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Authority record
2006.5 · Corporate body · 1972-1996

In the fall of 1972, the Prince George Women’s Centre was created, and this began a legacy of women’s centres in Prince George. It began when a group of women, after being involved with the local production of the play “Lysistrata," decided that Prince George needed a women’s centre. Although it was involved in other activities, the main goal of the Prince George Women’s Centre was to develop a transition home for women and their children who needed shelter for whatever reason. This goal was realized in 1974, with the opening of the Phoenix Transition House. However, due to a changing focus and a stronger political and feminist position, the Prince George Women’s Centre faced internal upheaval, which resulted in a name change taking place in September of 1976. The group was now called the Prince George Women’s Collective.

A main focus of The Prince George Women’s Collective was its counseling and referral services. The Prince George Women’s Collective lasted until January of 1978, when controversy regarding the firing of two employees proved to bring about denigration of the group's status, both internally and with the public in general. Thus, the members of the Prince George Women’s Centre voted to dissolve the organization, and replace it with the Prince George Women’s Equal Rights Association (known commonly as WERA) in January of 1978.

While the changeover was taking place, further financial scandal marred the Collective’s name. WERA set out to distance itself from the Collective, and to focus on educating the public on women’s issues. To that end, research and lobbying were a central focus. WERA was notably not a resource centre, but instead its main focus of education led to the production of a newsletter for women of northern British Columbia, by women of northern British Columbia. This they accomplished, and the result was ‘Aspen,' a publication which ran until 1983. WERA shut its doors in June of 1983 due to a combination of financial pressures and volunteer burn-out. Right at the time that WERA was closing down, however, another group was springing up with the intention of filling the need for a resource centre for women in Prince George.

The Prince George Women’s Resource Centre opened their doors officially on September 1, 1983, and served the community for many years. Similar to the Women’s Centre and the Women’s Collective, the Prince George Women’s Resource Centre was very service-oriented, and less politically oriented. The exact reason for the centre's closure is unclear; however, the evidence suggests that it lasted until some time in 1987, when federal money dried up and the centre was no longer able to provide its services to the women in Prince George.

Following the Prince George Women's Resource Centre, another group opened an office on George Street called the Prince George Women's Connection. The only records contained in this collection regarding the Women's Connection are in the form of brochures and advertisements sent to them. Because the collection does not include many of the Women's Connection records, extensive research was not undertaken in regards to their history.

Prince Rupert Daily News
Corporate body · 1911-2010

The "Prince Rupert Empire" was the first newspaper in Prince Rupert, B.C. The newspaper became defunct in 2010 after its acquisition by Black Press.

Prince, Rose
Person · 1915-1949

Rose Prince was a Dakelh woman who has inspired an ongoing Catholic pilgrimage. Prince was born in Fort St. James in 1915, the third of Jean-Marie and Agathe Prince's nine children. Jean-Marie was descended from the great chief Kwah, while Agathe had been raised in Williams Lake by the Sisters of the Child Jesus. When the Lejac Residential School was built in 1922, Prince was sent there, along with the other children from her school. When Prince was 16, still attending school at Lejac, her mother and two youngest sisters died in an influenza outbreak. Devastated, she opted not to return home for the summers, staying on at the school instead. After graduation, she remained at the school, completing chores such as mending, cleaning, embroidering and sewing. Prince contracted tuberculosis, and was confined to bed by the age of 34. She died 19 August 1949, and was buried on her 34th birthday. Two years later, in 1951, several graves west of the Lejac Residential School were relocated to a larger nearby cemetery. During the transfer, Prince's casket broke open, and workers were apparently astonished to find Prince's body and clothing in pristine condition, despite the years that had passed since her death. Other bodies were examined, but even those who had died after Prince showed signs of decay. In 1990, Father Jules Goulet called for a pilgrimage to Lejac. Only 20 people gathered that first year, but by 2004, 1200 people were travelling to Lejac to honour the ordinary yet deeply spiritual life of Rose Prince.

Pugh, Rhys Alan
Person · [19-?]-

Rhys Pugh completed his Masters thesis in History at UNBC in 2004, which was entitled “The Newspaper Wars in Prince George, B.C., 1909-1918.”

Ramsey, Paul
Person · [19-?]-

Paul Ramsey is a Canadian academic and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Prince George-North in 1991 and re-elected in 1996, serving until 2001.
Ramsey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in English in the United States before moving to Canada to attend the University of British Columbia. Ramsey held teaching and administrative jobs at institutions in the United States and Canada before becoming an instructor at the College of New Caledonia in 1975. He entered politics via his involvement in the CNC Faculty Association where from 1987 to 1989, he served as president of the College-Institute Educators Association of British Columbia.
His first cabinet appointment was as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Forests. In September 1993 he was appointed Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for Seniors where he served until February 1996 when he became Minister of Education, Skills and Training. From June 1996 to January 1997, he was appointed Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks. In January 1997 he returned to the Ministry of Education, Skills, and Training where he remained until February 1998 when he became Minister of Education. On September 21, 1999 he was appointed Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and on November 1, 2000 he added the role of Minister Responsible for Northern Development.
Ramsey is currently a Visiting Professor in Political Science at the University of Northern British Columbia and has a wife and two grown children.

