This Vancouver

Description

Every community is the sum of its stories and memories. The Vancouver Public Library created This Vancouver to share the stories of Vancouverites and the history of Vancouver communities through images, audio clips, and videos. Many of the collections are the result of VPL collaborating with community members on community-based digital projects.

Title: Artray Collection
Description: In 1994, Art Jones donated a collection of photographs from his company, Artray Ltd. to the Vancouver Public Library. This collection comprises a treasure trove of images of Vancouver from the 1940s and 1950s depicting: street scenes; vehicles; traffic accidents; local and visiting celebrities; theatres; parades; local architecture and industry; sports; people at work and play, as well as aerial views of the city.
Title: Canadian Pacific Railway Collection
Description: The Canadian Pacific Railway Collection comprises images depicting the history of the CPR in British Columbia and provides a fascinating insight into the role of the railway in the development of the province. The pictures were captured by various photographers and they range in date from the 1880s to the 1950s.
Title: Capturing Vancouver
Description: In collaboration with Telus Storyhive, the Vancouver Public Library equipped Vancouverites with the necessary skills and technologies to become citizen reporters. With the support of award-winning journalist Tina House, participants were guided through the production of news stories highlighting parts of the city, community events, and stories of hope.
Title: Carnegie Stories
Description: In the late 1980s local resident Laurel Kimbley conducted a series of interviews on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver to capture the lives and experiences of people living in the neighbourhood. Some of these interviews were later used as the basis for the book Hastings and Main. This collection makes the audio recordings of those interviews available for the first time, following the digitization of the original cassette tapes in VPL’s Inspiration Lab. Take a trip to the past of the Downtown Eastside through the voices of its residents.Vancouver Public Library makes this Carnegie stories collection available for research or private study under Section 30.21(3.1) of the Copyright Act (Canada) and may not be used, copied, or reproduced for any other purpose. Vancouver Public Library does not own the copyright in or hold a licence to publish the content of the Carnegie stories collection. If you own the copyright in the Carnegie stories collection or you or a family member were interviewed as part of the Carnegie stories collection, you may contact the Vancouver Public Library to request the removal of certain relevant sections of the Carnegie stories collection.
Title: Chinatown Stories
Description: This collection of stories describes Vancouver's Chinatown as experienced by long-time Chinatown residents. Recorded audio interviews are paired with images to tell a visual story in the form of short videos, some in English and some in Cantonese with subtitles. The topics range from the changes over time in Chinatown, favourite businesses and buildings, as well as discussions of life and family. The funding that made the Chinatown Stories project possible was generously provided by Mr. Bob Rennie. Historical pictures provided by the VPL Historical Photographs Collection & City of Vancouver Archives.
Title: Expo Retro
Description: To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Expo 86, the Vancouver Public Library asked Vancouverites to share digitized photos of Expo and record audio clips of their thoughts and experiences. These memories are yours to explore!
Title: Hellenic Stories
Description: Recorded as part of the Story City project, the contributions from the Vancouver Greek community quickly grew large enough for their own collection. The Hellenic Stories collection brings together the stories of over three generations of Greek Vancouverites. Hear the diverse opinions on the places that matter to the Greek-Canadian community and how this community helped make Vancouver what it is today.
Title: Hollywood North
Description: The Hollywood North project was inspired by the rich history of the film industry in Vancouver - the third largest film production centre in North America. We have collected oral stories and photographs that recall the personal encounters of Vancouverites with the industry over the years.
Title: Leonard Frank Collection
Description: An active photographer between 1910 - 1944, Leonard Frank travelled throughout British Columbia taking photographs of a vast array of subjects thereby providing a detailed record of life in the province.
Title: Mattie Gunterman Collection
Description: Welcome to Beaton and Lardeau Valley in the Kootenay District of British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century. From dish washing to berry picking, community picnics to masquerade balls, Madeline Gunterman's photographs reveal spontaneity, directness and a lively sense of moment that affords the viewer a unique glimpse of pioneer life.
Title: Philip Timms Collection
Description: Philip Timms worked in and around the Lower Mainland in the first half of the last century taking photographs of people, buildings and daily life in town and country.
Title: Remembering Our DTES Women
Description: Since 1991, the Women's Memorial March Committee has organized a march on February 14th to honour the memory of all women from the Downtown Eastside (DTES) who have died due to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence. Each year since 2005 the Women's Memorial March Quilt is carried by dozens of people during that march. This quilt was created by the collaboration of family members, friends, and community members over many years. Each panel honours the love, hopes, and dreams for the women who have been murdered or gone missing in the DTES. Since 2015, the Vancouver Public Library and the Women's Memorial March Committee have been working together to digitize the 120+ beautiful panels that form the Women's Memorial March Quilt. Our intention is to preserve the images of the panels in high quality photographs, and then with the families' approval display the images in this online gallery. If you are a family member of one of the women commemorated in the quilt panels and you have questions or concerns about the content presented in the Remembering Our DTES Women collection that relates to your family member, please contact [email protected] at any time.
Title: Story City
Description: In 2017 Vancouver Public library launched Story City, a collection of stories unique to our city and as rich as any book on our shelves. With funding from the City of Vancouver and the Government of Canada, through the Canada 150 Fund, the Story City project took staff with digital recorders to Indigenous arts festivals, local SLAM poetry haunts, favourite French language cafés, and a host of community spaces to map out the cultural life of Vancouver as told by its residents. Over 400 people shared their unique memories of the unceded Coast Salish territory that has become the City of Vancouver. These stories showcase the depth and variety of the thoughts, opinions and experiences of our communities.
Title: Vancouver Special
Description: Vancouver Public Library produced a podcast in 2015 called Vancouver Special, which highlights the history and happenings that helped to define Vancouver over a 20 year period. Created in celebration of VPL's Central Library's 20th anniversary, each episode focuses on a different year of our city's history from 1995 to 2015, bringing together stories, experiences and unique voices to talk about some of the things that make Vancouver so amazing.
Title: West End Stories
Description: The West End Stories online exhibit gathers together oral stories from individuals who grew up in Vancouver’s West End. These recollections and pictures tell the story of life in the West End from the 1930s onward.
Title: What Changes You?
Description: As part of the Central Library's morph exhibition, VPL's Storybooth asked "What Changes You?" This collection highlights the videos participants recorded in under one minute, sharing something that changes them... or will.