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October 28, 1945: Tomekichi Homma, labor contractor and civil rights activist, died, age 80
by Chuck Davis
On October 28, 1945 Tomekichi Homma, labor contractor and civil rights activist, died in Slocan, B.C., aged 80. He was born June 6, 1865 in Onigoshi-mura, Chiba-ken, Japan. He came to Canada at age 18 and settled in Steveston. He fished the Fraser from 1892, at first in an open Columbia boat. From 1897 to 1899 he was chairman of the Japanese Fishermen's Benevolent Society. "This group," says the Steveston Museum spokesperson, "built the first hospital in Steveston to deal with outbreaks of typhoid amongst the fishermen living in crowded, unsanitary housing along the waterfront." In May 1899, with Tadaichi Nagao, Homma began contracting laborers to the CPR. "Between 1900 and 1902," the spokesperson continues, "he fought for voting rights for Japanese-Canadians, winning in the Canadian Supreme Court, but losing in the British Privy Council. He died in an internment camp in Slocan in 1945..." Homma started the first Japanese newspaper in Vancouver. An elementary school in Richmond is named for him. Excerpt from The History of Metropolitan Vancouver by Chuck Davis.
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