Ringwood, Gwen Pharis
Person · 1910-1984

Playwright born in Anatone, Washington, 1910, died near Williams Lake, British Columbia , 1984 (where she had lived since 1953). Her father was a teacher in small community schools in southern Alberta. In 1926, the family moved to Montana and, in highschool, she acted in plays.

Ringwood graduated from the University of Alberta with an Honours English degree, working part time as a secretary for the Department of Extension's director of drama, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes , and then working at the Banff Centre for the Arts as registrar. It was in Banff that she wrote her first play, The Dragons of Kent in 1935. In 1938, while studying playwriting in North Carolina, Ringwood created the spooky one-act masterpiece Still Stands the House (premiered in North Carolina), one of the most frequently performed plays in the history of Canadian theatre. In 1939 the play won at the Dominion Drama Festival. She returned to Alberta in 1939 and was director of dramatics at the University of Alberta. In that same year she married John Brian Ringwood and they subsequently had two children.

Ringwood also wrote frequently for radio. She and Elsie Park Gowan were approached by CKUA to write a series of history plays, in order to reach an isolated Alberta audience with little opportunity for further education. The series, entitled "New Lamps for Old", featured the "great names" in history -- Socrates, Beethoven, Cromwell, Florence Nightingale, but focused more on their social and personal lives than on their heroic achievements.

While in Edmonton during the war, she received a grant from Robert Gard of the Alberta Folklore and Local History Project to write Alberta folk plays: Jack the Joker (Banff 1944), about the life of the colourful Calgary newspaper editor, Bob Edwards; The Rainmaker (Banff 1945), set in Medicine Hat during the drought of 1921; and Stampede (University of Alberta 1946), about the Black cowboy and rancher, "Nigger John". Her other plays include the satiric comedy about miserliness, Widger's Way (University of Alberta 1952); children's plays The Sleeping Beauty (Cariboo Indian School, Williams Lake, British Columbia, 1965), and The Golden Goose (Cariboo Indian School 1973); and a trilogy entitled Drum Song about the tragic lives of Native women based on Euripides' Greek tragedies (University of Victoria 1982). Her popular comedy, Garage Sale premiered at the New Play Centre - now Playwrights Theatre Centre in 1981).

Like Gowan, Ringwood also wrote historical pageants to celebrate community anniversaries: an Edmonton pageant on Methodist missionary John McDougall and chief Maskapetoon to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Methodist Church in 1940; Look Behind You Neighbour, with music by Chet Lambertson, for the 50th anniversary of Edson, Alberta in 1961; and The Road Runs North, commissioned for the Williams Lake centennial in 1967.

In 1941 she received the Governor General's Medal for Outstanding Service in the development of Canadian drama, and in 1982 published the first volume of her plays, becoming the first Canadian playwright to become anthologized. The theatre in Williams Lake is named in her honour, and an award for drama, given by the Alberta Writers Guild, is named for her.

Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.
Corporate body · 1902-

During the 1940s, the British Columbia government wanted to develop the considerable resources of the northwest and north central areas of the province. At the same time, they wished to establish new population centres, without risking taxpayers' funds. Alcan was invited by the B.C. government to investigate the possibility of establishing an aluminum industry in the northwest. Shortly after, Alcan began the large-scale Kitimat-Kemano project. At the time, it was the largest privately funded construction project ever undertaken in Canada. It cost $500 million in 1950 (more than $3.3 billion in today's currency). The project included construction of several components, including the Kenney Dam in the Nechako River Canyon, which reversed the river's eastward flow and created the Nechako Reservoir.

Robinson, Charles N.
Person

"Celebrities of the Army" was collected and edited by Naval Commander Charles Napier Robinson, and published by G. Newnes in 1902. It consists of a serial collection of lavish coloured portraits and short biographies of senior offices and major heroes of the South African Boer War.

Rogers, Dan
Person

Mayor of Prince George, 2008-2011
Manager of Public Relations for the Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club, 1996-1999

Person · 19 August 1919 - 21 May 2010

Robert Gordon Rogers, OC OBC (August 19, 1919 – May 21, 2010) was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1983 to 1988.

Born in Montreal, he was a graduate of the University of Toronto Schools, the University of Toronto, and the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston. During the Second World War, he served with the 1st Hussars of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, landing on Juno Beach on D-Day in 1944. From 1991 to 1996, he served as Chancellor of the University of Victoria. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1990, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.

Ron Brent Elementary School
Corporate body · 1915-

The original Connaught School, located on the corner of Queensway and 15th Avenue, was built in 1915 as a two-room high school and operated until 1951 when it burned down. In 1953 it was reopened in a new, modern building on "one of the finest natural school sites in existence". The school was renamed Ron Brent Elementary in 1978 following the death of Mr. Brent who had taught in the school for 28 years. In the 1998-1999 school year the building was completely renovated and was officially reopened in the fall of 1999. Today it again stands as one of the finest facilities in the Province and the centrepiece of a re-emerging community. The "fine school spirit" of the old Connaught Elementary School remains today in the new Ron Brent school. Demographics: The population of Ron Brent Elementary, once as high as 600 students, is now in the range of 200-225 students.

