COQUITLAM, B.C., June 20, 2023 – Fascinating records from the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society show how archival documents are organic, living things to be cultivated – much like a garden – rather than dusty mementos of the past.
The City Archives’ newest online exhibit illustrates the society’s efforts to preserve a historic horticultural collection that is still enjoyed today, while detailing archivists’ work to nurture and harvest the past decisions and actions that continue to impact our future.
The exhibit, entitled Archives in Bloom: The Organic Nature of the Fonds, can be found at coquitlam.ca/OrganicFonds.
The Seeds of a Garden
A number of the Archives’ previous online exhibits describe the history of the 1,000-acre Riverview and Essondale sites in Coquitlam, purchased by the Province of British Columbia in 1904 for the care of people living with mental health illnesses. Located in the traditional ancestral territory of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Peoples, this site is now known as səmiq̓wəʔelə (pronounced Suh-mEE-kwuh EL-uh) or Place of the Great Blue Heron.
Not long after the first mental health facilities opened in 1913, Provincial Botanist John Davidson began creating an arboretum, nursery and botanical garden on the grounds with flora collected from around the world. Additional gardens for residents were created in 1951.
Illustrated with photos, journal entries and other documents, the new online exhibit recounts the site’s horticultural history and its legacy, including more than 1,800 heritage trees. This significant collection continues to be open to the public, thanks in part to the work of the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society (RHCS).
RHCS was founded in 1992 to raise awareness and advocate for the səmiq̓wəʔelə lands and trees, with activities such as walking tours and an annual Treefest event. The society passed on its significant accumulation of correspondence, marketing materials, journals, scrapbooks, photos and other records to Coquitlam’s City Archives in 2022.
Tending the Archives’ Fonds
Archivists bring order and meaning to fonds, the term for the complete body of records an individual or organization creates throughout a lifetime in the course of day-to-day business.
These fonds often arrive as piles of boxes, bags and binders, and may be unorganized and incomplete. However, much like a garden plot, they are full of life and transition, containing the seeds of ideas that germinate into decisions, actions and a narrative.
The Archives’ latest exhibit describes the careful balance that must be maintained as archivists analyze, assess, weed through and organize the records while maintaining the integrity of the fonds.
Like a garden, the fruit of this labour is a resource that anyone can freely use and appreciate, drawing connections between the past and future while firmly rooted in the now.
Explore Online Exhibits
The City of Coquitlam Archives webpage of coquitlam.ca/OnlineExhibit features 21 online exhibits on a variety of topics. Archives staff produce a new exhibit each quarter, mining the Archives for insightful and sometimes quirky stories about Coquitlam’s past. Some exhibits also share information about new acquisitions and highlight upcoming events.
Each online exhibit marries engaging text with scans of documents, maps and photos to bring the subjects to life. For example, online visitors can spend time learning about Coquitlam’s First World War soldiers, the local business that was Canada’s first plywood producer, early scrapbooking efforts, Colony Farm’s Holstein herd, the Westwood racing circuit, psychiatric nursing at Essondale, the 1981 B.C. Summer Games and more.
About the City of Coquitlam Archives
City of Coquitlam Archives serves a dual purpose: to preserve and to make accessible. Since the inception of the archives program, the Archives has been raising its profile to encourage people to use its services and discover the trove of records in the collection.
For more information about the City of Coquitlam Archives, visit coquitlam.ca/CityArchives.
Media contact:
Jamie Sanford
City Archivist
604-927-3900
archives@coquitlam.ca
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-kwuh-tlum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), and other Coast Salish Peoples.