Sunday, December 28, 2008

BC Electric Railway History - Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada


Corner of Hastings and Granville Streets, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1910's. Shows the downtown Vancouver buildings of the Bank of Ottawa, Canada Life, the Bank of Commerce, the Birks Clock, city trams and the Rogers Building (alas, no relation to the writer).
Postcard, unused. Split back. Published by the Coast Publishing Co. Vancouver, BC.

Did you know that Greater Vancouver once had working public transit even right out to Chilliwack?


Yes, it's true, and there is a lot of interest in the history of public transit in this area - not all of it's nostalgia, as many would like to see year-round working public transit here again!


Selected links to photographs, maps and more about the BC Electric Railway.



History of the BC Electric Railway Company by Matthew Laird. Much here is from the book, "The Story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company" by Henry Ewert (North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Whitecap Books, 1986) which is well worth a further look: http://www.bcer.trams.bc.ca/

The B.C.E. Railway, Chapter 6, revised, from Donald E. Waite and Lisa M. Peppan, The Langley Story Illustrated, An Early History of The Municipality of Langley by Donald E. Waite (Altona, Manitoba, Canada: D.W. Friesen and Sons Limited, 1977): http://www.fortlangley.ca/langley/6cbce.html


Victoria's early streetcar system and the men behind the British Columbia Electric Railway — researched and written by Jolene Coe and Chris Bowes, Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University College), 2006: http://records.viu.ca/history/temp/bcer/index.htm


Vancouver, British Columbia, All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems, by David A. Wyatt: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/vancouver-bc.html


Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society: http://www.fvhrs.org/


Transit Museum Society of Vancouver, BC: http://www.trams.bc.ca/

Friday, December 26, 2008

Woodward's Stores Ltd., Vancouver BC, 1958 "Unsung Heroes"


Unsung Heroes... from Woodward's Beacon newsletter, Woodward Stores Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada, November/December 1958, p. 10


Ladies of the Staff Dining Room with the new dish-washing machine - 22,340 dishes a day to wash and dry!

Names given from left to right: Mrs. L. Papineau, Mrs. E. Miles, Mrs. J. Jorgenson. Rear: Miss Betty Christenson, Mrs. K. Anchau.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas history, Canada

If you're looking for some Canadian Christmas fun (and history) today, have a listen to this story from Christmas, 1936 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There are other good Christmas stories here from CBC too.

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/celebrations/topics/412/

Monday, December 22, 2008

LAST MINUTE GIFTS FOR THE GENEALOGIST IN YOUR LIFE

If you know your genealogist well, and you have lots of money to spend, you’ve probably already thought about that expensive new scanner they’ve mentioned (29 times), the ‘little’ computer they’re dreaming of, or even a travel ticket to the little town where ggg grandma was born or to Homecoming Scotland 2009. But, if you’re still looking and you’ve only a couple of days to shop, here are a few ideas.

Software and Website Subscriptions: If you know specifically what software or equipment your genealogist needs or wants, or which pay websites your genealogist uses, or would like to use, or which journals or magazines they read, or which courses they’d like to take, you could go ahead and buy a gift or subscription direct from the company involved, but if you don’t know for sure what your genealogist is pining for, a credit card gift card could be an option. These cards can be used on-line apparently, but not all companies are set up to accept them. You should likely check that ahead of time.

Note though that there are fees associated with the purchase and use of these cards which many will disagree with. I did see one already with a Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games design. This might be appropriate especially if you plan to come here for the games.

Other Gift cards and Certificates: Few genealogists can resist buying a book or two about their areas of interest, so a gift card from a larger bookstore which takes orders could be good. On-line genealogy shops and bookstores offer gift certificates too, for example, I’d choose Genealogy Unlimited from Victoria, B.C. (previously known as Interlink Bookshop) or Global Genealogy in Milton, Ontario. If your genealogist has photographs and documents they’d like framed or printed, how about a gift certificate from a local framer or photo shop? If they haunt one particular library, how about pre-paid photocopy cards? Do you know there is a local genealogy society they’d like to join? Ask about arranging a gift membership. And, is there a genealogy or history event or conference coming up in their area – how about giving a ticket or two? (Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak will be speaking in Surrey, BC in March, 2009. Tickets available from the BC Genealogical Society or the Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library. See below for an info link.