Ross, Stuart C.
Person

Created by Stuart C. Ross, Architect, PO Box 1804, 1896 Third Ave., Prince George, BC

Royal Bank of Canada
Corporate body · 1864-

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; French: Banque Royale du Canada) is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario. In Canada, RBC serves approximately ten million clients through its network of 1,209 branches. The bank was founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Royal Canadian Air Force
2006.29.12 · Corporate body · 1 April 1924 - 1 February 1968

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was the air force of Canada from 1924 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Forces. The modern Canadian air force has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command (AIRCOM) since 1975, but still refers to itself as the "Air Force" and maintains many of the traditions of the RCAF.

Corporate body · 1926-

The Mission of The Royal Canadian Legion is to serve veterans and their dependents, promote Remembrance and act in the service of Canada and its communities. As well, The Royal Canadian Legion has a strong and continued commitment in promoting Canada's contribution to world peace, the protection of Canadian sovereignty and the preservation of national unity.

The Royal Canadian Legion, formed in 1926, is a non-profit, membership supported fraternal organization. It originally served as a place of camaraderie, support and advocacy, assisting returning military personnel to ease the transition from war to civilian life. Since that time the Legion has evolved into a community service organization serving veterans, ex-service personnel and their families, the new military, as well as seniors and youth.

BC/Yukon Command of The Royal Canadian Legion with 153 Branches, over 90 Ladies Auxiliaries and almost 70,000 members, receives no government funding. BC/Yukon Legionnaires and members of the Ladies Auxiliary contribute millions of dollars to communities every year. These funds are raised through membership drives, fundraisers, donations and sporting and social activities held at Legion Branches and in the community.

BC/Yukon Command also works in partnership with a multitude of government and community, health, social and educational agencies in the design and support of unique programs which will improve the quality of life of others, including Canadian Forces Members, Veterans and Seniors, Youth, and Community Citizens. The BC/Yukon Command also established a Legion Foundation which accepts charitable donations and bequests for: geriatric medical research and bursaries; affordable assisted living facilities; youth leadership and development; and a wide range of health and social services in the community.

(Excerpt taken from http://www.bcyuk.legion.ca/home/about-us/about-us )

Corporate body · 1926-

The Legion is a non-profit, dues-supported, fraternal organization with approximately 1,600 branches in Canada, the United States, Germany and The Netherlands. The Legion receives no financial assistance from any outside agency and membership is open to all Canadian citizens and Commonwealth subjects who subscribe to the purposes and objects of the organization.

From the time of its formation in 1926, the Legion has focussed its efforts on the fight to secure adequate pensions and other well-earned benefits for veterans and their dependants. Acting as an advocacy agency on veterans' behalf, the Legion deals directly with the Federal Government to ensure ex-military personnel and their dependants are treated fairly.

The Royal Canadian Legion has also assumed a major responsibility for perpetuating the tradition of Remembrance in Canada. Each year the Legion organizes and runs the National Poppy and Remembrance Campaign to remind Canadians of the tremendous debt we owe to the 117,000 men and women who have given their lives in the defence of Canada during two world wars, the Korean War and other military missions around the world. Contributions made during the campaign are used to assist needy veterans, ex-service members and their families.

The Legion also supports programs for seniors, particularly through direct community-level activities, the Legion Long term care Surveyor Program and a housing program. The Legion's Youth program provides scholarships and bursaries, sports programs and support to activities such as cadets, scouts and guides.

Runka, G. Gary
Person · 2 Aug. 1938 – 26 July 2013

Gary Runka’s contribution to land inventory, agriculture, natural resource management and land use planning helped shape British Columbia land use policy over five decades. Best known for his guiding role in the creation of BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), Gary Runka was the first General Manager of the Land Commission and later Chair of the (renamed) Agricultural Land Commission. Throughout his career, Gary remained committed to field knowledge as the basis for understanding and resolving land and water use issues. Described by colleagues as “one of the most highly respected agrologists in our profession” and “one of [BC’s] most dedicated and influential land use planners”, Runka spent his 52-year career working on an incredible number of landmark projects in British Columbia.

Gary Runka was born August 2, 1938 and grew up in Baldonnel, near Fort St. John in the Peace River area of British Columbia. Growing up on a farm homesteaded by his parents, Bill and Velma Runka, Gary developed an early and deep connection to agriculture and the natural environment. Gary played baseball, hockey, curling and later in university, football. He married Celia Runka née Zitko (31 Dec. 1938 – 6 Feb. 2014) in 1962 and they had two daughters, Shaundehl Marie and Cayla Renee. The marriage ended in 1973.

Gary’s early employment included work on legal land surveys and a petroleum exploration survey. These experiences tweaked Gary’s interest and steered him toward a career in land science and management. He attended the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture majoring in Soil Science. Upon graduation, he took a position as Pedologist with the BC Department of Agriculture in Kelowna (1961-1966), mapping soils throughout the province and providing soil and land use interpretations for tax assessment, forest management, irrigation engineering and agricultural development. He briefly interrupted his career to complete a Masters of Science degree in Natural Resource Management and Land Use Planning from Cornell University, graduating in 1967. Upon returning to British Columbia and the BC Department of Agriculture, he was appointed BC Land Inventory Field Coordinator (Agriculture and Forestry) for the Canada Land Inventory program (1967-1973). In 1968, Gary became the owner of a cereal/forage seed/oil seed farm near Fort St. John, which included part of the family farm. He continued to manage this farm until generational transfer in 2005.

