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Japan in Focus: Part 2 – Exploring materials related to Japanese Canadian during World War II

By Lauren Wong on August 6, 2024

Content Warning: This blog post features items that contain some outdated, racist, and derogatory language. This blog post follows the language guidelines set forth by Japanese Canadian Legacies, which can be found at this link. In this second part of our series “Japan in Focus”, we will delve into the materials within our open collections […]

Posted in Carousel, Digitizers' Blog, japanese canadian photograph collection, Japanese Canadians, open collections, world war two | Read More | No Comments

Japan in Focus: Part 1 – Kamishibai Plays and Their Diverse Audiences

By Lauren Wong on July 23, 2024

Welcome to our blog series exploring Japan-related materials from our Open Collections! This week, we begin with Part 1, where we delve into the fascinating world of kamishibai plays from the private collection of Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh, Department Head and Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture at UBC’s Asian Studies. While our previous […]

Posted in Carousel, Digitizers' Blog, Kamishibai Propaganda Plays, open collections | Read More | No Comments

The Lee Family: Enduring Struggles and Separation

By Lauren W on July 9, 2024

In one of our blog posts in May, we briefly touched on the Chinese Head Tax, a burdensome imposition on many Chinese Canadians from the 1885 to 1923. This week, we will take a closer look at the life of Chuck Lee, one of the very few Chinese Canadians in Halifax in the early 1900s, […]

Posted in Carousel, Chinese Canadian, Chinese Canadian Stories, Chinese Exclusion Act, Chuck Lee, Digitizers' Blog, Halifax, Head Tax, open collections | Read More | No Comments

Meet Norman L. Kwong (林佐民): A Remarkable Chinese Canadian Icon

By Lauren W on June 11, 2024

Norman L. Kwong’s path to becoming a significant figure in Canadian sports and society as a Chinese Canadian speaks volumes about resilience and breaking barriers. In this week’s blog post, we will explore his remarkable life, including the challenges he faced and the success he achieved. Early Life and Challenges Norman Kwong (far right, front […]

Posted in Carousel, Chinese Canadian Stories, Digitizers' Blog, Football, open collections, Sports | Read More | No Comments

Exploring Japanese Travel Narratives in Tokugawa Era

By Lauren W on May 14, 2024

This week’s blog post explores the fascinating world of Japanese travel during the Tokugawa period (1603 – 1868), both within Japan and beyond its borders. All materials shown in this blog post are from our Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era Collection which is available through Open Collection. 1. Seiyū ryotan (西遊旅譚) [A Diary of […]

Posted in Carousel, Digitizers' Blog, First Opium War, Japan, Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era, open collections, travel | Read More | No Comments

Wildfire Prevention in B.C. Historical Newspapers: 1904-1981

By Jillian on April 30, 2024

A comparatively warm and dry winter here in British Columbia has experts predicting a bad year for wildfires across the province. While wildfires have always been a natural part of British Columbia’s seasonal cycle, increasing seasonal average temperatures and decreased precipitation are contributing to longer, more widespread and more destructive wildfire seasons, with four of […]

Posted in BC historical newspapers, BC wildfire, British Columbia History, Carousel, Digitizers' Blog, open collections, wildfire prevention, wildfires | Read More | No Comments

Dinner Menus from the 1930’s-50’s

By Jillian on April 16, 2024

This week’s blog post is a selection of dinner menus from the Chung Collection, which is held at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. The Chung Collection contains many materials including travel pamphlets, itineraries and menus from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which was a large enterprise that dealt in railway and non-railway transportation […]

Posted in Carousel, CPR, Digitizers' Blog, dinner menu, menus, open collections | Read More | No Comments