File Folders and Paper: If your genealogist loves to file all those documents (or you really think they need to) look for some pretty or pretty funny file folders. I found some Anne Taintor ‘Modern Office revisited’ files at the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library’s Bookmark shop. These, with vintage designs, are both pretty and funny. I’ve seen others at Chapters bookstores with labels for ‘in’ ‘out’ and ‘limbo’. I have a lot of unconnected people to put in that LIMBO file.

If your genealogist is like me and prints out a lot of brochures and booklets, how about a good supply of fancy and coloured papers – something attractive for the family newsletter perhaps, with envelopes to match. (If your genealogist doesn’t get out much, a thoughtful gift of a few months supply of ink and paper wouldn’t go amiss either.)

Other organizing tools
: Most genealogists do worry about their organizational strategies – trust me! At your closest office supply store you will find lots of options – from file boxes and project sorters to coloured (and paper safe) paper clips and coloured CD boxes. And if you can find archival storage supplies locally (maybe at an art store) you could buy a selection for storing vintage clothes or memorabilia or photographs.

I just saw a doorknob organizer at Chapters – I immediately thought how handy that would be to store all my library photocopy cards and genealogy related name badges. If your genealogist is really organizationally challenged, and needs the rest of their life to be more organized so that they can concentrate on genealogy, how about booking time with a personal organizer for them?

Computer Gadgets and Accessories: Many of us now love our flash drives. These have come down in price and up in capacity, so this could be a good gift (and you’ll be remembered fondly each time it’s used). Your genealogist might like a USB headset or a web cam if they chat a lot on-line. Or how about a waterproof case for their digital camera. This is especially useful, I find, on fall and winter cemetery trips in my area. How about a cute or useful ‘skin’ for their computer. I’d like a ‘book' design one, or there is a Mac keyboard skin showing Photoshop shortcuts at Photojojo. Also at Photojojo, there’s a Magnetic Photo Rope to display photos. Something like this would be a great gift.

If your genealogist isn’t a techie, but wants to learn more, think about registering them for a local continuing education course, perhaps ‘using your new digital camera’ or ‘digital scrapbooking’ or ‘setting up a new website’. And, if you’re at all interested, why not register yourself as well. It will be twice as nice a present.

Photo accessories: Does your genealogist scan all the old photographs – everyone and anyone’s photographs? Look at the digital photograph frames --all kinds of sizes and prices for these now – there are even nifty digital key chains and Christmas ornaments. There are many nice looking ‘old fashioned’ photo frames too – we do love to have our favourites all around us. A big collage style mat with a nice frame would would be grand.

If you can’t get to the store or connect on-line in time, you could still make up your own certificate by hand or on the computer promising the gift you’ve chosen.

Better yet, why not promise a gift of yourself. If you’re a techie, you could give a coaching session on organizing computer files or scanning photos and documents or what about an gift certificate for transportation, assistance and lunch on that next cemetery trip, or perhaps a present of a photo album scanning session with afternoon tea or dinner at your house –including afterwards copies of CDs or DVDs with all your family photos.

And how about resolving to think about gifts earlier next year! You could make a gift video of that family cemetery trip or you could craft personalized file folders or vintage ornaments with family photographs for a very special gift for your family genealogist.



A FEW OTHER GENEALOGY GIFT LISTS, Old and new from...

Kimberly Powell at About.com: http://genealogy.about.com/library/reviews/aatphigh-tech.htm

Lisa Alzo at Ancestry.com: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=11158

Tracing the Tribe: http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com/2006/12/gifts-for-genealogists-update.html

Really different gift suggestions at GeneaNet: http://genealogyblog.geneanet.org/index.php/post/2008/12/Unusual-Christmas-Gifts-For-The-Genealogists.html


And, a few gift websites...

Genealogy Unlimited: http://www.genealogyunlimited.com/

Global Genealogy: http://www.globalgenealogy.com/

Photojojo: http://photojojo.com/store

JMK Genealogy Gifts from Jimmy Kavanaugh – great designs here – if I had seen them earlier, I would have sent myself a gift, but there’s always next year: http://www.cafepress.com/jmkbooks

Interested in tickets to hear Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak in Surrey, BC in March, 2009? Go to: http://www.bcgs.ca/Event_Brochures.htm

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Ontario Genealogical Society - New venture with Dundurn Press

The Ontario Genealogical Society is now working with Dundurn Press, an Ontario publisher, in publishing new books on Canadian genealogy. Watch for the imprint: OGS Dundurn. OGS will find authors, then receive and screen new manuscripts. Dundurn Press will edit, design and produce the publications. Interesting news, but I hope that the initial OGS screening will include editing of the genealogical information and references.

