184 records – page 3 of 10.

Interview with Merrill M. Gordon by Rod Fowler March 19, 1990 - Track 7

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory478
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1956-1990
Length
00:07:05
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s political career and his volunteer work with Cliff Avenue soccer, the Burnaby Mental Health Association, the library board, and the New Vista Society. He talks about his association with Alan Emmott and the founding of the Better Burnaby Commi…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s political career and his volunteer work with Cliff Avenue soccer, the Burnaby Mental Health Association, the library board, and the New Vista Society. He talks about his association with Alan Emmott and the founding of the Better Burnaby Committee (BBC), his election to Burnaby Council in 1972 with BVA, and his membership in and work for the federal NDP
Date Range
1956-1990
Photo Info
Burnaby Alderman Merrill Gordon (second from right) following a candidates' meeting, 1973. Item no. 480-263
Length
00:07:05
Names
Emmott, Alan H
Subjects
Persons - Volunteers
Officials - Aldermen and Councillors
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
March 19, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Merrill Gordon, conducted by Rod Fowler.Gordon Merrill was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Merrill Gordon’s childhood in the Depression, including his story about the family’s difficult trek to Burnaby from Alberta; his education, teachers and first volunteer activities at Grandview High School; his career at Fleck Brothers and the start of his own company Blaze Industries and later work in India; and his many volunteer activities in Burnaby. He describes how he started the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, the soccer club's subsequent growth and development, some of the people involved, and the founding of the youth soccer exchange. He also describes his work on the Parks Board and in the arts community, including the 1987 arts centre referendum, and involvement with the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society (1988- ), and mentions his work for other groups including the New Vista Society, library board, and Burnaby Mental Health Committee. He also talks about his political career with the Better Burnaby Committee and Burnaby Voters Association, resulting in his 1972 election to Burnaby’s 1973 council. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Merrill M. Gordon was born in Saskatchewan in 1929 to parents farming north of North Battleford. After a fifth year of crop failure the family of four left the farm in 1934 to join relatives living near the corner of Union and Sperling in Burnaby. With little resources the family adapted as well as possible in the Depression years, moving often in the East Vancouver/North Burnaby area in an attempt to better their situation. Merrill’s father obtained work at sawmills including Kapoor’s Sawmill at Barnet, walking to work over Burnaby Mountain. After attending numerous public schools, Merrill Gordon eventually spent three years at Templeton School and then completed his education at Grandview High School of Commerce, majoring in accounting and commercial law. He worked a few years at Canadian Industries Ltd., then joined Fleck Brothers. In 1965 Merrill Gordon and his wife started their own company Blaze Industries of Canada that manufactured wood burning fireplaces, selling the company to AB Electrolux in 1980. After a short retirement, Merrill Gordon went back to work in 1981 for a company manufacturing solar panels, one project taking him and his wife intermittently to India over a four year period. Merrill Gordon helped found the political group Better Burnaby Committee, later the Burnaby Voters Association, with Alan Emmott and Bill Lewarne, ran for Burnaby Municipal Council and served one year as councillor in 1973. Merrill Gordon is well known for his over 40 years of volunteer work in Burnaby, particularly as founder in 1956 and director of the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, one of the largest soccer clubs in BC. He was also the founder of Burnaby Youth Soccer and the first youth soccer exchange with Washington State. His other volunteer work includes library trustee, Parks Commissioner (1987-1992), Director of New Vista Home for Seniors, Chair of campaign raising funds for building Shadbolt Arts Centre, and Chair of the Burnaby Mental Health Committee. In 1988 Merrill Gordon, Betty Gordon, Dean Lamont and several others formed the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society, which advocated for the return of unused land to Burnaby from SFU and the subsequent creation of Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Merrill Gordon and Elizabeth Balfour (nee Leitch) (1926-2012) married in 1953 and had two children.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:31:44
Interviewee Name
Gordon, Merrill
Interview Location
unknown
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track seven of interview with Merrill Gordon

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Interview with Merrill M. Gordon by Rod Fowler March 19, 1990 - Track 8

