Teck Gallery
February 18 May 10, 2009

Black Communities in British Columbia:
1858 - 2008

Curator's Talk and Opening Reception
Wednesday February 25, 6pm
SFU Vancouver Campus

Opening reception and curator’s talk with Dr. Afua Cooper (as part of Black History Month) 6PM Wednesday, February 25, in room 1400 at SFU Vancouver (515 West Hastings) followed by refreshments and a tour of the exhibition.

Following the model of the Vancouver Parks Board’s “Remarkable Vancouver Women” poster project in 2008, this poster project is curated by Dr. Afua Cooper, the Ruth Wynn Woodward Chair, Women’s Studies, SFU, who has partnered with the SFU Gallery to create this exhibition.

This exhibit has several objectives: to briefly document the marginalized history of the Black presence in BC; to celebrate that experience, pay homage to the women and men who helped build British Columbia; and finally, to commemorate and highlight the Black presence as part of BC’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

Thanks to our sponsors and collaborators for this project: the BC Provincial Archives; the City of Vancouver Archives; North Vancouver Museum & Archives; the Salt Spring Island Archives; the Vancouver Public Library; the Victoria Black History Society; the BC Congress of Black Women; Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project; the SFU Department of History; W.A.C. Bennett Library at SFU; The Departments of Women’s Studies and History at the University of Victoria; the Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness at UBC; the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at UBC; the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria; and the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at UBC; and the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria; Citizenship and Immigration Canada/ Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through BC 150, a Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts initiative, the Heritage Legacy Fund of BC, and the Celebration and Commemoration Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada.

Photo: Harry Jerome of North Vancouver High School breaking Percy Williams' record from 1928 (220 yds. in 21.9 seconds.) Photo courtesy of the North Vancouver Archives.