Royal British Columbia Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1886 |
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| Location | Victoria, British Columbia |
| Type | Provincial history museum and archives |
| Collection size | Over 7 million |
| Visitors | 770,000 (2017) |
| Public transit access | Bus routes 3, 27, 27x, 28, 30, 31 |
The Royal British Columbia Museum (or Royal BC Museum) is a cool place to learn about history in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It started way back in 1886! In 1987, Queen Elizabeth II gave it the special "Royal" title. Later, in 2003, it joined up with the BC Provincial Archives.
The Royal BC Museum has three main galleries: Natural History, Becoming BC, and the First Peoples Gallery. Inside, you'll find about 7 million items! These include amazing natural history specimens, old artifacts, and historical records. The natural history section alone has 750,000 records, mostly from BC. These collections are split into eight areas like insects, plants, and fossils. The museum also brings in special traveling exhibits. Past shows have featured things like the RMS Titanic, Leonardo da Vinci, Egyptian treasures, and the Vikings. You can also catch educational films at the IMAX Victoria theater, which is part of the museum.
The museum is located right by Victoria's Inner Harbour. It sits between the famous Empress Hotel and the Legislature Buildings. The area around the museum is called the Royal BC Museum Cultural Precinct. It has other important historical spots, including Thunderbird Park. The museum even sends its exhibits on tour around BC and to other countries, like Guangzhou, China.
Many people help the Royal BC Museum run smoothly. Over 500 volunteers give their time, outnumbering the staff! The Royal BC Museum Foundation helps raise money and connects the museum with the community. Other teams manage security, keep the buildings running, and focus on being eco-friendly.
Contents
- History of the Royal BC Museum
- Cultural Precinct: Explore History Around the Museum
- Permanent Galleries: Discover BC's Past
- Museum Collections: Millions of Treasures
- Conservation: Protecting the Past
- Learning and Education: Programs for Everyone
- Exhibition Arts: Creating Displays
- Publishing and Publications: Sharing Knowledge
History of the Royal BC Museum
The BC Government started the British Columbia Provincial Museum in 1886. Important citizens asked for it because they worried about losing BC's natural items and First Nations artifacts. They especially wanted to stop museums in Europe and America from taking these precious items away. They felt that losing First Nations artifacts was a huge problem.
The first museum opened on October 25, 1886. It was a small room in the old BC Legislative buildings. The first person in charge was John Fannin, a naturalist. He gave his own big collection of preserved birds and animals to the museum. The museum kept growing! In 1896, it got more space in the new Legislative buildings. In 1913, the government officially said the museum should collect natural history and cultural items. It also said the museum should share knowledge with the people of British Columbia. More room was added in 1921 by digging out the basement of the Legislature's east side.
For Canada's 100th birthday in 1967, BC Premier W. A. C. Bennett promised a new home for the museum. The current building opened on August 16, 1968. It cost $9.5 million to build. The museum is still in this building today. One special item on display is John Lennon's Rolls-Royce car. A billionaire named Jim Pattison bought it and gave it to the museum.
Cultural Precinct: Explore History Around the Museum
The museum is part of a special area called the cultural precinct. This area has many important historical buildings near the Inner Harbour. It's located between Douglas Street, Belleville Street, and Government Street. In this area, you'll find the BC Archives and Helmcken House. There's also St. Ann's Schoolhouse, built in 1844. You can see the Netherlands Centennial Carillon and Thunderbird Park. Another special spot is Mungo Martin House, also known as Wawadit'la. This is a traditional big house built by Mungo Martin and his family.
Permanent Galleries: Discover BC's Past
The Royal BC Museum has three main galleries. They are called Becoming BC, Natural History, and First Peoples galleries. These galleries focus on the history and heritage of British Columbia.
First Peoples Gallery: Indigenous Cultures
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The First Peoples gallery is on the third floor. It has a huge collection of artifacts from First Nations people. Many items are from the Haida people. You can see a model village, totem poles, traditional clothes, and masks. Some masks were made by Chief Nakap'ankam (Mungo Martin). The gallery also has a long house that belonged to Chief Kwakwabalasami (Jonathan Hunt). His son, Henry Hunt, and grandsons, Tony Hunt and Richard Hunt, created the house and carvings. You can also see amazing carvings by artist Bill Reid.
The gallery has been updated over time to better represent First Nations history. Some artifacts have been returned to their communities. For example, in 2010, many Nisga'a artifacts went back to the Nisga'a people. They are now in the Nisga'a Museum. In early 2023, a totem pole belonging to the Nuxalk First Nation was also returned.
Becoming BC Galleries: Journey Through History
The Becoming BC galleries are also on the third floor. They cover 200 years of BC's history. You start in "Century Hall," which has artifacts and copies of historical items. Then you walk into "Old Town," a life-sized model of Victoria from the 1870s to the 1920s. Old Town was built between 1969 and 1972. It has twenty different building displays. You can see a cobblestone street, a silent movie theater, a hotel, and old cars. There's even a part of Chinatown. The display then shows early industries like logging, fishing, and mining. You can even explore a mine shaft!
These galleries also tell stories of exploration. You'll see models of the original Fort Victoria. There's a Port Moody train station and a 1902 homestead. A large model of Captain George Vancouver's ship, HMS Discovery, is also on display.
