Heritage Burnaby

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Interviewee Name A-Z Index

Historic Neighbourhood

Alta Vista Historic Neighbourhood British Columbia Coquitlam Burnaby Lake Historic Neighbourhood Capitol Hill Historic Neighbourhood Central Park Historic Neighbourhood East Burnaby Historic Neighbourhood Edmonds Historic Neighbourhood Lochdale Historic Neighbourhood Lozells Historic Neighbourhood Vancouver Heights Historic Neighbourhood

Subject

Agriculture Fruit and Berries Animals Horses Buildings Commercial Buildings Commercial General Stores Buildings Commercial Grocery Stores Buildings Commercial Hardware Stores Buildings Commercial Hotels and Motels Buildings Commercial Stores Buildings Industrial Mills Buildings Industrial Sawmills Buildings Religious Buildings Religious Churches Buildings Residences Houses Buildings Schools Elementary School Business Ceremonies Weddings Construction House Construction Construction Road Construction Documentary Artifacts Newspapers Education Elections Geographic Features Gardens Geographic Features Lakes and Ponds Geographic Features Neighbourhoods Geographic Features Parks Government Local Government Holidays Christmas Industries Pulp and Paper Land Clearing Natural Phenomena Fires Occupations City Clerks Occupations Civic Workers Occupations Designers Occupations Entrepreneurs Occupations Gold Miners Occupations Grocers Occupations Labourers Occupations Lumberjacks Occupations Nurses Occupations Physicians Occupations Teachers Officials Officials Aldermen and Councillors Officials Commissioners Officials Mayors and Reeves Organizations Organizations Unions Organizations Womens Societies and Clubs Persons Volunteers Plants Trees Political Theories Printing Tools and Equipment Protests and Demonstrations Protests and Demonstrations Strikes Public Services Policing Public Services Postal Services Public Services Utilities Recreational Activities Recreational Activities Dancing Sound Communication Tools and Equipment Transportation Transportation Automobiles Transportation Buses Transportation Rail Transportation Sleighs

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Burnaby’s Oral History Collections

For over three decades, the Burnaby Historical Society captured the memories of Burnaby’s past by means of taped oral history interviews.  These interviews were conducted predominantly throughout the 1970s and 1980s and were recorded by Simon Fraser University students, Burnaby Village Museum staff members and volunteers from the Burnaby Historical Society. 

The interviews cover a wide range of subjects but one of the common themes is the struggles that the Municipality and Burnaby families faced during the 1930s when the City went into receivership and unemployment was widespread. 

In 2010-2011, the City of Burnaby Archives, under the guidance of the Community Heritage Commission, initiated a new oral history program which – in addition to starting a new series of interviews – also resulted in the digitization of these original tapes, making them available on this site.  The tapes have been edited into tracks that can be searched by keyword and subject or they can be browsed and heard in their entirety.  These interviews give us an intimate glimpse into the lives of the Burnaby pioneers who built our City. 

We would like to acknowledge and thank our project partner, the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia, whose contribution helped make this site possible.