Community Partners:
Japanese Canadian National Museum, Burnaby, BC
http://www.jcnm.ca

Project Directors:
Grace Eiko Thomson, Japanese Canadian National Museum
Email: jcmas@telus.net
Dr. Phyllis Senese, Department of History, University of Victoria
Email: psenese@uvic.ca

Collaborator:
Dr. Patricia Roy, Department of History, University of Victoria

Student Researchers:
Directed Studies: Erin Coulson, History in Art
Public Sector Youth Employment: Mathilde Belanger and Erin Coulson, History in Art
UVic Arts and Writing Co-op: Erin Coulson, History in Art; Jenny Uechi, English
Young Canada Works: Erin Coulson, History in Art

Grace Eiko Thomson and researchers from the University of Victoria are examining three important collections of photographs taken by Japanese Canadian photographers from the turn-of-the century to 1942. These historical photographs give insight into Japanese Canadians' lives and experiences in small districts of British Columbia, as well as in Japantown in Vancouver. With material information about this period almost nonexistent due to losses incurred through the internment of Japanese Canadians in 1942, these photographs are crucial economic and social records of the early 20th century.

This CURA project is exploring the cultural and social lives of Japanese Canadians during this period through representations of race and class in the photographs. The researchers are examining issues such as assimilation and exclusion, the aesthetic and technical qualities of the photographs and the role of Japanese Canadian photographers in Canadian society.

The project is expected to result in a book or catalogue, a traveling exhibition, a virtual exhibition and opportunities for ongoing student research. It will also provide material for the Museum education resource kit used in BC schools' social studies and arts curricula.

The partners and local collaborators of the project are the New Westminster Museum and the Cumberland Museum where two of the major collections are housed.

Photographs in the Cumberland Museum Collection

Happy New Year
Funeral of a Child
Three Women