The Library and Archives Canada unveiled its new Web site and URL, http://www.collectionscanada.ca/, in late March 2004. The new site integrates the top level and some of the most important online research tools of the former National Archives of Canada and National Library of Canada, which were merged in October 2002. Using the old URLs will automatically redirect you to the new site. Some old page URLs are different. All URLs on the BC History Portal have been updated.

University of Victoria history professor Patricia Roy will present "A History of Transportation in B.C. Through the Eyes of Its Cartoonists" on April 18, 2004 in the Newcombe Conference Hall, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, at 2 pm. Using cartoons that have appeared in British Columbia publications (and occasionally elsewhere), she will describe the politics of roads, bridges, and railroads in the province from the early plans to build a transcontinental railway to controversies over highways. Professor Roy teaches British Columbia history, and is the author of several significant books on Asian immigration to British Columbia. Her talk is sponsored by the Friends of the BC Archives. Free for Friends of the BC Archives, $5.00 for non-members. For more information contact Ann ten Cate, Outreach Coordinator, Access and Information Management Services (250) 387-2970 or Ron Greene, Secretary of the Friends of the BC Archives at (250) 598-1835.

On Sunday, March 14th, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., in the Newcombe Conference Hall, Royal British Columbia Museum, the Friends of the B.C. Archives will host a lecture by Royal BC Museum Archaeology Curator Grant Keddie. He will present a slide show on the history of the old Songhees Reserve on Victoria's Inner Harbour, its people and the city that grew up around it. Based on his new book, Songhees Pictorial: A History of the Songhees People as Seen by Outsiders, 1790-1912 (Royal BC Museum, 2004), Grant will show an impressive selection of archival images, featuring many rarely seen early photographs, and will talk about the archival "excavating" that he did in order to reconstruct the history of this area.

For more information about this event contact Ann ten Cate, Outreach Coordinator, B.C. Archives, 250-387-2970 or Ron Greene, Secretary of the Friends of the B.C. Archives at 250-598-1835. This event is free for Friends of the Archives, $5.00 for non-members, payable at the door. Call in advance for information about handicap access.

50 Years, the British Columbia Film and Television Industry (also known as CanadaFilmHistory.com) promotes a new documentary film by Brent Madarasz titled "Inventing Grace, Touching Glory" that depicts "how the western Canadian film business was built from the early 1950s to present day."

Sunday, 15 February 2004, at 1400 hours
Newcombe Conference Hall, RBCM Exhibits Building
675 Belleville Street, Victoria

Professor Robert Menzies, Simon Fraser University
A History of Psychiatric Treatment in BC

Free for Friends of the BC Archives, $5.00 for non-members. Professor Robert Menzies, of Simon Fraser University, will speak about the results of his long term research project into the treatment of criminal insanity in BC. Professor Menzies and his associates have spent several years combing through thousands of patient case files from Essondale, examining the in-hospital experiences of inmates over an eighty year period. These records, held at the Archives, are also being used to study psychiatric deportations from Canada, eugenic sterilization, and the relationships between mental disorder, gender, race and ethnicity. This will be a fascinating opportunity to hear about the use of archival records in society's ongoing attempts to understand mental health issues and our response to them. For more information contact Ann ten Cate, Outreach Coordinator, Access and Information Management Services (250) 387-2970 or Ron Greene, Secretary of the Friends of the BC Archives at (250) 598-1835.

Source: Friends of the BC Archives Web page