Slice of Life: Menus from the Chung Collection
The Chung Collection within Open Collections is known for its variety of photos and subjects. Recently, we took a journey through the menus within the collection- here are a few for your enjoyment: Does anyone know what the first a la carte menu item- “Chow Chow- 15” is? I’d be willing to try […]
Japanese Internment
Japanese Canadian Internment began after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 until 1949. Following the declaration of war on Japan, Japanese nationals and Canadian citizens of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from what was considered to be strategic, restricted coastal areas of British Columbia in 1942. Evacuees were first dispatched to temporary facilities at […]
Costumes in the Collections
It’s decidedly autumn here on the Vancouver campus of UBC. Chilly walks, a desire for soups, and some costume scheming are in the ether. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are a few from Open Collections. (Pop)Culturally Appropriate, a clown from the Ubyssey: This photo from 1919 is a little far away, […]
Digital Humanities Summer Institute
DHSI – the Digital Humanities Summer Institute – is a humanities training program held every summer at the University of Victoria. Delivered over a week, each course is an intensive series of classes interspersed with colloquiums, unconferences, and other community-based events, and provides an ideal environment for influencing teaching, research, dissemination, creation, and preservation in […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
We hope you enjoy the long weekend, good food, and this tour through parties and Thanksgivings past in our collections: in 1888, the Regina Lodge in Vancouver was charging $4 to attend a Social Ball and Supper: Turkey was the thing by 1913, as Women’s Words of Western Canada encourages a poultry raising cottage industry: […]
In Memoriam
The documents in our collections contain concerns ranging from global to individual. While exploring the collections this week, I was struck by the obituaries, remembrances, and memorials— here is a selection. This Obituary from The Prospector (1896) is front page news, and followed by reports of gold fields in the Kootenays. Mrs. Ellison was remembered […]
Welcome Back!
Welcome back to campus, UBC! Don’t get stressed about moving into your dorm: Moving into the new Women’s Residence, 1956 Remember that there is always a way to solve an interpersonal problem: Photo of unidentified students, 1922 Be grateful that freshman no longer wear these: Freshmen wear dunce caps, 1938 While in lecture, take […]
Gems in Special Projects
The Digitization Centre’s work is housed online in Open Collections, with projects organized into collections. Occasionally, objects are digitized alone or in a small group, and these are placed in Special Projects—our own home for wayward items. Being a bit of a grab-bag, it is one of our favourite places to explore and gain insight […]
What’s Old is New Again
The objects within Open Collections are beautiful, often rare, and allow connection with history as only primary sources can. As your humble blog correspondent, I am consistently struck with how different things were, yet what we are interested in, our concerns, and struggles are the same. This week, let’s see what the past has to […]
Searching Open Collections part 2: Subject keywords
When we last met, we had found a photo of an old growth forest: Scrolling down on this screen reveals the metadata* attached to the item: I want to continue my search, and so I’m going to look at the area called “Subject”, here listed as Forestry; Logs; Cedar trees. To start out, I’ll […]