Origins of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation
"[In 1916] J. G. Lister, president of the Vancouver Teachers' Association, called a meeting of teacher association representatives from Vancouver, Point Grey, South and North Vancouver as well as Victoria. The meeting was held on October 28, 1916 in the Dawson School in Vancouver. The first annual general meeting of the group took place in the King Edward High School on January 4, 1917. The BC Teachers' Federation was incorporated as a benevolent society on July 12, 1919. Harry Charlesworth of Victoria, its first president, also became its first general secretary. J. G. Lister succeeded him as president. Offices were opened in Victoria. Charlotte Clayton was named assistant secretary. Both Charlesworth and Clayton spent the rest of their working lives serving the BCTF.
The original objectives of the BCTF have remained unchanged in the constitution to this day. They were to foster and promote the cause of education in B.C., to raise the status of the teaching profession in B.C., and to promote the welfare of the teachers of B.C..."
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Excerpt from "History of the BCTF" posted on the British Columbia Teachers' Federation website