Dundurn Press earlier this fall announced a partnership with World Vital Records to put some 400 books on-line at WorldVitalRecords.com. Will this arrangement become part of the OGS-Dundurn partnership too?

Among the books mentioned for World Vital Records was 100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces by Merna Forster, a British Columbian historian. This book is still for sale and it would make a great present! Searching for names on-line may seem efficient but having this book in your hands will be so much better.

Are you an interested author? Contact the OGS: http://www.ogs.on.ca/

Thanks to Dick Eastman for this information. So far, there isn't anything on the OGS or Dundurn websites. For more, see his blog: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/12/new-imprint-to.html

And for more about Merna Forster's 100 Canadian Heroines, see her website: http://www.heroines.ca/

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Smile for the Camera - Edition 8

The most recent 'Smile for the Camera' Blog Carnival is up at Shades of the Departed now.

Great photographs were chosen by each of the participants. I'm especially pleased myself about footnoteMaven's contribution. Thank you! What a nice holiday surprise for each of us.

Smile for the Camera - Edition 8: http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/2008/12/carnivals-in-town.html

Monday, December 15, 2008

3 Wishes! - Carnival of Genealogy



The topic for the next edition of the COG will be: 3 Wishes! This is your chance to write a letter to Genea-Santa*. Make a list of 3 gifts you would like to receive this holiday season from 3 of your ancestors. These have to be material things, not clues to your family history (we're talking gifts here, not miracles!). Do you wish your great grandmother had gifted you a cameo broach? Or maybe you'd like to have the family bible from great great grandpa Joe? How about a baby doll that once belonged to your dear Aunt Sarah? This is a fantasy so you can dream up gift items. They don't have to be actual items that you know your ancestors owned. However, they do have to be historically accurate to the time period in which your ancestor lived. Do your research. No asking for a new computer from your great grand aunt! Genea-Santa wouldn't like that ;-)

Well, I'm not that optimistic, but as my daughter might say "Mum, Believe!"

So, Dear Ms and Mr Genea-Santa, please see what arrangements you can make about these three genea-wishes of mine. I'm not much for jewellery, and heaven knows, I have enough dishes, ornaments and furniture here. I've kept my choices light so delivery shouldn't be much of a chore. (These wishes are in no particular order. Truly, I'll appreciate anything you can do.)

Wish #1. A Photograph of Mary Ann White and William Rogers

When my great uncle John William Rodgers/Rogers died in 1978, he was the last of three brothers, one being my grandpa. Almost till his death, he lived in the same house he shared for decades with brother Frank and their step sister in Toronto, Canada. I feel sure anything precious that his mother left would have been saved, and John, as the last sibling, would have inherited any family photos or papers. My dad did attend John's funeral, and met the lawyer who handled John's affairs. John didn't leave us anything specifically, but the lawyer promised to send on John's personal effects which might contain some family papers. Unfortunately, the lawyer was soon very ill, and nothing was ever done about this.

I once wrote the firm asking just in case there was a dusty storage room full of interesting old files, but no answer was received. I know now where John's father came from, and I do realize, Genea-Santas, that there might not have been time or money for even one photograph, but I still hope to see someday an image of John's parents. Even one or two images of his brothers and step-sister, Sue Battice Peel, when they were young, would be grand to see.


Yes, Genea-Santas, I hear you. You think I should at least write that firm again. Santas help those who help themselves, etc. Still Santas, if there is a photograph of William Rogers or of Mary Ann White somewhere in the world, maybe you could ask one of the techie elves to scan it and post it on Dead Fred. Tag it 'ROGERS/WHITE, Shipham, Somerset, England and (???) to Toronto Canada' and I'll find it quick as a wink.

Wish #2. One of my mum's own paper doll sets.

