointment. For more information, please contact (604) 822-3053 or rare.books@ubc.ca.

No Comments

---

All About Oscar

Posted on June 27, 2024 @12:56 pm by cshriver

Many thanks to guest blogger Barbara Towell, E-Records Manager with University Archives, for contributing the below post. This exhibit was co-curated by Barbara and RBSC Archivist Krisztina Laszlo.

---

All About Oscar is an exhibit about 1940/50s businessman, Oscar Blanck. The photos are on display in Ike’s Café in the Ike Barber Learning Centre Spring 2024.

Oscar Blanck (1908-1954) was an entrepreneur, restaurateur and a bon vivant. Born in Brandon Manitoba, he was the eldest son of Jewish immigrants who escaped the antisemitic pogroms in late 19th-century Russia. Details are scant regarding Blanck’s early life except that part of it was spent with his parents and seven siblings in Winnipeg’s north-end known then as “Little Jerusalem”.

In the 1930s Blanck moved west settling in Vancouver with his wife Marjorie Prosterman. According to a 2018 interview with his daughter and UBC alumni Sharon Posner, the Blanck’s first opened a deli on Howe Street, but that venture failed. In 1943 Oscar and Marjorie tried their hand at business again by opening a small grocery and lunch counter called Oscar’s Deli. In the early years they sold groceries, home-made pickles, and sandwiches. This time the Blanck’s business did well enough to expand both their storefront and their menu as adjacent businesses either closed or moved. In just a few years the Blanck’s occupied a commanding spot at 1023 West Georgia and Oscar’s Steakhouse was established.

From Home-made Pickles to Home of the Stars

Oscar Blanck was a committed self-promoter who lived in an era where gimmicks were a popular publicity device; he never wore the same necktie twice, instead he gave them away to the first customer through the doors at midnight. Marjorie Blanck managed the business’ books while Oscar charmed customers, purchased product, handed out neckties, and managed the restaurant’s interior design. The latter included lining the walls with framed photographs and installing mirrors on the ceiling angled to enhance random people-watching. He was the only restaurateur that bought beef “on the hoof” at agricultural fares in part for the press coverage that the sale of prize cattle received in those days.

Oscar had two interconnected goals for his restaurant: to advertise his business by amplifying his image through press coverage; and to cultivate celebrities, which would presumably keep his restaurant full of customers hoping to catch a glimpse of a star. He achieved this objective by knowing what celebrity was in town, enticing them into his restaurant, and photographing the moment for posterity. One of the photographers frequently on-hand was Vancouver Sun photographer, Ralph Bower. Bower said that in the 1950s, Blanck would give him a free steak as payment for a photograph. But Bower was not the only photographer Oscar relied on, Blanck had a handful of photographers he could call at a moment’s notice including: Esther Weston who had a studio at 736 Granville Street, just two blocks from Oscar’s, before moving her business to New Westminster; and former Vancouver Sun photographer, Art Jones who in 1948 started Artray Studios and whose archive of 11,000 photographs was donated to Vancouver Public Library in 1994. If a musical act was playing next door at the Palomar Supper Club, and sleeping at one of the nearby hotels, Oscar endeavoured to ensure they were eating, often gratis, at his Steakhouse!

The late, great Vancouver legend, and bandleader, Dal Richards described himself as a regular at Oscar’s and confirmed that the steakhouse was ripe for celebrity-sightings. “I’d drop by from time to time and there they’d be: the Mills Brothers, Johnnie Ray, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis Jr.” Alf Cottrell, writer for the Vancouver Daily Province casually reported that Oscar’s Steakhouse was the place where famous people “make themselves at home”. Cottrell found himself at Oscar’s late one night and was treated to insider intelligence from the server including what celebrities had been there and importantly for Cottrell, what they ate. Jazz musician, Louis Armstrong, for example, ordered hot chili con carne. Spike Jones, known for his spoof musical act, was serious and ate only Caesar salad while the Mexican Soccer team consumed plate upon plate of spaghetti. More than just king-sized steaks were popular at Oscar’s.

