Mary Henry’s Journey to a Tropical Valley

Mary Henry’s Journey to a Tropical Valley

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This Week In History - Pressed Plants

Join collections manager Heidi Guest and learn how the museum collects and preserves plants from all over the province. Pick up a copy of our book Pressed Plants to get started on your own plant collecting journey. Order a copy of Pressed Plants: https://publications.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/product/pressed-plants/ Season 11 Episode 18, Feb 2023 Credit: RBCM and CHEK-TV (2023)

Tropical Valley Expedition

This incomplete silent film was acquired by the BC Archives in 2003. It consists of the second and third reels of a three-reel production. The film was made in the summer of 1931 on the first of four expeditions that American botanist Mary Gibson Henry made to the area. The footage was shot by expedition outfitter Stan Clark and by Norman Henry and Norman Henry (Jr.), Mary’s husband and son. The film shows the party of 16 travelling by pack-train, crossing rivers, caching food, and fishing, as well as some camp scenes. Several locations in the Liard and Peace River Regions are shown, including: Christina Falls, Graham River, Hudson’s Hope, Peace River, Summit Lake, Taylor, Tetsa River, Toad Hot Springs, Toad River. Learn about how the film was discovered here. Credit: BC Archives AAAA5265

This Week in History Season 4 Episode 14 Mary Gibson Henry

The Royal BC Museum works closely with museums throughout the world exchanging information and sometimes, specimens. The museum is currently learning more about plant diversity in our province thanks to specimens on loan from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Mary Gibson Henry

Former botany collections manager Dr. Erica Wheeler talks about Mary Gibson Henry and her contributions to BC botany. Parts of this video were shot during a 2014 research trip in northeastern BC. Credit: RBCM

Dr. Erica Wheeler

Former botany collections manager Dr. Erica Wheeler talks about what inspired her love of plants and what a botanist does.

Dr. Ken Marr

Curator of Botany Dr. Ken Marr describes his inspiration and work as a botanist. Credit: RBCM

Botany at the Royal BC Museum

Curator of Botany Dr. Ken Marr and former botany collections manager Dr. Erica Wheeler describe the process of collecting, preserving and storing specimens for the botany collection at the Royal BC Museum. Credit: RBCM