Alan Pickard was born and raised in New Zealand. He met his wife, Anne, while visiting Calgary en route to Europe. They moved to the Bulkley Valley in 1970, working here for a few months before moving to Kitimat for four years. Afterwards, they returned to Smithers and built a log cabin on Telkwa High Road. The two were frequent international travelers, dividing their time between the Bulkley Valley and locations such as Alaska, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.
Pickard began researching early settler history of the Bulkley Valley in 1998. He initially focused on the Telkwa High Road and the two telegraph lines that ran along it: the Collins Overland telegraph (1866) and the Yukon telegraph (1900). His interests then broadened to include early trails, roads and bridges, early (pre-1914) settlers, place names, and maps. Pickard’s use of original sources (books, archival records, etc.) in his research led to him collecting documents such as early mining claims, Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company trading posts, and land surveys in the Bulkley Valley. Pickard’s research is a continuation of the work of other researchers, including local historian Lynn Shervill, author of “Smithers: From Swamp to Village,” and John Tupper Saywell. He also assisted Kate Smallwood with her book “Kate’s Selection,” published in 2005.
In addition to his historical research, Pickard served as the Chairman of the Smithers Library Board, was a member of the Bulkley Valley Writers’ Group, contributed articles to the Interior News, staked mining claims, worked as an electrician, and wrote poetry (his volume being the first book printed by Bulkley Valley Printers).
In 2005, Alan and Anne Pickard returned to New Zealand, where they currently reside.
Custodial History
Records were collected and created throughout Pickard’s research activities.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains records related to Alan Pickard’s historical research and writings.
Arrangement
Duplicate records and empty folders were deleted. Website links were deleted if the link was dead. Original order of the file structure has been captured and can be refered to if needed.
The Telkwa Foundation (1976-c.1987) was a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest research group dedicated to environmentalism and social justice issues in Northwestern British Columbia.
Custodial History
Donated by Pat Moss on May 1st 2020. These had previously been in her possession since her involvement with the Telkwa Foundation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of Telkwa Foundation Annual Reports from 1978 to 1987. Not all are available in full.
Series contains three books written by Hallvard Dahlie about his childhood in Alberta and the Bulkley Valley from the 1920s-1940s: “Life in the Bulkley Valley: Memories of the 1930s” (1999), “Norway to Alberta: A Family Chronicle” (2000), and “Memoirs of a Young Immigrant: Norway to the Bulkley Va…
Hallvard Dahlie was born in 1923 in Norway and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1929. They lived in Holden, Alberta until 1933, when they moved to the Bulkley Valley via railway boxcar. Like the rest of his family, Hallvard was active in the local ski scene and won many prizes. After serving in the Navy in World War II, he returned to Smithers and worked for the Hanson Timber and Lumber Company. He later became a high school teacher in British Columbia and an English professor at the University of Calgary. Hallvard died in North Vancouver in 2016.
Custodial History
Items in this series were removed by staff from the museum's library and gift shop and accessioned in August 2020.
Scope and Content
Series contains three books written by Hallvard Dahlie about his childhood in Alberta and the Bulkley Valley from the 1920s-1940s: “Life in the Bulkley Valley: Memories of the 1930s” (1999), “Norway to Alberta: A Family Chronicle” (2000), and “Memoirs of a Young Immigrant: Norway to the Bulkley Valley 1929-1942” (2002).
Collection consists of aerial survey photographs of the Skeena/Bulkley Valley region from the Department of Lands and Forests and the Department of Lands, Forests and Water Resources. Roll numbers:
Box 1 (1960-1965): BC 4267, 4269, 4277, 4278, 4281, 4340, 4341, 4342, 4342, 4343, 4349, 4110, 4134, 2…
Item is the February 14, 2014 copy of The Bulkley Browser. It contains announcements, community events, local advertisements, items for sale, job postings, fun facts, and activities such as a word search.
The Bulkley Browser was a community newsletter published in the Bulkley Valley in the 2010s.
Custodial History
This item was kept in the museum's reference files for an unknown period of time before being removed and accessioned as a discrete item in August 2020.
Scope and Content
Item is the February 14, 2014 copy of The Bulkley Browser. It contains announcements, community events, local advertisements, items for sale, job postings, fun facts, and activities such as a word search.
