In front of the Vancouver Public Library central branch hangs a remarkable mural, which offers a century-spanning visual narrative of the Downtown Eastside.

Created over many years by a neighbourhood artist, James Cumming, it highlights everything from the creation of the Carnegie Centre in 1903 to the anti-Asian riot of 1907 to a historic unemployed workers' march on Ottawa, which began in Vancouver in 1935.

The colourful mural, entitled "Your Story, My Story, Our Story", was unveiled this weekend and will remain in the foyer of Library Square until July 14.

At a gathering in the Alma VanDusen and Peter Kaye rooms at the library, Cumming's friend Sharon Kravitz expressed amazement at how he kept working on the mural for so many years. "He just took it on and he took it home," she said. "He made it his."

Sarah Common of the Portland Hotel Society and library staff helped arrange for the mural to be displayed. Common explained that the hand reaching for the cigarette was created by Cumming as a message of hope.

Cumming died earlier this year, and the organizers of today's event hope that one day, "Your Story, My Story, Our Story" will be shown in the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The images capture many memorable events of the past century, including enlistment campaigns for the Second World War, the internment of Japanese Canadians, the birth of Greenpeace, and the horrors that drugs have inflicted on the Downtown Eastside. Former neighbourhood landmarks like the Smilin' Buddha Cabaret, the Lux Theatre, and the Royal Cafe also get their due in the mural.

Cumming spent many years as a resident in local rooming houses, including the old New World Hotel, where one of today's speakers recalled that he kept an impeccably clean room. Cumming included one mural about his talented brother Bob, a former Georgia Straight editorial writer, after he was busted in 1967.

Dean Wilson, a cofounder of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, highlighted three frames in the mural, which dealt with drugs: "The Alley 1983", "Dead in the Street 1985", and "The Dragon 1996".

Dean Wilson speaks about the significance of James Cumming's mural.

Wilson explained that in 1996, there was an "unbelievable" number of overdoses. He said there was almost 300 deaths in a single year, which he characterized as an "absolute genocide".

"I think James pictured it well here," Wilson stated. "What he has done here is just magnificent because too many people's lives were forgotten when they died on those sidewalks."

Photographer Greg Masuda of the Powell Street Festival said that as a third-generation Japanese Canadian, he appreciated the way Cumming highlighted the internment of Japanese Canadians in "One Suitcase 1942".

In 1942, Masuda's grandparents and their six Canadian-born children had all their property confiscated, never to be returned.

"They went to work in the sugar-beet fields of southern Alberta," he said. "They returned to Vancouver a few years ago."

Greg Masuda talks about the "One Suitcase 1942" frame.

Downtown Eastside residents also talked about the other murals, including those focusing on homelessness and the sex trade.

Homelessness and the sex trade are also highlighted on the mural.

Near the end of the event, the cultural liaison for Simon Fraser University Woodwards, Am Johal, discussed the significance of strikers gathering at the Carnegie Centre in 1935 and a subsequent march on Ottawa, which resulted in a bloody police reaction in Regina on Canada Day. Johal suggested that labour activists in the Downtown Eastside helped lay the foundation for the creation of Canada's social programs that are with us today.

"It's still a place where we can learn about compassion in the city," Johal said.

Am Johal says the city can learn about compassion from people living in the Downtown Eastside.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.