The precursor to the ACWW was founded 1929 in London, England as the International Conference of Rural Women. By 1933 in Stockholm, Sweden the organization had assumed its current name and mission, which is to “represent rural women, facilitate better access to better information resources, funding community development projects and training programmes.” The ACWW remains headquartered in the UK. Its first president was Mrs. Alfred Watt (born Margaret Rose Robertson), who had previously served as a member of Metchosin Women's Institute (South Vancouver Island) and secretary of the Women's Institute Advisory Board for British Columbia. Per the ACWW official website, the organization “holds Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).”

The records in this fonds are related to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat) and the UN Commission on Human Settlements.

The United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was first held May 31-June 11, 1976 in Vancouver. Known as Habitat (later Habitat I), the conference was created to address human settlements issues including policies and strategies, settlement planning; shelter, infrastructure and social services, land use, public participation, and institutions and management. Habitat I was made up of the official UN conference as well as concurrent unofficial events known as the Habitat Forum. The events included an extensive audio-visual programme, and Vision Habitat was established to administer and maintain the audio-visual materials following the conference.

Now known as the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), it continues the work started in the 1970s, including Habitat II (Istanbul, Turkey in 1996) and Habitat III (Quito, Ecuador in 2016), as well as numerous World Urban Forums—the third Forum bringing Habitat back to Vancouver in 2006.

The Association in Canada Serving Organizations for Human Settlements (ACSOH) was responsible for the unofficial, NGO and community engagement and the Habitat Forum.

The Centre for Human Settlements, part of the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at the University of British Columbia, was opened as a result of Habitat, to encourage settlement research and serve as a repository for audio-visual materials of Habitat. Dr. H. Peter Oberlander founded and served as director of both SCARP and the Centre for Human Settlements, and was involved in Habitat I. Oberlander was part of the Canadian delegations to the UN Commission on Human Settlements, he advocated to bring the 2006 World Urban Forum 3 to Vancouver, and he served as special assistant to the Secretary-General for Habitat II.

Members of the Administrative and Professional staff (later renamed Management and Professional staff in 1987) founded the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS) in October 1977. At first, AAPS was a voluntary association and had four representatives on the Liaison Committee, which met with senior members of the University to discuss such matters as salaries, benefits and other working conditions until the University cancelled the meetings in 1989. In 1990 an elected committee called the President's Advisory Committee on Management and Professional Staff (PACOMAPS) met to deal with staff issues. AAPS ran a six-member slate that subsequently won the election. Thus, PACOMAPS became an avenue to maintain a dialogue with the University. AAPS conceived the objective of a voluntary agreement to negotiate terms and conditions of employment and pushed this concept at PACOMAPS for over a year. In May/June 1991, staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of a voluntary agreement to govern their terms and conditions of employment. Before negotiations began, AAPS requested a mandate from staff members to represent them; the vote of 1992 was 67.69% in favour. The Framework Agreement defining the relationship between AAPS and the University was finally ratified in May 1995. It is a voluntary agreement under common law that recognizes AAPS as the bargaining agent for all Management and Professional staff of UBC.
At present, the Association's purposes are; "to promote the welfare of the Association's members employed by UBC and the welfare of the University of British of Columbia, to act as the bargaining agent of management and professional staff employed by the University of British Columbia, and to govern relations between the management and professional staff and the University through collective bargaining." The Association has an Executive Board composed of President, First & Second Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and Members at Large, seven committees including Advocacy, Communications, Development & Education, Finance, Membership, Negotiating, and Recruiting, and representatives on several University committees.

The Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE) promotes the study of the English language, literature, and other cultural material in a global context in Canadian colleges and universities. It was founded in 1957 and held its first conference in 1958.

In 1973 library and clerical workers on university and college campuses across British Columbia began organizing as a union in order to represent their collective interests. Workers at University of British Columbia (Local 1), Simon Fraser University (Local 2), Notre Dame University of Nelson (Local 3), Capilano College (Local 4), College of New Caledonia (Local 5), and the Teaching Support Staff at S.F.U. (Local 6) organized over the next two years to collectively form the provincial wide and independent union, the Association of University and College Employees (AUCE).

