Meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month
(except in June, July, August and December).
The society sponsors presentations by guest speakers on
subjects generally relating to the history of Vancouver.
These gatherings take place in the Museum of Vancouver,
located at 1100 Chestnut Street at 7.30 pm.
Enquire at the Museum desk for directions to the room.
All meetings and events (unless
otherwise noted *) are FREE and open to the public and
visitors are welcome.
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for a downloadable PDF Membership form.
Or call our information line
at 604-878-9140.
Meetings, Special Events and Field Trips
Please note: All events (unless
otherwise noted *) are free and open to the public.
Thursday, January 26, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV The Drive: A Retail, Social and Political History of Commercial DriveSpeaker: Jak King
These days East Vancouver’s Commercial Drive is a fiercely independent, wildly entertaining, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-sexual district with a reputation to match. But how did it get that way from when natives sold its Grandview elk meat to settlers in Vancouver and a skid row running roughly along the present-day path of Commercial Drive below Hastings dumped disgorged huge trees into Cedar Cove? The area’s great view, which gave it the name “Grandview” and its idyllic surroundings became a magnet for settlement. However, the elimination of the ward system in 1935, which many locals thought was the end of the world and the loss of their community, forced a different and informal type of governance and commitment from residents along Commercial Drive. From that point on for the next twenty years, it became the story of families and individuals creating their own sense of community, particularly difficult when transit corridors were planned according to industrial corridors. The sense of community survived the elimination of streetcar tracks and grew with the changing multicultural demographic after 1956. This fierce independence continues in “The Drive” today.
Jak King, author of The Drive: A Retail, Social and Political History of Commercial Drive, Vancouver, to 1956, has lived on the Drive for more than twenty years. Now retired, he has devoted many years to the study of the Drive’s retail, social, architectural and political history.
Thursday, February 23, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV Exploring a Dead End: the Chinatown Tunnel Myth Speaker: John Atkin
Everyone's heard about the tunnels underneath Chinatown. Guidebooks tell us they are there; newspapers, books and movies have confirmed their existence. So where are they? In this presentation John Atkin looks at the origin of the tunnel myth, from early San Francisco tour guide's stories and “eyewitness” accounts, to the tunnels as a side show attraction and early film. He will look at why the myth persists even today. Author and raconteur, speaker John Atkin is a prolific presence in the on-going historical narrative of Vancouver.
Thursday, March 22, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV Creating Chuck's Capstone: Publishing Chuck Davis's History of Metropolitan Vancouver Speaker: Howard White
When the late broadcaster and author Chuck Davis died without completing his sprawling History of Metropolitan Vancouver manuscript that story-teller Davis himself described as "the capstone” of his writing career, it fell to publisher Howard White of Harbour Publishing, to take over where Chuck left off. Rushed for time, Howard had to pull the gargantuan project together in a matter of months to meet Chuck's objective of honoring Vancouver's quasquicentennial. It was a daunting task, but fortunately a strong team of contributors and donors stepped forward to help and by working around the clock the massive 512-page tome was completed by fall 2011.
Author and founder of Harbour Publishing, Howard White, will talk about Chuck the man, the importance of his chronicling and legacy of good will that it engendered over many years, as well as the ups and downs involved in bringing this landmark book to print.
Thursday, April 26, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV A Vancouver Romance: John and Ruth Morton Speaker: Rev. Bruce A. Woods
Most Vancouverites know the name John Morton (1834-1912) as being one of the Three Greenhorns who settled in 1862 on the claim now called Vancouver’s West End. After the CPR acquired much of their property, Morton moved to Mission. What most don’t know is the lifelong romance between John and his wife Ruth, now memorialized by the Ruth Morton Baptist Church (above) which author Bruce A. Woods calls Vancouver’s and John Morton’s Taj Mahal.
Forty years of research, including interviews with John Morton’s granddaughter, have brought together an enchanting story of the Mortons. Humourist, Rev. Bruce A. Woods (right), author of Between Two Women and Between Two Worlds, in 1971 prepared for the CBC the pamphlet “The John Morton Story”, the subject of his last talk to the VHS in September 1970.
