Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of the fonds
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1886-1959 (Creation)
- Creator
- Oriental Home and School
Physical description area
Physical description
52 cm of textual records
348 photographs
9 architectural drawings
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
In 1885, missionary John Endicott Gardner began sheltering Chinese women and girls working as prostitutes in Victoria. Gardner received support for this work from the Rev. J.E. Starr, a local Methodist minister. In 1888, a home on Cormorant Street was purchased, and the Chinese Girls’ Rescue Home officially opened. At Starr’s urging, the Woman’s Missionary Society (WMS) at Pandora Avenue (later Metropolitan) Methodist Church became involved. By 1890, the home’s main priority shifted to providing refuge for Asian domestic servants suffering enslavement and abuse. In 1908, the WMS opened a newly constructed facility, and the name of the home was changed to the Oriental Home and School. It offered shelter and Christian education for Chinese and Japanese women and girls. The United Church continued to operate the home after Church Union in 1925. The evacuation of Japanese Canadians from the coast during the Second World War brought an abrupt end to the home in 1942. Japanese residents were relocated to a WMS home at Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. The WMS purchased a smaller home on Pembroke Street for the remaining Chinese women, and it became known as a Chinese Christian community centre.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of the following record series: Attendance records (1886-1942); Financial records (1888-1948); Historical accounts and other material (1887-1959); Resident case files (1891-1942); Annual reports (1926-1934); Meeting minutes (1896-1915); Property records (1908-1909); and Photographs (1901-1947).
Notes area
Physical condition
Some material is fragile
Immediate source of acquisition
Acquisition details were not documented. The majority of the records were received prior to 1990. Transfer of photographs P-31/file 1 and Advisory Committee minute book transferred from First-Metropolitan United Church Archives (Victoria, B.C.) on September 15, 2016.
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Advisory Committee minutes available in microfilm
Restrictions on access
Access to some records is restricted to protect personal information
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
File list available
Uploaded finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals expected
Alpha-numeric designations
BCAUL control number: UCCBC-21
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Rules for Archival Description
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created March 2, 2016
Revised October 4, 2018
Language of description
- English