Moderated by St. Johns College Alumnus, Asad Kiyani, this panel features experts who will discuss the global implications of the recent death of Osama Bin Laden. This panel includes Dr. Jon Beasley-Murray (UBC French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies); Dr. Maxwell A. Cameron (UBC Political Science); Ivan Somlai (Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria); and Alnoor Gova (UBC Education). This event took place at St. John’s College, Fairmont Social Lounge on Thursday, June 2, 2011. Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
Generation One Closing Ceremonies and Reception at IKBLC
On behalf of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS), the public is invited to Generation One Art Exhibition’s Closing Ceremonies on Sunday, June 26th, 2011.
Location: 1961 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Y3
Building: Irving K Barber Centre, Room 261.
Schedule of Day’s Event:
1:30pm – 1:50pm Final Viewing of Generation One Art Exhibition Held in Ike’s Café in Irving K. Barber Centre (Open to public) Free and have chances to ask artists questions around the exhibition hall
2:00pm Closing Ceremonies
3:00pm Reception & Highlights of ExplorASIAN 2011
For photos of the exhibit, please find them here.
Featured Place at IKBLC: Skeena River
The Skeena River Room, room 317 in the Irving K Barber Learning Centre, is a group study room that is named after the Skeena River, the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia’s borders (the largest being the Fraser River). Six-hundred and twenty-one kilometers long, it flows south and west through the Skeena and Coast Mountains, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Prince Rupert.
Port Essington, Skeena River, 1888, BC124
For thousands of years, the Tsimshian (“People of the Skeena”) have lived along the river; the Coastal Tsimshian live near the lower part of the river and the Gitksan live on the upper part of the Skeena River. George Vancouver visited the mouth of the Skeena River in July, 1793, but it wasn’t until the 1860s and 1870s that persons associated with the Gold Rush and railway began to travel to and settle along the river. In 1876, salmon canneries were built along the Skeena River. Operating along the river from the late 1870s to the mid-1980s, at one time there were as many as 18 canneries along the Skeena.
In Rare Books and Special Collections, we have various records and plans of salmon canneries that operated in British Columbia, and in particular along the Skeena River. For example, in the Inverness Cannery fonds, there are plans, financial records and correspondence relating to this cannery constructed along the Skeena River in 1873. The J.H Todd and Sons fonds also contains records concerning the Inverness Cannery.
It is also very interesting to consult the 1924 fire insurance plans of Skeena River salmon canneries in the collection of Plans of salmon canneries in British Columbia together with inspection reports on each, that are part of the records of the British Columbia Fire Underwriters’ Association. This collection includes the plans of 12 canneries that operated along the Skeena in the early 1920s: Inverness Cannery, North Pacific Cannery, Dominion Cannery, Sunnyside Cannery, Cassiar Cannery, Haysport Cannery, Alexandra Cannery, Balmoral Cannery, Port Essington Cannery, Carlisle Cannery, Claxton Cannery, and the Oceanic Cannery.
Fire insurance plans are detailed large-scale maps of cities, smaller municipalities, and industrial sites that were produced from the late 1800s to the mid-1960s. The object of these maps was to show the character of any insured building. These plans were compiled by the fire insurance underwriters to assist their agents in assessing and controlling the risks of fire. Various symbols and colours were used to indicate the following characteristics: the shape and size of a building; the type of construction used; the existence of fire protection facilities; and the use of the building (e.g., a restaurant, a laundry, etc.).
The fire insurance plan of the North Pacific Cannery is revealing for a number of reasons. In addition to documenting the number and types of buildings of this cannery originally established in 1889, the plan shows, for example, that in 1924, the Japanese, First Nations and Chinese cannery workers were housed in separate buildings:
Sheet 44, North Pacific Cannery, RBSC-ARC-1272:F9-8
Cross-posted at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.New Director for Learning Centre
Simon Neame, Director of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (Photo by Martin Dee)
Simon Neame has been selected as the new Director of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Simon began his library career after obtaining a Master of Library and Information Studies from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at UBC. He started as a Reference Librarian at Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library. From there, he joined UBC Library, first as a Reference Librarian at the Science and Engineering Division, and then in a variety of other roles, including Teaching Programs Librarian in the Information Services Division. While in Information Services, Simon participated in the development of the Chapman Learning Commons, located in the former Main Library.
