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Virginia Catherine Kehoe was born in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver on November 2, 1916. Upon marrying Bruce Kehoe, Virginia travelled with him to Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto and France as his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force lent itself to a significant amount of travel. Virginia Kehoe trained as an artist, and became close friends with Kwakwaka’wakw artist and carver Douglas Cranmer. She assisted in taking care of Cranmer’s store The Talking Stick on South Granville in Vancouver for part of its existence. Kehoe and her husband moved to Vancouver Island after Bruce Kehoe retired from the RCAF, first settling in Sooke and then moving to Victoria. Towards the end of her life, after the passing of her husband Bruce, Virginia Kehoe moved to Riverwest in Ladner, B.C. to be closer to family. Virginia Kehoe died in Ladner on September 15, 2008.

Stanley E. Read was born on February 7, 1900, in Rock Island, Quebec. He earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1923 and Master of Arts in 1925 from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. After going to France on a scholarship from 1925 to 1927 and a brief employment at Bishop’s College in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Read moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1928 to work as an English Professor at DePaul University. While in Chicago, he met his wife, Ruth Read, whom he married in 1940. In 1946, Read moved to Vancouver and joined the Department of English at the University of British Columbia. He continued to teach in the department until his retirement in 1971. Read passed away in Vancouver on April 8, 1997 at the age of 97.

Read’s lasting contributions to the University of British Columbia are numerous. In 1953, Read was one of the eight U.B.C. professors who, along with writer Roderick Haig-Brown, started a foundation at U.B.C. with a small sum of money accumulated from “various bets and fines for illegal or non-ethical fishing methods” during a group fishing holiday at Upper Campbell Lake. The foundation, playfully called “The Harry Hawthorn Foundation for the Inculcation and Propagation of the Principles and Ethics of Fly-Fishing,” used its proceeds to purchase books on angling and game fishing for the U.B.C. Library, and over time produced what is now known as the Harry Hawthorn Foundation Collection. For 34 years, Read was the Secretary of the foundation and organized their annual fishing trips. Read was also instrumental in the organization of U.B.C.’s International House, and played a formative role in the creation of the University of British Columbia quarterly of English criticism and review, Canadian Literature.

Read wrote a number of articles, books, bibliographies, and book reviews about his academic interests and his hobby of fishing. Publications by Read include A Bibliography of Hogarth Books and Studies, 1900-1940 (DePaul University, 1941); Documents of Eighteenth Century Taste (DePaul University, 1942); What Manner of Man Was He? Andrew Carnegie and Libraries in British Columbia (University of British Columbia, 1960); More Recreation for the Contemplative Man: A Supplemental Bibliography of Books on Angling and Game Fish in the University of British Columbia (compiled with Laurenda Daniells. Library of the University of British Columbia, 1971); and A Place Called Pennask: A Capsule History of the Pennask Lake Company, Limited and the Pennask Lake Fishing and Game Club (Mitchell Press, 1977).

Read was also a hobbyist photographer and took many photos during his fishing trips and vacations with his wife, Ruth. Some of his photographs were featured in British Columbia: A Centennial Anthology (McLelland and Stewart, 1958), and one of his photographs was used for the cover of the book A Small and Charming World (Creekstone Press, 2001).

Dr. Joan D. Witney (also known as Dr. Joan Witney-Moore) was one of the three founding doctors of the first Community Health Clinic opened under the Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act (1962). Witney had originally trained as a nurse, graduating in the first year that nurses were granted a Bachelor of Nursing degree. After the Second World War, she worked at Norway House and Moosonee. Witney-Moore trained as a doctor and interned at the Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton during the 1950s.
In early July 1962, Drs. Joan Witney, Margaret Mahood, and Sam Wolfe helped the Community Health Services Association open Saskatchewan’s first Community Health Clinic. Witney provided medical care during the twenty-three-day strike by most of the province’s doctors, but left the clinic at the end of the strike later in July.

Rev. Thomas Crosby, son of Thomas Crosby and Mary Ward, was born in Pickering, Yorkshire, England on June 21, 1840. In 1856, Crosby migrated to Canada with his parents, settling near Woodstock, Upper Canada. In 1858 he joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church and became a preacher. In 1861, Crosby was working as a tanner in Woodstock when he read a call in the Methodist Christian Guardian (Toronto) for missionaries to work on the west coast. He left his job and paid his own way to Vancouver Island, arriving in Victoria in 1862.

