Prince George women’s history preserved

Erica Hernandez-Read, Head of Archives and Special Collections at UNBC, says that context makes the beginnings of the organization particularly significant.

“Considering they started in 1963 it’s pretty impressive that a group of women came together at a time when after marriage or childbirth they were really expected to stay in the home. This group of women who had university education decided to come together and apply their intellect and their academic vigor towards improving their communities.”

Over the decades, that involvement took many forms.

The club helped students explore post-secondary education, raised money for bursaries and scholarships, organized election forums and participated in community initiatives supporting women.

One of its best-known projects was a book documenting the history behind Prince George street names. The project began as a fundraiser for scholarships and eventually went through multiple editions.

The club was also the first organization to offer a scholarship when UNBC was established and currently supports scholarships at UNBC and bursaries at the College of New Caledonia.

But the material now being preserved goes beyond a written timeline of those accomplishments.

Hernandez-Read says photographs and recorded oral histories can capture parts of the past that written records alone cannot.

“You can see the memories flitting across somebody’s space that you can’t capture in textual. So textual documentation is is very important. It’s hard evidence, but photographic it tweaks the memory. It brings you back to a time and place that you can’t necessarily picture. And that old adage that a photograph is worth a thousand words is really true.”

Among the more recent additions are oral history interviews conducted in 2023 with 11 club members, including two founding members. Those recordings will become available through the UNBC archives.

For CFUW Club Archivist Jennifer Fox, working through the material has also created a personal connection to the organization’s past.

Fox is the club’s newest member, but her mother has been involved for many years. She says seeing the records has allowed her to connect the stories she grew up hearing with the activities documented in the collection.

“So for me to go back and see the stories that she’s talked about and see the activities makes this club even bigger and more real for me and gives me inspiration.”

The donation itself will not be a one-time transfer.

“These scrapbooks go back from 1963 to present day, and we have more coming. This is only some of our paper. So this is the first donation that we’re giving and it chronicles the women who are involved.” Fox said.

The organization says additional material from the past 60 years still needs to be sorted and will eventually be donated. As the Prince George chapter continues its work, it also plans to preserve records of its future activities and accomplishments.

For researchers, the expanding collection will provide a record of not just one organization, but the role generations of women played in education, advocacy, social causes and community life in Prince George.

More than 60 years after the club was established, those stories will now be preserved for the generations that follow.

by Nick Dube

Prince George women’s history preserved

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