In 2003, Simon joined the Learning Centre as Program Co-ordinator, and he became Assistant Director in 2009. During his time at the Learning Centre, Simon has provided strategic leadership for the Chapman Learning Commons, the development of learning spaces and programs for students, and the Learning Centre’s community digitization program. Simon has served as the Learning Centre’s Acting Director since Sandra Singh’s departure in December 2010.
The Director’s mandate is to provide strategic leadership for community engagement initiatives on and off campus, along with directing the Learning Centre’s physical facility, and its programs and services for students.
Featured Place at IKBLC: Hazelton
This week our featured place, and Irving K. Barber Learning Centre room name, is Hazelton. Hazelton, as well as New Hazelton and South Hazelton, is located near where the Skeena River meets the Bulkley River, northeast of Prince Rupert. The Hazelton area is the traditional land of the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en First Nations.
The featured document is from the Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of British Columbia fonds. SPARC is a non-partisan organization that was founded in 1966 to “work with communities in building a just and healthy society for all” (from the SPARC website). The archives here at RBSC include files from 1966 to 1984 and contain a wealth of information on the history of social issues and programs in B.C., from youth, housing, health, aging, and much more. One such file is on the Hazelton Children’s Home. Founded by the United Church in 1967, the Hazelton Children’s Home appears to have run at least into the 1980′s. It is described in the file as “an extended care facility for mentally and physically handicapped children.” The files contain a request for funding written to the Skeena Health Unit in 1978. Information about the home is now scarce- the SPARC files as well as files at the Bob Stewart United Church Archives appear to be two of few sources.
Document from SPARC fonds
Cross-posted at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.Generation: 1 Art Exhibit Reception Photos
The opening reception and art exhibition tour of Generation One took place on May 5, 2011 to an audience of full capacity. A platform for local Asian artists to showcase their artworks in the community, this is the second year that Generation One has been hosted at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. This year Generation One is a collaboration between professional and emerging artists. From May 2nd to June 5th, there will be the First Wave of artists from Dimasalang III group and UBC’s Visual Art students displaying their artworks on the walls of the IKE’S CAFE. Starting June 6th to June 25th, the second wave of emerging artists who submitted their entry form prior to May 15th may also be able to participate in Generation One.
To view these photos, please click here.
For more information about the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Art Exhibits, please visit our website.
Photos by Leo Cunanan.Health Information Series webcast online
On May 14, 2011, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Surrey Public Library, and Woodward Library, co-hosted a talk at the Newton Branch library in Surrey, focusing on men’s health as part of the Health Information Series. Dr. John Oliffe, Suki Grewal, and Bindy Kang shared their expertise in this important area of health research. This webcast can be viewed here. (Talk is conducted in both Punjabi and English).
South Asian men—defined as men who were born in/originate from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka—are amongst the largest groups of immigrants in British Columbia, Canada. Little is known about their health behaviours; experiences of illness; or how they relate to, and engage with Canadian health care services. South Asian men’s groups (SAMGs) are naturally occurring groups meeting each week at various BC rural and urban temples and attract typically senior South Asian immigrant men. The SAMGs provided us with an opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge of a unique cultural milieu, and describe the connections between masculinity and older South Asian Canadian immigrant men’s health. John Oliffe’s work has been highlighted in UBC Reports.
For more information about the Health Information Series, please find here.
Feature Place at IKBLC: Hartley Bay
This week, we are taking a closer look at the community of Hartley Bay — the community that the Hartley Bay Meeting Room (room 266), in the Irving K Barber Learning Centre is named after.
