The BC History Internet/Web Site: Images of BC

The British Columbia History Internet/Web Site

Images of British Columbia: Art, Digital, Motion Pictures, Photography, Videos

Jump to Photographic History Essays and Publications

Alaska State Library: Alaska Historical Collections (Juneau) includes an online catalog of selected images from the Klondike Gold Rush; those "On the Trail" include scenes in BC.
ArchiviaNet: Photographs Database (National Archives of Canada) contains digitized images searchable by keyword.
Beinecke Digital Images (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)
The British Columbia Archives contains the largest number of keyword-searchable images (art, photographs, and moving images) pertaining to the province.
British Columbia Historical Photographs Online (Archives Association of BC) contains links to archival Web sites with photographic databases and galleries of historical photographs.
Canadian Heritage Gallery (Mississauga, Ontario) publishes historic images and associated descriptive information; reproductions can also be ordered online. The site is endorsed by the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Canadian National Railways Historic Photographs Collection includes photos from lines operated in BC. The entire CN photo collection was officially donated to the Canada Science and Technology Museum on May 10, 2000. This collection is available on the Museum's Web site as the CN Images of Canada Gallery.
Canadian Pacific Railway Archives (Canadian Pacific, Montreal, Quebec) includes a gallery of historical photographs and artwork.
Canadian Portraits (National Archives of Canada and Canada's Digital Collections)
CanPix Gallery: Great Canadian Image Base (Nelson Canada)
Chinese Canadian Historical Photo Exhibit (Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter)
City of Richmond Archives Photo Search includes photographs from around the province. The search feature uses pull-down menus or keyword searching.
CN Images of Canada Gallery (Canada Science and Technology Museum) is a searchable database of the Canadian National Railways photograph collection which was officially donated to the Museum on May 10, 2000.
Critical Acclaim: Portraits from the National Archives of Canada Exhibition
Geological Survey of Canada Photo Gallery (Earth Sciences Information Centre, Natural Resources Canada)
The George Eastman House (GEH) Catalog requires telnet software. The login is: GUEST2. There is online help. The logout command at the $ prompt is: LO. NOTE: images can not be displayed. Canadian photographers are represented.
Global Air Photos (Waite Air Photos Inc., BC) contains thousands of aerial photographs from BC and Alberta.
Historic Photographs (Living Landscapes and Canada's Digital Collections) centre on the Okanagan/Thompson regions.
History of Photography Mailing List Searchable Archives (Arizona State University)
History of the American West, 1860-1920 (Western History and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library via American Memory, Library of Congress). Alternate URL with larger number of images: The Photography Collection at the Denver Public Library (Western History/Genealogy Department)
Images of Canada: Picturing Canadian Culture (Hosted by the National Library of Canada) is a search gateway to digital image collections from across Canada. This metadata index currently includes the CN Images of Canada Gallery (Canada Science and Technology Museum), Glenbow Archives Photos, Geological Survey of Canada (Natural Resources Canada) photos, Canadian Illustrated News (1869-1883, National Library of Canada) images and Toronto Public Library postcards and images. Some of these image collections are also separately listed on this page. Date updated: 2001.07.05.
"Images of History on the Web" by David Mattison (Searcher, May 2002). This online article surveys online historical photographs databases around the world. Date added: 2002.06.03.
Images of National Parks and Historic Sites in British Columbia (Parks Canada and Canada's Digital Collections)
The J. Simonson Photographic Collection from the Archives of the Fraser-Fort George Regional Museum (Canada's Digital Collections)
James J. Hill Group (Saint Paul, MN) Photograph Archive holds photos related to industrialist and railroad builder J.J. Hill's activities in the Pacific Northwest, including BC.
Joe Felber Collection (Terrace Public Library). Joe Felber (b. 1899), a Swiss immigrant, came to Canada in 1923 and eventually settled in Terrace. An amateur photographer, the collection was donated to the library by his son. Date added: 2002-05-07.
Langley Centennial Museum and National Exhibition Centre Photographs Database is found in the Collections section of its Web site.
The Leonard Frank Photograph Collection (Vancouver Public Library and Canada's Digital Collections). Leonard Frank (1870-1944), a German-born photographer who began his photographic career in Alberni, relocated to Vancouver in 1917 and became widely known for his industrial/outdoor photography. Frank's collection is preserved by the Vancouver Public Library and the Jewish Historical Society of BC. Date added: 2001.07.20.
The Magic Lantern (McCord Museum, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec). In the English language site, select Projects, then The Magic Lantern hyperlink. Select the Browse hyperlink, then Choose Your Tour entry and select the Place tab, then the "British Columbia" hyperlink. Date added: 2001.10.07.
"A Moment in Time": A Collection of Henry Twidle's Photographs (Campbell River Museum and Canada's Digital Collections). Amateur photographer Henry Twidle (1879-1956), an English immigrant, worked for the B.C. Mills Timber & Trade Company at Rock Bay in the early 1900s and later relocated to Granite Bay on Quadra Island where he operated a hotel and store. Date added: 2002.08.14.
Museum of History and Industry Photo Adventures (Seattle, WA) includes some BC photographs
National Archives and Records Administration (United States) includes online images such as James Alden's watercolours produced during the first Northwest Boundary Commission Survey.
National Aviation Museum (Ottawa) Archival Photo Database
National Museum of American Art (American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.) provides access to The Inventory of American Paintings, a subsystem of SIRIS, with detailed bibliographic records of all pre-1914 paintings held by the NMAA. Digitized examples of artwork, including photographs, can be browsed by category or in numeric sequence.
New Westminster Historical Photographs Database (New Westminster Heritage Web Site, New Westminster Public Library) includes online images. A Heritage Photo Tour is also available at the same location.
The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis. Digital portfolio ed. (Chicago, IL: Northwestern University; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2000): Edward Curtis' The North American Indian Photographic Images (American Memory, Library of Congress).
Notman Photographic Archives, McCord Museum (Montreal, Quebec) contains searchable images of British Columbia. Date updated: 2001.10.07.
The Portrait Gallery of Canada (National Archives of Canada).
Pride and Dignity: Aboriginal Portraits Exhibition (National Archives of Canada)
Resources for Aboriginal Studies (University of Saskatchewan Libraries and University of Saskatchewan Archives) Photograph Database with online images.
Snapshots of the Past (Enderby and District Museum). Photographs and text illustrate the history of Enderby and surrounding communities. Date accessed: 2002.04.09. Date added: 2002.04.09.
Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 (American Memory, Library of Congress) includes two photographs from British Columbia
Terrace: Images and Reflections of the Skeena River Valley (Terrace and Region Archives) contains a page of picture links to various digitized photographs of the Terrace and region.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920 (American Memory, Library of Congress) includes over 100 digitized photographs taken in British Columbia by Henry G. Peabody (Source: John V. Jezierski, "Henry G. Peabody and the Detroit Publishing Company in British Columbia", BC Studies no. 122, Summer 1999: 77-84).
The University of BC Special Collections & University Archives Historical Photograph Imaging Project contains both descriptions and online images.
The University of Washington Libraries' Special Collections Digital Northwest Collections includes (as of March 23, 2000) the following photograph collections with BC content: Eric A. Hegg Collection (Klondike and Alaska gold rushes); Albert H. Barnes Collection (Western Washington and Fraser Valley, 1890s-1900s); Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Collection (Seattle, 1909); William E. Meed Collection (ca. 1898-1907); Frank La Roche Photograph Collection (Klondike Gold Rush); Harriman Alaska Expedition Collection (1899); Wilhelm Hester Collection (Alaska Gold Rush, ca. 1900); Asahel Curtis Photo Company Collection (Klondike Gold Rush to 1930).
Upper Fraser Milltowns Project (Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project, University of Northern BC). The Photo Gallery includes photographs and artwork illustrating logging, sawmill operations and community life which were collected from individuals, companies and other sources. Date accessed: 2001.10.30. Date added: 2001.10.30.
Vancouver Public Library, Historical Photographs Database. Descriptions and online images searchable by keyword, subject, geographic location, photographer and/or date. Date added: 2001.05.28.
Whistler Pioneer Photographs from the Myrtle Philip Collection (Whistler Museum and Archives and Canada's Digital Collections). Date added: 2001.07.20.
Women in Photography Archive is a private research collection owned by Peter Palmquist, Arcata, California.