In 1972, the people of British Columbia elected an NDP government. Among the several significant programs the new government introduced, including a government-owned vehicle insurance company (ICBC), a provincial ambulance service and a community college system, arguably the most dramatic and controversial of all was the “land freeze” imposed on December 21, 1972 (OIC 4483/72). Intended to protect what remained of BC’s scarce agricultural land, OIC 4483/72 and its companion OIC 159/73 (January 18, 1973) halted further subdivision and non-farm use of farmland in BC. The subsequent passage of the Land Commission Act on April 18, 1973 began the process of designating approximately 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 sq mi) of land with the soil/climate combination to support food production as BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). At the time, it was considered the most progressive piece of planning legislation of its kind in North America and to this day, continues to remain a model looked to by many other jurisdictions that continue to lose their valuable agricultural land to non-farm development.

Gary Runka was appointed the first General Manager of the BC Land Commission via Order in Council 2570/73 on August 1, 1973, about 2.5 months after the appointment of the original five-person Commission. A combination of background, education and work experience made Gary uniquely qualified to guide the Commission through its formative years. He held this position until July 24, 1975 when he was appointed Member and Chair of the then renamed Agricultural Land Commission (OIC 2445/75), replacing W.T. Lane, the first Commission Chairman.

During this period, Gary married his second wife, Joan Marie Sawicki (18 Sept. 1945 – present). They had met while both were working with the Canada Land Inventory and Joan subsequently joined the staff at the BC Land Commission to work on the original ALR boundaries.

Gary never wavered in his dedication to safeguarding BC’s agricultural land resource. In 1979, when the government overruled the Land Commission and allowed the exclusion of over 250 acres from the ALR in Langley for industrial development, Gary stuck to his principles and resigned. The ensuing controversy damaged the reputation of the political leadership but was eventually regarded as one of the contributing factors to the continued survival of the ALR.

Upon leaving the Agricultural Land Commission, Gary established his own consulting firm, appropriately named G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. Joan was a business partner in the company until her election in 1991 as an NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing Burnaby-Willingdon. During Joan’s decade as an elected MLA, Gary’s daughter Shaundehl worked with him on Land Sense Ltd. projects.

Over the next 34 years, Gary worked with 681 clients, including all levels of governments, corporations, First Nations, non-government organizations, learning institutions and private individuals. Whether the project was land inventory, community planning, environmental assessment, policy development, land and water use regulation or resource use conflict resolution, Gary always approached planning from the ground up, combining his understanding of natural systems and ecological processes with his diplomatic skills at bringing people of diverse opinions together to solve problems in the long-term public interest. Gary was recognized as a skilled and respected facilitator of complex land use planning issues throughout his career. He left a great legacy to the land, water, and people of British Columbia by helping decision makers and communities make good decisions and establish good policies.

It was just such talents that The Nature Trust of British Columbia needed for an innovative project they undertook during the 1990’s. In an effort to conserve some of the unique biological resources of the South Okanagan, one of the three most endangered ecosystems in Canada, the Trust purchased a number of small private holdings along with three ranches that included substantial associated Crownland grazing leases and licenses. The big challenge then was to derive an overall management plan for the thousands of acres of secured habitat. Gary Runka was ideally suited to the task. After countless collaborative days and months spent sorting out land status designations, reaffirming resource capabilities and resolving competing objectives of diverse interest groups, the final product, which Gary coined "Biodiversity Ranches", was heartily endorsed by all of the stakeholders - including the ranchers who are still managing these properties today.

During the 1990s, Gary also played a key role in yet another ambitious BC land use planning initiative, the Commission on Resources and the Economy (CORE) and subsequent Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs). As facilitator for several of these processes, including in the East Kootenays, Bulkley Valley, Anahim and Charlotte-Alplands, Cassiar/Iskit/Stikine and, perhaps the most challenging of all, Central Coast, Gary’s legendary geographical memory, integrative abilities and diplomatic skills helped guide these multi-sector tables to consensus. British Columbians, both present and future, will forever benefit from the doubling of parks and protected areas that was one of the key products of this monumental planning exercise.

In July 2001, after 30 years of residency in Burnaby, Gary Runka and Joan Sawicki embraced a lifestyle change, moving to Stuie, BC, in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, while retaining an urban base at their Vancouver condominium. Gary and Joan continued their G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. consulting work in addition to their involvement in numerous professional and grassroots organizations.

On July 26, 2013, Gary Runka died suddenly and unexpectedly while walking with Joan near their home in Stuie. At the time of his death, Gary was preparing his expert witness testimony in defense of the prime agricultural lands that would be lost with the building of the Site C dam near Fort St. John - a mere few kilometres away from the farm where he grew up. Gary was honoured posthumously for his contributions to sustainable land use in BC with the 2014 Land Champion award from the Real Estate Foundation of BC. Throughout his career, he was also the recipient of the B.C. Institute of Agrologists’s "Agrologist of the Year" award in 1978 and a Fellowship with the Agricultural Institute of Canada in 1990.

Rustad Bros. & Co. Ltd.
Corporate body · 1947-2009

Rustad Bros. and Co. Ltd. was a large sawmill and planermill that was started operation in 1947. Jim Rustad was the general manager and president of the sawmill. Jim sold the business to Northwood in 1991 (later bought by Canfor) and operated until 2009.

