In 2014, the Cumberland Museum and Archives was chosen as a pilot museum to work with partners to produce an integrated and publicly accessible online database of Chinese Canadian artifacts and archives held by museums on Vancouver Island and the mainland. Launched on July 7, 2016, the Chinese Canadian Artifacts Project (CCAP) database is now part of UVic’s Library permanent collections.
CCAP originated as a Chinese Canadian Legacy Initiative, a program of provincial projects to commemorate the historical contributions of Chinese Canadians. These initiatives were part of an official apology offered by the B.C. government in 2014 for historical wrongs directed towards Chinese Canadians. The University of Victoria developed CCAP in partnership with the B.C. Museums Association.
The Chinese Canadian Artifacts Project brings together and makes available over 6000 artifacts and archival items held by sixteen local and regional museums throughout British Columbia. Anyone with internet access can virtually enter these participating museums and discover much about the everyday lives of Chinese Canadians‐‐their resilience in the face of racist exclusions, their work and family life from decades past, and their ongoing community contributions. The collection spotlights the fact that in almost every community, a Chinatown emerged, a safe social space and urban incubator of notable social and cultural legacies. The foundations of these communities were the mining, fishing, forest, and agricultural industries in which Chinese Canadians found employment. This collection of worklife related artifacts opens up new vistas into the everyday lives of working people. The first wave of Chinese settlers were mainly single men, but as communities grew, more women arrived, and families thrived, creating second and third generations of Chinese Canadians. Whether searching family genealogies, investigating Chinese Canadian history, or looking for Qing‐era pottery, CCAP opens new vistas onto the past and present.
The Cumberland Museum and Archives was thrilled to contribute over 1200 digitized items from our vast collection of artifacts and archives from, or related to, Cumberland Chinatown. These include scrolls, ceramics, textiles, bottles, pipes, games, letters, photographs, newspaper articles, books, medicines and more. The daunting task of updating the information for each item, photographing the artifacts, and uploading items was completed in large part by Melissa Williamson, a previous summer student and part of the CCAP team, and led by Anna Rambow.
The Cumberland Museum and Archives feels a great sense of excitement knowing that this important piece of Cumberland’s history, in this case Chinese Canadian history, will now be widely accessible for researchers, descendants of Cumberland Chinatown and the general public. Our hope is that conversation and knowledge around Cumberland Chinatown will continue to grow.
The museum has made fruitful connections through the Chinese Canadian Artifact Project. We would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the UVic History Department, the Cultural Resource Management Program, the BC Museums Association, our pilot project partner Nanaimo Museum and the Ministry of International Trade. Visit the CCAP website at ccap.uvic.ca
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