Alden Forest Barss was born in New York State in 1888. He received a B.A. from the University of Rochester, a B.Sc. in agriculture from Cornell University, a Master's degree in horticulture from Oregon State College, and a Ph.D. from Chicago. Barss joined UBC's Department of Horticulture in 1918, eventually succeeding Dean F.M. Clement as Department head in 1940. He served in this position until his retirement in 1953. Barss also served as a member of the UBC Senate from 1924 to 1930 and was involved with the Inter-Fraternity Council. In addition, he was a member of many professional and scientific societies, and he gave several radio presentations on agricultural issues. Barss was an active member of St. Helen's Anglican Church in Vancouver. He also served from 1927 to 1971 on the Anglican Theological College of B.C. (later part of the Vancouver School of Theology), including twenty-five years as its secretary.

Len Bawtree (1924-2014) was born and raised in Ashton Creek, east of Enderby, BC. After enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II and marrying Ruth Swaby in 1944, Bawtree came back to the Okanagan and logged and raised cows for beef on his farm. He was a founding member of the North Okanagan Livestock Association and the long-time director of the BC Cattleman’s Association. When regional districts were created in the 1960’s, Bawtree was appointed the first representative from rural Enderby to the North Okanagan Regional District. He was elected to the BC Legislature in 1975 when Bill Bennett’s Social Credit Party defeated Dave Barrett’s NDP government. He was re-elected in the next election but lost the nomination in the following election.

Rosemary Baxter earned her B.F.A. at the University of Calgary in 1984. She and her family resided in Priddis, Alberta, until 1989, and during this time she was a lay minister and pastoral care worker for the Catholic Archdiocese of Calgary. In 1989 her family moved to Salt Spring Island, B.C. From 1985, she was active in promoting the rights of gays and lesbians, in particular in advocating amendments to federal and Alberta legislation to protect sexual orientation rights. She was president of Dignity Canada for one year. She was also active in lobbying the Catholic Church in Canada to recognize gay and lesbian rights.

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.