Kelowna British Columbia Canada A Pictorial History

In 1889, Alice Barrett moved west from Ontario to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia to keep house for her brother and uncle. She soon married Harold Parke, a former military officer, and recorded her experiences in a series of notebooks. Few women’s diaries have survived from that time, and Parke recalls a period of profound transformation in a region newly opened to white settlement by the railway. She was an astute observer and an exceptional writer, and her diaries provide valuable insights into work, health, religion, race and gender relations, and women’s lives. She was part of the circle of the Countess of Aberdeen, who stayed at nearby Coldstream Ranch, and became the first corresponding secretary of the Vernon chapter of the National Council of Women.

Much attention has been paid to the changing culture and construction of the Canadian metropolis, but how are the workings of whiteness manifested in rural-urban spaces? White Space analyzes the dominance of whiteness in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia to expose how this racial notion continues to sustain forms of settler privilege. Contributors to this perceptive collection move beyond appraising whiteness as if it were a solid and unshakable category. Instead they powerfully demonstrate how the concept can be re-envisioned, resisted, and reshaped in a context of neoliberal economic change.

The Kelowna town site was laid out in 1892, and by 1898 the community growing on the shores of Okanagan Lake began to show that it would become a permanent settlement. As people came so did the travelling missionaries and students of both the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. Kelowna is the largest community in the Okanagan Valley. The Okanagan Sunflower is the official floral emblem of Kelowna. It is one of the longest blooming wildflowers, providing abundant splashes of bright yellow on the hillsides in early spring. The plant is drought tolerant; it's completely edible and was used by the First Nations peoples as a food source. Its large yellow flowers reflect the sunny Okanagan skies and the hot summer climate. The service industry employs the most people in Kelowna. In summer, boating, swimming, waterskiing, windsurfing, fishing, golfing, hiking and biking are popular. In winter both Alpine and Nordic skiing are favorite activities at the nearby ski resorts. Kelowna produces wines that have received international recognition. Vineyards are found around and south of the city where the climate is ideal for the many wineries. Kelowna is the home of Sun-Rype, a popular manufacturer of fruit bars and juices. Many prominent people played a part in Kelowna becoming the city it is today and many of them made their homes on Marshall Street. The W.J. Marshall family was one of the very early families to settle here and their home is at 1869. R.B. Staples owned the Beaverdell Silver Mine and was also prominent in the fruit industry; their home is at 1812.

Songhees Pictorial presents the story of the Songhees people, the original Salish inhabitants the southern tip of Vancouver Island, since their first contact with Europeans in 1790. It is an insightful ethno-historical account of a people and the place where they lived. When the Songhees Reserve was established in 1843 across the harbour from Fort Victoria, it became a gathering place for First Peoples throughout the region seeking trade with Europeans. This new commerce brought prosperity, conflict, disease and cultural upheaval to the Songhees and other coastal First Nations. Focusing on the old reserve, Grant Keddie presents these rapidly changing times through the eyes of outsiders, as expressed in newspaper reports and private journals, as depicted in sketches, paintings and photographs. The book features almost 200 archival images - many published here for the first time. Though these views of First Peoples in Victoria were taken through the biased lenses of non-aboriginal photographers, Grant Keddie gives them context and perspective. Songhees Pictorial offers a rich visual history of the old Songhees Reserve and it's people.

These biographies of Canadians are arranged chronologically by date of death. Entries in each volume are listed alphabetically, with bibliographies of source material and an index to names.