The fonds is arranged into two series, Administrative and Fall Fair, and contains newspaper programs, prize lists, prize tickets, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial statements, newspaper supplements, entry forms, certificate of incorporation and a brief history on the founding of the fair.
Talk of forming a Bulkley Valley Agricultural Association to oversee the planning of an exhibition began in 1910 (Interior News, May 1910). Various names were used before incorporation, such as: Bulkley Valley Agricultural Association (Interior News, July 27, 1912), Bulkley Valley Agricultural Association and Farmer’s Institute (Omineca Herald, June 7, 1913) and Bulkley Valley Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition Association (Interior News, June 21, 1919). On July 14, 1919, the Bulkley Valley Agricultural and Industrial Association was incorporated under the Agricultural Act. The mandate of the Association was to "advance the interests of agriculture and to hold an annual exhibition of agricultural products at Smithers, and to do all such other things the directors may decide for the advancement of the association, the farmers and farming." The first directors of the Association included A. Kilpatrick (President, Smithers), J. G. Wood (Vice-President, Telkwa), and L.B. Warner (Secretary Treasurer, Smithers), George Oulton (Smithers), A. J. Prudhomme (Telkwa), E. C. Barger (Telkwa) and William S. Henry (Smithers) (Interior News, June 21, 1919). Smithers held its first Fall Fair in Albert Park, September 30th, 1919. After several years the Fair became a three-day event, presenting a wide variety of exhibits including agricultural displays, livestock and logging shows, handicraft and homemaking exhibits, stage shows, and a midway. The Fair continues to this day, having been held every year since 1919 except for 1932-1933, 1938-1945, 1950-1952, and 2020.
Scope and Content
The fonds is arranged into two series, Administrative and Fall Fair, and contains newspaper programs, prize lists, prize tickets, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial statements, newspaper supplements, entry forms, certificate of incorporation and a brief history on the founding of the fair.
Arrangement
Records were rearranged in September 2016 by Manda Haligowski to better reflect archival standards and to improve accessibility.
Fonds consists of scrapbooks (2009.12.1-.4) documenting concerts, shows and performances organized by the Bulkley Valley Concert Association from 1977 to 2007, and a membership list (2017.68) from 1963. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, photographs and promotional materials such as flyers…
The Bulkley Valley Concert Association is a community group with the mandate of promoting and fostering an interest in the performing arts in the Bulkley Valley. It welcomes touring groups in concerts that feature choirs, live music, ballet, and theatre productions. The Association has a hands-on working board that directly engages with artists and manages each show.
Records in this fonds indicate that the Bulkley Valley Concert Association existed as early as 1959; however, the Association considers itself to have been active only since 1963. Evidently the Association has existed in various forms throughout the years with its present form emerging after it was renewed at a public meeting held on October 13, 1977. After its reorganization in 1977, the Association came under the coordination of the B.C. Overture Concerts Society with Diane Harmon as campaign chairwoman, Elaine Lee as secretary, and Monica Fraser as treasurer.
Custodial History
Glad Bury, who was a teacher in the Bulkley Valley, originally collected items from accession 2017.68. These eventually passed on Pat McCammon.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of scrapbooks (2009.12.1-.4) documenting concerts, shows and performances organized by the Bulkley Valley Concert Association from 1977 to 2007, and a membership list (2017.68) from 1963. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, photographs and promotional materials such as flyers and pamphlets.
All photos found in scrapbooks under this fonds have been merely collected by the Bulkley Valley Concert Association; thus, photos cannot be placed online or reproduced elsewhere without the consent of the original copyright holders.
Item is a four-page excerpt from the March 2015 edition of the Caledonia Times. It contains articles such as "What are you taking on for Lent?," a book review, "Parish Life: In North Peace: A Journey Through Time and Space," "Parish Life: In the Bulkley Valley," "Camp Caledonia - Summer 2015," and …
The Caledonia Times was a monthly paper offering news to the Anglican community of Northern British Columbia. As of 2020 it appears to have been replaced by the Caledonia Connector, a newsletter published on the Diocese's website.
Custodial History
This item was kept in the museum's reference files for at most 5 years before being removed and accessioned as a discrete item in August 2020.
Scope and Content
Item is a four-page excerpt from the March 2015 edition of the Caledonia Times. It contains articles such as "What are you taking on for Lent?," a book review, "Parish Life: In North Peace: A Journey Through Time and Space," "Parish Life: In the Bulkley Valley," "Camp Caledonia - Summer 2015," and "Freeing up $50.00 for the Anglican Foundation."
