Collecting women’s stories to help build togetherness and a sense of belonging in our urban environment.
Welcome to the Urban Women Oral History Club!
This “club” is a new oral history project aiming to celebrate women’s lives as they navigate complex urban experiences across a lifetime. It is located in Vancouver’s Kitsilano area, in historical row houses formerly known as the Panama Apartments.
Activities involve collecting and preserving personal, family, and community stories from individuals who live in our neighborhood. Through oral history interviews, we focus on the experiences of women aged 50 and older, delving into themes such as work, travel, leisure, creativity, child-rearing, and personal memories.
The project’s outcomes will be shared with other members of our community (as a kind of celebration), with a selection of stories being shared here on this website.
Urban Women Oral History Club was founded in 2025 and is funded by a Neighbourhood Small Grant from the City of Vancouver, B.C.
*This project embraces all female identities—trans, self-identifying, LGBTQIA+ inclusive—and also welcome narratives from men who seek to honor the women in their lives.
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Project Leader:
Lisa Wilson Palmour is a folklorist and digital collections manager with Ukrainian and Scottish ancestry. She holds a Master of Arts in Folklore (2011) and a Certificate in Fine Arts for Collections Management (2020). With over a decade of experience recording oral histories, she has been dedicated to helping preserve community-based culture since 2009.
If you have questions, comments or contributions, please contact me at: wilsonpalmour@gmail.com
Image sources: Photo of Lisa by Jake S.P. ; Garden photo by Jake S.P. ; UBC Open Collections – UL_1462 ; UBC Open Collections – UL_2007 ; COV Archives – [People swimming in Kitsilano Beach swimming pool] ; UBC Open Collections – UL_2007 ; Rose photo by Lisa W.P. ; COV Achives – [Bathing beauties at Greer’s Beach (Kitsilano Beach)]
Urban Women Oral History Club 