Explosive Midair Collision

At the height of Oscar’s popularity and just when plans for a new Oscar’s restaurant were well underway, tragedy struck. On April 8, 1954, after returning from seeing his ill sister, Oscar Blanck and 36 other people died when the plane they were travelling on, Trans Canada Airline Flight 9, collided mid-air with a RCAF training aircraft over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Vancouver Sun reported Trans Canada Airline Flight 9 to be the worst Canadian air disaster in history. Oscar was 45 years old.

A memorial service was held for the crash victims in Moose Jaw that was attended by more than 1000 people. Then Provincial Premier, former Baptist Minister, and father of socialized medicine in Canada, Tommy Douglas was the principal speaker followed by various religious personnel (Trotter, 1954). Blanck’s body was returned to Vancouver and buried in the Beth Israel Synagogue in Burnaby, BC.

Aftermath

Blanck’s widow Marjorie Blanck, sued the Canadian Government for $100K in damages which is estimated to be over 1 million dollars when adjusted for inflation. Multiple lawsuits brought by the families of the victims of Trans Canada Airline Flight 9 were eventually settled out of court.

On March 25, 1955, two years after Oscar’s death, Vancouver Sun entertainment reporter, Jack Wasserman had the grim task of reporting the auction results of both the Palomar Supper Club and Oscar’s Steakhouse, two pillars of 1950’s night life in Vancouver. The sale of the lighting fixtures, the name, and the stock of over 1000 celebrity photographs from Oscar’s Steakhouse earned $15,000 for the estate, which is upward of $168,000 in today’s currency.

About the photographs

The photographs in this exhibit are from the Uno Langmann Family Collection of B.C. Photographs donated to Rare Books and Special Collections in 2014 and 2020. Langmann purchased a lot of 146 Oscar Blanck photos locally from Love’s Auction House in the 1960s. The full collection held by UBC Library is digitized and available to view on Open Collections. The photos in this exhibit represent a selection from those held by UBC, and just a tiny slice of the multitude that once lined the walls of Oscar’s Steakhouse, 1023 West Georgia.

 

All About Oscar is curated by Krisztina Laszlo (Rare Books and Special Collections) and Barbara Towell (University Archives). We were unable to ascertain the names of some of the people in the photographs. Please contact us at rare.books@ubc.ca if you recognise anyone we could not identify.

Works Cited

Ancestry. n.d. “Solomon Blanck.” https://www.ancestry.ca/search/?name=Solomon_Blanck&event=_winnipeg&location=3243&priority=canada (accessed Oct. 9, 2023)

Bank of Canada. n.d. “Inflation Calculator.” https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/ (accessed Oct. 8, 2023)

Bollwitt, Rebecca. 2012 “Vancouver History, Photographer Art Jones.” Miss604. Nov. 7, 2012. https://miss604.com/2012/11/vancouver-history-photographer-art-jones.html (accessed, Oct. 8, 2023)

Cottrell, Alf. 1951. “But Listen.” The Vancouver Daily Province. March 10, 1951. https://www.proquest.com/hnptheprovince/docview/2368740460/B9BD5FA481664AEEPQ/1?accountid=14656 (accessed, Oct 8, 2023)

Donaldson, Jesse. 2019. “The Forgotten Clubs That Brought Vancouver Nights to Life.“ Montecristo Magazine, January 20, 2019, updated May 17, 2021. https://montecristomagazine.com/community/vancouvers-forgotten-nightlife-clubs (accessed Oct. 6, 2023)

Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada. n.d  https://www.jhcwc.org/jhc-search-detail/?sid=12912&tp=articles&pg=1 (accessed Oct. 8, 2023)

Mackie, John. “Pavel Bure, Sonny Homer’s red pants, and Ralph Bower.” The Vancouver Sun. Jun 10, 2018. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/pavel-bure-sonny-homers-red-pants-and-ralph-bower. (accessed Oct. 8, 2023)

Posner, Sharon. 2018. Interview by Debby Frieman. The Scribe: The Journal of Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia, Volume 37: 20-24.

