Fonds AM980 - Kerrisdale Historical Society fonds

The idea of forming the Kerrisdale Historical Society was generated by the interest of the Kerrisdale Merchants and Commercial Association’s intention to celebrate the birthday of the community in 1983. After researching documents in the City of Vancouver Archives, two short articles were published in the Courier and as a result, a great deal of interest was shown by pioneer members of the community in telling the history of the area. The decision to form an historical society was also prompted by the 75th anniversary of Kerrisdale Elementary School in May 1983 with 3,000 people attending the event. The Society was finally founded and incorporated in 1984 and its purposes were:

1. To educate its members and the general public as to the historical development of the Kerrisdale community
2. To acquire and preserve historical material, memorabilia and photographic records for the purpose of preserving, displaying and publishing of such for the benefit of its members and the general public
3. To record the continued development and growth of the Kerrisdale community for the benefit of its members and the general public.

The inaugural meeting of the Society was held at its office at 5670 Yew Street on February 29th, 1984 and the following members agreed to serve as the first board of executives:

Johnina Macaulay – President
David Howden – Vice President
Ray Taylor – Vice President
Girlie Koo – Vice President
Robin Elliott – Treasurer
Peter Crawford – Solicitor
Joyce Diggins – Secretary
Bill Johnson – Historian
Margaret Mutch – Program Coordinator
Bert Perry – Trustee
Frank Clay – Trustee
Lance Fenton – Trustee

Once the Society was founded, various activities were organized including a pioneer lunch and a pioneer picnic. The society also collected historical photographs from the community and reproduced them for display purpose. They displayed photographs at the Jubilee Reunion at Maple Grove School in 1985 and at various financial institutions in the community. In 1985, the Society dedicated a commemorative cairn at McCleery Park to mark the settlement of McCleery family in Kerrisdale since 1862. In order to document history of Kerrisdale, the Society established an archives to collect and duplicate historical photographs, films and oral history tapes. The Society operated until the mid-1990s.