Walking Tours of Victoria’s Spiritual History
Julie Cormier, Executive Director, Society of Friends of St. Ann's Academy
Volume 27 Issue 10, 11 & 12 | Posted: December 12, 2013
We are proud to announce that the Roots to Wings: Four Walking Tours of Victoria’s Spiritual History project is finally here! The brochure showcases the spiritual landmarks that make up the foundation of the Victoria downtown core, Lekwungen territory.
We are proud to announce that the Roots to Wings: Four Walking Tours of Victoria’s Spiritual History project is finally here! The brochure showcases the spiritual landmarks that make up the foundation of the Victoria downtown core, Lekwungen territory.
Built in collaboration with local historians and community members, this project is intended to educate the public about the nature of spiritual institutions in Victoria, both past and present. The brochure recounts the history, culture and stories of the mid-1800’s, with four tours and a total of 30 landmarks. The first tour explores the Humboldt Valley, the second the City Centre, the third Chinatown, and the fourth North Park. The self-guided tour is also available electronically and can be viewed on a mobile device. Connect by scanning the QR code or visit the website www.roots2wings.weebly.com. This electronic access allows for interested participants to link to any of the spiritual sites’ websites and get updated on the spiritual groups’ current activities.
While initiating the project, we were overwhelmed by the amount of information concerning the spiritual establishments in Southern Vancouver Island. We needed to create boundaries in order to synthesize this information into a brochure. The boundaries of the mapped spiritual history are geographic, comprising an area bound by the streets of Belleville, Vancouver, Herald and Wharf. If funding permits, this self-guided tour may be the first of a three-part project envisioned to include a driving tour of spiritual landmarks of Southern Vancouver Island. More immediate plans include creating a podcast of the tours in various languages to provide an audio component to the project.
We hope you enjoy this piece of history. If you wish to receive brochures, please contact me at (250) 953-8820 or at info@friendsofstannsacademy.com. If you wish to make a donation in support of this project, please send by mail (The Society of Friends of St. Ann’s Academy, 835 Humboldt St., PO Box 9188, Victoria, BC V8W 9E6 or visit our website to donate online ( www.friendsofstannsacademy.com )
Julie Cormier, Executive Director, Society of Friends of St. Ann's Academy