Richards, Dal and Jim Taylor. 2009. One More Time: The Dal Richards Story. Harbour Publishing 2009

Trotter, Graham. 1954 “Five Victims of Air Crash Identified.” The Nelson Daily News, April 12, 1954. https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/nelsondaily/1.0427552#p0z-2r0f: (accessed Oct 6, 2023)

Vancouver Daily Province. 1948. “Ties and T-bone Steaks Have Made Him Famous.” Dec 11, 1948. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/december-11-1948-page-80/docview/2368956007/se-2. (accessed Oct. 08, 2023)

Vancouver Daily Provence. 1954. “Eyewitness Accounts: TCA Crash Scene Terrible.” April 9, 1954, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/april-9-1954-page-3-44/docview/2369136451/se-2 (accessed October 6, 2023).

Vancouver Daily Province. 1954. “Victim’s Relatives Seek $1,795,000: Families, Estates Sue Crown for Airline Disaster.” Oct 14, 1954.October 14, 1954 (Page 10 of 42) – ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Province – ProQuest (accessed Oct 6, 2023)

Wasserman, Jack. 1955. “About Now.” The Vancouver Sun. Mar 26, 1955, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/march-26-1955-page-29-64/docview/2240206669/se-2 (accessed Oct 8, 2023)

No Comments

---

Lowry Manuscripts (Re)Launch

Posted on January 12, 2024 @4:33 pm by cshriver

Many thanks to guest blogger Malcolm Fish for contributing the below post! Malcolm is a graduate student at the UBC School of Information and has just completed a Co-op position with RBSC. He’ll be continuing on with RBSC this term in a Graduate Academic Assistant (GAA) position.

Funding for this project was generously provided by the George Woodcock Canadian Literature and Intellectual Freedom Endowment.

---

UBC Library Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to announce the (re)launch of the landmark Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection. One of the largest single collections of Malcolm Lowry records worldwide, UBC has been collecting Lowry materials since the initial deposit of the Malcolm Lowry papers by Lowry’s widow, Margerie Bonner Lowry, in 1961. Since that initial deposit, the collection has grown substantially, now spanning more than six meters of textual records, more than 1000 photographs, and a variety of A/V materials, including a copy of the movie adaptation of Lowry’s seminal novel, Under the Volcano. Now that work assessing and redescribing the Collection is complete, researchers and educators can access and search this incredible collection more effectively than ever.

Summary of Work Completed

The Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection is one of UBC’s oldest keystone research collections. Given the scope of the holdings, any work undertaken to update and improve the collection’s inventory records and access descriptions was going to require substantial time and effort to effect. RBSC was able to acquire funding specifically to undertake an overhaul of the Collection in 2023. I was hired as a Co-op student to inventory, assess, and redescribe the Collection.

Work on the Collection was completed in four stages. First, I completed a full physical inventory of all the Malcolm Lowry materials, and compared this inventory with the existing finding aid for the Collection. During the inventory stage, I also noted any preservation issues for future treatment. Fortunately, I did not find any urgent concerns.

Once I completed the inventory and confirmed the accuracy of the information in the finding aid, I began stage two, which consisted mostly of data entry. The old PDF finding aid predated current archival descriptive standards and the archival database, AtoM (Access to Memory), used by UBC. Useful information (file titles, date ranges, etc.) was taken from that finding aid and entered into AtoM, forming the file-level descriptions now available for easy searching and perusal.

