{"id":27562,"date":"2025-11-26T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=27562"},"modified":"2025-11-20T14:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T22:37:32","slug":"maritime-museum-exhibit-explores-black-roots-in-bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2025\/11\/26\/maritime-museum-exhibit-explores-black-roots-in-bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Maritime Museum exhibit explores Black roots in BC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maritime Museum of British Columbia\u2019s exhibit 1858: Black Routes, Black Roots<\/i> explores the history behind Black immigrants in British Columbia. The exhibit, which is in collaboration with the BC Black History Awareness Society, highlights personal stories, historical artefacts, and significant vessels such as the steamship Commodore<\/i>, which brought many early Black immigrants from San Francisco to Vancouver Island.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BC Black History Awareness Society executive director Jamila Douhaibi says that the collaboration began when the museum was looking for ways to diversify narratives within BC\u2019S maritime history and reached out to the society to help tell the story of early Black pioneers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally, we were thinking [the name] might be something around the steamship Commodore<\/i>, but we decided on 1858: Black Routes, Black Roots<\/i>, to show that it\u2019s more than that story,\u201d says Douhaibi. \u201cBlack people came from San Francisco on, starting with the Commodore<\/i>. There was also the steamship Oregon<\/i>, the steamship Republic<\/i>. That\u2019s kind of… the beginning of that really big story that has led to today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
1858: Black Routes, Black Roots explores the history behind Black immigrants in British Columbia (images courtesy of City of Victoria Archives, Royal BC Museum and Archives, and Salt Spring Island Archives).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Douhaibi, the exhibit comes as a critical opportunity to fill in gaps in public knowledge. Growing up on Vancouver Island, they rarely encountered Black history topics in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t learn any of BC Black history,\u201d they say. \u201cBlack immigration actually started much earlier than we were taught, and it\u2019s so important to tell the story of these people who came and were such a big part of BC\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douhaibi says that early Black residents held key roles in the province\u2019s development\u2014\u201cThe first dentist in BC was Black, out of Barkerville,\u201d they say\u2014yet, their stories were often left out. This omission, Douhaibi adds, was not accidental.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of that early Black history in BC is often missed,\u201d they explain. \u201cI learned about the work of erasure in the early 1900s, where they tried to show that Black people didn\u2019t exist here. That continual attempt to erase Black history has led to misinformation, that there are no Black people in BC or that the history isn\u2019t strong. Showing the roots of 1858 really changes the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit guides visitors through a chronological journey beginning in San Francisco, examining the social and political factors that pushed Black communities to seek out safety, opportunities, and political rights in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany moved with the idea of a new home, new beginnings,\u201d says Douhaibi. \u201cThey were told they\u2019d be allowed to vote and purchase land, things they weren\u2019t necessarily allowed to do in the States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit includes films, descendant interviews, visuals, and historical texts that contextualize the experiences and contributions of Black communities in BC throughout the 19th century. Considering that few artefacts remain, these pieces hold particular weight and significance. One of the most significant items featured in the exhibit is an illustrated Bible that belonged to an early pioneer. The museum also brings a reconstruction of the ships such as the Commodore<\/i>, which, Douhaibi admits, \u201cwas smaller and less imposing than many imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

After more than a year in development, the exhibit is ready to become a place to foster conversation in the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really interesting to see this process,\u201d says Douhaibi. \u201cI look forward to seeing all the responses and conversations that come from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the society hopes the exhibit helps visitors recognize the depths and transcendence of Black presence in BC.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization is about celebrating the past, present, and future contributions of Black people in BC,\u201d says Douhaibi, \u201cand I really think that this exhibit shows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

1858: Black Routes, Black Roots
\n<\/i>Until Saturday, April 25, 2026
\nThe Maritime Museum of British Columbia
\nmmbc.bc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maritime Museum of British Columbia\u2019s exhibit 1858: Black Routes, Black Roots explores the history behind Black immigrants in British Columbia. The exhibit, which is in collaboration with the BC Black History Awareness Society, highlights personal stories, historical artefacts, and significant vessels such as the steamship Commodore, which brought many early Black immigrants from San […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,238,343],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-life-sports","category-november-25-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27564,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562\/revisions\/27564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}