When the union formed over ninety percent of its members were women and one of their top concerns was equal pay for what was at the time considered “women’s work”. Over the next decade, they fought for wages to match the rising cost of living, transparent job classifications, maternity leave, childcare, and other employee benefits. They also demanded a discrimination free workplace for people of all genders, sexualities, races, and ethnicities.

The AUCE operated as a democratic union with an elected executive, and held yearly conventions to address the needs of its members. Each local chapter worked individually with their university to bargain for collective contracts for their members. The negotiations of changes in collective contracts between the university and the union members sometimes resulted in the workers going on strike until a collective agreement could be reached. In addition to contract negotiations, the AUCE also supported other union, labour, and human rights efforts, especially in response to the changing legislation and budget seen in the British Columbia government from the 1970’s to 1980’s.

For various reasons, including the increased resources and support offered by international and national unions, in 1985 a decision was made by the members to disband the AUCE. For the Local 1 workers on the University of British Columbia campus, this resulted in a two year trial affiliation with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). During this time the union members voted to call themselves the Canadian University Employees (CUE) in order to distinguish themselves from two other local CUPE chapters on campus. In 1987 the members voted to become a chartered local union of the CUPE, CUPE Local 2950. They are an operating local chapter today.

The Association of University and College Employees, Local 1 was established in 1973 to represent library workers and the support staff at the University of British Columbia. The union disbanded in 1985 and its members are now represented by CUPE.

At Home in the Universe: The Life and Times of William Shatner is a documentary created for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s biographical series, Life and Times, which was produced by Harvey McKinnon Productions, with Harvey McKinnon as Executive Producer and Writer, Lynn Booth as Producer and Michael Tobias as Director. First broadcast in November 1999, this short film (44 minutes) is a biographical treatment of actor William Shatner that highlights significant events in his life, focusing on his career and his love for nature and children.
Harvey McKinnon of Harvey McKinnon Productions is an inspirational speaker and trainer and has raised significant funds for various non-profit organizations. He has worked as a radio columnist for CBC Radio and published in numerous Canadian newspapers. McKinnon has produced or written several award-winning documentaries, including Side by Side: Women Against Aids, The Nature of David Suzuki and The Black Sea in Crisis.

This was a literary journal founded by David Campbell and Zsolt Alapi during their student days at McGill University. In Greek mythology, Atropos was one of three Fates, the others being Clotho and Lachesis. The meaning of Atropos is "unalterable" or "inflexible." The publication appeared only four times before ceasing operations in 1981.

The B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics (BCCAC) was formed in 1987 with the mission of securing safe, fully-funded, high-quality abortion services for women. With the support of the labour movement, women’s health groups, student groups, the United Church, and health care professionals, BCCAC opened Everywoman’s Health Centre in November 1988. Although it was illegal for freestanding clinics to offer abortion services at that time, the centre remained open and continues to function today as an abortion and sexual health clinic in Vancouver, B.C.

After establishing the Everywoman’s Health Centre, BCCAC broadened their mandate to begin lobbying and advocating for: full government funding of reproductive health services, including surgical and medical abortion services; the defeat of all laws that criminalize abortion or impede women’s rights or access to choice; enforcement and protection of the Access to Abortion Services Act; provision for universal and federally-guaranteed access to abortion in all regions of Canada; the availability of safe, affordable, and effective contraception; and comprehensive sex education in schools.

In 1995, the Coalition began publishing their quarterly newsletter, The Pro-Choice Press, as a way to further its aims and reach the public. A few years later, in 1998, its name was officially changed to Pro-Choice Action Network (Pro-CAN). Despite the name change, the group continued to build a broad-based political movement and advocate for public education on women’s right to choice. It also established mutually productive relationships with clinics, hospitals, health care professionals, pro-choice groups, women’s groups, and various local, provincial, and national governmental agencies.

Around the same time in the late 1990s, Pro-CAN found itself increasingly focused on national issues. After the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL) disbanded in 2004, the Board realized a new national group was needed to replace its efforts. The need was filled when Joyce Arthur of Pro-CAN led the formation of a new national group known as the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC-CDAC). As the years went on, the Network found itself becoming relatively inactive due to a lack of need for a provincial pro-choice group in British Columbia. As such, Pro-CAN made the decision to close its doors in January 2009 with the assurance that ARCC would take up the mantle on provincial issues as needed.