Natural History Gallery: Explore BC's Wild Side
The natural history gallery is on the second floor. It's full of information, artifacts, and life-sized displays. You can learn about BC's diverse geography, from ancient times to today. See a huge woolly mammoth display! There are fossils and taxidermy animals. You can even touch live crabs and starfish in a tide pool exhibit.
Recently, a section about climate was added. It explains how modern climate change affects our world. You can also visit the Ocean Station. It's a mock submarine from the Victorian era with a large aquarium inside.
Museum Collections: Millions of Treasures
The Royal BC Museum collects items that tell the story of BC's natural and human history. These items are carefully preserved and shared with the public and scientists.
Human History: Stories of People
The human history department shows the cultural, social, and economic past of BC's people. The museum has been collecting these items since it started in 1886. Many artifacts are now being returned to First Nations groups.
Archaeology: Ancient Discoveries
This part of the human history department has over 192,000 artifacts. It holds the largest collection of First Nations archaeological items from BC.
Ethnology: Cultural Objects
The ethnology collection has over 14,000 indigenous artifacts. These include items used in ceremonies and everyday life. They come from many different First Nations groups across BC.
Modern History: Recent Past
The Modern History department shows BC's history through everyday objects. There are 165,000 artifacts! These range from silverware and clothes to items from old canneries, mines, and breweries. A cool item is a lion's head from a Chinese Freemasons club. There's also a collection from an old Chinese Herbalist Shop, showing authentic herbs and tools.
Natural History: BC's Wildlife and Environment
The Natural History department has been part of the museum since 1886. It has experts who study and care for the collections. These collections are divided into eight areas. They include insects, plants, mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, fossils, and amphibians/reptiles. This department collects new specimens each year. They make these items available for everyone to learn from.
Palaeontology: Ancient Life
The fossil collection at the Royal BC Museum is huge, with about 55,000 specimens! These fossils come from all over BC. They range from 600 million years old to 20,000 years old. This section also has rock samples from various mines in BC.
Botany: Plants of BC
The botany section focuses on the many plants of BC. The collection has over 200,000 plant specimens. The Royal BC Museum also has one of the oldest native plant gardens in western Canada. It started in 1967 and grows about 400 native plant species.
Invertebrate Zoology: Spineless Wonders
This collection focuses on marine, freshwater, and land invertebrates from BC. These are animals without backbones, like crabs, snails, and starfish. It has about 65,000 groups of marine and freshwater invertebrates. It also has a smaller collection of dried shells from around the world.
Entomology: Insects and Spiders
The entomology section has specimens of insects, spiders, and their relatives. As of 2010, it had about 245,000 officially recorded specimens. Most are from BC, but some are from other countries. This collection helps us understand BC's insects. It also helps create maps of where species live.
Ichthyology: Fish of BC
The ichthyology section is all about the fish of BC. The collection has about 14,000 specimens of marine and freshwater fish.
Herpetology: Amphibians and Reptiles
This section is about the amphibians and reptiles of BC. The collection has about 5,000 groups of specimens from BC.
Ornithology: Birds of BC
This section mainly has bird specimens from BC. It focuses on common seabirds, waterfowl, birds of prey, and many other types of birds. The collection includes nearly 20,000 bird skins. It also has skeletons, eggs, nests, and fluid-preserved specimens.
Mammalogy: Mammals of BC
This section focuses on a collection of mammals. Most of these are from BC. The collection includes 18,000 specimens, mainly skeletons.
Conservation: Protecting the Past
The Conservation Services Department at the Royal BC Museum works to protect the museum's artifacts, documents, and specimens. Experts in this department give talks and advise others. They also work with students from around the world. This department started in 1966. It was the first conservation lab in western Canada. In the 1970s and 1980s, conservators helped the Haida people preserve totem poles at Ninstints. Since 1999, conservators have worked with the Champagne and Aishihik people. They helped with the discovery and study of Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi (an ancient human remains).
Learning and Education: Programs for Everyone
The Learning and Visitor Experience team at the Royal BC Museum offers many programs. These include workshops, talks, guided tours, and special events. They are all designed to teach and engage visitors. About fifty programs for schools, families, and adults are planned each year. There are also annual events. These include Remembrance Day ceremonies and Christmas activities at Helmcken House.
Living Landscapes: Connecting with Nature
By 2002, the Royal BC Museum started a cool program called Living Landscapes. It explored how humans and nature affect different regions of BC. It combined cultural history with natural history. The museum even had a Living Landscapes website.
Living Landscapes was a successful program that worked with other museums, First Nations, and educators. Its goal was to help people explore and appreciate BC's history and nature from a local view. It focused on specific regions of BC. It combined local stories and research with information from the museum's collections.
In 2000, the program focused on the Upper Fraser Basin. This is a huge area in south-central British Columbia. In 2001-2002, the museum hosted events in five communities in this area. About 4,500 people attended! Visitors met local researchers and museum experts. The events featured exhibits from the museum's collections. They also had talks and demonstrations on many topics. The Living Landscapes program stopped its in-field work in March 2006.
Exhibition Arts: Creating Displays
The Exhibition Arts department started in the early 1970s. Now, they build all the museum's exhibits in-house. This team keeps the permanent galleries looking great. They also build, set up, and take down special exhibitions. The department has many skilled people. These include carpenters, metal workers, and experts in lighting and multimedia.
Publishing and Publications: Sharing Knowledge
The Royal BC Museum started publishing books and papers in 1891. Since then, it has produced thousands of documents about its collections and research. The museum publishes about four new books each year. It has more than forty books available to buy.