One of my mum's biggest disappointments with her young daughter, I think, was my complete lack of interest in paper dolls. According to my mum, paper dolls were her favourites when she was a girl. I can understand that now as I know she was always interested in clothing and in sewing. Paper dolls with wardrobes would have been such fun for her. Alas, I never was interested despite the number of times she cut out Betsy McCall paper doll pages for me. I still have a few of those. (Betsy McCall paper dolls by Kay Morrissey were published in McCalls Magazine beginning in 1951.)

(I did love dolls though, as you may well remember, and Mum might be very surprised, Genea-Santas, that I'm not asking for one of hers. She told me her dad used to bring her a new doll when he had been travelling, but her mother gave them all away in later years. I know Mum never had an Eaton Beauty doll - her dad had a small town general store, after all, and Eaton's Department Store was the competition - but I'm sure she had some beautiful ones. If you could see the poor naked wooden doll she did save and give to me, you would laugh!)

Now I have a few paper dolls of my own, but I sure would like to have a set that she loved. I wonder if there might have been a flapper or two?

Wish #3. Harriet Healy's Bible.

When Harriet Healy left West Yorkshire, England for New York in 1856 with her soon to be step- daughter, Elizabeth Wood (later Woodman), I feel sure Harriet carried a Bible with her and that one of her parents had all the family names and dates entered into it so that the family history would be maintained. They would have known she wouldn't be coming back and they might even have tucked a word of advice or two inside. It's true that I have quite a number of Bibles already, Genea-Santas, but oddly, none has any family information written in it. Harriet's will be the exception to this family rule.


Well, Genea-Santas, there you have my three Genea-Wishes for 2008. No matter what, I'll leave lemon shortbread cookies out for you and there will be milk and ginger beer in the fridge. If you drink the milk, please don't leave the bottle out on the kitchen counter - the cats will knock it off hoping to lap up any spilled milk. I better leave new lint rollers there for you both too. I can imagine how well cat fur shows on your nice red suits.

Wishing you both a very happy 'after Christmas' holiday somewhere warm and quiet,

Diane R


Sue and Joan Paper Dolls by Lydia Fraser, published in the Canadian Home Journal, March, 1936. These paper dolls are too late for my mother to have played with, but she would have cut this page out to keep, I'm sure, had she seen it.


LINKS - Here's some more info, Ms and Mr Genea-Santa, in case it helps the research elves.

The History of Paper Dolls by Judy M. Johnson, The Original Paper Doll Artists Guild: http://www.opdag.com/History.html

The Eaton Beauty Doll:"The Doll We Will Never Forget" by Evelyn Robson Strahlendorf on Civilization.ca: http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/catalog/cat2101e.shtml

KLUCAS UPDATE - Smile for the Camera


To Myrtle Klaseus, Viscount, Sask Canada
From Alfred, Richard and Minnie Klucas


This set of stray photographs is now up at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdianerogers

A number of these photos are from Minnie KLUCAS. The photo above identifies her with Alfred and Richard Klucas. Might this be Wilhelmine Sarah STREICH, née, KLUCAS, who grew up in Minnesota?

I found an obituary for Minnie Streich from the Herald-Journal of Winsted, Minnesota, U.S.A. She had 2 brothers, Alfred(wife, Freda) Klucas and Richard 'Dick' (wife Ollie) Klucas. Their parents were Frank Klucas and Louisa Kretz: http://www.herald-journal.com/obits/2002/streich0402.html
No mention there of Canadian connections, but a Rootsweb search turned up a connection quickly. Look for both KLASEUS and KLASGES in the history Footprints of time : Viscount and district, 1905-1985 on-line at Our Roots: www.ourroots.ca
If this is the right family, Minnie would have TREICHLER relatives in Arizona and elsewhere. I will try to contact someone who may know more.

Another photo in this group of strays was sent to Mr. Arthur ANDERSIN Viscount Sask Canada from his cousin Margaret Anderson of Hillsboro [Kansas, U.S.A.?]

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Christmas Curios - The Cabinet of Curiosities, 12th Edition


The 12th edition of Cabinet of Curiosities returns home for the holidays after stepping out with other fine hosts. This is the season when we dust off the household gods, deck the halls with items wonderous strange, and mabe repeat the stories behind the objects as they emerge from the tissue paper or wadded newsprint to find a place of honor on hearth or bow. Perhaps you will be inspired to share some of your treasured holiday curiosities, be they the one-legged jumping jack that your great grandfather made that hangs on your tree or the candy dish your ancestor swiped from the Waldorf Astoria that now holds the thin mints next to the holiday roast. From 'Walking The Berkshires' - Cabinet of Curiosities host Tim Abbott:


Ah, yes, I do have any number of chipped, cracked, broken, or otherwise unwanted items that I've saved for Christmas over the years. If no one else wants it, it seems the family thinks -'Diane'! On my bookshelf now, for example, is one of the very same angel candles that appears in a Christmas 1960 family photo. Yes, she's a little yellowed and her nose is dented, but otherwise she's 'perfectly good', almost 50 years later.

