[BCMA] Chinese Legacies exhibit begins travel circuitfrom Revelstoke Railway Museum

Thu Jan 13 18:02:00 PST 2011

January 13, 2011

Dan:

I most appreciate your last two notes (Human Rights museum and Revelstoke traveling exhibit).  In reading through them, I decided to share my mother’s story and to discuss your notes.

Born and raised in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, of ‘the’ coal mining center of eastern Canada and subject of the book The Company Town, my mother made the following comment after seeing the Loretta Lynn story, Coal Miner’s Daughter – “they weren’t poor – they had a horse”.  She also mentioned her aunt, who raised her, having a cup on the mantle ready with what coin she could scrape together so that she could buy a Micmac basket from someone even poorer and inconceivably more oppressed.  Glace Bay was virtually owned by the Dominion Coal Mining Company.  One did not have to be from somewhere else or of a particular religious order in order or belief system to be oppressed, you just had to be poor, and, there was a lot of that going around and even more so now. 

I would suggest that instead of funding a museum of ‘human rights’ that the $200 millions of dollars should have been spent on funding all the smaller local museums in the country who could research and exhibit elements relating to that theme.  It would be far more effective to spend the money more widely than to place all of that money into mid-city architecture.  Themes of oppression are often the only way to get funding these days.  I would have taken $50 million of that money to spend on text books featuring this theme so they could be used in schools, translated into all the languages of the world and widely distributed.  I am keenly disturbed by the lack of knowledge of the general public of our Canadian mosaic, and indeed, the world mosaic, and how it was achieved.  But, architecture wins, shock value wins (especially in architecture), and the local construction contractors – from every ethnic and oppressed back ground in the world (after all, it is Canada) - are kept busy and paying mortgages. Or, as Slim Pickens said in Dr. Strangelove while riding ‘the bomb’ to eternity – Yeehaw! But, lamenting money already spent is useless.

While I do agree with the evaluation by you that it is the shock value being developed for the Revelstoke exhibit, it is no different than many of the other exhibits that address such issues throughout Canada in our museums.  I am not averse to presenting the shocking in order to awaken awareness.  What I see as more important than your critique of the exhibit, which has validity, is the fact that the museum pulled together an exhibit that they want to share with the rest of British Columbians.  They are a smallish museum, yet they have something to offer to us all.  It has already brought controversy, as evinced by your dialogue, which is great. While personally having studied the Chinese diaspora extensively, I am more than aware that the general public has no idea or only vague ideas of the ethnic Chinese input into the development of British Columbia, let alone their context in the rest of the world.  If this exhibit can open the eyes of the people of British Columbia to the idea that white middle class thoughts are the only thoughts, then more power to them (many cultures have no context for the type of history that is presented in museums or in history books).  However, as you so rightly point out, shock value has a tendency to cover over other shocking elements of equal value within different contexts.  For example, we forget that poverty was the main spur to the development of Canada through the exploitation of the poor for their labour, another point that I believe you are hinting at.  Did the wealthy purposefully pit groups against each other in order to make it look like one group of poor people were somehow different than another group of poor people?  This tendency to shock value tends to superficially fragment our society into competing groups in a museum and a general cultural setting when actually we are becoming more homogenous – we use the same media, eat similar foods, wear similar clothes, have similar pets, cars, furniture, etc., etc. and live in similar houses.  You have stated:  “A valid historical account in the exhibition would reveal the complexity of these encounters between human populations”.   However, would this awaken interest in the average viewer of an exhibit?  It could, but is a much greater challenge, as it requires more research and collation of ideas – something that few museums have the ability to financially command.  Also, many of the smaller museums in Canada are starting from the point of having no knowledge or sympathy towards the historical cultural variances within their own community, as our school text books fail miserably to elucidate or to enlighten people about this history.  For example, twenty years ago, I found exhibitions of First Nations material in small museums in communities with large First Nation populations that were very limited, often a board with arrow points in a circle or some such, with very little understanding.  But, this is changing.  Similarly, it is changing for the Chinese and a few other ethnic groups.  But, this requires research and the ability to carry out presentations, which means having the financial ability to carry out this work.

Many of the museums in Canada (and elsewhere) are research poor, as it is always easier to obtain Capital (building) funding over Operational funding.  A multi-million dollar building is easier to build than a research and publishing program or, to research elements of museum collections that are considered mundane or not in the ‘mandate’ that could disseminate greater amounts of information and educate larger amounts of people.  If I ever had the chance to look at that $200 million dollar investment into the Human Rights museum, I would have moved it into the smaller existing museums, rather than put it into a new centralized, architecturally aesthetically intriguing, bank.

Thank you Dan for a stimulating discussion, it is much appreciated.

W.(Bill) G. Quackenbush, Curator

Barkerville Historic Town,

Box 19, Barkerville, B.C.  V0K 1B0

Phone:  (250) 994-3302;  ext.25

Fax: (250) 994-3435

email: Bill.Quackenbush at barkerville.ca

www.barkerville.ca

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com] On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: January-12-11 5:02 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com
Cc: Dan Gallacher
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Chinese Legacies exhibit begins travel circuitfrom Revelstoke Railway Museum

This press release is another example of a Museum sensationalizing a common historical occurrence in 19th Century industrial activity - the use of helot labour across new world settlements or frontiers - by zeroing-in on the most flagrant feature, exploiting others.

Canada, among all new nations, has long had chronic capital and labour shortages, either forcing or encouraging managers and promoters to draw investments and workers from whatever sources they could.

Most often the working hands came from regions where underemployed peasants were easily recruited by middlemen from their own ethnic or racial backgrounds, and then supervised in Canada by other middlemen of similar origins.