This series contains all records related to the Fall Fair. Records include prize lists, programmes, Interior News supplements, prize tickets, meeting minutes, newspaper supplements, and entry forms.
This series contains all records related to the Fall Fair. Records include prize lists, programmes, Interior News supplements, prize tickets, meeting minutes, newspaper supplements, and entry forms.
The Telkwa Foundation (1976-c.1987) was a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest research group dedicated to environmentalism and social justice issues in Northwestern British Columbia.
Custodial History
Donated by Pat Moss on May 1st 2020. These had previously been in her possession since her involvement with the Telkwa Foundation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the Certificate of Incorporation, Constitution, and Charter of the Telkwa Foundation.
Series includes physical and digital copies of two written works: “Sights of Smithers: The Old Church Garden,” and “A Memento of St. John the Divine Anglican Church, Quick, B.C. 1914-2014,” a physical copy of “Ninety Years On: A History of the Anglican Church in the Bulkley Valley,” and a digital c…
1 cm textual records; 62.8 MB of digital records (PDFs and Word Documents)
Date Range
1998-2014
Custodial History
All digital files were presumably given to the museum by Mel Coulson prior to 2020.
Physical items (2020.34.41, 2020.34.42, and 2020.34.43) were kept in the museum’s gift shop, library, and reference files respectively before being formally accessioned in 2020. The fonds was created on August 31, 2020.
Scope and Content
Series includes physical and digital copies of two written works: “Sights of Smithers: The Old Church Garden,” and “A Memento of St. John the Divine Anglican Church, Quick, B.C. 1914-2014,” a physical copy of “Ninety Years On: A History of the Anglican Church in the Bulkley Valley,” and a digital copy of “Skypilot Stephenson: In His Own Write.”
Subseries contains advertisements and promotional material published as supplements to the Interior News, dating from 1981 to May 1990. Topic include: renewable wood-heating systems (1981), Wall's Home Furnishings (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987), Northwest Automotive News (1984-1986), the Ice Burg grand o…
Items were published as supplements to the Interior News between 1981 and 1990.
Scope and Content
Subseries contains advertisements and promotional material published as supplements to the Interior News, dating from 1981 to May 1990. Topic include: renewable wood-heating systems (1981), Wall's Home Furnishings (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987), Northwest Automotive News (1984-1986), the Ice Burg grand opening (1984), Mackenzie Furniture (1985), Smithers Lumber Yard 20th anniversary (1985), RRSPs (1987), Smithers Shopping Centre (1987), Nechako Northcoast Construction Services 1st anniversary (1989), and Homes of the Valley (1990). A full list of contents can be found in the file list.
Records in the fonds reflect the functions of the Interior News, which included printing for other businesses, as well as publishing a weekly paper. Records include promotional materials, cheques, supplements, advertisements, sample circular letterheads, microfilm reels containing the paper’s entir…
9 cm of textual records; 82 microfilm reels; 1000+ PDF files
Date Range
1910-2011
History / Biographical
Although it was initially established in 1907 as the newspaper for the nearby community of Aldermere, the Interior News transferred to Smithers in 1915 with Joseph Coyle as the editor. He remained editor until 1918 when the newspaper was sold to Lawrence Beverly (L. B.) Warner (nee Nyland), who published the paper out of his house in Smithers with the help of his wife, Margaret “Peg” Warner. In its initial years, the paper was hand set, five pages long, and cost ten cents. After Warner’s death on February 25, 1940, his wife, Margaret, and son, Kenneth (Ken) Warner, continued to publish the paper. Ken Warner sold the paper to Bill Yorke-Hardy, Keith Marshall, and Gary White, of North Central Press. In 1981, North Central Press sold The Interior News to Black Press, which still owns the paper to this day.
For more detailed information, see Finding Aid.
Custodial History
It is unknown when and how exactly the 1910-2007 Interior News microfilm reels, which make up the bulk of this fonds, were donated. They were most likely microfilmed by the BC Archives. They were never given accession numbers.
The 2007-2011 Interior News pdfs were donated to the Museum by the Interior News in July 2019. They were also never given accession numbers.