Thursday, May 24, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV Vanishing Vancouver, 20th Anniversary edition Speaker: Michael Kluckner
For the past 20 years, Michael Kluckner has been chronicling the vanishing aspects of Vancouver heritage. Reasons for tearing down the old such as the "making way for progress" of 50 years ago to the new “Eco-City” excuses of today are familiar. Kluckner through his own artwork, vintage photographs and colour postcards, will focus on the evolution of Vancouver's historic houses, apartments, gardens, shops and theatres, analyzing why some of them have been better able than others to adapt to changing times.
Michael Kluckner recently returned and settled in Vancouver after several years overseas and more than a decade on a Fraser Valley farm. He was the founding president of Heritage Vancouver in 1991 and served as chair of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation and Heritage Canada.
These days East Vancouver’s Commercial Drive is a fiercely independent, wildly entertaining, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-sexual district with a reputation to match. But how did it get that way from when natives sold its Grandview elk meat to settlers in Vancouver and a skid row running roughly along the present-day path of Commercial Drive below Hastings dumped disgorged huge trees into Cedar Cove? The area’s great view, which gave it the name “Grandview” and its idyllic surroundings became a magnet for settlement. However, the elimination of the ward system in 1935, which many locals thought was the end of the world and the loss of their community, forced a different and informal type of governance and commitment from residents along Commercial Drive. From that point on for the next twenty years, it became the story of families and individuals creating their own sense of community, particularly difficult when transit corridors were planned according to industrial corridors. The sense of community survived the elimination of streetcar tracks and grew with the changing multicultural demographic after 1956. This fierce independence continues in “The Drive” today. )
Everyone's heard about the tunnels underneath Chinatown. Guidebooks tell us they are there; newspapers, books and movies have confirmed their existence. So where are they? In this presentation John Atkin looks at the origin of the tunnel myth, from early San Francisco tour guide's stories and “eyewitness” accounts, to the tunnels as a side show attraction and early film. He will look at why the myth persists even today. Author and raconteur, speaker John Atkin is a prolific presence in the on-going historical narrative of Vancouver. 
When the late broadcaster and author Chuck Davis died without completing his sprawling History of Metropolitan Vancouver manuscript that story-teller Davis himself described as "the capstone” of his writing career, it fell to publisher Howard White of Harbour Publishing, to take over where Chuck left off. Rushed for time, Howard had to pull the gargantuan project together in a matter of months to meet Chuck's objective of honoring Vancouver's quasquicentennial. It was a daunting task, but fortunately a strong team of contributors and donors stepped forward to help and by working around the clock the massive 512-page tome was completed by fall 2011.
Author and founder of Harbour Publishing, Howard White, will talk about Chuck the man, the importance of his chronicling and legacy of good will that it engendered over many years, as well as the ups and downs involved in bringing this landmark book to print. 
Most Vancouverites know the name John Morton (1834-1912) as being one of the Three Greenhorns who settled in 1862 on the claim now called Vancouver’s West End. After the CPR acquired much of their property, Morton moved to Mission. What most don’t know is the lifelong romance between John and his wife Ruth, now memorialized by the Ruth Morton Baptist Church (above) which author Bruce A. Woods calls Vancouver’s and John Morton’s Taj Mahal. 
Forty years of research, including interviews with John Morton’s granddaughter, have brought together an enchanting story of the Mortons. Humourist, Rev. Bruce A. Woods (right), author of Between Two Women and Between Two Worlds, in 1971 prepared for the CBC the pamphlet “The John Morton Story”, the subject of his last talk to the VHS in September 1970.
For the past 20 years, Michael Kluckner has been chronicling the vanishing aspects of Vancouver heritage. Reasons for tearing down the old such as the "making way for progress" of 50 years ago to the new “Eco-City” excuses of today are familiar. Kluckner through his own artwork, vintage photographs and colour postcards, will focus on the evolution of Vancouver's historic houses, apartments, gardens, shops and theatres, analyzing why some of them have been better able than others to adapt to changing times. 
Michael Kluckner recently returned and settled in Vancouver after several years overseas and more than a decade on a Fraser Valley farm. He was the founding president of Heritage Vancouver in 1991 and served as chair of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation and Heritage Canada.