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory479
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1956-1990
Length
00:10:17
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s founding and operation of the youth soccer exchange with Washington State, and the importance of soccer to the community. He discusses the problem of isolation between north and south Burnaby, planned development in Burnaby, and the contributi…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s founding and operation of the youth soccer exchange with Washington State, and the importance of soccer to the community. He discusses the problem of isolation between north and south Burnaby, planned development in Burnaby, and the contributions of Ratepayer groups and volunteers
Date Range
1956-1990
Photo Info
Burnaby Alderman Merrill Gordon (second from right) following a candidates' meeting, 1973. Item no. 480-263
Length
00:10:17
Subjects
Persons - Volunteers
Sports - Soccer
Public Services - Municipal Services
Planning
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
March 19, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Merrill Gordon, conducted by Rod Fowler.Gordon Merrill was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Merrill Gordon’s childhood in the Depression, including his story about the family’s difficult trek to Burnaby from Alberta; his education, teachers and first volunteer activities at Grandview High School; his career at Fleck Brothers and the start of his own company Blaze Industries and later work in India; and his many volunteer activities in Burnaby. He describes how he started the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, the soccer club's subsequent growth and development, some of the people involved, and the founding of the youth soccer exchange. He also describes his work on the Parks Board and in the arts community, including the 1987 arts centre referendum, and involvement with the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society (1988- ), and mentions his work for other groups including the New Vista Society, library board, and Burnaby Mental Health Committee. He also talks about his political career with the Better Burnaby Committee and Burnaby Voters Association, resulting in his 1972 election to Burnaby’s 1973 council. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Merrill M. Gordon was born in Saskatchewan in 1929 to parents farming north of North Battleford. After a fifth year of crop failure the family of four left the farm in 1934 to join relatives living near the corner of Union and Sperling in Burnaby. With little resources the family adapted as well as possible in the Depression years, moving often in the East Vancouver/North Burnaby area in an attempt to better their situation. Merrill’s father obtained work at sawmills including Kapoor’s Sawmill at Barnet, walking to work over Burnaby Mountain. After attending numerous public schools, Merrill Gordon eventually spent three years at Templeton School and then completed his education at Grandview High School of Commerce, majoring in accounting and commercial law. He worked a few years at Canadian Industries Ltd., then joined Fleck Brothers. In 1965 Merrill Gordon and his wife started their own company Blaze Industries of Canada that manufactured wood burning fireplaces, selling the company to AB Electrolux in 1980. After a short retirement, Merrill Gordon went back to work in 1981 for a company manufacturing solar panels, one project taking him and his wife intermittently to India over a four year period. Merrill Gordon helped found the political group Better Burnaby Committee, later the Burnaby Voters Association, with Alan Emmott and Bill Lewarne, ran for Burnaby Municipal Council and served one year as councillor in 1973. Merrill Gordon is well known for his over 40 years of volunteer work in Burnaby, particularly as founder in 1956 and director of the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, one of the largest soccer clubs in BC. He was also the founder of Burnaby Youth Soccer and the first youth soccer exchange with Washington State. His other volunteer work includes library trustee, Parks Commissioner (1987-1992), Director of New Vista Home for Seniors, Chair of campaign raising funds for building Shadbolt Arts Centre, and Chair of the Burnaby Mental Health Committee. In 1988 Merrill Gordon, Betty Gordon, Dean Lamont and several others formed the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society, which advocated for the return of unused land to Burnaby from SFU and the subsequent creation of Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Merrill Gordon and Elizabeth Balfour (nee Leitch) (1926-2012) married in 1953 and had two children.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:31:44
Interviewee Name
Gordon, Merrill
Interview Location
unknown
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track eight of interview with Merrill Gordon