Items from 1981.53 were donated to the archives by an unknown donor on August 19, 1981. They were originally processed by J.J. Horne in 1992.
Items from 1982.34 were donated by Mary Wood in 1982.
Items from 2020.6 were donated to the museum in 2007 by the Interior News and stored in the Old Works Yard building until being removed and processed in April 2020. On May 5th 2020 an accession form for them was signed by Grant Harris of the Interior News.
Items from 2020.34 had previously been in the museum’s reference files, but were accessioned and added to fonds in August 2020.
Scope and Content
Records in the fonds reflect the functions of the Interior News, which included printing for other businesses, as well as publishing a weekly paper. Records include promotional materials, cheques, supplements, advertisements, sample circular letterheads, microfilm reels containing the paper’s entire run from 1910 to 2007, and pdf files of the paper’s run from 2007 to 2011.
Arrangement
Fonds is arranged into three series. S1 contains the full run of the Interior News from 1910 to 2011, stored as microfilm and PDF files. S2 contains physical copies of supplements which were published alongside the Interior News. S3 contains ephemera produced by the Interior News, such as letterhead and cheques.
Subseries contains general supplements to the Interior News, dating from July 1981 to August 2006. Topics include: Smithers anniversaries and retrospectives (1981, 1990, 1996, 2006), winter (1982, 1989), home and garden (1982), summer / tourism (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2000)…
Items were published as supplements to the Interior News between 1981 and 2006.
Scope and Content
Subseries contains general supplements to the Interior News, dating from July 1981 to August 2006. Topics include: Smithers anniversaries and retrospectives (1981, 1990, 1996, 2006), winter (1982, 1989), home and garden (1982), summer / tourism (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2000), rodeo (1985, 1990), Northcountry Insurance Christmas carols (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989), scout / guide week (1987, 1988, 1990), 4H (1987), Smithers Curling Club 60th anniversary (1988), National Forest Week (1989, 1990, 2005), Pleasant Valley Days (1989), Skeena pulp mill (1989), mining (1990), and environmentalism (1990). See file list for a detailed list of supplements.
Some Interior News supplements from 2020.6 were removed and put into other fonds due to having stronger links with these organizations. These supplements can be found in fonds AF1 (Fall Fair supplements), AF16 (Western Guidelines newspapers), AF17 (Smithers Kinsmen Club Rodeo supplements), AF18 (Kispiox Valley Rodeo supplements), BF8 (Ski Smithers supplements), and GF3 (Quarterly ’54 newspaper).
Series contains supplements to the Interior News, dating from 1981 to August 2006. It is divided into two subseries: general supplements (SS1) and advertisements (SS2). Lists of specific supplements can be found in the file list.
Series contains supplements to the Interior News, dating from 1981 to August 2006. It is divided into two subseries: general supplements (SS1) and advertisements (SS2). Lists of specific supplements can be found in the file list.
Arrangement
Items have been arranged chronologically within each series.
The name Vera Frank is written on the back of photograph. Vera was the eldest of three daughters born to Scottish settlers Archibald ("Archie") McInnes (1861-1951) and Jessie (nee Aitken) McInnes (1886-1972). Their other two daughters were Ivy and Neva. Archie and his brother Neil worked on the Yukon Telegraph Line and bought land on the North Bulkley in 1904. Archie married Jessie on October 25, 1905 and they named their property Pioneer Ranch.
Vera (1908-1999) married Ivan R. Frank (1903-1966) in 1934. Vera and Ivan had two sons, Donald (b. 1943) and Gordon (b. 1946). Vera, her parents, and her husband are buried in Kitsumgallum Cemetary in Terrace.
Ivy (1909-2001) married Eric G. Strimbold (1897-1969) in 1929. They had two sons (Archie and Frank) and one daughter (Linda). Ivy and Eric are both buried in Topley Cemetary.
Neva (1913-2000) married CNR employee John Nickolichuk (1913-1983). They had two sons (Jack and Innes) and one daughter (Jennifer). Neva and John both passed away in Victoria.
Photo is set on frame of black cardboard labeled with "Eyres, Victoria, B.C." Vera Frank's name is written on the back but the style of the dress looks like early 1900s. Likely her parents' wedding in 1905. This would also explain the difference in age as Archie was 25 years older than Jessie. The dress is also part of the Museum's collection (1987.57.29), donated by Archie Strimbold.
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