In 1863, Crosby worked as an assistant to Cornelius Bryant at a Methodist mission in Nanaimo. In Nanaimo, Crosby met his first protégé Santana (later renamed to David Sallosalton) who joined Crosby in his efforts. Crosby and David lived and worked together. David was well known for his “Steamboat Whistle Sermon” but passed away in 1873 at the age of 19 from tuberculosis. In 1869, he was moved to the missions on the lower mainland, where Chilliwack was his home base. His success was rewarded in 1871 with ordination to the ministry in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. In the winter of 1873–74, Rev. Crosby toured Ontario to raise funds for missions and to search for a wife.

Emma Jane Douse, daughter of John Douse and Eliza Milner, was born on April 14, 1849 in Cobourg, Ontario. Her father, John Douse, had emigrated from England in the early 1830s to convert the Six Nations, and by Emma's birth in 1849 was a highly respected Methodist minister in Ontario. Emma trained at Hamilton's Wesleyan Female College, an institution offering higher learning for women in literature and classics. After completing her education, Emma became a teacher at Wesleyan Female College. In late January 1874, Rev. Crosby spoke at Emma’s College about supporting the missionary effort. Short weeks after meeting Rev. Crosby, she wrote home to her mother and expressed her desire to travel with him to British Columbia. Rev. Crosby and Emma married on April 30, 1874 in Cobourg, Ontario.

Following their marriage, Rev. Crosby and Emma traveled to Fort Simpson (from 1880, known as Port Simpson) near present day Prince Rupert at the invitation of the Tsimshian people. For the next quarter of a century they lived among the Tsimshian people, whose territory stretches between the Nass and Skeena rivers. Rev. Crosby and Emma set up schools and boarding homes for the Tsimshian children. Rev. Crosby and other missionaries encouraged single-family homes over multi-family homes and patriarchal succession over matrilineal family concepts. In 1880, a village council was established to replace native forms of government and Rev. Crosby acted as head of the council. In 1876, a large frame church was completed to symbolize Rev. Crosby’s efforts. During his tenure there were major revivals, each lasting several months, in 1874–75, 1877, 1881–82, and 1892–93.

In addition to his work at Port Simpson, Rev. Crosby established an itinerancy system along the coast from Bella Bella in the south to villages along the Nass and Skeena rivers in the north. It frequently required up to 1,000 miles of travel per year and was initially served by canoe. In November 1884, the mission acquired a ship, the Glad Tidings.

Rev. Crosby and Emma had seven daughters (Jessie, Grace, Ida Mary, Gertrude Louise, and three others) and one son (Thomas Harold). The mortality rate among the Tsimshian was high, and four of his daughters died at Port Simpson, three of them from diphtheria in 1885 and 1886; Emma was also in poor health.

In 1894, Rev. Crosby was appointed superintendent of Indian missions in British Columbia for the Methodist Church. Rev. Crosby and his family left Port Simpson in 1897 for Victoria, where he also assumed the chairmanship of the British Columbia Conference. His health was beginning to decline, and he suffered especially from a growing problem with asthma. From 1899 to 1907 he ran the missions at Sardis and Chilliwack; he then retired to Vancouver. Rev. Crosby became well known for this missionary work. He was superannuated in 1907 and moved to New Westminster. In failing health, he moved to Vancouver and passed away January 13, 1914; his wife Emma, passed away on August 11, 1926 in Sidney British Columbia.

Thomas Crosby is the author of David Sallosalton ([1906?]), Among the An-ko-me-nums, or Flathead tribes of Indians of the Pacific coast (1907), and Up and down the North Pacific coast by canoe and mission ship ([1914]), all published in Toronto.

Ingeborg (Inge) Ruus worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the UBC in 1975. Prior to completing her studies Ruus worked at MOA as a volunteer in the position of Registrar from 1948-1977. While completing her studies she became involved in an unofficial capacity with the MOA. In 1976 she was instrumental in mounting the Guatemala Highlands exhibit which focused on textiles from that region. In 1977 Ruus was hired by MOA as a Curatorial Assistant specializing in Ethnology. However, due to illness Ruus’s official tenure at MOA was short lived, and she left the museum in the latter part of 1977.

Lynn Hill was curator-in-residence at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia from ca. 1998-2000, and curated the exhibit “Raven’s Reprise” (January 2000-January 2001). She is a member of the Iroquois Confederacy from the Six Nations of the Grand River and was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Hill has curated various contemporary First Nations art exhibitions, including The Traveling Alter Native Medicine Show (Vancouver, 1999), LICK (Toronto, 1997), Godi’nigoha’: The Woman’s Mind (Brantford, 1997), and AlterNative: Contemporary Photo Compositions (Toronto/Ottawa, 1995-1996). She is a founding member of the artist collective LICK and of the ALA curatorial collective.