Then there are those (just a little) bent and scratched Christmas tree candle holders that my dad gave me, warning me "Never, Ever, Ever" to light a candle in them (he'd seen too many fires), and there is that lovely bowl of great grandma's - good for spicy potpourri - if you position it just right, who will notice the nick in the rim, after all.

Among my favourites though are the Christmas cards and other ephemera. Most of them are ones from my childhood, like this Santa with a genuine glint in his eye and one picturing two naughty children. And I do now have some I've collected myself, for instance, the Woodward's Beacon newsletter (Woodwards Stores, originally a Vancouver, BC, company, sadly, is no longer. More from this soon perhaps in another holiday post.)

One of these cards though must have been a special one in its day - the Xmas 'Spoon-ey' one. There's no writing in it - perhaps there was a note enclosed instead.
Hoping you won't get 2 SPOON-EY THIS XMAS.
Inside it says:
When TWO SPOONS
have been SPOONING,
By Night and by Day,
And the Years have rolled on
and the time slipped away,
And PA'S patience has got
to the end of it's [sic] tether,
It's time that these
TWO SPOONS
got TIED UP together.


And for you young'uns...spooning according to my mother, involved a little hand holding, maybe a kiss and a cuddle, nothing serious at all, but potentially embarrassing all the same.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Victoria, BC, Canada: The Times Colonist Newspaper Puts History On-line

Tomorrow the Times Colonist newspaper of British Columbia, Canada will be officially 150 years old. All year, the paper has celebrated with special articles, columns and editions filled with British Columbia history. From its beginnings on Dec. 11, 1858, as the British Colonist, the paper has covered all our province's big stories and many of the everyday ones as well.

Congratulations to all the Victoria Times Colonist staff for a job well done (especially to Dave Obee) and congratulations and thanks go too to the paper's management for supporting this celebration. The modern Victoria Times Colonist is going to make a history section a permanent feature in the paper's website and, TA-DAH, tomorrow the first 50 years of the newspaper goes on-line.

I've been napping all week, just so I can stay up tomorrow night and read!

GO TO: http://www.britishcolonist.ca


Co-incidentally, tomorrow is also my baby brother's birthday. No, no, he's not 150! He might be 50 something, but I'm not telling any more than that.

Happy Birthday, Baby Bother!

Victoria Times Colonist, "150 years of bringing you the news": http://www.timescolonist.com/years+bringing+news/1043994/story.html

KLUCAS, KLASEUS, KLASUS - Viscount, Saskatchewan, Canada - 8th Edition - Smile for the Camera

to Myrtle From Minnie Klucas
Addressed to: Miss Myrtle Klaseus Viscount Sask. Canada
Split-back postcard, no postmark or identification


The theme for this 8th edition of Smile for the Camera is: Stocking Stuffer. Show us that picture that would make a great Stocking Stuffer and tell us whose stocking you'd stuff. Share!

Here are two from a group of photographs that would make just the right 'stocking stuffers' for that special person. I'm happy to share these here and would be thrilled to send these to someone who can identify themselves as connected to these people.

I will put the other photographs up on Flickr in the next few days and post the link here. These were a set of stray photos bought together - it appears most may belong together. Several are identified like these two are as from Viscount, Saskatchewan, Canada.
No dates, no postmarks, etc. though.

15 December 2008** To see the rest of the photos, go to my Flickr Viscount SK Canada photographs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdianerogers/



from Minnie Klucas To Myrtle Klaseus

Addressed to: Miss Myrtle Kluseus (or Klasus) Viscount Sask Canada

Split-back postcard; no postmark or identification






Sunday, December 07, 2008

Isabelle McTavish - Canadian Missionary Doctor - 1881-1953: Canadian Genealogy Carnival, Edition 2



Isabelle MCTAVISH,
b. 19 December, 1881 Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada;
d. 26 January, 1953, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

This post is for the Second Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival - "My Famous Canadian Ancestor".
Was your ancestor a famous Canadian hockey player, actor or politician? Tell us about famous Canadians in your family. Don't have a famous Canadian ancestor in your family tree? Not to worry; choose a famous Canadian you admire and share why you would like to have this person as your ancestor.

