The Basin Record Newsletter Vol.5 Issue 1

“A Legacy of Learning” - What are we doing? The “Legacy of Learning” project that we have under way with School District No. 5 has taken many twists and turns. It began as the brain child of School Trustee Chris Johns. He proposed a “rescue mission” for vanishing school history in the East Kootenay. When we signed on we had no idea that it would become the largest research project that the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History has ever undertaken. It now takes in 59 communites and 104 schools. One of the fascinating sidebars to this work has been school yearbooks. We have now scanned, and are in the process of making available on-line, yearbooks from Kimberley, Elkford, Jaffray, Sparwood, Fernie, and Cranbrook. In fact we have assembled a nearly complete set of Cranbrook yearbooks from 1920 to the present day. Len B. Burton was the editor of the 1920 Cranbrook “Viewpoint”. These books give full text and photographic coverage of everything from sports to fashion, from culture to hairstyle. Students can find their parents and parents can find their parents. The evolution of high school men’s and women’s hockey is well- documented, as is the ever-present rivalry between Cranbrook-Kimberley-Fernie and points in between. We believe that when this work is complete it will be an outstanding resource for family research, the documentation of community life and times, and a superb window into how education practices have changed over the last one hundred years. It already consists of tens of thousands of scans, and grows daily. We had no idea when Chris Johns walked in the door with an idea that we would be introduced to such a staggering amount of data. The material continues to pour in - from attics and basements far and wide, from Board offices and schools, and from an amazing and dedicated network of people from Elkford to Yahk, from Skookumchuck to Grasmere. What we do know is that a true legacy is slowly coming together at www.basininstitute.org . We are indebted to the outstanding commitment and partnership that has flowed from School District No. 5. Come back to the site often as it continues to grow. 0493.0125 - Cranbrook School Drama, 1938 Columbia Basin Image Bank Designed and created by: Anna Majkowski, Rick Schram, Don Moore, Michelle Co- meau, Rachel Drew, Lana Weibe & Derryll White 0047.0849 Tsar Mountain - Columbia Basin Image Bank In this Issue: A Legacy of Learning The Stolen Church Renata From the Marysville Tribune Hiking the Highline – the Photos of Bill Hurst Doctor Green Published by the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History Newsletter: Vol.5 No.1 #3-926 Baker Street, Cranbrook, BC V1C-1A5 Telephone: (250) 489-9150 E-mail: info@basininstitute.org Web: www.basininstitute.org