[Bcma-l] Summer 2007 Jewish Walking Tours

[bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca]

June 4, 2007

Media contact:

Greg Robinson, Education Coordinator

604.638.7288 | grobinson@jewishmuseum.ca

Historic Walking Tours of Jewish Strathcona and Gastown

Tours start June 10 at 10:00 am

The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC is pleased to present Historic 
Walking Tours of Jewish Strathcona and Gastown, a new program offering 
insights into life in the heart of the early Jewish community in Vancouver.

In the 1880s and 1890s, the town of Granville quickly became the city of 
Vancouver following the arrival of the transcontinental railway. Jews 
participated in the city’s economic growth, political incorporation and 
cultural development. Jewish businesses opened in Gastown and a wave of 
Eastern European immigration from the 1890s to the 1920s made Strathcona 
the new centre of British Columbia’s Jewish population. In Strathcona, 
the Eastern European Jewish immigrants shared the Yiddish language, a 
religion, and concerns common to new immigrants in a foreign land. They 
soon established a synagogue, a mikvah (ritual bath), and cheder (Hebrew 
school) to meet their religious needs.

Strathcona was truly an immigrant neighbourhood. Along with their 
Chinese, Japanese, Norwegian, Italian, African, Polish, Russian, 
Ukrainian, and Anglo-Saxon neighbours, Jewish children attended 
Strathcona Elementary School and Britannia High School. Jewish women 
bought their chickens in Chinatown.

“Whether you were Italian or Yugoslavian or Chinese or Jewish, your 
parents were all immigrants and there was such warmth in this 
neighbourhood, I cannot begin to tell you” – Gloria Steinburg Harris.

During the walking tour, Greg Robinson of the Jewish Museum and Archives 
of BC will provide insight into the landmarks, architecture, events and 
evolution of Gastown and Strathcona districts, while sharing anecdotes 
of Jewish daily life in the area.

Dates and Location

June 10 & 24, July 15 & 29, Aug. 12 & 26 at 10:00 am & 1:30 pm

July 11 & 25, Aug. 8 & 22 at 1:30 pm only

Tours meet at NW corner of Abbott St. and Water St. at the fountain.

Tickets

$10 per person and includes a copy of the booklet, In the Footsteps of 
Jewish Vancouver – 1886 to 2006. Group rate of $75 for parties of 8 to 
10 people. Tour reservations and tickets can be arranged by calling the 
Jewish Museum & Archives of BC at 604.257.5199, or by visiting the 
Museum at 3rd floor of the Jewish Community Centre at 950 West 41st 
Avenue, Vancouver, BC. Tickets can also be purchased at the start of the 
tour. Further information about the walking tours can be found at 
www.jewishmuseum.ca or by calling the Museum at 604.257.5199.