March 2017
COMMUNITY NEWS
RenfrewCollingwoodCommunityNews.com
Adult education time machine: Witnessing adult education in the photos of the City of Vancouver Archives by John Mendoza
Originally written as an assignment for the University of BC, local resident and writer John Mendoza looks at the history of adult education in Vancouver and uncovers some East Vancouver connections. My assignment for a course in adult education at the University of British Columbia was to find photos that speak of adult education in a historical and contemporary setting. In finding photos, I wanted this challenge shaped by the desire to find something in the local community. What would be in the City of Vancouver’s Archives that could articulate something about adult education? It was not an easy task to sift through numerous historical images, but slowly, four photos emerged. Of those four photos, two photos had definite links to the east side of Vancouver, specifically the Pacific National Exhibition.
Above: Ladies at driving education display in PNE B.C. building, 1954, photographer unknown, City of Vancouver Archives website Right: Crowd watching Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka’wakw) carver Ellen Neel working on a totem pole, 1953, photographer unknown, City of Vancouver Archives website
Of the four photos, the two photos of adult learning opportunities captured after 1950 may seem unremarkable, but upon closer examination, reveal something far more complex. Both photos were created in the 1950s with only a one-year difference between them, and the name of the photographer is unknown. Both photos were taken at the Pacific National Exhibition, affectionately known as the PNE. The PNE is an annual agricultural fair hosted at the Hastings Park site in East Vancouver, drawing both a rural audience from Continued on page 2
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