British Columbia

Royal BC Museum launches program to encourage handwritten letters

In an age of emailing and texting, few people write letters anymore — but the Royal BC Museum in Victoria would like to change that.

'Unless people start writing letters again, we won't have that sort of material in the archives'

The Royal BC Museum has set up letter writing stations as part of its Community Days event to encourage people to think about the archival material they will leave behind. (Getty Images/Flickr RF)

In an age of emailing and texting, few people write letters anymore — but the Royal BC Museum in Victoria would like to change that.

"Unless people start writing letters again, we won't have that sort of material in the archives," said Angela Williams, the museum's chief operating officer.

The museum has set up letter writing stations as part of its Community Days event running from Jan. 2 to Jan. 9, 2016.

Williams said letters make up history — whether it's soldiers writing home during the First World War, or public figures expressing their views.

"So it's one of those things that we're trying to encourage people to sit down, slow down a bit and handwrite a letter to somebody," she said.

Admission into the museum is by donation during Community Days, during which the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 and Our Living Languages: First Peoples' Voices in British Columbia are the two feature exhibitions.