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.
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.
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 photographs, promotional materials, cheques, supplements, advertisements, sample circular letterheads, microfilm reels containing the …
9 cm of textual records; 82 microfilm reels; 923 photographs; 24 boxes of negatives; 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.
Items from 2020.36 and 2021.1 were found while cleaning Room 6 in September 2020-February 2021 and may have been among the items donated by the Interior News in 2007.
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 photographs, 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 four 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. S4 contains photographs and negatives which were produced by or submitted to the Interior News.
Records reflect Joe L’Orsa’s interest in mining, environmentalism, and local history. Records consist of maps (including Axel Elmsted’s hand drawn maps), architectural drawings, photographs, a report entitled “The Social Effects of Rapid Growth: A Northern Sickness,” and a written history of the Ba…
66+ photographs, 49 maps, 4 architectural drawings, 5 cm textual records
Date Range
1915-[1998?]
History / Biographical
Joseph (Joe) Allen L’Orsa (born March 4, 1939) was a prominent figure in the Bulkley Valley, best known for his environmental activism. He is credited with starting the area’s first environmental group, “Citizens Against Pollution,” which later became known as SPEC (Society for Pollution and Environmental Control). L’Orsa was instrumental in establishing Babine Mountains Provincial Park, and recorded both settler and Witsuwit'en (Wet’suwet’en) histories of the mountain range. He was also active in the Farmer’s Institute, the Hospital Society, and the Smithers Community Services Association, and ran for a seat on the School Board in 1978. Every Christmas he organized and local Christmas musical event which eventually became known as the Joe L’Orsa Coffeehouse, or simply ‘The Joe.’ In his later years L’Orsa worked as a constituency assistant, first for Bill Goodacre and then for former MLA Jackie Pement. He passed away on April 20, 1999 in Smithers, B.C. The Joe L'Orsa Cabin in Babine Mountains Provincial Park was named after him. For more detailed information, see finding aid.
Custodial History
Maps and photographs were collected and created by Joe L’Orsa and eventually passed down to his daughter, Nicole L’Orsa. She donated them to the Bulkley Valley Museum in 2018.
Scope and Content
Records reflect Joe L’Orsa’s interest in mining, environmentalism, and local history. Records consist of maps (including Axel Elmsted’s hand drawn maps), architectural drawings, photographs, a report entitled “The Social Effects of Rapid Growth: A Northern Sickness,” and a written history of the Babine Mountains recreation area. They have been arranged in three series: Maps and architectural drawings (S1), textual records (S2), and Photographs (S3).
Series consists of the full run of the Interior News. Papers from 1910 to 2007 are available as microfilm, while papers from 2007 to 2011 are stored digitally as PDF files.
It is unknown when and how exactly the 1910-2007 Interior News microfilm reels 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.
Scope and Content
Series consists of the full run of the Interior News. Papers from 1910 to 2007 are available as microfilm, while papers from 2007 to 2011 are stored digitally as PDF files.
Series consists of 66+ photographs and postcards depicting people, places, and events throughout the history of Smithers and the surrounding area. Topics include: Axel Elmstead, Bill Bruce, the Cope family, Gordon Harvey’s place, Jack Brewster, Ralph Dieter, the Walter Bucher residence, the Bush Mi…
Joseph (Joe) Allen L’Orsa (1939-1999) was a prominent figure in the Bulkley Valley, best known for his environmental activism and community involvement. He is credited with starting the area’s first environmental group, “Citizens Against Pollution,” and establishing Babine Mountains Provincial Park. For more detailed information, see fonds level description or finding aid.
Custodial History
Photos were collected and created by Joe L’Orsa and eventually passed down to his daughter, Nicole L’Orsa. She donated them to the Bulkley Valley Museum in 2018.
Scope and Content
Series consists of 66+ photographs and postcards depicting people, places, and events throughout the history of Smithers and the surrounding area. Topics include: Axel Elmstead, Bill Bruce, the Cope family, Gordon Harvey’s place, Jack Brewster, Ralph Dieter, the Walter Bucher residence, the Bush Mill, downtown Smithers, Driftwood school and its students, Glenwood Hall, Malkow Lookout, the Emil Mesich plane crash, aerial photos taken by the Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks, novelty postcards, and more.
Some photos, such as those in File 3 (Cope family), File 5 (Jack Brewster), and File 17 (aerials), appear not to have been scanned or uploaded to the database/online collections. In some cases it seems to be because the photos were not taken in Smithers (ex. Cope family) or possibly because there is a copyright issue (ex. aerials?). Some other photos, such as some of those of Bill Bruce (File 2) seem not to have been scanned because they are identical or very similar to other photos, or were deemed not of value (ex. photos of trees).
This fonds contains items pertaining to the history of School District No. 54, such as yearbooks, photo booklets, photographs, school newspapers, guest books, ledgers, oral histories, calendars, and editions of the Quarterly 54 newspaper. See series/sous-fonds-level entries for more in-depth descri…
13 cm of textual records; 198 photographs; 59 colour slides; 17 audio cassettes; 2 floppy discs; 156 MB of textual records (PDF/A)
Date Range
1918-2001
History / Biographical
Education in the Bulkley Valley was decentralized for the first half of the 20th century, with each school run by its own board of trustees. The Cameron Report, undertaken by Maxwell A. Cameron of UBC’s Department of Education in the mid-1940s, advised that the province’s 600+ school boards be consolidated into under 100. Thus, all schools in the Bulkley Valley area were consolidated into School District #54 in around 1947. This led to the gradual closing of the small rural schools and the bussing of children to Smithers, Telkwa, and Houston for their education.
School District No. 54 covers the communities of Smithers, Witset, Telkwa, Quick, and Houston. As of 2020, it consists of five elementary schools (Telkwa Elementary, Walnut Park Elementary, Twain Sullivan Elementary, Silverthorne Elementary, and Muheim Elementary) and two high schools (Smithers Secondary and Houston Secondary). It formerly included Lake Kathlyn Elementary School and Quick Elementary School as well. The School Board’s office is located in Smithers.
Scope and Content
This fonds contains items pertaining to the history of School District No. 54, such as yearbooks, photo booklets, photographs, school newspapers, guest books, ledgers, oral histories, calendars, and editions of the Quarterly 54 newspaper. See series/sous-fonds-level entries for more in-depth descriptions of contents.
Arrangement
Fonds consists of one series (S1) for the Board of School Trustees and six sous-fonds, each focusing on a different school: Muheim Memorial Elementary (SF1), Smithers Secondary (SF2), Lake Kathlyn Elementary (SF3), Telkwa Elementary (SF4), Glentanna School (SF5), and Quick School (SF6). Sous-fonds for other schools will be added as necessary. In addition, sous-fonds 1 (Muheim Memorial Elementary) has a photograph (P) series.
Dates based on Madison Plow Company operations, as per http://www.historicmadison.org/Madison%27s%20Past/Places/Walking%20Tours/IndustrialTour2.html (accessed November 2017).
Description
Metal wrench. One end has one head that is 2.8cm wide, the other end has two heads, each approximately 2cm wide. "G70" stamped on one side.
History Of Use
G70 wrench is listed in Madison Plow Company for their wood and steel frame transplanters, cultivators, planters, and disc harrows. It is only one of two wrenches that have been attributed to the Madison Plow Company. (Source: http://www.wrenchingnews.com/sell-page/sell.html, accessed November 2017).