Less detail

Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19349
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
[1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
Scope and Content
Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant…
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Series
Museum Oral Histories series
Subseries
South Asian Canadian Interviews subseries
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
Material Details
Interviewer: Kate Petrusa Interviewee: Honourable Raj Chouhan Location of Interview: Residence of Honourable Raj Chouhan Interview Date: December 2, 2022 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: (00:49:21) Digital master recording (wav) was converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
Scope and Content
Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant and the organizations that he became involved with. Honourable Raj Chouhan recalls how he arrived in Burnaby with his family in 1973 and that his family worked in farming. Chouhan imparts his first hand experiences as a new immigrant working as a labourer in the farming industry and describes the unsafe and unfair working conditions that he and migrant workers faced. Chouhan conveys how this experience lead him to become an activist for better working conditions for migrant workers. This lead Chouhan and others to form the Canadian Farm Workers Union in 1980. Chouhan recollects his experiences flying from India to Canada with his wife, his first impressions after arriving in Vancouver and driving to Burnaby and what he brought with him. Chouhan explains his connections to Burnaby. Members of Chouhan's wife's family immgrated to Canada in 1957 and his wife and her three brothers joined them in 1970. Chouhan's father in law, Hardial Singh Grewal immigrated in 1957 and became president of the Sikh temple in New Westminster. Hardial Singh Grewal worked in a lumber mill in Vancouver and eventually bought a house in Burnaby. Chouhan married to his wife at the Sikh temple in New Westminster and lived in Burnaby for a period before moving to New Westminster where they could find more affordable housing. Chouhan shares that he first worked as a farm labourer in Abbotsford and then found a job in the sawmill which paid more. Chouhan describes the extreme racism and discrimination that he and other immigrants faced which lead to the formation of the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism under the leadership of Dr. Hari Prakash Sharma. Chouhan describes this organization that he was a part of and the Canadian Farm Workers Union that were both formed in Burnaby. Chouhan shares that he moved to Victoria in 1988 to serve on the Hospital Employee's Union and moved back to the mainland in 1993 and returned to Burnaby in 2001. Chouhan reflects on the history of South Asian immigration in Canada, how many of the migrants settled in the lower mainland including Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver establishing temples in Vancouver and New Westminster which became the centre for the South Asian community. He conveys how earlier occupations were limited to farming and millwork and how over time employment opportunities and education have broadened but there is still work to do. He imparts how second generation Canadians’ experiences differ from first generations providing examples of his own daughters’ and the occupations that they are working in. Chouhan provides his insights into the South Asian Canadian experience imparting “We make history every day and that history needs to be recorded and learned from.."... “People from different communities, different backgrounds who lived in Burnaby have contributed so much and South Asians are just like another community and participated in all aspects of social life, cultural, religious, economy. I'm so proud of our community, our forefathers who had that vision to fight for our rights. I'm inspired by people who struggled so much to gain basic rights, like the right to vote". Chouhan refers to these first immigrants as “Gadri Babbas” “revolutionary old people” who were also the main motivation that lead to India becoming a free country in 1947 and for fighting for basic rights here in Canada and how they made their contributions for future generations. Chouhan expresses what he imparts to students “Do not forget your past... if you remember your past then you are much more knowledgeable. Then we know what we need for the future. If we don't know the past, we don't know what the future is going to be like. To make a better future, you have to learn from the past and improve".
History
Interviewee biography: Honourable Raj Chouhan was born in the city of Ludhiana in the Province of Punjab in India and immigrated to Canada in 1973. After arriving in Canada, Raj's family settled in Burnaby. Raj grew up in Burnaby and attended schoool. Honourable Raj Chouhan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as the MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2020. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on December 7, 2020. Honourable Chouhan is the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism and has served as a director of the Hospital Employees' Union, the Labour Relations Board of B.C. and the Arbitration Bureau of B.C. Honourable Chouhan has also served as the Vice President of B.C. Human Rights Defenders since 2003 and has taught courses in Human Rights, the B.C. Labour Code and Collective Bargaining since 1987. Interviewer biography: Kate Petrusa is the Assistant Curator at the Burnaby Village Museum. In her role, she manages all aspects of the collection – including caring for physical artifacts and making their digital counterpart accessible. Before coming to Burnaby Village Museum in 2019, Kate has worked at several Museums around the Lower Mainland as a Curator and contractor since 2013.
Creator
Burnaby Village Museum
Subjects
Persons - South Asian Canadians
Social Issues
Social Issues - Racism
Occupations - Agricultural Labourers
Migration
Organizations - Unions
Rights
Rights - Human Rights
Agriculture
Agriculture - Farms
Government - Provincial Government
Government
Names
Chouhan, Raj
British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism
Sharma, Dr. Hari Prakash
Grewal, Hardial Singh
Canadian Farmworkers Union
Hospital Employees Union
Khalsa Diwan Society
Responsibility
Petrusa, Kate
Accession Code
BV022.29.4
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
[1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
Media Type
Sound Recording
Notes
Title based on contents of item
Transcription available on Heritage Burnaby
Documents
Audio Tracks

Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022

Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2022_0029_0004_002.mp3
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Daily record book for Burnaby Fire Hall #2 - 1958-1959

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription2260
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1958-1959
Collection/Fonds
Fire Department fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
Textual record
Scope and Content
Item is a green record book in which information about the #2 Burnaby Fire Hall, such as who was on duty, calls/runs made, and notes about equipment and weather, was recorded daily for the period January 1, 1958 to December 31, 1959.
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1958-1959
Collection/Fonds
Fire Department fonds
Series
Fire General and Administration series
Physical Description
Textual record
Description Level
Item
Record No.
4155
Accession Number
2001-02
Scope and Content
Item is a green record book in which information about the #2 Burnaby Fire Hall, such as who was on duty, calls/runs made, and notes about equipment and weather, was recorded daily for the period January 1, 1958 to December 31, 1959.
Media Type
Textual Record
Less detail

Interview with Merrill M. Gordon by Rod Fowler March 19, 1990 - Track 10

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory481
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1965-1990
Length
00:15:42
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s views about SFU and its relations with and contributions to Burnaby. He details the founding of the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society with Dean Lamont and its work to have SFU transfer unused land to Burnaby to preserve as parkland
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Merrill Gordon’s views about SFU and its relations with and contributions to Burnaby. He details the founding of the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society with Dean Lamont and its work to have SFU transfer unused land to Burnaby to preserve as parkland
Date Range
1965-1990
Photo Info
Burnaby Alderman Merrill Gordon (second from right) following a candidates' meeting, 1973. Item no. 480-263
Length
00:15:42
Names
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
Lamont, Dean
Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
March 19, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Merrill Gordon, conducted by Rod Fowler.Gordon Merrill was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Merrill Gordon’s childhood in the Depression, including his story about the family’s difficult trek to Burnaby from Alberta; his education, teachers and first volunteer activities at Grandview High School; his career at Fleck Brothers and the start of his own company Blaze Industries and later work in India; and his many volunteer activities in Burnaby. He describes how he started the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, the soccer club's subsequent growth and development, some of the people involved, and the founding of the youth soccer exchange. He also describes his work on the Parks Board and in the arts community, including the 1987 arts centre referendum, and involvement with the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society (1988- ), and mentions his work for other groups including the New Vista Society, library board, and Burnaby Mental Health Committee. He also talks about his political career with the Better Burnaby Committee and Burnaby Voters Association, resulting in his 1972 election to Burnaby’s 1973 council. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Merrill M. Gordon was born in Saskatchewan in 1929 to parents farming north of North Battleford. After a fifth year of crop failure the family of four left the farm in 1934 to join relatives living near the corner of Union and Sperling in Burnaby. With little resources the family adapted as well as possible in the Depression years, moving often in the East Vancouver/North Burnaby area in an attempt to better their situation. Merrill’s father obtained work at sawmills including Kapoor’s Sawmill at Barnet, walking to work over Burnaby Mountain. After attending numerous public schools, Merrill Gordon eventually spent three years at Templeton School and then completed his education at Grandview High School of Commerce, majoring in accounting and commercial law. He worked a few years at Canadian Industries Ltd., then joined Fleck Brothers. In 1965 Merrill Gordon and his wife started their own company Blaze Industries of Canada that manufactured wood burning fireplaces, selling the company to AB Electrolux in 1980. After a short retirement, Merrill Gordon went back to work in 1981 for a company manufacturing solar panels, one project taking him and his wife intermittently to India over a four year period. Merrill Gordon helped found the political group Better Burnaby Committee, later the Burnaby Voters Association, with Alan Emmott and Bill Lewarne, ran for Burnaby Municipal Council and served one year as councillor in 1973. Merrill Gordon is well known for his over 40 years of volunteer work in Burnaby, particularly as founder in 1956 and director of the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, one of the largest soccer clubs in BC. He was also the founder of Burnaby Youth Soccer and the first youth soccer exchange with Washington State. His other volunteer work includes library trustee, Parks Commissioner (1987-1992), Director of New Vista Home for Seniors, Chair of campaign raising funds for building Shadbolt Arts Centre, and Chair of the Burnaby Mental Health Committee. In 1988 Merrill Gordon, Betty Gordon, Dean Lamont and several others formed the Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society, which advocated for the return of unused land to Burnaby from SFU and the subsequent creation of Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Merrill Gordon and Elizabeth Balfour (nee Leitch) (1926-2012) married in 1953 and had two children.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:31:44
Interviewee Name
Gordon, Merrill
Interview Location
unknown
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track ten of interview with Merrill Gordon

Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 10

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory500
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1966-1990
Length
00:08:22
Summary
This portion of the interview is Eileen Kernaghan’s observations about the changes on Neville Street, the mix in ethnic and cultural groups, and the nature of multicultural activity in the arts community
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is Eileen Kernaghan’s observations about the changes on Neville Street, the mix in ethnic and cultural groups, and the nature of multicultural activity in the arts community
Date Range
1966-1990
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:08:22
Subjects
Arts
Historic Neighbourhood
Alta-Vista (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Clinton-Glenwood Area
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track ten of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 1

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory491
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1967-1972
Length
00:05:55
Summary
This portion of the interview is about how Eileen Kernaghan became involved with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and, as a representative of this club, a member of the Burnaby Arts Council in Canada’s Centennial Year 1967. She describes how the structure of the Arts Council changed, and its focus on t…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about how Eileen Kernaghan became involved with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and, as a representative of this club, a member of the Burnaby Arts Council in Canada’s Centennial Year 1967. She describes how the structure of the Arts Council changed, and its focus on the newly acquired Art Centre buildings at Deer Lake
Date Range
1967-1972
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:05:55
Names
Burnaby Arts Council
Burnaby Writers' Club
Burnaby Arts Centre
Subjects
Arts
Persons - Volunteers
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track one of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 2

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory492
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1967-1972
Length
00:04:48
Summary
This portion of the interview is about how the Arts Council equipped the James Cowan Theatre, with a grand opening in 1971; hired staff, including Directors Byron Johnstad followed by LLoyd Barry, and Coordinators Phyllis Webb followed by Louise Holst; and developed programming and projects such as…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about how the Arts Council equipped the James Cowan Theatre, with a grand opening in 1971; hired staff, including Directors Byron Johnstad followed by LLoyd Barry, and Coordinators Phyllis Webb followed by Louise Holst; and developed programming and projects such as the Sculpture Garden
Date Range
1967-1972
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:04:48
Names
Burnaby Arts Council
Burnaby Arts Centre
Subjects
Arts
Persons - Volunteers
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track two of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 5

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory495
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1967-1990
Length
00:06:19
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Eileen Kernaghan’s involvement with the Burnaby Writers’ Society, serving variously as newsletter editor, President and Treasurer. She describes the club’s diverse membership, its role, and how it functions
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Eileen Kernaghan’s involvement with the Burnaby Writers’ Society, serving variously as newsletter editor, President and Treasurer. She describes the club’s diverse membership, its role, and how it functions
Date Range
1967-1990
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:06:19
Names
Burnaby Writers' Club
Subjects
Arts
Persons - Volunteers
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track five of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

100 Years of Women's Progress display

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58419
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 9 x 12 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of (left to right) C. Norton, Gladys Killip, P. A. Glover, V. Brenner taken near the Parlour Display. Gladys Killip at the Burnaby Council of Women event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and feature…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Gladys Killip subseries
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 9 x 12 cm
Description Level
Item
Record No.
497-001
Access Restriction
In Archives only
Reproduction Restriction
No restrictions
Accession Number
BHS1996-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of (left to right) C. Norton, Gladys Killip, P. A. Glover, V. Brenner taken near the Parlour Display. Gladys Killip at the Burnaby Council of Women event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and featured "Burnaby Treasures" at James Cowan Hall during the second week of April 1967. This was a non competitive exhibition of "Burnaby Treasures" old and new, combined with demonstrations of skills of yesterday and today. Burnaby Council of Women members and exhibitors dressed in period costumes for the event.
Names
Killip, Gladys
Media Type
Photograph
Notes
Title based on contents of item
Less detail