Rosa Ho was born on August 22, 1949 in Hong Kong. After moving to Canada, Ho earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and a Masters of Arts with a specialization in Chinese Art from the University of British Columbia. She began her museum career with a volunteer position at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1975 after completing some years of service at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, she was appointed as the museum’s Assistant Curator, a position she held until 1977. After moving back to British Columbia in 1978, she was appointed as Curator at the Surrey Art Gallery. She was promoted to Director of the gallery in 1980 and continued in this position until 1987. In 1988, she left the Surrey Art Gallery to begin working for the Museum of Anthropology as the Curator of Art and Public Programmes.

As the Curator of Art and Public Programming, she was responsible for activities surrounding the planning and production of exhibitions and public programmes for contemporary art, Inuit and First Nations art, community-based public programmes, and museum education.

Throughout her career, Ho had numerous professional affiliations and served on a number of local, provincial, and national arts committees. Ho also published extensively during her career on the subject of cultural identity. Rosa Ho passed away in 2001.

Kersti Krug is a researcher and writer in the field of non-profit management, and a former Director of Communications and Manager of Research and Evaluation at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Before joining MOA, Krug was Senior Personnel Advisor to the Auditor General of Canada (1980) and Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Canada (1980-1988). Between 1991 and 1997, she worked for the UBC Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration as a researcher, instructor, and Acting Director of the Arts Administration Option.

In 1990, Krug began work at MOA. Her first position at MOA was Director of Communications (1990-1998); subsequently, she occupied the roles of Manager of Research and Evaluation (1998-2001) and director of the Certificate in Museum Studies program (1997-1998). Her work at MOA involved program development and organizational change management. Major projects included creating marketing projects, conducting visitor studies, co-creation and development of the Certificate in Museum Studies program, project management for the expansion of the MOA building, developing business plans, and grant writing.

During this period, Krug was also director of studies for an interdisciplinary graduate program in critical curatorial studies in the Faculty of Arts (1998-2001). After leaving MOA in 2001, Krug joined the Faculty of Graduate Studies as Assistant Dean, Strategic Planning and Communications (2001-2006). She was instrumental in the 2007 founding of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, of which she became Assistant Principal, Strategic Development and Administration. Krug retired form this position in 2009 to work as a consultant.

Krug completed her MBA at UBC in 1990, and in 1999 received her PhD from UBC’s Individual Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program. Her thesis on managing administrative change in MOA is entitled “A hypermediated ethnography of organizational change: conversations in the Museum of Anthropology.”

Formally incorporated on December 23rd 1977, the Friends of the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C. (University of British Columbia) was a society that had four main objectives:

• To promote interest in, and acquaint the public with the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C.
• To provide for the holding of educational lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, classes and conferences on the subject of anthropology
• To acquire, accept, solicit or receive any gift or real or personal property as a contribution or addition to the funds of the society
• To receive, hold, distribute, invest and reinvest contributions from donors for the collections of and operation of the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C.

The operations of the society were physically carried out in the museum. The affairs of the society were managed by a board of 24 directors; six were directly tasked with its initial establishment, while another 18 were elected at the first annual general meeting. Various committees and sub-committees were established, including the executive committee, who had the power to exercise the will of the board. Other committees included the membership committee and the sub-committees on Finance and Fundraising. Michael Ames, then-Director of the Museum of Anthropology, worked as the secretary for the society for most of its life-span. The society was directly involved with a 1981 benefit concert that took place in the Haida House to raise funds for a special gallery for a Haida canoe they wished to acquire. The friends’ peak of activity was from 1978-1982, after which time it became less and less active; dissolution occurred sometime around 1985.

Hindy Ratner graduated with an MA in Museology and Anthropology from the University of Toronto in 1972. Previous to her employment with the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology (MOA) she worked at the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization) in Ottawa, and at the BC Provincial Museum as Extension Curator. Ratner served on the ICOM Committee for Ethnology (1977-?), the board of the Jewish Festival of the Arts, and on the board of the BC Touring Council for the Performing Arts (1983-1985). Ratner was hired full time as Extension Curator at MOA in 1977.

Ratner was on a leave-of-absence from May to October 1984, maternity leave from January to July 1985, and on another leave-of-absence from September 1986 until her resignation in February, 1987. Graduate students Margaret Holm and Susan Hull performed Ratner’s duties while she was on leave. The position of Extension Curator was succeeded by the hiring of Rosa Ho as Curator of Art and Public Programmes in January 1988.

Dr. J.E. Michael Kew was born in Quesnel, British Columbia in 1932. Kew received his B.A. at the University of British Columbia in 1955 and was appointed the Assistant Curator of Anthropology at the Provincial Museum in Victoria from 1956-1959. Following a four-year period in Saskatchewan, where he was employed as a Community Development Officer at the Department of Natural Resources and a Research Assistant in Anthropology at the University of Saskatchewan, Kew returned to the University of British Columbia in 1965 as Instructor of Anthropology. During his appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Kew obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Washington, Seattle in 1970.

