The Nanaimo Historical Society researches, educates and engages the public in the history of our area.

Founded in 1953 as the Nanaimo Section of the BC Historical Association, the Society collected, recorded, and shared its findings about the early history of Nanaimo with the community, forming the basis of much of the early research undertaken about the city.  

The Society was influential in supporting the development of the Nanaimo Museum, the Nanaimo Community Archives, the Nanaimo Heritage Advisory Council, and the annual Heritage Summit. The Society’s involvement in the community has been extensive.  The monthly lecture series, open to the public for over 60 years, has introduced many residents and visitors to our very diverse heritage.  

The society has published two community histories, Nanaimo Retrospective (1979) and The Company on the Coast (1983).  It has also published 2 editions of the Black country books. 

Our main purposes are:  

• advancing the education of Nanaimo’s history to the public, by use of social media, a website, regular public meetings with lectures, publications, and by organizing and conducting public field trips.  
• advocating the protection and preservation of significant local heritage sites by partnering with others to research and identify persons, places, and events of significance to the  community, and by working with local governments as advocates for their identification and protection.  
• enhancing the public’s knowledge of the Nanaimo area by promoting and funding research of its cultural and natural history, including a recently launched micro-grant program to support individuals or groups researching particular subjects involving Nanaimo’s history.  
• encouraging and supporting history education at universities by providing financial assistance to post-secondary students in a related area of study.  

Examples of recent local historical research by Society members:  

• the history of the Colliery dams  
• the history of the Wellington Cemetery   
• the 1951 Queen Charlotte Airline crash into Mount Benson (at the time it was the second deadliest airline disaster in Canada).   
• research on shipwrecks associated with the transport of coal from Nanaimo in the 19th and 20th centuries.