I have NO famous ancestors at all, and no famous connections either (unless we count the old story about being related to Mary, Queen of Scots, and I don't!), but there are a number of family connections to Canadians who should at least be better known, in my opinion.

One of those is Isabelle McTavish, a Canadian medical missionary to China. I heard about her when I was young, since she lived in Newdale, Manitoba, where my grandmother and mum were both born. I was always interested in her since I was told she became a doctor in the 1910's, which was certainly uncommon at the time, spent much of her life in China, and never married.

Isabelle MCTAVISH, b. 19 December, 1881, Minnedosa area, Manitoba, Canada; d. 26 January, 1953, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Parents: John MCTAVISH (1847-1891) and Catherine Jane WADDELL (1856-1936), married at Perth, Ontario, Canada, 29 May, 1878.

Isabelle McTavish's siblings: John Fraser, James Andrew, Annie (married Thomas Andrew WADDELL).

Although Isabelle McTavish was born near Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada in 1881, sometime before 1891, her family moved to Newdale, Manitoba. Her father, a farmer and entrepreneur, taught school at Newdale, but died at work in 1891.

Life must have been difficult for the family. But in 1915, Isabelle Mctavish was graduated as a doctor from the Manitoba Medical College in Winnipeg. Canada. She and Frances Gertrude McGill, also from Minnedosa area, that year were the third and fourth women to be so graduated, following Dr. Edith Ross in 1913 and Dr. Lavinia McPhee Green, the very first to be graduated. Dr. Green hosted a dinner at Winnipeg's Royal Alexandra Hotel for the four female doctors the evening after the graduation. (Manitoba Free Press, 15 May, 1915, p. 9)

That fall, Isabelle McTavish left for China to work as a medical missionary with the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Until 1942, with brief periods away, she continued to work as a doctor in China – in North Honan, at Wuan, Wheihwei, and at Changte (at first with Doctor Jean Gow). According to McTavish's obituary, the Chinese government honoured her for this. (Winnipeg Free Press, 26 January, 1953, p.9.) The Newdale 1870-1970 history mentions that this honour was the ‘Order of Mercy Decoration Medal, 2nd Degree’. (Printed at Brandon: Newdale Historical Society, 1970, pp. 146-7)

McTavish apparently returned home in 1927 during the period of civil war. My mother remembered her speaking in Newdale to raise money for missionary work. (I'm sure this is how my mother first realized how wide the world was outside Newdale. My mum was fascinated with China all her life. I'm glad she did get to travel there at last.)

McTavish didn’t practice locally as a doctor as far as I know, but my mother said she did attend my great grandmother when she was dying at home, as the Newdale doctor was out of town.

McTavish returned to China in 1931. During World War II, she and others were taken prisoner and interned; she was freed and returned home in 1942 with other missionaries. The Lethbridge Herald of 25 June, 1942, p.9, reported her among those who had left Shanghai on a repatriation ship for Portuguese West Africa.

From 1942 to 1946, she served at the Bonnyville General Hospital in Alberta, Canada (Katherine K. Prettie Hospital), long a project of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church of Canada and later of the United Church of Canada. In 1946, she returned to China to help re-open the hospital at Changte. She left China for the last time in 1949 and returned to Newdale, Manitoba, but very soon moved to Winnipeg. She continued to speak, usually to women’s groups, on missionary and medical work in China, and attended conferences, for instance, a Methodist Missionary conference in New York in 1943.

On the 26th of January, 1953, she died in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was buried in Newdale in the McTavish family plot. (North side, Newdale’s ‘Oldale’ Cemetery.) Both her brothers and her sister survived her.

Recently there has been more interest in the work of Canadian women and others in medical missions in China, see for example, Healing Henan: Canadian Nurses at the North China Mission, 1888-1947 by Sonya Grypma (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008) and In War and Famine: Missionaries in China's Honan Province in the 1940s by Erleen Christensen (Montreal, Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005).

