Doreen Lawson
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97518
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby NewsLeader photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : col.
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Doreen Lawson next to Burnaby Lake and holding a pair of binoculars.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby NewsLeader photograph collection
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : col.
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 535-2857
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2018-12
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Doreen Lawson next to Burnaby Lake and holding a pair of binoculars.
- Names
- Lawson, Doreen A.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Ponne, Simone
- Notes
- Title based on caption
- Collected by editorial for use in a September 2001 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
- Caption from metadata: "Doreen Lawson"
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Lake
- Burnaby Lake Regional Nature Park
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Lake Area
Images
Doreen Lawson fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58356
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1950-2002
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulat…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1950-2002
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Physical Description
- 18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Accession Number
- 2003-30
- 2015-15
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulatory letters and correspondence, community speeches and slideshow presentations regarding the conservation of Burnaby Lake, the administrative papers of the Burnaby Centennial Rhododendron and Spring Flower Show Society, and photographs of Burnaby waterways and wildlife.
- History
- Doreen Anne Fowler Lawson was born July 8, 1928, to Eva Barnhill and Leonard Fowler. Her parents met in Alberta but decided to move to Vancouver where they got married and Doreen was born. The family moved to the north side of Claude Avenue in Burnaby when Doreen was a few months old. In 1931, they moved to a house with an acre of land directly across the street from their first house.
- When Doreen was six, her family moved to Collingwood, Vancouver, near where her father grew up. This is where her brother Ron was born. The family moved again to County Line in Langley Prairie in 1944, which is where Doreen met Edward Lawson, her future husband. Soon after, they moved to a seven-acre plot in Burquitlam. Ed and Doreen Lawson’s eldest daughter, Linda, was born in 1954. Their second daughter, Wendy, was born in 1959 and their youngest, Lisa, was born in 1961. They lived in the Brentwood area, where all three daughters attended Brentwood Elementary School. Linda went on to Alpha Secondary School.
- In 1945, Doreen began her first of several office jobs, and in the early 1950s she became the first woman to be elected into a vice-president position within the BC Trade Union Congress (now the BC Federation of Labour).
- Doreen Lawson had a long and prolific political career, starting as Parks Commissioner in 1965, and serving as its chair from 1969 to 1971. She was instrumental in the selection and promotion of the rhododendron as the official flower of Burnaby in 1966. In 1971, she was elected to Burnaby City Council and, in 1972, Doreen proposed that Council take action to declare Burnaby Lake a wildlife sanctuary. After a 10-year campaign, she was able to convince Council to declare the park “a nature conservation area.” She put forward a policy of preservation for creeks and streams, as well as a proposal to preserve trees in subdivisions, both of which were adopted by Council. Doreen continued to serve on Council until 1985, during which time she initiated and chaired the Burnaby Information Committee, which designed the present Burnaby logo (and official flower pins) and established the Information Burnaby Newsletter. In 1979 Doreen Lawson won Vancouver Natural History Society’s Frank Sanford Award.
- In 1984, Doreen was elected the first woman president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Doreen ran as a BC Liberal Party candidate in the new Federal Riding of Burnaby in 1979, and from 1985 to 1987, she served as the Executive Director of the British Columbia Liberal Party. As the B.C. Liberal Party Executive Director, her major responsibility was to work with both the Federal and Provincial Associations in implementing riding organizations and fundraising programs in preparation for election time. In the 1980s, Doreen was an active guest lecturer at Burnaby Elementary and High Schools as well as at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Doreen was active in a variety of community clubs and organizations including: the Burnaby Library Board; Greater Vancouver Spinners and Weavers Guild; and Vancouver Natural History Society. She was an executive member of the Burnaby-New Westminster Canada Summer Games; the Burnaby Division of the United Way; Information Burnaby Committee; and the Brentwood Parent Teachers Association; as well as serving as the President of the Burnaby Voters Association from 1988-1990.
- In 1990, Doreen was elected back to Burnaby Council and put forward the rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake which she saw completed before her final year on Council in 1999. Doreen continued to be a strong environmental advocate for the protection and rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake after she retired from council.
- Doreen Lawson died October 11, 2003.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Creator
- Lawson, Doreen A.
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- MSS071, photo catalogue 605, photo catalogue 618
Eagle Creek treehouse
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription91704
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1980 and 2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Description Level
- File
- Physical Description
- 5 photographs : col. ; 15 cm x 10 cm
- Scope and Content
- File consists of photographs of a rustic two-storey treehouse located in the forest at Eagle Creek. The treehouse is triangular in shape and constructed around three evergreen trees. The file also contains one photograph of a broken tree stump.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1980 and 2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Physical Description
- 5 photographs : col. ; 15 cm x 10 cm
- Description Level
- File
- Record No.
- 618-022
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2015-15
- Scope and Content
- File consists of photographs of a rustic two-storey treehouse located in the forest at Eagle Creek. The treehouse is triangular in shape and constructed around three evergreen trees. The file also contains one photograph of a broken tree stump.
- Subjects
- Plants - Trees
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Lawson, Doreen A.
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photographs
- Note in black in on verso of photographs 618-022-1 : 618-022-4 reads: "Bby. Mtn. Parkway [at] Curtis / Eagle Creek, Upper Reaches / East Fork"
- Note in black in on verso of photograph 618-022-5 reads: "Bby. Mtn. Parkway / Eagle Creek, Upper Reaches"
- Geographic Access
- Eagle Creek
- Planning Study Area
- Sperling-Broadway Area
Images
Snow Owl / Burnaby Lake Snow Pictures
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription91702
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1970 and 2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Description Level
- File
- Physical Description
- 25 photographs : col. negatives ; 35 mm
- Scope and Content
- File consists photographs of a snow-covered Burnaby Lake and a snowy owl perched on a large tree stump.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1970 and 2001]
- Collection/Fonds
- Doreen Lawson fonds
- Physical Description
- 25 photographs : col. negatives ; 35 mm
- Description Level
- File
- Record No.
- 618-020
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2015-15
- Scope and Content
- File consists photographs of a snow-covered Burnaby Lake and a snowy owl perched on a large tree stump.
- Subjects
- Geographic Features - Lakes and Ponds
- Animals - Birds
- Plants - Trees
- Natural Phenomena - Snow
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Lawson, Doreen A.
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Title transcribed from negative envelope
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Lake
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Lake Area