Images on the History Department web pages

The image on the left is of actor Eriq Ebouaney in character as Patrice Lumumba in the 2000 feature film Lumumba, directed by Raoul Peck.  Lumumba became the first prime minister of the newly independent Republic of Congo in 1960.

The small boy is Sir Richard McBride (1870-1917), at the age of five years. He served as premier of British Columbia from 1903 to 1915. A Conservative, he established the concept of party politics when he organized his government on party lines. [The image is courtesy of the BC Archives: Accession number B-01628].

The poster in the centre of the banner was produced by the People’s Republic of China in 1953.  Its caption reads: “Study the battle spirit of the Red Army during the Long March, conquer nature, build up our nation.”

The man wearing a traditional Nuu Chah Nulth whalers' hat is Maquinna, the Mowachat chief who played a major role in the sea otter trade on the west coast of Vancouver Island. His summer village was located at Yuquot in Friendly Cove, Nootka Sound, where Britain and Spain competed for sovereignty in the early 1790s.

The white-washed octagon structure is The Bastion, Nanaimo's oldest building and an icon of the "Harbour City." Constructed between 1853 and 1855, it is the oldest, free-standing bastion in North America. It was built by the Hudson's Bay Company, which established a colonial settlement to mine coal in Nanaimo in 1852.

Mary Ellen Smith (1861-1933) and her husband, Ralph Smith, a miner, moved to Nanaimo from England in 1891. They were active in the labour movement, the campaign for women's suffrage, and the Methodist Church. Mrs. Smith was elected to the BC Legislature in 1918 as a member of the Liberal Party. Her election slogan was "Women and Children First!" In 1921 she was appointed to the cabinet and so became the first female cabinent minister in the British Commonwealth. [The image is courtesy of the BC Archives: Accession number PDP03694].