100 Years of Women's Progress display

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58420
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : col.; 9 x 9 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of (left to right) C. Norton, Dr. Violet Eagles, K. McAulay, C. Turner, and Gladys Killip at the Burnaby Council of Women event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and featured "Burnaby Treasures" at J…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Gladys Killip subseries
Physical Description
1 photograph : col.; 9 x 9 cm
Description Level
Item
Record No.
497-002
Access Restriction
In Archives only
Reproduction Restriction
No restrictions
Accession Number
BHS1996-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of (left to right) C. Norton, Dr. Violet Eagles, K. McAulay, C. Turner, and Gladys Killip at the Burnaby Council of Women event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and featured "Burnaby Treasures" at James Cowan Hall during the second week of April 1967. This was a non competitive exhibition of "Burnaby Treasures" old and new, combined with demonstrations of skills of yesterday and today. Burnaby Council of Women members and exhibitors dressed in period costumes for the event.
Names
Eagles, Dr. Violet
Killip, Gladys
Media Type
Photograph
Notes
Title based on contents of item
Less detail

100 Years of Women's Progress display

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58421
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : col., 9 x 9 cm.
Scope and Content
Photograph of M. McCarthy and P.A. Glover near the Scandinavian Display at the Burnaby Council of Women's event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and featured "Burnaby Treasures" at James Cowan Hall during the …
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1967
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Gladys Killip subseries
Physical Description
1 photograph : col., 9 x 9 cm.
Description Level
Item
Record No.
497-003
Access Restriction
In Archives only
Reproduction Restriction
No restrictions
Accession Number
BHS1996-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of M. McCarthy and P.A. Glover near the Scandinavian Display at the Burnaby Council of Women's event "100 Years of Progress in Women's Activities, Arts and Crafts" that was held in recognition of the Centennial Celebration and featured "Burnaby Treasures" at James Cowan Hall during the second week of April 1967. This was a non competitive exhibition of "Burnaby Treasures" old and new, combined with demonstrations of skills of yesterday and today. Burnaby Council of Women members and exhibitors dressed in period costumes for the event.
Media Type
Photograph
Notes
Title based on contents of item
Less detail

Burnaby Park swimming pool

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription37411
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1970
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. postcard ; 9 x 14 cm
Scope and Content
Photographic postcard of Robert Burnaby Park and dozens of children swimming in the outdoor pool. The caption on the reverse of the postcard reads: "One of the three 'Z' shaped outdoor swimming pools serving Burnaby residents. Over 250,000 swims are recorded in these swimming facilities during the…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1970
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Robert Prittie subseries
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. postcard ; 9 x 14 cm
Description Level
Item
Record No.
369-010
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
Accession Number
BHS1999-01
Scope and Content
Photographic postcard of Robert Burnaby Park and dozens of children swimming in the outdoor pool. The caption on the reverse of the postcard reads: "One of the three 'Z' shaped outdoor swimming pools serving Burnaby residents. Over 250,000 swims are recorded in these swimming facilities during the summer swim period."
Subjects
Sports - Swimming
Buildings - Recreational - Outdoor Swimming Pools
Media Type
Photograph
Photographer
George Allen Aerial Photos Limited
Notes
Title based on contents of photograph
Geographic Access
Robert Burnaby Park
Wedgewood Street
Street Address
8155 Wedgewood Street
Historic Neighbourhood
Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Lakeview-Mayfield Area
Images
Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 8

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory498
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1970-1990
Length
00:04:35
Summary
This portion of the interview is about the arts community in Burnaby, who is involved, and the pros and cons for a central location for the Arts Centre
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about the arts community in Burnaby, who is involved, and the pros and cons for a central location for the Arts Centre
Date Range
1970-1990
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:04:35
Names
Burnaby Arts Centre
Subjects
Arts
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track eight of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

Interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Rod Fowler April 10, 1990 - Track 9