Railway building was one prime example of this rush to employment; coal mining was another. And both were very dangerous occupations for the unskilled labour battalions as then were needed. Linguistic incompetency merely added to the risks, especially when ordered to set-off explosives or haul overburden down steep slopes. In short, all who built the railway or dug out coal were complicit in creating and maintaining really hazardous workplace environments - race or class notwithstanding.

A valid historical account in the exhibition would reveal the complexity of these encounters between human populations, but as far as I can see from this press release, the shocking side of the story is the one chosen to portray events.

Dan Gallacher  

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. <mailto:bcma at lists.vvv.com>  

	To: BCMA at lists.vvv.com <mailto:BCMA at lists.vvv.com>  

	Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 4:06 PM

	Subject: [BCMA] Chinese Legacies exhibit begins travel circuit from Revelstoke Railway Museum

	For Immediate Release

	January 11, 2011

	“Chinese Legacies: Building the Canadian Pacific Railway” exhibit begins travel circuit across the country

	Revelstoke, BC - 

	“Chinese Legacies” began as a collaborative exhibit project between the Revelstoke Railway Museum and the Revelstoke Museum & Archives.   These two institutions teamed up to create exhibits on a significant yet previously unexplored facet of the railway and community history of this region. The joint project that became the “Chinese Legacies” exhibit, was made possible thanks to generous grants from BC Hydro, the Vancouver Foundation, the Columbia Basin Trust, and the BC Museums Association.  Generous financial support was also given by the Province of British Columbia through BC150 Years, a Ministry of Tourism, Sports, and the Arts initiative. 

	The exhibit, “Chinese Legacies: Building the Canadian Pacific Railway” , featured at the Revelstoke Railway Museum since 2008, explores the fascinating story of the Chinese labourers who contributed to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Port Moody and Craigellachie.  This presentation of their travel to British Columbia, their living and working conditions and the contribution they made to the construction of the railway has been visited by thousands over the past two and a half years and is now set to travel to other museum venues, beginning in 2011.    Revelstoke Museum and Archives continues to host their exhibit “Chinese Legacies: Revelstoke’s Chinese Community” at its museum location in downtown Revelstoke.  This companion to the Railway Museum exhibit  explores the large Chinese community that prospered for many years in Revelstoke and features the Kwong family who played a prominent role in the early history of Revelstoke. 

	Several thousand Chinese men worked on the CPR mainline from Port Moody to Craigellachie, and it is estimated that between 600 and 2,220 of these workers died as a result of accidents, disease, and starvation.  The Inland Sentinel newspaper, originally published at Yale, has many articles about the Chinese labourers, and while many people believed that their presence was necessary to construct the railway, they were greatly resented by the white population, and suffered a great deal of discrimination.  Their wages were half those of white men doing the same jobs, and they were often exploited by their crew bosses.  

	Once the CPR was completed in 1885, many of the Chinese labourers were left destitute.  Quite a few of them settled in Revelstoke, where they worked mainly as cooks, servants, laundrymen, and laborers.  In 1901, there were 113 Chinese people living in Revelstoke, close to one-tenth of the population.  It is interesting to note that of those 113 people; only one was a woman, although half of the men were married.  This was a result of the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants, making it very costly for men to bring their wives to Canada.  The community was a vibrant one, however, and continued to thrive for many years. 

	The Revelstoke Railway Museum is pleased to announce that the first stop for the travelling exhibit will be at Exporail, in Saint Constant, Quebec, from January 15 to May 29, 2011.  Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, has become the largest railway museum in Canada and one of the most significant ones in the world.  The story of the Chinese railway workers speaks to our national story and is suitable for a wide-ranging audience in communities all across the country.  Features of the exhibit include a railway workers’ campsite diorama, a slide presentation of historical photographs, original artifacts, some on loan from the Port Moody Station Museum, and text available in English, French, and Mandarin.  Expressions of interest from potential host venues include the Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum, Prince George, BC, the Port Moody Station Museum, and the Copperbelt Mining & Railway Museum, in the Yukon.  Additional resources and visual displays accompany the exhibit that will be available for travel until December 2014.

	Recognition of the Chinese workers’ contribution to the railway’s construction has recently been a subject of discussion in the media following the Last Spike’s 125th Anniversary celebrations in 2010 and this exhibit joins other individuals and organizations in their efforts to educate Canadians on this significant aspect of our nation’s past.  It is also hoped that this exhibit will encourage various communities to recognize the inheritance of nation-building evident in many cultures across the country. 

	The Revelstoke Railway Museum is western Canada’s premiere railway museum presenting railway heritage in the heart of the Columbia Mountains, at its main location in downtown Revelstoke, as well as at the site of the driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie, BC, 40 kilometres west on the Trans Canada Highway.  The museum gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Museums Assistance Program, ‘Access and National Outreach’, Department of Canadian Heritage for making this travelling exhibit opportunity possible. 

	For more information please contact:

	Jennifer Dunkerson

	Executive Director

	Revelstoke Railway Museum

	1-877-837-6060

	director.railway at telus.net <mailto:director.railway at telus.net> 

________________________________

	_______________________________________________
	BCMA mailing list
	BCMA at lists.vvv.com <mailto:BCMA at lists.vvv.com> 
	http://lists.vvv.com/mailman/listinfo/bcma <http://lists.vvv.com/mailman/listinfo/bcma> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20110113/578bb8bf/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17718 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
Url : http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20110113/578bb8bf/attachment-0002.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 12819 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
Url : http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20110113/578bb8bf/attachment-0003.jpeg 