Surrey Archives to Highlight Extensive Surrey Leader Collection During Virtual Talk

Surrey, BC –  Join Surrey Archives’ staff virtually on June 24 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. as they profile images straight from the press dating from the 1970s and into the 2000s.

This free virtual talk will be facilitated via Microsoft Teams. Local businesses, events, LGBTQ2SIA+ Pride, urban development and the Olympics are just a handful of the themes that will be covered. Highlights include: views of The Rodeo Drive-In before its closure, Skytrain construction, Surrey’s first Pride Parade and Surrey’s first Fusion Festival.

“The Surrey Leader Collection is the largest collection at the Archives, consisting of more than one-million images ranging from negatives, prints and born-digital photographs,” said Archivist Chelsea Bailey. “By profiling this collection, those attending will be able to get a glimpse of a period of dramatic change in Surrey.”

The Surrey Leader was Surrey’s longest serving newspaper, in operation from July 1929 to March 2017, providing local news coverage. In late 2020, the Surrey Archives received a grant from the BC History Digitization Project to digitize over 10,000 images. All images will be accessible online in Fall 2021.

“The funding provides us with the opportunity to increase access to a significant portion of this collection, with emphasis placed on 1970s content,” said Bailey.

Registration for The Surrey Leader Collection is required. To reserve your spot now, call 604-501-5100 or sign in to your MySurrey account.

In addition to their virtual talks, the Surrey Archives has 70,000 archival photographs available online, as well as free Online Heritage Tools, available at surrey.ca/archives.

About Surrey Archives

Surrey Archives is located at 17671 56 Ave, Surrey. On July 6, Surrey Archives will reopen for pre-booked in-person appointments. For more information, call the Surrey Archives at 604-502-6459, email archives@surrey.ca, or visit www.surrey.ca/archives. Follow us on Facebook at @HeritageSurreyBC.