So far, there are only brief mentions of Doctor Isabelle McTavish though. I hope in 2009-2010 to write a research piece about her myself.

I'd be interested in learning more about the other women connected with Isabelle McTavish's life, particularly Dr. Lavinia McPhee Green, who I believe has a British Columbian connection.

Here I've used the contemporary newspaper renditions of Chinese place names.

Monday, December 01, 2008

BC Digitization Symposium 2008 - Opening Session - Ian Wilson, Library & Archives Canada

Tonight I attended the opening session of the BC Digitization Symposium 2008, West Beyond The West being held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada gave the keynote address, which he called: From Canada, by Web: Settling a New World.

Certainly he gave a good speech, and overall, a good overview of the many threads that I also feel need to inform discussions of digitization of historical and cultural materials - questions about preservation, the thorny issue of copyright, the trend, now even in North America, towards portable 'computer-like' devices, the popularity of authorship on the web, the possibility of 'digitization on demand', for instance.

He made it clear he sees both a need for Canadian content on the web, and a desire for it from users (mostly genealogists, of course!) and that he recognizes that if Canadian content is to be uploaded and downloaded in a context informed by 'Canadian' values and experience, this will mean dealing with issues like accessibility and language.

He did, however, mention the role of Library and Archives Canada not as a leader, but as a catalyst, in encouraging digitization partnerships. Yes, he mentioned commercial partners, but few specifics, although he did talk a bit about Canadiana.org and the donation of software to Canadiana from OpenText Corporation, for example. (Tom Jenkins, the Executive Chairman of Open Text was elected to Canadiana.org's Board this last summer. Canadiana.org is a not-for-profit organization, originally established by the Canada Council for the Arts, which is now co-ordinating digitization initiatives by various partners. Canadiana.org has been partnering since 2007 with a commercial company, The Generations Network (TGN), aka Ancestry.com, for financial and possibly other considerations. )

Mr. Wilson went on to say that digitized collections already on the web have brought to Canadians' attention the range and depth of Canada's historic documents and artifacts, have made history more personal to users - history "first person singular"- and brought an affirmation of Canadian identity and diversity, for instance, in 'Project Naming', as archival photographs of unnamed 'Eskimos' were scanned, so that youthful volunteers could work with elders and others to identify the individuals shown.

Mostly well and good - however, one of his beginning points, I think, was that the proliferation of digitized materials has reasserted the need for archival and institutional stewardship, expert information and analysis, and the management of these resources. Again I agree with him, but here also I see a disconnect at the moment - at least in some of LAC's partnerships.

One obvious example, from LAC's relationship with TGN, would be in the recent addition of Canadian World War I attestation papers to Ancestry.com's offerings.

First, for instance, the description of this index on Ancestry says "This database contains an index to the Attestation papers of men [my emphasis] enlisted...."

Good grief! Then what are all those female nurses doing in that index? As the steward of these original Canadian records, and as our information experts, did LAC not at least explain these records to TGN?

And second, if LAC really wants to ask genealogists who look at these attestations, "Would you like an order of Canadian history to go with that?" as LAC has said previously [Note 1], why did LAC let them be shown to viewers as isolated 'objects' at Ancestry.com in the first place - why not keep the viewer on LAC's website where they can be linked to other related resources? And, any index to the attestations is really only an index to the Canadian WW I soldiers' files held at LAC. Sadly, most Ancestry.com viewers may be unaware that they can order copies of the files or view the files in Ottawa and that, in many cases, they will find valuable information at LAC.

Well, tomorrow is another day, as a famous fictional southern woman once said. I'm looking forward to mulling over some of these issues in tomorrow's symposium sessions.

LINKS

Canadian Digitization Information Strategy. If you do read the Draft Strategy from October 2007, be sure to read the on-line responses to the draft too: http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/cdis/index-e.html

About Us, Canadiana.org: http://www.canadiana.org/eco.php?doc=cihm

Project Naming, Library & Archives Canada. This is a Canadian website, in French, English and Inuktitut. To see the latter, you'll need a special font, but that's available free, follow the links: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/inuit/index-e.html

Note 1: Re 'Would you like an order of Canadian history to go with that?" I didn't make that up myself, it's from LAC's February 2007 'Strategy for the LAC Genealogy Program' sic! I have never decided whether this 'slogan' is patronizing or just plain silly.
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