During stage three, I focused on increasing intellectual control of the Collection’s many sub-collections. The Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection is comprised of the core Malcolm Lowry Papers and many smaller personal collections donated by or purchased from individuals related to Malcolm Lowry. Many of these smaller collections had previously been considered distinct entities related to the Lowry Papers, but not part of them. At times they were listed twice, once in the old PDF finding aid and also as separate groupings, leading to confusion. I examined each of the sub-collections to determine whether they should be subsumed under the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection umbrella as a sous-founds (a subdivision of a fonds based on the structure of the creator or the organization of its activity) or maintained as separate, but related materials.

Stage four was reserved for the extensive Photographs sous-fonds. Prior to my work, only about 200 of the more than 1000 photographs in the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection had been described. Many of the Collection photographs originally came in the form of three photo albums. Previous RBSC staff had removed these photographs from the albums for long-term preservation purposes, but as a result, important contextual information about the order of photographs in the albums was missing. Based on numbered annotations made on the pages of the photograph albums, I added notes about which photographs had come from which albums, and updated the descriptions in the Photographs sous-fonds descriptions. The process was exactly as convoluted as it sounds, but it all led to a significantly expanded set of descriptions of one of the most frequently accessed parts of the Collection.

Once stages one through four were completed, the AtoM record for the Collection was restructured and updated to match the changes described above and descriptions from the collection down to the file and item level were uploaded, resulting in the newly (re)launched Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection page.

Changes to the Collection

The Collection is now organized by creator under the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection umbrella. For example, the Margerie Lowry collection is now SF02 – Margerie Lowry Papers under the Collection umbrella. Similarly, photographs and microfilm have been given their own sous-fonds for ease of searching. These are SF13 – Photographs and SF14 – Microfilm.

For those familiar with the Collection, a few changes to the descriptions have been made, for example “Papers” is now used instead of “fonds” (e.g., SF03 – Earle Birney Papers, SF04 – Harvey Burt Papers). The Lowry Family fonds is also now also a sous-fonds under the Collection umbrella (SF12 – Lowry Family Papers). In order to maintain the accuracy of citations that refer to the previous descriptions, unique identifiers assigned to each part of the collection have been retained for searching purposes. This will allow all older citation information to remain relevant should new users need to track down a specific source, reference, or citation which predates the relaunch.

Ongoing Work

Once the Collection had been overhauled, I commenced processing backlogged acquisitions related to Malcolm Lowry. These include the Douglas Day Papers (SF15 – Douglas Day Papers), the Rudy Wurlitzer Papers (SF16 – Rudy Wurlitzer Papers), and several other small additions which we hope to add in 2024.

The Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection is one of UBC’s keystone research collections and one of the largest single collections of Malcolm Lowry materials in the world. Researchers and educators frequently come to UBC specifically to access this collection. Overhauling, inventorying, and restructuring the collection has been a satisfying project, which ensures future users are able to effectively search the Collection and find what they are looking for.

No Comments

---

Langmann Collection selections

Posted on October 4, 2023 @2:46 pm by cshriver

Thanks to Krisztina Laszlo, an archivist with Rare Books and Special Collections for coordinating this exhibition and contributing this blog post!

---

Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) is excited to announce a collaborative exhibition of photographs from the Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs on display across UBC Library branches during the 2023 Fall term. Participating are the Asian Library, Woodward Library, David Lam Library, Koerner Library, Education Library, and the Law Library. The collection, donated by Uno and Dianne Langmann and Uno Langmann Limited, consists of more than 20,000 rare and unique early photographs from the 1850s to the 1970s. It is considered the premiere private collection of early provincial photos, and an important illustrated history of early photographic methods. Like much of the library and archival materials housed at RBSC, the Langmann photographs reflect the history of British Columbia, including its history of colonisation, patriarchy, homophobia, heteronormativity, and racism. These threads are interwoven through the collection, although at the time of creation the photographers meant to celebrate and document the province’s development. A contemporary critical reading of the photographs informed the curation of the overall exhibit. Each library branch selected images to display by reviewing digitised content available on Open Collections, which currently has approximately 7,900 photographs from the Langmann collection digitised and available to the public. Branch curators each selected material according to their individual vision for the exhibit and the themes they wished to address. The selections show not only the breadth of possibilities for critical engagement, and the many ways this material can be used to ask questions about our collective history, but also the incredible scope of the archive itself.

