This digital story is about Canadian senator Lillian Dyck’s family, her upbringing, and being of mixed Chinese and Native Canadian descent. Since 2010, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre has been working with community organizations on documenting and preservating Chinese Canadian-related family history projects. These groups span the country from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, New Foundland, for a total of nineteen projects that will be showcased along with the work created by the UBC Chinese Canadian Stories Uncommon Histories From a Common Past project.
The Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) is a four program that provides federal government funding for community-based commemorative and educational projects that provide recognition of the experiences of ethno-cultural communities affected by historical wartime measures and/or immigration restrictions applied in Canada, and that promote these communities’ contributions to building Canada. Working alongside Professor of History Dr. Henry Yu, UBC Library has embarked on this project to document the stories of Chinese Canadians to enrich our understanding of a period history that has been largely untold and undocumented.