B.C. Studies was established in late 1968 by its first editors Margaret Prang and Walter Young. While professors in the Faculty of Arts at UBC, both Prang and Young, perceived a need to establish a journal to publish the work of British Columbia's expanding scholarly community. In support of this endeavour, UBC provided office space and a business manager to operate within the administrative structure of the University's Publications Centre, which later became UBC Press (1971). As a quarterly journal, B.C. Studies communicates the results of scholarly inquiry in various fields relating to British Columbia. B.C. Studies also reviews books dealing with the province and publishes a comprehensive bibliography of material. The intellectual direction of the journal has been monitored through an editorial board made up of representatives from British Columbian universities. Prang and Young remained co-editors until 1983 when Allan Smith replaced them. Jean Barman and Cole Harris became co-editors in 1995, succeeded in turn by R.A.J. McDonald in 2002, and Graeme Wynn in 2008. B.C. Studies has been supported through funding from UBC, the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, and various government funding agencies.

H . Bell-Irving and Company was established in Vancouver in 1895 as Managing and Selling Agents for the Anglo British Packing Company . In 1908, the Company created an Insurance Department to underwrite insurance for its canneries and fishing boats . In April 1921, H . Bell-Irving and Company was renamed Bell-Irving Creery and Company Ltd ., and in 1929 the Insurance Department was established as a separate business and renamed Bell-Irving Insurance Agencies Ltd . In January 1948, the agency purchased Nairn Insurance Agencies and in December 1949 it purchased Crossley Insurance Agencies . The operations of these two companies were merged with those of Bell-Irving Insurance Agencies Ltd. at the time of purchase . Bell-Irving Insurance Agencies' functions included insurance, real estate, mortgages, automobile financing, and property management. At some point in the company's history, the real estate operation was carried out under the name Bell-Irving Realty at the same address, but circumstances and dates are unknown . Bell-Irving Insurance Agencies Ltd. went out of business in 1972.

The first shipyard in the Benson family was founded ca. 1919 on False Creek by Charlie Benson, who had immigrated to Vancouver from Australia in 1907. Charlie's sons Albert Charles Benson and Robert Herman Benson assumed control in 1923, changing the company's name to Benson Bros. Shipbuilding. In 1925, A.C. Benson assumed full control, changing the name to A.C. Benson Shipyard. In 1938 the company relocated to the former Melchion Shipyard in Coal Harbour. R.H. rejoined the company in 1942, and the name reverted to Benson Bros. Shipbuilding. The company acquired the Star Mercer Shipyard in the Queensborough neighbourhood of New Westminster in 1974. In 1979, the company consolidated its operations at the yard in New Westminster. The firm went out of business in 1984.

The Biological Board of Canada was established in 1912. It evolved from a management board in 1898 that established a biological station on the Atlantic Coast. During the 1920s, the Biological Board of Canada hired full-time employees and opened laboratories concerned with fishing and food processing. By 1937 the Biological Board of Canada became the Fisheries Research Board.

Bitter Paradise: The Sell-Out of East Timor began as a film project with Elaine Brière's working trip to the former Portuguese colony in 1975: she was the last independent photographer permitted to enter East Timor before the Indonesian invasion in that year. Through a series of filmed interviews, seminars, and speeches involving Canadian business people, politicians, public servants, and activists, Brière uncovers Canadian participation with Indonesian companies in business activities in East Timor during 1975-1990. The documentary reveals the lives of East Timorese families and individuals who engage in the liberation struggle in East Timor, Europe and Canada. Finally, the feature engages members of western organizations (TAPOL, the East Timor Alert Network) that seek to bring awareness of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor to the world. Brière films rallies in Canada in support of the liberation struggle, attempts (unsuccessfully) to publicly question Canadian and Indonesian political and government leaders on the occupation, and sympathetically portrays young Timorese who employ stories and song, along with public speaking, to enlighten Canadian audiences (including labour organizations) regarding the extortion and destruction of the island nation, its peoples and cultures.
Elaine Brière is a Vancouver documentary-maker, photographer, journalist and social justice activist. Her documentary, Bitter Paradise: The Sell-Out of East Timor, won the best political documentary award at the Hot Docs Festival, North America's preeminent documentary film showcase, in 1997. In addition to her work on East Timor, which includes a published collection of photographs Testimony: Photographs of East Timor, (Between the Lines, 2004). Brière has directed a documentary on Canadian merchant seamen, Betrayed: The Story of Canadian Merchant Seamen (1997), and has produced photo-journalism and print articles for The Tyee, Briarpatch, Our Times, and other publications dedicated to labour and social justice issues. Brière's photographs have appeared in many publications including, Carte Blanche Photography 1 (2004); The Other Mexico: The North American Triangle Completed (1996), South East Asia Tribal Groups and Ethnic Minorities (1987) and The Family of Women (1979). In addition, her photographs have been featured in exhibits in Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States.

