NBCA Digital Collections

 1) The John H. Holzworth Field Report, 1923

The NBCA is pleased to provide on-line access to the 1923 John M. Holzworth Field Report originally submitted to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and now currently housed at The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA). This unique field report which describes “Mountain Sheep and Caribou Distribution”in Northern British Columbia in 1923, consists primarily of reports, notebooks, notes, photographs, maps, and related materials documenting biological field research conducted by staff naturalists of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and its predecessor, the Bureau of Biological Survey.

2) Northern Explorations & Development Digitization Project

Accession No. 2002.1.30.4.83

Northern BC, at the beginning of the 20^th century, was a land that had already known economic development, ethnic diversification, resource exploitation and socio-religious evolution: the gold rush and the work of the missionaries having effectively introduced these realities in the 19th century. What the early decades of the 20^th century brought to Northern BC was a concerted push towards integrated economic and political development and mass re-settlement by immigrants. Dreamers, adventurers, entrepreneurs and politicians alike reveled in the endless possibilities they believed the North could provide. Luckily, this dynamic period in Northern BC history was often captured in photographs – a legacy which now offers the rest of us, a glimpse into this exciting past!

• “Construction of a Railroad: The G.T.P.” - featuring the G.T.P. Railway Collection
• Race to “The Last Spike” – featuring the P.G.E.-R.A. Harlow Collection
• “Campaigning in the Peace: A Boat Load of Politicians” – featuring the Peace River Expedition Photograph Collection
• “H.G.T. Perry: The Golden Tongued Orator Who Established a City” - featuring the H.G.T. Perry fonds
• “Big Game Hunting in the Northern Outback” – featuring the Prentiss Gray Collection
• Mapping the Uncharted: “Edmonton to the Pacific Ocean or Bust” – featuring the Phipps-MacKenzie Collection
• Fort Fraser: The Eden of the North” – featuring the Fort Fraser Photograph Collection
• “Alexander Manson: Lawyer to Prospector?” – featuring the Alexander Manson Mining Collection

3) Red Rock Community History Project 

The story of British and European immigration to the Canadian West has been a major component of the history of the rural community in Canada. However few first person accounts exist of immigration to rural Central British Columbia, particularly from a woman’s perspective. This exhibit project brings one such account into the historical record through annotated excerpts of the manuscript, A Man’s Country written by Norah Banbery Doherty who, with her Irish immigrant husband Irwin Doherty, settled in Red Rock, B.C. from 1938 to 1960. Mrs. Doherty’s memoir inspired an entire oral history research project conducted by UNBC students, the results of which are also highlighted through this virtual exhibit. Click here to enter the Red Rock Community History Project!

 4) 2011 NBCA Photo Digitization Project

Accession No. 2009.7.1.45

The purpose of this particular digitization project was to enable broader access to the many intriguing images found within those fonds/collections which had previously only been accessible via on-site visits. This grant-funded digitization initiative has enabled access, via the Archives on-line database, to 3,610+ images documenting the historical, social, political, environmental, religious & industrial development of Northern BC from the late 19^th to early 20th centuries. Some of the fonds/collections digitized through this project include:

• Thomas Crosby III Mission Ship Photograph Collection
• James Joseph Claxton Photographic Collection
• Taylor-Baxter Photograph Collection
• Fred Jeffery Photograph Collection
• Archdeacon W.H. Collison fonds

5) Cassiar Asbestos Mining Corporation Ltd. Digitization Project

Accession No. 2000.1.1.3.19.17

In 1952 the Cassiar Asbestos Mining Corp. (CAMC) constructed an asbestos mine and mill and created a town site for its workers in Northern British Columbia. As owner of the mill and town site, it provided and maintained municipal services required: sewer, water, electricity, as well as medical, educational, community & retail services. This one-industry resource town of 1200+ people existed for 40 years, yet today nothing remains in the region to mark its industrial, economic or social past. The aim of this project is to provide research access to the records that document 40 years of operations of the Cassiar Asbestos Mining Corporation and of the records of the town of Cassiar, all of which were acquired by UNBC upon the closure of the mine and town site in 1995. The Cassiar records (1952-1992) (extent 1650+ boxes) are of interest to academic researchers in a number of disciplines (history, geography, economics, business, environmental science) and has the potential to provide new knowledge about the technological, social, environmental and health impacts of natural resource developments in Northern Canada in the latter part of the 20^th century. To view both the photographic and cartographic descriptions of the CAMC please visit the Cassiar Asbestos Mining Corp. fonds. To access an inventory of the the textual materials of the CAMC fonds please contact the Archives.