Prince Rupert’s Fight Over Labour Rights, 110 Years Ago Written by Bailey Garden, BCLHC Project Manager; Research by Bailey Garden & Rod Mickleburgh The Industrial Workers of the World, otherwise known as the IWW or the Wobblies, were the most radical labour organization North America has ever seen. They weren’t Read more…
Written and researched by Bailey Garden, BCLHC Project Manager Much of the colonial history of this province has centered the perspectives of white male settlers who came in search of gold and glory. While gold miners tended to work on their own claims, some of the earliest labour organizing in Read more…
Born January 27, 1900 in Alberta, Clarence Clemens moved to British Columbia from Edmonton sometime in 1937. He soon found work on the docks as a longshoreman employed by Empire Stevedoring Co. and settled into the predominantly black neighbourhood of Strathcona in East Vancouver. The heart of this community was known as Read more…
The On-to-Ottawa Trek in 1935 is a fabled part of Canada’s social history. Thousands of unemployed men, frustrated with the lack of compassion from government to their plight, boarded CPR freight trains in Vancouver with a plan to confront Prime Minister RB Bennett in Ottawa. After receiving a cool reception Read more…