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory499
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1970-1990
Length
00:12:18
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Eileen Kernaghan’s decreased involvement with the Arts Council, and a discussion about the lack of political support for the arts and speculations as to why sports seems to have more funding through the Parks and Recreation Commission. She talks about the cont…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview is about Eileen Kernaghan’s decreased involvement with the Arts Council, and a discussion about the lack of political support for the arts and speculations as to why sports seems to have more funding through the Parks and Recreation Commission. She talks about the controversy about the proposed Metrotown theatre, the unique characteristics of arts groups in Burnaby, and the difficulty of recruiting volunteers
Date Range
1970-1990
Photo Info
Eileen Kernaghan standing in front of four poets at the Poetry Pocket Cafe in New Westminster, October 15, 1995. Item no. 535-0014
Length
00:12:18
Names
Burnaby Arts Council
Subjects
Arts
Interviewer
Fowler, Rod
Interview Date
April 10, 1990
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Eileen Kernaghan, conducted by Rod Fowler. Eileen Kernaghan was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Eileen Kernaghan’s activities with the Burnaby Writers’ Society and the Burnaby Arts Council, describing the history of these organizations between 1967 and 1990. She describes the financial and other challenges facing the arts community, the various programs initiated by the Arts Council, and the development of the Burnaby Arts Centre facilities at Deer Lake. She also talks about her education, writing career, the Neville Street neighbourhood, and her and her husband’s bookstore business. Ghosts believed to inhabit some of the Arts Centre's heritage buildings are also a topic of conversation. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Eileen Kernaghan was born January 6, 1939, to William Alfred Monk (1910-2003) and Belinda Maude Monk (1908-1996), and grew up on a dairy farm near Grindrod in the North Okanagan. She attended a two room school in Grindrod, completed Junior and Senior High School in Enderby, and at age 17 in 1956, left home to attend UBC. She taught school in the North Okanagan area in the late 1950s, during which time she married her husband Patrick Kernaghan. They moved to Vancouver in 1961, Burnaby in 1963, and settled on Neville Street in the South Slope area in 1966 with their three children. Pat Kernaghan worked at Oakalla Prison as a correctional officer until his retirement in 1988. Eileen and Patrick Kernaghan owned and operated a bookstore on Neville Street from 1987 to 1999. They later moved to New Westminster. Eileen Kernaghan began her writing career at twelve years old with a story published in the Vancouver Sun. After her youngest child began school, with more free time, she started writing again and has become an award winning author of fantasy and science fiction novels. She helped found the Burnaby Writers’ Society in 1967, taught writing workshops, and wrote its popular Newsletter for many years. In 1971 the Society put together a small handbook for BC writers, a venture that was expanded and published by Douglas MacIntyre in 1975 as “The Upper Left-Hand Corner: a writer’s handbook for the Northwest”. The book became a Canadian best-seller. During this same period Eileen Kernaghan began her successful “Grey Isles” trilogy. In 1967 she joined the Burnaby Arts Council, worked as its Coordinator from 1973 to 1984, and was a determined advocate for municipal government support for the arts in Burnaby.
Total Tracks
11
Total Length
1:26:27
Interviewee Name
Kernaghan, Eileen
Interviewer Bio
Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
Collection/Fonds
SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
Series
Centennial Oral History project series
Transcript Available
Transcript available
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track nine of interview with Eileen Kernaghan

Less detail

Group of people in costumes posing in front of a house.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4982
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1970-1980
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
The Confederation Singers in 1890s costumes. The front row is men sitting, there are three rows of woman standing behind. There is a man and woman standing together to the right of the group.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
The Confederation Singers in 1890s costumes. The front row is men sitting, there are three rows of woman standing behind. There is a man and woman standing together to the right of the group.
History
Mrs Bate was a church choir singer. In 1976 she was asked to help form the Confederation Singers at the North Burnaby Confederation Seniors Centre. She started the choir and conducted it until her retirement in 1986. The costume, as seen in several photographs and also in the Burnaby Vilalge Museum collection, was made by members of the choir who made similar 1890's period costumes for themselves. The choir sang in seniors centres and at special events at Century Park (now known as the Burnaby Village Museum). They were also invited to sing at Government House in Victoria.
Other Title Information
Title based on contents of photograph
Accession Code
BV010.8.12
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Date
1970-1980
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
22-05-2018
Images
Less detail