As part of his curatorial responsibilities at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), Dr. Kew curated a special exhibition of Central Coast Salish art objects in 1980 entitled Visions of Power, Symbols of Wealth: Central Coast Salish Sculpture and Engraving. In preparation for the exhibition, Dr. Kew was funded by a grant from SSHRC in 1979 to visit North American museums housing Central Coast Salish sculptural objects. The objective of his travels was to create a collection of images and documentation of the sculptures found in the various museums. The majority of the objects exhibited in Visions of Power, Symbols of Wealth came from the collections of the former National Museum of Canada and the Museum of the American Indian. The collections of the British Columbia Provincial Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Art Museum, Thomas Burke Memorial Washing State Museum and the British Museum are also represented.

At the Museum of Anthropology, Michael Kew worked as Curator of Ethnology from 1977 to 1979. He curated a MOA exhibit on central Coast Salish three-dimensional art ca. 1993-1997. He also served as chair of the Ways and Means Committee beginning in 1993 when the committee was established.

Marjorie Myers Halpin was born on February 11, 1937 in Tampa, Florida. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Anthropology from George Washington University in 1962 and 1965 respectively. Between 1963 and 1968, Halpin was employed as a docent and an instructor in anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. During this time, she was also a part-time lecturer at George Washington University. Halpin’s involvement as teacher and scholar at the University of British Columbia began in 1968 when she was hired as a sessional lecturer in the Anthropology Department. Her duties evolved to include part-time curating at the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C. She received her Ph.D. from U.B.C. in 1973 and was hired for the position of Assistant Professor and Curator in the same year. Halpin was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and Curator at U.B.C. in 1981 and remained in this position until the time of her death in 2000. She was also Acting Director of the Museum from 1983 to 1984.

As a professor in U.B.C.’s Anthropology Department, Halpin taught both lower and higher level anthropology courses. She also supervised the work of many Master’s and Ph.D.-level students and served as Chair and University Examiner for numerous Ph.D. students. As part of U.B.C.’s faculty, Halpin served on various committees including the Department Equity Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee and Green College’s Membership Committee. As scholar and writer, Halpin’s main interests were in Coast Tsimshian and Gitksan ethnology, museum anthropology, and the anthropology of art and ritual, which led her to produce many articles and essays on native art and culture. In addition, Halpin also gave presentations and public lectures at national and international conferences. She wrote two books, Totem Poles: An Illustrated Guide and Jack Shadbolt and the Coastal Indian Image, both of which were published as part of the Museum of Anthropology’s Museum Note Series. Halpin also edited and reviewed many publications within the anthropological field and contributed chapters to Canadian Encyclopedia, The Handbook of North American Indians and Consciousness and Inquiry, among many other publications. Her scholarly interests have also led to her involvement with electronic publications on Northwest Coast art, namely with CD-Roms and websites.

Halpin was an active member of numerous societies such as the Canadian Ethnology Society, the Canadian Museums Association and the Native Studies Art Association of Canada. She was also a member of the Tri-Council (MRC, SSHRC, NRC) Committee on Collections Documentation (2000), Chair of the Totem Pole Advisory Committee for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (1983-84) and Chair of the Committee on Museum Ethics for the Canadian Ethnology Society (1974-75). In addition to her duties as teacher, scholar and anthropologist, Halpin also took on the role of consultant for numerous private projects. Marjorie Halpin passed away in White Rock in 2000.

The Director of the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) is directly responsible for the general administration of the museum. Responsibilities carried out by the director include, but are not limited to: directing the development of museum policy, ensuring that the museum’s mandate is met and carried out, overseeing budgets and funding, maintaining correspondence with potential donors and managing staff. The Director also administers facilities and building maintenance and is responsible for overseeing exhibits and special programming hosted by the museum. As a part of the University of British Columbia (UBC), the director reports to the Dean of Arts.

MOA opened in 1947 and Dr. Harry Hawthorn, a professor of Anthropology, was appointed the first director in that year. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1974, when Michael Ames became the second director. Ames was director until he retired in 1997, when Ruth Phillips became director. She left the position in 2002, at which point Ames returned to MOA as Acting Director until Anthony Shelton was appointed as director in 2004.

Ruth Phillips served as Director of the Museum of Anthropology from 1997 - 2002.

Leonard Humphreys was a member of the Sudan Civil Service. During Leonard Humphrey’s post as a member in Sudan Civil Service, he took photographs and drew sketches which he later compiled into scrapbooks. The Sudan Civil Service was a branch of the British Civil Service working in Egypt during the period between World War One and the 1950’s.