Rustad family
Family · [19-?]-

Jim Rustad was the general manager and president of Rustad Bros. and Co. Ltd., a large sawmill and planermill that was started by his father and uncle in 1947. Noreen Rustad is the daughter of Garvin and Bea Dezell. Garvin was a former mayor of Prince George. In 1992, Noreen received the Governor General Award for her community volunteer activities.

Rustad, Jim
Person · [19-?]-

Jim Rustad was the general manager and president of Rustad Bros. and Co. Ltd., a large sawmill and planermill that was started by his father and uncle in 1947.

Rustad, Noreen
Person · [19-]-

Noreen is the daughter of Garvin and Bea Dezell. Garvin was a former mayor of Prince George. In 1992, Noreen received the Governor General Award for her community volunteer activities.

Rutherford, Mabel
2008.26 · Person · 1938 -

Mabel (nee Scholander) Rutherford participated in the Red Rock Community History Project in 2001. The Red Rock Community History Project was conducted by a team of UNBC students and coordinated by the Northern BC Archives at the University of Northern British Columbia. In their efforts to preserve a community's "collective memory" twelve oral history interviews were conducted with long-time Red Rock area residents to record their memories of life during the mid 20th century. Along with these interview, over 200 photographic images were also collected from them, many of which are found on the project website: http://nbca.library.unbc.ca/pages/archives/LivingLandscapes/ . Mrs. Rutherford’s mother Stephanie (Marcoll) Scholander is a sister to John Marcoll and Kate (Marcoll) Anderson, two individuals also interviewed as part of the Red Rock Community History Project. Mrs. Rutherford is a well-known artist who now lives in the southern interior of British Columbia. Her interview focuses on memories of plowing for spending money, farm life, World War II and her memories of joining the RCAF in the 1950s.

Sadler, W. Murray
Person · [19-?]-

W. Murray Sadler, a founding partner of the Prince George law firm of Heather Sadler Jenkins, was the founding President of the Interior University Society and later became Chairman of the Interim Governing Council of the University of Northern British Columbia.

Sanborn, Paul Thomas
Person · 1955-

Dr. Paul Sanborn is a Professor in the Faculty of Environment with the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Northern British Columbia. Sanborn joined UNBC in 2002 after eleven years as a regional soil scientist with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests. At UNBC, his research program has built on established local field studies of site productivity, nutrient cycling, and soil rehabilitation, and developing a new emphasis on the role of soils as a recorder of long-term environmental change in northwestern Canada.

Sasaki, Torajiro
Person · 8 Jan. 1914-5 July 1994

Torajiro Sasaki was born on January 8, 1914 in Mieken, Japan. He came to Canada in 1931 and lived in Vancouver, working in a greenhouse operation in Steveston, BC.

After Canada's declaration of war on Japan on 8 December 1941, the Canadian federal Government forcibly removed nearly 22,000 persons of Japanese ancestry starting in 1942. About 14,000 of those forcibly removed people were interned in isolated and declining former mining towns and hastily created camps in the West Kootenay and Boundary regions of the province. As the Internment camps were made ready, Japanese Canadians were moved to these camps through the summer and fall of 1942.

Torajiro Sasaki was one of those affected. On 7 February 1942, when he was detained and his property confiscated, his only possession of note (according to the British Columbia Police) was his Kodak camera. Torajiro was initially sent to Lempriere Camp and later to Red Pass internment camps, likely to work on the Yellowhead-Blue River Highway Project. The Yellowhead-Blue River Highway Project was a project of the Surveys and Engineering Branch of the federal Department of Mines and Resources. It ran from 1942 to 1944 and "employed" Japanese-Canadian males 18-60+ (mostly Japanese nationals) whether physically fit or not, originally living in West Coast of British Columbia. The project area spanned from the BC interior into the province of Alberta: Lucerne, Geikie, Yellowhead, Rainbow, Fitzwilliam, Grantbrook, Red Pass, Tete Jaune, Albreda, Blackspur, Gosnell, Lempriere, Pyramid, Thunder River, Red Sands, and Blue River.

When the war came to an end and the internment camps were dismantled, Torajiro Sasaki moved to Giscome, BC for work. At that time, there was a high demand for manpower at the many sawmills along the Upper Fraser River. As a single man, Sasaki was lodged in the bunkhouses and worked at Eagle Lake Sawmills. Torajiro's Kodak camera, which was held by the BC Provincial Police until his release, was finally returned to him in Giscome via a parcel shipment in 1946.

Sasaki and his family later lived on an acreage outside of Giscome. Torajiro Sasaki was a hobbyist photographer, filmmaker, and gardener.

Sawicki, Joan Marie
Person · 18 September 1945 - present

Joan Sawicki was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1945 and spent her early years on a small family farm in Burnaby. In 1956, the family moved to Terrace, B.C. Upon high school graduation, Joan attended the University of Victoria earning a Bachelor of Education degree in 1968, majoring in History and Geography.

During her university years, Joan developed an interest in agriculture, environment and land use planning while working with the Canada Land Inventory, both in Victoria and Ottawa. She was a secondary school teacher in Williams Lake 1968-1969 and in Armstrong 1972-1973 before joining the Land Commission staff in 1973 to work on establishing the original Agricultural Land Reserve boundaries. Joan Sawicki married Gary Runka in 1978 and joined him as a partner in G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. consulting firm in 1979.

