Sunday, September 21, 2008

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Newcombe Conference Hall
Royal British Columbia Museum
675 Belleville Street, Victoria

"Are We There Yet?": On the Road in British Columbia Travelogues, 1940-1970

In the middle decades of the 20th century, the British Columbia government used motion pictures extensively to promote tourism in the province. Made largely in-house in the years following World War II, these travelogues reflected the era's optimism, as well as the rising importance of cars and highways to the vacation traveller.

Entertaining excerpts from these films are featured in the "Mighty 90 Drive-In Theatre" in the Free Spirit exhibit, and in Evergreen Playland, the RBCM's first DVD release. Archivist and film historian Dennis J. Duffy will present some highlights from the featured travelogues, plus some sequences that didn't make the cut.

For more information about the following Friends of the BC Archives events contact Ann ten Cate, Outreach Coordinator, BC Archives, (250) 387-2970 or Ron Greene, Secretary of the Friends of the BC Archives at (250) 598-1835. Call in advance for information about handicap access.

On Thursday, May 22, 2008, the Victoria Historical Society speaker will be University of Victoria historian Richard Mackie. He will talk about Steam in the mountains and describe the life and work of the pioneer loggers. The talk and meeting will be at the James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street, 7:30 pm. Visitors are welcome. For more information, call 250-480-1061.

On Tuesday evening, May 6, 2008, the Hallmark Society honours outstanding achievement in the field of heritage preservation, conservation, restoration and advocacy at its Annual Awards Night. The evening will include a slide show of award winning projects, the presentation of awards and the presentation of heritage designation plaques by local municipalities. The event will be held at St. Ann's Academy Auditorium, 835 Humboldt Street at 7:30 pm. Cost is $10 per person. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Hallmark office at 382-4755.

In conjunction with the launch of new content at Victoria's Victoria on April 14, 2008, the University of Victoria Library also launched its digital collection Victoria's Early History (http://contentdm.library.uvic.ca:8000/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fveh). A separate, but related component that is also available through the CONTENTdm digital asset management system used by the library is The British Colonist newspaper (http://contentdm.library.uvic.ca:8000/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcolonist).

An update to Victoria's Victoria (http://www.victoriasvictoria.ca/), built by students in the University of Victoria's History 481: "Microhistory and the World Wide Web", was launched on April 14, 2008. New student work and other additions for 2008 include a commemoration of the arrival of the Sisters of St Ann, 150 years ago, Victoria's only Francophone Lieutenant Governor, and the premiere of film footage of Victoria taken in 1907 from a streetcar by W.H. Harbeck who perished in the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 15, 1912.