In their own words….

---

Asian Library

We chose the images here as we felt that these represent pivotal moments for Asian Canadian communities in British Columbia.

Japanese Gate in Torii Style, Hastings St.

This image reflects a community that has been established and is thriving within the city. There are clear signifiers of Japanese culture and tradition, indicating the establishment of Japantown in the area. The image also sparks sadness. Following this era, the area witnessed the forced removal of Japanese Canadian community members resulting from the 1942 internment, and through its location in the heart of the Downtown Eastside, it subsequently transformed into a space of despair for many residents of the area. The Hotel Balmoral, a now-derelict single-room occupancy building that was condemned by the city and is slated for demolition, is depicted here as part of a bright and bustling cityscape, reminding us that since its construction in 1911-1912, the building has been in continuous use to the present day.

Sikh Immigrants, Vancouver, B.C.

This image signifies how not just individuals but communities immigrated to these shores. We see ship, train and carriage transportation and one can really feel the tremendous voyage that the individuals in the picture have already taken to arrive at the port, and the long journey still ahead of them to settle into the city and province. The image was also taken during a time when the Canadian government was actively trying to cut off immigration from those of Sikh faith as well as other Asian migrants, underscoring the resilience of those pictured here.

---

Koerner Library

We were interested in selecting images related to labour and workers, since this is a subject area included in the collections at Koerner Library and one that seems topical and timely. There has been much research and discussion recently about workers and jobs in relation to the pandemic, and at the time we were making our selections, union negotiations and strikes were very much in the news. We hope that our specific selections depict a few compelling examples of the breadth of work and industry that has been part of our provincial history, and the workers themselves who have done the labour.

 

---

Woodward Library

The Seven Sisters

A sacred place. What do these words mean to you?

At one time these trees were the most popular destination in Stanley Park for settlers and other visitors. A trail, created to allow for more visitors, was named Cathedral Trail to acknowledge the experience of standing among these giants of the forest. There was a sense of sacredness, as if standing in a great cathedral.

Too many visitors led to damaged roots, and in the 1950s the unstable trees were felled. New trees now grow in their place, but it remains to be seen if that sacred quality will ever return.

“Guess who this is?”

Libby’s postcard to Virginia from the skiing village of Adelboden, Switzerland teases us with unanswered questions. We see an intrepid adventurer beginning the long hike up to the ski area.

Who is this person?

Is it Libby, her image transposed onto a postcard with the modern equipment of the 1950s? Or a stranger, intended to represent Libby and her adventures at Adelboden? Could it be an acquaintance, known to both Libby and Virginia?

The person seems to be setting out alone, fresh and ready for the long climb ahead – there were no chairlifts in those days. But who is taking the picture?

---

Education Library

Critical Literacy, Learning, and Place:

The Langmann photographs on display at the Education Library were selected to invite a critically literate approach to exploration of the images and how these relate to the history of education in British Columbia. These images, depicting schools and classes in BC between what is estimated to be between 1904 and 1930, invite questions about the intersection of place, time, and learning:

• Who were the teachers and students in the classrooms during this time period?
• Who was not included in these places of learning?
• What kinds of lessons, both explicitly and implicitly, were being taught in these classrooms? How were they being taught?
• What impact did these physical spaces have on the learning that took place within them? What lessons can we learn today about the way that place impacts learning?

We encourage visitors of the Education Library to consider these questions and more as they explore the photographs.

---

David Lam Library

First Trans-Continental Train

I chose this image as the transcontinental railway was part of the first infrastructure to unite the east and west of Canada – a monumental point in Canadian history in 1885.

Horse and Carriage, Kamloops

This was a public bus in the 19th century. I chose this image to show what public transit was like in BC before the advent of the internal combustion engine – this is the Kamloops to Hope stagecoach line using a four horsepower locomotion: the Barnard Stage in 1885.