From 1987 to 1990, Joan Sawicki served on Burnaby City Council. She chaired the environment and waste management committee and sat as a municipal representative on the Greater Vancouver Regional District waste management committee and the Metropolitan Board of Health.

After failing to win a seat in the provincial legislature representing the NDP in Burnaby-Willingdon during the 1986 election, Joan Sawicki was elected in that riding in 1991, and re-elected in 1996. Under the Premier Harcourt government, Joan Sawicki was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in March 1992, serving for two years. After leaving the Speaker’s chair, Joan served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Municipal Affairs (April 1994 to May 1996), focusing on the Georgia Basin Initiative and serving on the board of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.

Upon re-election in 1996, Joan was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks (June 1996 to January 1998) and charged with the task of expanding BC’s beverage container deposit/refund system. She resigned from that position when her government invoked the Provincial Interest clause to allow exclusion of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve for a proposed development project at Six Mile Ranch near Kamloops.

In July 1999, Premier Glen Clark named Joan Sawicki to cabinet as Minister of Environment, Lands, and Parks, during which time she championed a Green Economy Initiative and Sustainability legislation. She retained her portfolio under Premier Ujjal Dosanjh until November 1, 2000 after she had announced she would not be seeking re-election in 2001.

Upon retirement from elected politics, Joan returned to land use consulting work through G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. Upon her husband’s death, Joan completed their work opposing the loss of prime agriculture land due to the Site C dam. Joan served on the board of directors for Nature Conservancy of Canada, BC Region from 2004 to 2010 and continues to be active on environmental issues, including volunteering with BC Parks and other non-profit organizations.

Schenk, Bertha
Person · [19-?]-

Bertha Schenk was from Georgetown, Ontario.

Schreiber, Celia
Person

Celia Schreiber was an active member of the Mexican community in Prince George.

Sebastian, Ron A.
Person · [19-?]-

Ron A. Sebastian is from the Gitxsan and the Wet'suwet'en Nations. His name is Gwin Butsxw from the house of Spookw of the Lax Gibuu Clan (Wolf Clan). In the early 1970s, Sebastian studied carving and design at the Kitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Native Art at ‘Ksan Village, Hazelton, B.C. His work, which includes wood carvings (masks, bowls, bent boxes, rattles, talking sticks, rhythm canes, murals and totem poles of all sizes), graphic art, and gold and silver jewellery, can be found in museums and private collections throughout North America, Europe and Japan. His larger pieces include three murals, carved together with Earl Muldoe, for the main lobby of Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere, new home of the Department of Indian Affairs in Hull, Quebec ; a cedar panel carved together with brother Robert E. Sebastian for a new school in Takla Landing ; a round mural carved for the Smithers Dze_l_K'ant Friendship Center ; and a totem pole carved for the front of the Two Rivers Art Gallery in Prince George. In 1992, Sebastian carved an elaborate pair of Chief's chairs and a talking stick with a base stand for UNBC. These carvings are used on special occasions (such as Convocation) by the President and Chancellor. The mace, ceremonial chairs and the doors to the University Senate were carved by Ron A. Sebastian, and were presented in early 1992, in time for the inaugural Convocation. The mace/talking stick includes thirteen traditional Indian crests, which represent all the tribes/clans of northern British Columbia. They are, from top to bottom: Wolf, Black Bear, Beaver, Wolverine, Caribou, Mountain Goose, Frog, Raven, Thunderbird, Fireweed, Killer Whale, Owl, and Eagle. In the centre is an additional human face representing all peoples. The mace/talking stick rests in a base of red cedar, carved in the form of a salmon, which is meant to indicate all the people in the region. The chairs include, at top and bottom, a human mask and sun, representing mankind but particularly students and counsellors, while the other symbols again represent the various First Nations peoples in the University’s region. The Chancellor’s Chair includes representations of the thunderbird, frog, beaver, grouse, fireweed, owl, eagle, and killer whale, with arm rests carved in the shape of a wolf. The President’s Chair includes representations of the grizzly bear, wolf, caribou, black bear, crow, frog, moose, and mountain goose, with arm rests carved in the shape of a raven.

Sedgwick, J. Kent
Person · 13 March 1941 - 6 December 2011

John Kent Sedgwick was born in Weston, Ontario on March 13th, 1941. In 1964 he graduated from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography. During this time, he also wrote an undergraduate thesis titled “Effects of Land Use on Night Temperatures in London, Ontario.” In 1966 he graduated with his M.A. in Geography from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His M.A. thesis was titled “Geomorphology and Mass Budget of Peyto Glacier, Alberta.”

Kent Sedgwick came to Prince George in 1970 and held a position as a Geography Instructor at the College of New Caledonia. He was also a frequent guest lecturer for history courses at the University of Northern British Columbia, and later, from 2003 until 2009, an adjunct professor at UNBC for geography. His expertise was in physical geography, particularly glaciation, hydrology, weather and climate, and alpine studies, and historical geography as well as cartography. He also taught courses on wildland recreation. After teaching at CNC for nearly a decade, in 1983 he became a Senior Urban Planner for the City of Prince George. In his professional relationship with the University of Northern British Columbia, he also contributed to research on the Upper Fraser as part of the UNBC-led Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project between 1999 and 2002.