Image Credit: Map of Hartley Bay, from http://www.gitgaat.net/place/enlargemap.htmHartley Bay is the home of the Gitga’at First Nation, members of the Tsimshian cultural group. A village of 200, accessible only by air or water, Hartley Bay is located at the mouth of Douglas Channel, about 630 kilometres north of Vancouver and 145 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.
On March 22, 2006, the people of Hartley Bay were the first responders to the passengers aboard the sinking BC Ferries Queen of the North. The community was recognized for their heroic actions by the Governor General on May 3, 2006 and received the Governor General’s Commendation for Outstanding Service.
The XWI7XWA LIBRARY, located at 1985 West Mall has a variety of material on the community of Hartley Bay, including material in their special collections. Contact Ann Doyle, head of XWI7XWA LIBRARY, for more information on accessing material in the special collections.
Cross-posted at the Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library.Featured Place at IKBLC: Kootenay River Room
Kootenay River Room, a large, bright and airy group study room (room 422) on the 4th floor of the Barber Centre, is named after the Kootenay River, one of the tributaries of the Columbia River. It is a major river that runs through southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of Montana and Idaho. Throughout the history of British Columbia, many people from various backgrounds have lived and traveled along its banks.
The very source of the Columbia River, looking south across Canal Flat toward the Kootenay river, ID # BC-146The people of the Ktunaxa (Kootenai) nation have lived, fished and hunted along the river for thousands of years.
Image Credit: http://www.ktunaxa.org/who/popup_tradterritorymap.htmlIn the early 19th century, the first European explorer to visit the area, David Thompson, explored and surveyed the Kootenay’s banks, calling it “McGillivray’s River” on his 1814 map (the original map is in theArchives of Ontario and is part of F443, the David Thompson fonds ). Rare Books and Special Collections has a reproduction of Thompson’s 1814 map, published by the Champlain Society in 1916 : Map of the north-west territory of the province of Canada.
Image credit: Champlain Society Digital Collections: http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/search.cfm?lang=engIn the late 19th century, the Doukhobors, a “Spiritual Christianity” sect that originated in Russia in the late 16th-17th century and rejects organized government and the church, left Russia and travelled to Canada. Various groups settled in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. In 1908, the group that settled in British Columbia, called the Community Doukhobors, purchased 2,700 acres of land along the Kootenay River. Their leader, Peter Verigan, called the settlement “Brilliant,” after the sparkling waters of the river.
In Rare Books and Special Collections, there is a large body of archival material related to the Doukhobors. You may be interested in consulting the Doukhobor research collection , the Peter Faminow fonds and theJim Hamm research collection.
In 2010, the Irving K Barber British Columbia History Digitization Program funded a digitization project by the Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History, Changes Upstream: Along the Kootenay River North of the 49th Parallel Before and After the Libby Dam, 1969-72. Visit this digital exhibition to view images of the homes, lifestyles and lands of communities along the Kootenay River during the sum
Cross-posted at Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library.Featured Place at IKBLC: Slocan
This week’s featured place name and Irving K. Barber Centre room is Slocan. Slocan can refer to a number of geographic features- Slocan Valley, River, Lake, or City. This region is in the West Kootenay area of British Columbia.
We are using Slocan to highlight our Japanese-Canadian resources, because the village of Slocan (commonly known as Slocan City) was one of the sites of the Japanese Canadian internment camps during the Second World War.
The photographs below are from the Japanese Canadian Historical Photograph Collection, which is digitized and available freely online. There are a number of photographs of the Slocan internment camp in the collection, including photographs of Japanese Canadians arriving at the camp, as in the first photo, and of daily life in the camp, as in the second photo, taken in the dining hall.
Japanese Canadians being processed in Slocan, JCPC 24.008.
Group photograph in dining hall in Slocan Camp, JCPC 17.005
Sign for SLAIS, photograph courtesy of School of Library, Archival and Information Studies.
Cross-posted at Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library.