RETURN TO

Photographic History Essays, Publications and Exhibits

Canadian Museum of Civilization, Emergence from the Shadow: First Peoples' Photographic Perspectives features historic photographers of First Peoples (Natives) and contemporary photographers of Native ancestry.
Mattison, David, Camera Workers: The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950 (1999-2000 15th Anniversary Revised Edition)
Mattison, David, "G.R. Fardon's Pannotypes: London International Exhibition 1862" is a digital re-creation of a display of nine portraits on patent leather photographed by G.R. Fardon in Victoria, BC, ca. 1861-1862. If you can help identify these people, please contact David Mattison.
Mattison, David, "The Photographers of Onderdonk's Way." (Kamloops Art Gallery Virtual Exhibit, Onderdonk's Way, April 17-June 1, 1997).
Royal British Columbia Museum, "Early Photographers of First Peoples in British Columbia." (Museum Notes).
Ruby, Jay, "Franz Boas and Early Camera Study of Behavior." Kinesis Report 3, no. 1 (1980): 6-11.
Ruby, Jay, "A Re-examination of the Early Career of Robert J. Flaherty." Quarterly Review of Film Studies 5, no. 4 (Fall 1980): 431-457.
Soule, Ron, Cornelius John Soule, 1851-1939: Architect, Photographer.
White Pine Pictures. Copyright: Leonard Frank (Video series: A Scattering of Seeds: The Creation of Canada).
Williams, Carol C. "Photographic Portraiture of Aboriginal Women on Canada's Northwest Coast, circa 1862-1880." SIGHTS: Visual Anthropology Forum Web Site.
The Yukon Photographers: Gold Rush Era, 1897-1900 (Government of Yukon Heritage Branch via the Virtual Museum Canada)