Alongside his professional work, Kent Sedgwick was extensively involved in the community. During his teaching career he conducted more than 50 field trips for students and other professionals, including the Federation of BC Writers (2000); the Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (2003); and the BC Heritage Federation (2003). He was also the treasurer and later the president of the Alexander Mackenzie Voyageur Route Association. Sedgwick also worked directly with the Huble Homestead / Giscome Portage Historical Society. Significantly, Sedgwick worked with the Huble Society, June Chamberland and Curle Witte to transcribe and edit the 1909-1919 diaries of Albert Huble.

He was a Member and Chairmen of the Heritage Advisory Committee for the City of Prince George from 1978 until 1983, and then was the secretary to the committee while employed in the Planning Division from 1983 until 2006. Through the Heritage Advisory Committee, he aided in many projects to protect and acknowledge local history and heritage. These projects included an inventory of heritage buildings in Prince George; research on the origins and desecration of the Lheidli T'enneh cemetery at Fort George Park; confirmation for rezoning various lots in Prince George; and developing tours of downtown Prince George. Kent Sedgwick also aided the Prince George Retired Teachers Association with conducting research on previous and current schools within Prince George and region.

Kent Sedgwick was well-known for his enthusiasm and passion in local history and for conducting meticulous research on the history of Prince George and the Central Interior. He had also compiled and edited works of local history, both on his own and aiding others in their writing. His own written works were recognized with the Jeanne Clarke Memorial Local History award in 1991 for his extensive efforts to preserve Prince George’s history. He received the same award for his book Giscome Chronicle: The Rise and Demise of a Sawmill Community in Central British Columbia (2008). Some of Sedgwick’s other published works include Lheidli T'enneh Cemetery, Prince George: A documented history (2012); Hotels, Hoteliers and Liquor Stores : The story behind a Prince George heritage building (2011); Monumental Transformation: The story of Prince George’s national historic monument (2009); Pan Am and All That: World War II aviation in Prince George, British Columbia (2008); and Reflections on Architects and Architecture in Prince George 1950-2000: An interview of Trelle Morrow (2007).

Kent Sedgwick passed away on December 6, 2011, after a long struggle with cancer.

SIL International
Corporate body · 1934-

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in partnership with institutions and organizations worldwide, offers training for applied linguistic fieldwork. Topics for courses include phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse, cultural anthropology, language learning, linguistic field methods, sociolinguistics, literacy, language program planning, and translation. In programs in partnership with religious institutions, SIL facilitates the application of linguistic studies to the translation of Christian scriptures.

Simon Fraser University
Corporate body · 1965-

Simon Fraser University (commonly referred to as SFU) is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000 students and 950 faculty members.

Smith, Marcus
Person · 1815-1904

Marcus Smith was born in Ford, Northumberland UK on 16 July 1815. After a local education, he started work in railway construction in 1844. He worked his way up to become a railway engineer and was responsible for building 230 miles of railway. He also worked on railway construction in France and the United States before coming to Canada in 1850. Between 1850 and 1860 he was employed in survey and construction work on the Great Western Railway, Hamilton and Toronto Railway and the Niagara and Detroit River Railway. He was engaged in railway work in South Africa, 1860-1864. Returning to Canada, he was resident engineer for the Restigouche Division of the Intercolonial Railway from 1868 to 1872 under the Chief Engineer, Sanford Fleming.

When Fleming became Chief Engineer of the Pacific Railway in 1872, Smith was put in charge of route surveys from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. Smith was also acting engineer-in-chief between 1876 and 1878 during Fleming's absence. When the Canadian Pacific Railway was formed in 1881, Smith joined the CPR engineering staff, doing location work and inspecting contractors' work. Smith left the CPR in 1886 and became a consulting engineer and inspector for the federal government on projects such as railroads in the Maritimes. He retired from government work in 1893. Marcus Smith then did preliminary estimates for the Montreal, Ottawa and Georgian Bay Canal, Trans-Canada Railway and Hudson's Bay & Pacific Railway up to 1898. He died on 14 August 1904 in Ottawa.

Marcus Smith's most notable project was surveying a western route for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1870s. His proposed route went through Prince George to Butte Inlet on the coast. His son Arthur Smith was Deputy Attorney General of BC before heading the Land Registry Office until his retirement in the 1930s. His daughter Anne Clarice worked as a social worker and was Secretary to the Canadian Council on Child and Family Welfare for a time.

Corporate body · 19 July 1891 - 30 June 1981

According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Archives (https://archives.nctr.ca/Cariboo-Residential-School) :

"Cariboo (Williams Lake) Indian Residential School (IRS) was located southwest of Williams Lake on highway #97 approximately halfway between Quesnel and Kamloops in the BC interior. The IRS operated from 1891 - 1981 (90 years) and closed on June 30, 1981.

Other names identifying the residential school include Williams Lake Industrial School and St. Joseph’s Industrial School from 1891 - 1920; Cariboo Industrial School and Cariboo Indian Industrial School from 1920 - 1927; Cariboo Residential School and Cariboo Indian Residential School from 1923 - 1981; St. Joseph’s Mission School (1929 - 1981), St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School (1932 and 1935), and St. Joseph’s Residential School (1963 and 1969); Cariboo Student Residence and Cariboo Indian Student Residence from 1967 - 1981. The school was also frequently referred to as the Indian School at 150 Mile House because of its location.