A group of people in costumes posing in front of a house.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4983
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1970-1980
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
The Confederation Singers in 1890s costumes. The front row is men sitting, there are three rows of woman standing behind. There is a man and woman standing together to the left of the group.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
The Confederation Singers in 1890s costumes. The front row is men sitting, there are three rows of woman standing behind. There is a man and woman standing together to the left of the group.
History
Mrs Bate was a church choir singer. In 1976 she was asked to help form the Confederation Singers at the North Burnaby Confederation Seniors Centre. She started the choir and conducted it until her retirement in 1986. The costume, as seen in several photographs and also in the Burnaby Vilalge Museum collection, was made by members of the choir who made similar 1890's period costumes for themselves. The choir sang in seniors centres and at special events at Century Park (now known as the Burnaby Village Museum). They were also invited to sing at Government House in Victoria.
Other Title Information
Title based on contents of photograph
Accession Code
BV010.8.13
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Date
1970-1980
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
22-05-2018
Images
Less detail

Group of people on the Fraser River.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4996
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1970-1980
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
Three men and two women are sitting on the deck of a boat. They are on the Fraser River. The shore with trees are in the background.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 10 x 10cm
Scope and Content
Three men and two women are sitting on the deck of a boat. They are on the Fraser River. The shore with trees are in the background.
History
Mrs Bate was a church choir singer. In 1976 she was asked to help form the Confederation Singers at the North Burnaby Confederation Seniors Centre. She started the choir and conducted it until her retirement in 1986. The costume, as seen in several photographs and also in the Burnaby Vilalge Museum collection, was made by members of the choir who made similar 1890's period costumes for themselves. The choir sang in seniors centres and at special events at Century Park (now known as the Burnaby Village Museum). They were also invited to sing at Government House in Victoria.
Other Title Information
Title based on contents of photograph
Accession Code
BV010.8.26
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Date
1970-1980
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
22-05-2018
Images
Less detail

Group of women in costume

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4999
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1970-1980
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 9 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
A group of women in costumes are walking along a grassed area. In the background there is a building. There is a border of flowers along the grass.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 9 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
A group of women in costumes are walking along a grassed area. In the background there is a building. There is a border of flowers along the grass.
History
Mrs Bate was a church choir singer. In 1976 she was asked to help form the Confederation Singers at the North Burnaby Confederation Seniors Centre. She started the choir and conducted it until her retirement in 1986. The costume, as seen in several photographs and also in the Burnaby Vilalge Museum collection, was made by members of the choir who made similar 1890's period costumes for themselves. The choir sang in seniors centres and at special events at Century Park (now known as the Burnaby Village Museum). They were also invited to sing at Government House in Victoria.
Other Title Information
Title based on contents of photograph
Accession Code
BV010.8.29
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Date
1970-1980
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
22-05-2018
Images
Less detail

Two women in costumes.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription5000
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1970- 1980
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 9 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
Two women, one in a long green dress, hat with feathers and a parasol. The other woman is wearing a pink long dress with darker pink trim and a matching hat. She also has a parasol. They are standing on the grass in front of a long outdoor tent. The Canadian flag is behind them.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : colour ; 9 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
Two women, one in a long green dress, hat with feathers and a parasol. The other woman is wearing a pink long dress with darker pink trim and a matching hat. She also has a parasol. They are standing on the grass in front of a long outdoor tent. The Canadian flag is behind them.
History
Mrs Bate was a church choir singer. In 1976 she was asked to help form the Confederation Singers at the North Burnaby Confederation Seniors Centre. She started the choir and conducted it until her retirement in 1986. The costume, as seen in several photographs and also in the Burnaby Vilalge Museum collection, was made by members of the choir who made similar 1890's period costumes for themselves. The choir sang in seniors centres and at special events at Century Park (now known as the Burnaby Village Museum). They were also invited to sing at Government House in Victoria.
Other Title Information
Title based on contents of photograph
Accession Code
BV010.8.30
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Date
1970- 1980
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
22-05-2018
Images
Less detail

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