Photograph of Donna Nixon, Denise Hunter, and Joan Carne posing beside a sign advertising a "Show Your Heart Coupon Book" inside of a Safeway grocery store on Royal Oak Avenue. The women hold artistic cut-outs of salmon on sticks, related to the Stream of Dreams Murals Society.
Photograph of Donna Nixon, Denise Hunter, and Joan Carne posing beside a sign advertising a "Show Your Heart Coupon Book" inside of a Safeway grocery store on Royal Oak Avenue. The women hold artistic cut-outs of salmon on sticks, related to the Stream of Dreams Murals Society.
Collected by editorial for use in a February 2005 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Donna Nixon, Denise Hunter and Joan Carne pose with the "Because We Care" campaign poster at Safeway on Royal Oak Avenue. The employee based charity will be raising money for Stream of Dreams Murals Society in the coming months."
One of the most notorious landmarks in Burnaby was the Royal Oak Hotel, constructed around 1891 at the present-day northeast corner of Kingsway and Royal Oak. Levis Morrison built the hotel, then sold out to Charles Cridland, whose poor hotel reputation prompted Burnaby council to hire its second police constable. The hotel continued to operate until 1973 when it was demolished to build a Safeway store.
Early Burnaby as recalled by the settlers themselves who arrived from every corner of the world between 1888 and 1930, some witnessing incorporation of the district in 1892, all seeking a better life for themselves and especially for their children, all helping transform the wilderness into the modern municipality of today.
There are two versions of the book: English and Simplified Chinese (left, below) and the other in English and Traditional Chinese (right, below).
From the late 1800s to the present day, Chinese Canadians have made Burnaby into a more vibrant and livable city. Rooted: Chinese Canadian Stories in Burnaby brings together a collection of diverse stories and photographs from the community, celebrating the legacy and contributions of Burnaby’s Chinese Canadian community spanning over a century. This coffee-table book features oral histories and interviews with descendants of multigenerational family farms, green grocers, corner stores, restaurants, and places of worship. Also included are archival research and community perspectives on anti-Asian racism, community activism, courage, and resilience.
The publication has been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Chinese Exclusion Act by the Government of Canada in 1923. This federal legislation followed decades of discriminatory legislation by Canada’s federal, provincial and municipal governments that targeted Chinese Canadians by limiting opportunities to live, work and raise families in Canada. The Chinese Exclusion Act banned almost all migration from China and remained in place until 1947. Publishing this book in 2023 is an effort by the City of Burnaby to recognize the impact of discriminatory legislation on Chinese Canadians in our community, including discriminatory bylaws and practices implemented by Burnaby’s early municipal government.
Edited by Denise Fong (Lead Researcher), Jane Lemke (Burnaby Village Museum Curator) and Lisa Codd (City of Burnaby Heritage Planner).