Absolutely Literate

Friday, November 25, 2011

The Fish That Made Campbell River Famous

British Columbia History 44.4

The winter issue of British Columbia History coming to mailboxes soon includes a fish tale as well as stories about unique individuals who populate British Columbia’s history. Look for it in your mailbox or at Book Warehouse (10th or Broadway) or order a copy at bchistory.ca.

The Fish That Made Campbell River Famous
by Diana Pedersen
In 1896, news that Sir Richard Musgrave had captured a record 70-lb. salmon with a rod and line launched Campbell River to world fame as a sportfishing destination.

Pat is Pat and That is That: Rev. Thomas Patrick Freney
by R.J. (Ron) Welwood
Rev. Thomas Patrick Freney was not your ordinary, everyday man-of-the-cloth. In fact, he was cut from an entirely different and unorthodox fabric.



W.A. Ingram and the Club Cigar Store of Fernie, BC
By Ronald Greene
From cigar club to barber shop, bowling alley to athletic club, lunch counter to candy shop, Billy Ingram did it all in spite of fires and personal tragedy.

The Fort at Yorke Island: Getting to Know the Neighbours
By Catherine Marie Gilbert
The soldiers and sailors posted to Yorke Island fort during WWII were only temporary neighbours to the surrounding coastal communities but left a lasting impression.

A Useful and Practical Career
By Theresa Vogel
Sister Mary Matthew McBride, commercial instructor at St. Ann’s Academy, was responsible for creating a program that combined practical skills with poise and refinement.

Archives & Archivists
by Land Title and Survey Authority; edited by Sylvia Stopforth
The LTSA’s new state of-the-art, climate-controlled records vault enhances the preservation of BC’s historic hardcopy land title and survey records.

From the Book Review Editor’s Desk & Book Reviews
by K. Jane Watt

Index of Vol. 40 No. 1 to 40 No.4, 2007
Compiled by Melva J. Dwyer

Miscellany

Cabinets of Curiosities
Andrea Lister, editor and author, tells the tale of a 1911 Chilliwack Hospital Auxiliary member’s card that found its way home after 100 years.


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Save Library and Archives Canada

For immediate release
Canadian Association of University Teachers launches campaign to Save Library and Archives Canada

(OTTAWA: November 2, 2011) - The Canadian Association of University Teachers today unveiled a national campaign to protect Library and Archives Canada (LAC).

The “Save Library and Archives Canada” is being launched by CAUT in response to funding cuts and internal managerial decisions that are threatening the quality and integrity of Canada’s only national public library and archives.


“Badly conceived restructuring, a narrowing of its mandate, and financial cutbacks are undermining LAC’s ability to acquire, preserve and make publicly available Canada’s full documentary heritage,” James L. Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers said at a news conference in Ottawa today.


These changes, Turk added, have already led to a reduction in the number of specialist archivists and librarians, reduced public access and services, and the loss of rare and important materials.


Liam McGahern, president of the Antiquarian Booksellers of Canada, said a growing number of Canadian materials are not being collected by LAC because of reduced funding and a change in its acquisitions policy.


“Canadians recently lost a unique and irreplaceable set of journals chronicling late 19th Century stories of settlers and First Nations people of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Labrador Coast. This is just one of many examples,” McGahern explained. “Rare military documents, sheet music, and literature that would otherwise have gone to Library and Archives Canada are quietly all slipping away.”


CAUT is calling on the federal government to amend the LAC Act to ensure its mandate includes developing a comprehensive, not selective, collection of Canadian material.
“Our nation’s artistic, historical, and cultural heritage is at stake,” said Turk. “Genealogists, historians, researchers, graduate students, Aboriginal communities, and the general public are all affected by what is happening at LAC.”


The Canadian Association of University Teachers is the national voice of 66,000 academic and general staff at 120 universities and colleges across the country.


More information on the campaign can be found at www.savelibraryarchives.ca.


Contact:
Angela Regnier, Communications Officer,
613-726-5186 (O);
613-601-6304 (cell);
regnier@caut.ca (email)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Surrey Show and Tell

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Third Annual Family History Show & Tell! at the Surrey Library. It was a lot of fun and I got to hear about some great family history work being done.
Picture courtesy of Brenda L. Smith
I presented my Grossman family and their connection to the Chilliwack Hospital and the creation of the Chilliwack Hospital Auxiliary.

Then we went off to Richmond Library for their LEST WE FORGET program to hear our friend Annette Fulford present 100 Years of Canadian War Brides.

It was a good day for history.

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