---

Law Library

We selected the two photos of Lynn Canyon because of the serene natural setting. Both photos provide a perfect parallel to the natural beauty of Pacific Spirit Regional Park that surrounds the UBC Vancouver campus. In addition, the north side of the UBC Law Library provides exceptional views of the North Shore where Lynn Canyon is situated.

---

Acknowledgements

This endeavour was truly a group-effort! Thank you to everyone who helped make this multi-branch exhibit possible: Elizabeth Stevenson (Woodward Library), Sally Taylor (Woodward Library), Jacky Lai (Rare Books and Special Collections), Weiyan Yan (Rare Books and Special Collections), Jennifer Orme (David Lam Library), Christina Sylka (David Lam Library), Irena Trebic (David Lam Library), Anne Olsen (Koerner Library), Alex Alisauskas (Koerner Library),  Elizabeth Robertson (Co-op Student, Koerner Library), George Tsiakos (Law Library), the team at the Asian Library,  Jennifer Fairchild Simms (Education Library), Emily Fornwald (Education Library).

It’s been a pleasure working with all of you.

Krisztina Laszlo, Rare Books and Special Collections Archivist and Project Coordinator

No Comments

---

Highlighting student work

Posted on September 18, 2023 @10:29 am by cshriver

This summer, RBSC was delighted to host a class from Langara College studying the geography of British Columbia. The course, taught by Professor David Brownstein, included an assignment that tasked students with choosing a digitized archival item, describing what the object means to the regional geography of British Columbia, why is it important, and why they selected it. A few students kindly gave us permission to share their selections on our blog, along with short excerpts from their final assignments. Enjoy!

---

City of New Westminster, before the Fire

Selected by German David Gonzalez

The cause of the [New Westminster] fire remains unknown, but the catastrophe was of such magnitude that an aid committee was formed. The fire motivated the creation of a complete fire brigade and brought touristic growth for the city, which then started receiving more and more visitors who wanted to see with their own eyes how a place that was once devastated, became rebuilt.

Lake District of Southern British Columbia

Selected by Yat Man Lam

This pamphlet featured in its front cover several well-dressed ladies and children enjoying their time in a picturesque countryside, the lake district of southern British Columbia, where there were mountains, trees, rivers, valleys and fields. It was produced by The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1920 as a promotional initiative to attract visitors to the stretch of land between the Prairies of Western Canada and the Pacific Coast…  The CPR’s success, achieved through collaboration with the government and resulted in its acquisition of 25 million acres of land (Eagle, 1989[1]), came at the hidden cost of displacing the Indigenous communities.

[1] EAGLE, J. A. (1989). The Canadian Pacific Railway and the Development of Western Canada, 1896-1914. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Indigenous People Catching Salmon

Selected by Jonry Ephraim Isla

Understanding and acknowledging the contributions of Indigenous peoples is essential to grasp the historical and cultural significance of their presence in British Columbia’s fishing industry. With their deep-rooted connection to the ocean and its resources, Indigenous communities have practiced fishing for thousands of years, playing a vital role in shaping the fishing industry in the region. Their traditional knowledge and sustainable fishing practices have been integral to the development of the salmon business in BC. Figure 1 shows a rare photograph taken in 1910 by Leonard Frank, a German-Canadian photographer, which presents two Indigenous men actively fishing for salmon. While Leonard Frank gained fame for his extensive collection of photos, predominantly centered around industrial advancements and city life, he also captured moments of Indigenous life, making their activities part of his photographic legacy.

No Comments

---

Lessons from the Archives Collective

Posted on September 1, 2023 @9:50 am by cshriver

Content warning: The following blog post discusses homophobic attitudes and laws in a historical context.

Many thanks to guest blogger Matthew White for contributing the below post! Matthew is a graduate student at the UBC School of Information and has completed both a Co-op position and a Graduate Academic Assistant (GAA) position with RBSC.

