Education
While pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania she interrupted those studies to work as a teaching assistant in history at University of British Columbia, then graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1936.
While pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania she interrupted those studies to work as a teaching assistant in history at University of British Columbia, then graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1936.
Born in Quesnel, British Columbia, she was raised in the Okanagan Valley. She enrolled at the University of British Columbia (University of British Columbia) in 1925, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1929, and a Master of Arts in 1931, both in History. She taught in the United States for the next three years, then became a lecturer at McMaster University in 1940, returning to teach at University of British Columbia in 1943.
In 1955 she was appointed Professor and in 1965 became head of the university"s Department of History, a position she held until her retirement in 1974.
Ormsby was chair of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada from 1960 to 1967. She received honorary doctorates from the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University as well as University of British Columbia, and holds the Insignia of the Order of British Columbia.
Her works include: British Columbia: A History (1958) commemorating the centennial of the designation of B.C. as a crown colony. A Pioneer Gentle Woman in British Columbia: the Recollections of Susan Allison (1976) (see John Fall Allison)Coldstream - Nulli Secundus (1990) as well as numerous entries to journals and encyclopedias.