BC historical newspapers
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 […]
BC Historical Newspapers Update- 2017
Not surprisingly, we at the Digitization Centre are a big fan of analytics. Data about how people use the data and images we produce? Our knees are weak. What we’ve learned is that our blog post from 2013 regarding the BC Historical Newspapers Collection is one of the most often used, so […]
Interesting People in Our Collections
Ada Cavendish A famous actress of her time (1939-1895), Cavendish was known for playing Mercy Merrick in New Magdalen and Mrs. Darlington in For Love or Money, among many others. She performed and produced in the UK and toured in America, notably brining the plays of Wilkie Collins to popularity the States. Luther McCarty McCarty was a champion American boxer who […]
Newspapers: Now & Then
Our collection of BC Historical Newspapers brings a lot of traffic to our website—and it feeds a lot of our blog posts, too! We get lost flipping through the pages of time, but the papers always find a way to bring us back to the present. For instance, the way newspapers were totally the precursor […]
It’s Reading Week here at UBC!
It’s hotly debated whether students use this week to catch up on the homework they’ve neglected, or indulge in the reading-for-fun they put off during the term, or to do absolutely no reading and enjoy all the other activities that Vancouver has to offer. Ironic or not, we’re running with reading as this week’s theme for exploring our collections. Before we share a few of […]
Indulging Our Sweet Tooth
Perhaps you’re the type to want a sugary afternoon pick-me-up. Maybe you look forward to a sweet end after a long, tiring day. Perchance the ides of winter has you craving comfort foods. Or, you just might subscribe to the let-them-eat-cake lifestyle. Whatever the case, it’s not quite the end of January, and if you’re one of the 65% of Canadians looking to use the new year […]
BC Timber Trade: Big Trees and Bigger Dreams
British Columbia was built, in part, on the timber trade. Logging, timber, and surrounding work is something you can find in the collections at DI over and over and over again, starting from 1846 all the way to 2016. In this blog post we’re going to take a look back to when big dreams for […]
100+ Years of the Unluckiest Day
Check the date of this post Friday November 13. A special day for Triskaidekaphobes, people who fear the number 13. Traditionally, in the Western world any Friday the 13th is considered unlucky. Are you freaked out? If you are, you’re not alone. Recorded fears start as early as the 19th century, but some say the practice may […]
Hijinks of BC Newspapers Uncovered
BC Historical Newspapers is one of Digital Initiative’s largest and most popular collections—and for good reason! A treasure trove of information is to be discovered within them. With over 24 different papers published from 1887-1911, there is a lot to choose from. The news then wasn’t so much a bulletin of events, but rather a […]
British Columbia, the Gold Rush, and the Klondike
The Gold Rush (1858 to 1863) was an important period in British Columbia’s history that brought thousands of prospectors and adventurers to the province. All the activity produced by the Gold Rush led to significant impacts on BC’s people and land, such as conflicts with the native peoples who inhibited the land, increased development throughout BC, […]