Comfort Inn Vancouver

Memorial to World War II Ship Yard Workers

by glabah

Located a building or two east of the McMenamin's bar and restaurant along Vancouver's Riverfront Trail, a new steel sculpture has emerged as a memorial to the World War II ship yard workers.

One of the more interesting images in the statue features is a wooden laundry basket, as might be seen at the time in many locations, with a pile of clothing inside, and a welding helmet dropped on top of it.

Some of the emblems written into the statue are fairly obvious. For example, the house and the boat are the two working locations of the women who worked in the ship yards. The moviehoue is a considerably more obscure reference. The movie playing is "Mrs Miniver" which did in fact enter the market in 1942. The inspiration for the film, however, were a much more complete set of columns in The Times, starting in 1937. These were essentially about everyday life, though as World War II started, the war entered everyday life in a larger and larger way. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying when the book form collection of the column was released, it was worth six divisions of war effort.

The first Vancouver ~ in Washington, the state

by truesally

My husband & I moved here in 1997 from Hillsboro, Oregon. We both grew up in the Puget Sound area and were glad to be back in our home state. Vancouver is beautiful with its acres of evergreen trees, views of mountains all around, the Columbia River rolling by, and a small town feel with big city influences.

Mother Joseph

by oneonta_ni

Mother Joseph was a French Canadian nun who came to the West Coast to help raise funds to build churches, schools and hospitals for the early settlers of the area. She was educated by her mother, who also taught her to cook and sew. Her father was a carpenter and he taught her everything he knew about building.

When Mother Joseph arrived in the Oregon Territory in 1856, she began to raise money from the mining camps and towns. Over the next 46 years, she helped to build 29 schools, orphanages, old peoples homes and other institutions. She would travel around for thousands of miles to collect money, was often attacked and robbed and would then head to wherever she was going to build her institution and start the work herself. She acted as architect and builder; she was very familiar with carpentry, so much so that the carpenters who helped her were afraid to do anything less than perfect work.

In Vancouver, the most famous building that Mother Joseph built is The Academy. These are photos of the front and rear of the building. It was originally a school but is now offices and weddings are held in the chapel.

Mother Joseph is considered to be one of the first architects in the Pacific Northwest. In 1980, a statue of her was placed in the Statuary Hall in Washington, DC. She was the fifth woman and first Catholic Sister to be honoured as an historic leader.