Northern B.C.’s memory bank

The archives officially opened on November 22, 2000, but it started with informal talks in 1992 about saving UNBC’s history. By 1996, a committee had made a bigger plan for an archive that would serve all of Northern B.C., not just the university.

The archives stand out because they focus on the wider community. Hernandez-Read says researchers, students, and faculty use the collection often, but families looking for relatives who once lived and worked in the North also come by.

“We’ve had people who have emailed us or phoned us up saying they had a grandfather or an uncle who was in this area, maybe in the 1960s, 1950s,” she says. “And they’re just trying to understand their movements. What was their life like at that time?”

The archives can help answer these questions, not just by finding a name in a mill ledger but also by connecting people with photographs, newspapers from that time, and other records that bring history to life. It’s clear that the archives are not only for well-known people. “We are not just interested in the authors and the scientists, but also the politicians. We’re very interested in the people that live in this area, that lived in this area, and how they contributed to the development of this region.”

If you have historical items like letters, photographs, personal documents, or correspondence, the archives encourages you to reach out before throwing anything away. “We like people to come to us before they make any sort of disposition decisions, like if they’re thinking of throwing things away,” Hernandez-Read says. Staff will review the materials and, if appropriate, help connect donors with the right institution.

To search the collection online or set up a visit, contact the UNBC Northern B.C. Archives & Special Collections through the UNBC library website.

by Dave Branco

Northern B.C.’s memory bank

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