Golden Inheritance provides a fascinating and in-depth account of the exceptional Chung Collection.
UBC Library is highlighting the exceptional Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection using traditional and new media, thanks to a generous donation from Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
In 1999, Wallace and Madeline Chung donated the Chung Collection to UBC Library. This collection, a designated national treasure, contains more than 25,000 fascinating items reflecting three interrelated themes: early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
A 2010 donation from CPR enabled the Library to undertake an ambitious project: the production of a documentary film and book commemorating the Chung Collection, and the ongoing digitization of the collection.
“We are very pleased that the Chung Collection is being digitized, and with the resulting film and book,” says Dr. Chung. “The message ‘forgive, but do not forget’ will be given a wider audience. We hope this will result in a better and more harmonious society.”
In January 2013, UBC held a special event to celebrate the project. Attendees were treated to a viewing of Passage of Dreams: The Chung Collection, a documentary produced by Gemini award-winning filmmaker Karin Lee.
Cover of Passage of Dreams: The Chung Collection DVD
“The moving images of artifacts and documents, combined with animation of Dr. Chung’s family stories and CBC archival footage, helped bring to life the larger history of the Chinese Canadian community and the relationship of that community with the Canadian Pacific Railway,” says Lee.
A gorgeous hardcover book written by Larissa Buijs, entitled Golden Inheritance: The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection at UBC Library, was also on display at the event. The book and film have been distributed to high schools throughout Metro Vancouver.
Working on the Golden Inheritance book gave Buijs a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to know Dr. Chung, whom she describes as modest and humble about his passion for collecting. “The significance of the book is that for the first time the Library had a chance to put both Dr. Chung’s family story and the story behind the collection into a coffee-table publication that can be read and enjoyed by all,” she says.
“As one of Canada’s major collectors, Dr. Chung has helped to preserve our cultural past and shape our understanding of it,” adds Peter Ward, UBC Professor Emeritus of History and the former University Librarian pro tem. “Together the book and film make fine introductions to the collection and also the collector. They help us appreciate the understandings and motives that encouraged Wally’s life long enthusiasm.”
Newly digitized material from the Chung Collection will begin to be available for viewing online later this year. By fall 2014, students, researchers, historians, collectors and those with an interest in Chinese-Canadian history will be able to discover, view and explore the Chung Collection online in its entirety.
Read more from UBC Library’s Community Report (2013).