The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service was a weekly periodical with national and international distribution. It was the official newspaper and weekly periodical of the Black Panther Party. The newspaper was founded in 1967 by Huey B. Newton and Bobby Seale and published until 1980.

The newspaper focused on Black Panther Party activities, values, and ideology; police brutality, racial oppression in the United States; political prisoners, communism, and international revolutions. From 1968 to 1971, the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service was the most widely read Black newspaper in the United States. The back of each issue features original artwork from Emory Douglas, Black Panther's Minister of Culture and artist.

Blackstone Press was a letterpress that operated on Granville Island from 1996 to 2021. It was run by David Clifford and, starting in 2005, his daughter Yasmine Franchi.

Clifford began a six-year printing apprenticeship in London in 1951 at the age of 15. After several years in the printing industry, he moved to France in 1962 and worked at Imprimerie Meyerbeer before moving to Vancouver in 1970. Clifford worked as a graphic designer until 1996, when he founded Black Stone Press.

The press used primarily polymer type and operated a variety of vintage presses, including three Heldelberg Winmill presses, to produce their work.

American owned logging operation begun in 1911 Bloedel, Stewart & Welch was incorporated in British Columbia in July 1911. J.H. Bloedel, a Washington state lumberman, was the driving force while railway contractors John W. Stewart and Patrick Welch were silent partners. The company's most extensive logging operation was at Myrtle Point, south of Powell River, while it held timber land on Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, Union Bay and in the Alberni Valley. The Alberni Valley was to become the major area for company operations including the Somass sawmill, the Franklin River logging operation, the Great Central sawmill, and by 1948, an integrated pulp and paper mill which utilized the wastes of the Somass sawmill. J.H. Bloedel was President about 1943 when he became Chairman, and Prentice Bloedel, his son, who had been Secretary and Treasurer since 1930, became President and Treasurer. Prentice Bloedel was instrumental in initiating and negotiating the merger with H.R. MacMillan Export in 1951 to form MacMillan & Bloedel.

The Allan Boag Foundation is a grant giving non-profit society that was established in 1944. Its goals are to promote the principles of democratic Socialism. It sponsors educational projects, grants, and scholarships.

Allan Boag arrived in Vancouver from Scotland in 1894. Initially, he worked at his trade as a foundryman until 1918. Following a recession, he spent several years as a self-employed grocer and nurseryman, acquiring properties throughout Vancouver. The eventual increase in value of these properties led to the establishment of Boag’s wealth. In agreement with his views about the failings of the economic and social system which prevailed that he had formed during his less profitable years, Boag turned over all of his possessions to a trust at the time of his death in 1944. Allan Boag’s vision that a humane and equitable society could be achieved through the development of a democratic socialist society us reflected through the goals and activities of the Foundation.

The Foundation focuses on promoting the furtherance of workers’ education in the disciplines of history, economics, social and political economy and trade union organization. Through a diverse range of activities the Foundation seeks to accomplish these directives. Annual scholarships are maintained at three universities. Grants of books, studies and special collections have been provided to university and college libraries. The Foundation has published and has assisted authors to publish. For many years the Foundation operated a labour school called Boag House and continues to assist special programs at the Canadian Labour Congress Winter School.