Terry Reksten, a member of the Friends of the British Columbia Archives, was well known for bringing the history of British Columbia alive through her books, including the best sellers “More English Than the English”, “The Dunsmuir Saga”, and “The Empress Hotel”. Reksten, who was also a founding member of the Victoria Hallmark Society, passed away in 2001 at the age of 59. Her last book, “An Illustrated History of British Columbia,” now another best seller, was published just two weeks before her death.
Terry’s family asked that the Friends of the British Columbia Archives establish a memorial fund in her name to honour Terry and the work she did for preservation of the history and legacy of this province, and to endow an award for outstanding contributions to archives in British Columbia. Through several significant donations, the fund has grown rapidly. It has now reached an amount large enough to support an annual grant to assist local and community archives. All donations are tax deductible, and tax receipts for donations will be sent to contributors.
Grant Application:
The Fund annually offers an award of $1,000 to a community archives in British Columbia to assist in the work of acquiring, preserving, indexing or disseminating information on the archival documentary heritage of British Columbia in the broadest sense of the word. The award is administered by the Friends of the British Columbia Archives.
Eligibility Criteria
- The archives must be open to the public eight hours a week or more.
- The archives shall have three or fewer paid employees.
- No archive is eligible to receive moneys from the fund in two consecutive years.
How to Apply
Applications for the annual grant will be received until June 30. Please outline your project/need in not more than half a page and provide details of eligibility. Submit to:
Friends of the British Columbia Archives – Grant Committee
c/o BC Archives
875 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC V8W 9W2
Or by email to: ragreene@telus.net.
The winner will be chosen and announced in September.
The successful applicant will be required to provide notification on completion of the project, and a short report for the Friends of the BC Archives Newsletter.
Previous Award Recipients
- 2010: The Chase and District Museum and Archives Society received funds to transfer taped oral histories to a more stable medium.
- 2009: Japanese Canadian National Museum and Archives for a project to to purchase supplies to rehouse an extensive collection of photographs, textual records and artifacts documenting the voyage of the Suian Maru, a vessel which brought 83 Japanese migrants to B.C. in 1906.
- 2008: The Sidney Museum and Archives, to purchase archival supplies for the rehousing of photographs and negatives from the Dominion of Canada Experimental Farm fond (1913-1976).
- 2007: The Hope in Shadows Photographic Archive of Vancouver, to purchase supplies and enclosures to ensure adequate preservation of the photographs created for the Hope in Shadows Exhibition and Calendar.
- 2006: The Quesnel and District Museum and Archives for a project to purchase a digital recorder and collect aural histories within the community.
- 2005: The Comox Archives and Museum Society for a project to transfer oral histories, currently deteriorating on tape, to a more stable format.
- 2004: Bowen Island Historians for a project to re-house maps and plans in their Archives.
- 2003: Bulkley Valley Museum, Smithers, for a project to copy and encapsulate the more fragile and most often utilized maps in the museum collection, in order to help preserve and share the history of the Bulkley Valley.
- 2002: The Aldergrove Heritage Society, for a project to sort, identify and scan original photographs from the Aldergrove Star fonds to provide public accessibility.