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts that gives students and RBSC team members a chance to show off some of the intriguing materials they encounter serendipitously through their work at RBSC.

---

As a queer man, it was with a great deal of excitement that I was asked to finalize the processing of the Archives Collective collection at Rare Books and Special Collections. The Archives Collective, a predecessor of both ArQuives (formerly Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, and Canadian Gay Archives) as well as the BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, collected widely over their short tenure, much of it related to the deeply political lives of gay men and women in the 70s and 80s.

This collection was at times gut-wrenching in the displays of homophobia, at times brought me to tears because of the solidarity between marginalized communities. There were some consistent themes throughout the collection that I would like to share, particularly as they relate to queer lives in the world today.

The first thing I want to stress is that the RCMP and the Canadian legal system have never been friends to queer people, not to mention working people, women, First Nations, and immigrants. They will uphold whatever laws are in the books – if these laws discriminate against gays, so be it. The number of times that the RCMP overstepped by entrapping gay men having sex in their own homes, by keeping files on notable queer activists as potential enemies of the state, not to mention NDP leaders, prominent feminists or Indigenous activists, by physically accosting queers in the streets was staggering.

Obviously, queers did not go down without a fight – a fight that we are still fighting to this day. Gay militancy spread rapidly, with groups like the Lavender Panthers prowling streets to protect queer people. Protests were staged rapidly, and long running education or legal campaigns were effective in bringing these issues into the public eye.

It was not difficult, though, to see how these kinds of attitudes were maintained for so long. One pamphlet by the League Against Homosexuals (LAH) said, “Queers exist to seduce and pervert our children. Queers are sexually depraved vampires. If queers are allowed to have “equal rights” then they MUST be allowed to seduce your child.” I am still confused as to why equality necessitates molestation, but this was perhaps only the most glaring example. The Toronto Star and the Vancouver Sun often refused to advertise for gay magazines, leading to a legal battle by the Vancouver Sun in the mid-70s that they won in the Supreme Court of Canada. It was noted that it might offend readership, so it did not have to be included.

An article in an unknown newspaper by McKenzie Porter notes “Many homosexuals are no longer satisfied with acceptance, sympathy and freedom from prosecution. They now seek approval acclaim and authority. The propaganda of homophile associations both female and male, reveals undisguised aspirations to political leadership.” Porter goes on to say that gay men and women are unfit for politics because of “a neurotic or psychotic state of paranoia associated, for reasons unknown, with a childhood history of anal eroticism.”

The Star, after being accused of homophobia, made the following statement: “… we stop short of encouraging the spread of homosexuality. We have no wish to aid the aggressive recruitment propaganda in which certain homosexual groups are engaged, and we strongly oppose those who seek to justify and legitimize homosexual relations between adults and children.” Like current legal oppression against trans people, children were often the basis of homophobic attacks. Other examples include a well-documented campaign by Anita Bryant to halt the gay liberation movement, by using children’s safety and wellbeing as the basis of her homophobia.

It was this kind of push back that brought gay people back onto the street, time and time again. It was a dynamic period, full of fundraising dances, highly publicized legal battles, and periodicals that discussed gay issues – anything from criticism of Marxist attitudes towards homosexuality to letters of support by brothers and mothers to their trans daughters, from rallies against racial discrimination experienced by taxi drivers, to graphics protesting the treatment of Indigenous peoples across North America.

You’ll also note the absence of trans people in my descriptions of the archive – they are, unfortunately, notably absent. Then, as now, often trans people found difficulty finding welcoming environments, and focus on liberation was often focused exclusively on sexuality without engaging critically with transgender or transsexual issues.

For myself, as an aspiring archivist and as a gay man, this was an incredibly enlightening experience. Many queer people have noted the generational absences that exist in our communities due to AIDS and other issues, including suicide and the return to the closet that can occur as queer people age. Being able to access so much of the knowledge and experience of queer people through the archive feels so important. These were people who knew what needed to be done to enact change, and all of that information is still at our fingertips. If we can’t talk to our queer ancestors, then maybe we can learn from what they left behind.

