Watershed Moments: A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District, by Christine Dickinson, Deborah Griffiths, Judy Hagen and Catherine Siba, has just been shortlisted in the British Columbia Historical Federation Historical Writing Competition.
The award celebrates books that make significant contributions to the historical literature of British Columbia.
In Watershed Moments, the Courtenay and District Museum opens its vast collection of historical photographs, glass plate negatives and other ephemera, much of which has never before been available for public viewing.Spanning from the late 1800s to the modern era, here are scenes of K’ómoks village life, boating parties, family celebrations, agricultural events and economic activities. This rich visual depiction of the region and its development is complemented by lively text, drawing heavily on the museum’s extensive holdings of primary source material.
Local authors Dickinson, Griffiths, Hagen and Siba write of ancient fish weirs, bride ships and gentlemen adventurers, back-breaking work and astounding beauty, tracing the complex development of a diverse and ever-changing community.
Dickinson is an educator with a passion for regional history. She co-authored Atlin: The Story of British Columbia’s Last Gold Rush, which received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award.
Griffiths is the executive director of the Courtenay and District Museum and has been involved in museum research and curatorial work in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island for more than thirty years.
Hagen received an award from the Canadian Museums Association for her book Comox Valley Memories, published by the Courtenay and District Museum in 1993.
Siba is the curator of social history at the Courtenay and District Museum. She has led a number of historic digitization projects and has been involved with museum curatorship and research for many years.
The winner of the BC Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, as well as the second- and third-place winners of the competition, will be announced at the British Columbia Historical Federation Conference Book Awards Reception on Saturday, May 28 at the Revelstoke Mountain Resort.
Also shortlisted for the BCHF Historical Writing Competition is Carlo Gentile, Gold Rush Photographer, 1863-1866 by Ronald A. Greene, Ferries & Fjords: The History of Indian Arm by Ralph Drew, Homesteading and Stump Farming on the West Coast 1880-1930; Powell River, Lund, Stillwater & Mysterious Horseshoe Valley by Barbara Ann Lambert, The Life and Art of Jack Akroyd by Peter Busby, Our Whole Bamfield Saga: Pioneer Life on Vancouver Island’s West Coast by Judith Phillips, and Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932-33 Miners’ Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.