The Government of Canada was responsible for funding the school, which was managed and operated by the Roman Catholic Church from July 1891 - March 31, 1969. From April 1, 1969 - June 1981, the federal government managed and operated the IRS. In 1962, an agreement was signed between Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada represented by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Indianescom (Oblate Indian and Eskimo Commission) for the management and operation of the Cariboo IRS.

No information regarding which grades were taught at the IRS exists.

Students were from the following bands: Alexandria, Alexis Creek, Alkali Lake, Anaham, Anderson Lake, Ashcroft, Bonaparte, Bridge River, Canim Lake, Canoe Creek, Clinton, Coldwater, Cowichan, Dog Creek, Euchinico, Fountain, High Bar, Kamloops, Kluskus Lake (Kluxkux Lake), Kuklinko, Lake Babine, Lillooet, Little Shuswap, Moricetown, Mount Currie, Natzoo, Nazko, Nemiah Valley, North Thompson, Pavillion, Pemberton, Quesnel, Redstone, Riske Creek, Seton Lake, Skwah, Soda Creek, Squamish, Stone (Stoney), Taodistan, Toosey, Ulkatcho (Ulgatcho), and Williams Lake."

Steadman, Tom
Person · [19-?]-

Thomas A. (Tom) Steadman, franchise owner of the Canadian Tire store in Prince George, BC, spearheaded the campaign to raise awareness about a University of the North and for the North, speaking at many community gatherings during the early years of concept development for what would become the University of Northern British Columbia. He was one of founding members of the Interior University Society (IUS) and was founder and chairperson of the IUS membership committee. Mr. Steadman was appointed to the Implementation Planning Group in 1989 and later became a member of the Interim Governing Council of the University of Northern British Columbia. More recently, he helped establish the Northern Medical Programs Trust and Chaired the UNBC Foundation.

Stevenson, Susan
Person · [19-]-

Susan Stevenson is an independent wildlife biologist and an adjunct faculty member at UNBC. She has been studying the effects of forestry practices on habitat for wildlife for nearly 25 years, mostly in the Interior Wetbelt. She is especially interested in wildlife that depend on habitat attributes found in old forests, and how they can be maintained in managed stands. Her interest in the Mountain Caribou and its habitat has drawn her into studies of the ecology of arboreal lichens. She is also interested in wildlife trees, coarse woody debris, and how they are affected by various harvesting practices. As well as conducting research, Susan is active in teaching and extension. She is a Wildlife/Danger Tree Assessor's Course instructor and a frequent guest lecturer at UNBC and the College of New Caledonia. She has prepared a number of extension notes and other publications for forestry and habitat managers and field staff.

Stewart, Roy
Person · [19-?]-

Roy Stewart was President of the Interior University Society at one time. The Interior University Society was incorporated in 1987 after organizational efforts initiated by Tom Steadman, Bryson Stone and Charles McCaffray. The society’s objectives were to promote the establishment of a university in Prince George, B.C., later to be known as the University of Northern British Columbia. The first president of the society was Prince George lawyer W. Murray Sadler. The Society launched a membership campaign in 1987, retained the services of Dr. Urban Dahllof to undertake a feasibility study, and conducted a survey to determine the support level in northern B.C. for a university. In October, 1988, the society’s proposals and studies were presented to the provincial cabinet. In 1989, an Implementation Planning Group was established, chaired by Horst Sander. The planning group completed its study and reported to the government in December of 1989, recommending a full-status university be established in the north.

Stowell, Bill
Person

Bill Stowell completed his BSF in Forest Management in 1977. Bill Stowell has had an active forestry career with companies across British Columbia. Between 1981 and 1986, Bill worked as Woodlands Manager for Babine Forest Products Ltd. in Burns Lake, BC. His following employment in 1991-1994 was with Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. as a Log Trader in Merritt and Princeton, BC. He moved on to become a Log Trader with Tolko Industries Ltd. for the period 1994-2010. From 2010 onwards, Bill worked as a Fibre Manager for Fusion Fibre Ltd. in Merritt, BC. Bill Stowell also worked as Forestry Manager for Upper Nicola Band between 2014 and 2018.

Stowell, Robert
Person · 1922-2018

Bob Stowell was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1922 and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1942-1945. He started working for the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company in 1947. In 1952, Bob Stowell and colleagues purchased a sawmill site at Tye, B.C. on the east side of Kootenay Lake. After the sawmill burned down, Bob Stowell worked for the Potlach Forest Sawmill in Lewiston, Idaho piling lumber. His following employers were the Weyerhaeuser sales department in Cleveland, Ohio and a logging company in Columbia Falls, Montana. Then he was hired by The Pas Lumber Company Ltd. in Minneapolis, Minnesota to work in their sales department. This job led to the opportunity to move to Prince George, B.C. in 1965 to manage forestry and logging at The Pas Lumber Co. (B.C.) Ltd. in Prince George. Bob Stowell worked for The Pas Lumber Co. (B.C.) Ltd. in Prince George from 1965 until his retirement in 1991.

Strachan, Bruce
Person · [19-?]-

Bruce Strachan was MLA for Prince George South and Minister of State for the Cariboo Region. He was a member of the Interior University Society and a strong proponent of the creation of a university in the North. In 1989, he became Minister of Advanced Education.