No Comments

---

Chung Translation Project: Chinese Miners in BC

Posted on August 15, 2023 @4:31 pm by Claire Malek

Dr. Weiyan (Vivian) Yan works as an Office, Copying & Shelving Assistant at the Rare Books and Special Collections Library at the University of British Columbia. She has recently been  translating descriptions of the Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection from English into Chinese. During this work, she highlighted a few interesting materials for the RBSC Blog. Thank you, Vivian!

Chinese Miners in 19th Century British Columbia

Item Title: Report of the Minister of Mines

Description: A report of the Minister of Mines on the mining accident of 1883.

Item Number: RBSC-ARC-1679-CC-TX-100-43-5

Chinese description:  https://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/report-of-the-minister-of-mines?sf_culture=zh

English description: https://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/report-of-the-minister-of-mines?sf_culture=en

View digital item online: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungtext/items/1.0356535?o=0

The report states that in the year of 1883 alone, there were 28 mining accidents. Of these, 12 accidents involved Chinese people, accounting for 42.9% of the total number accidents. One of the miners died, and another 11 were injured.

The report also indicates that in 1883, Nanaimo Collieries employed a total of 398 miners. Among them are 97 Chinese people, accounting for 24.4% of the total number of miners. We can also see that the salary of white people is $2-4 per day, the salary of Chinese people is $1-1.5 per day, and the salary of Indigenous People is $1.25-2.5 per day.

In Wellington Collieries, a total of 559 miners were employed in 1883. Among them are 276 Chinese, accounting for 49.4% of the total number of miners. Here, the wages of white people were $2-3.75 per day, and the salary of Chinese people were $1-1.25 per day.

The report starkly demonstrates the living conditions of the Chinese people at that time. In an environment of discrimination, they did the most dangerous jobs, and were rewarded with the lowest pay.

This blog post is also available in Chinese here.

No Comments

---

蔣氏珍藏系列之一：1883年BC省的中國礦工

Posted on August 24, 2023 @1:17 pm by Claire Malek

閆維艷博士是不列顛哥倫比亞大學圖書館善本特藏部的圖書館助理。她最近致力於將蔣氏珍藏的部分內容翻譯成中文。在這項工作中，她特別介紹了一些珍貴有趣的藏品。謝謝你，維艷！

蔣氏珍藏系列之一：1883年BC省的中國礦工

中文说明：  https://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/report-of-the-minister-of-mines?sf_culture=zh

中文說明： https://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/report-of-the-minister-of-mines?sf_culture=en

在线查阅开放数据库: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungtext/items/1.0356535?o=0

編號為RBSC-ARC-1679-CC-TX-100-43-5 的收藏品，名為Report of the Minister of Mines，是一份礦業部長關於1883年採礦業事故的報告。

 

報告指出，僅此一年，共發生28起事故。有12起事故為中國人，佔比為42.9%。其中一人死亡，11人受傷。

 

這份報告還指出，在1883年，Nanaimo Collieries共僱傭礦工398人。其中有97名中國人，佔礦工總人數的24.4%。白人的薪資為每天$2-4，中國人的薪資為每天$1-1.5，而原住民的薪資為每天$1.25-2.50。

 

在Wellington Collieries，1883年共僱傭礦工559人。其中有276名中國人，佔礦工總人數的49.4%。白人的薪資為每天$2-3.75，中國人的薪資為每天$1-1.25。

 

從這份報告可以反應華人當時的生存狀況。在被歧視的環境中，他們幹最危險的工作，拿最低的薪酬。

 

矿业部长报告显示了白人和少数族裔矿工的工资差别。

这篇博文也有英文版：Chung Translation Project Series: Chinese Miners in 19th Century British Columbia | Rare Books and Special Collections (ubc.ca)

No Comments

---