Naoyuki "Joe" Fukumoto oral history interview conducted by Warren Sommer on 11 Nov. 1989.

Collections

salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

Stay informed about our news, programs, and events by subscribing to eNews.

Enter a keyword below to search the collection. The search will find all records that contain the entered keywords. For example, if you enter "button", the search will return records that contain "button", "button card ", "button hook", etc. If you enter "buttons", the search will not find images that are described with only "button". If you would like to search for multiple terms, please try our Advanced Search.

Search

Search results - click each item for more information

Object Description

Share

Object Name

Oral History

Object ID

SR-138

Title

Naoyuki "Joe" Fukumoto oral history interview conducted by Warren Sommer on 11 Nov. 1989.

Extent

1 audio cassette.

Date

11 Nov. 1989.

Description

SR-138: Tracks 1 - 2 discuss the Fukumoto family, including Keizo Fukumoto and Ichi Nagamuli. The family's farm and house are described.
Track 3 names other Japanese inhabitants of Langley, including the Kitagawa family and the Kobayashi family. The visit of King George VI is mentioned.
Tracks 4 - 5 discuss Fukumoto's education at Glenwood, Langley Public, and Langley High Schools.
Track 6 describes Japanese customs observed in the local community.
Track 7 discusses the Takimoto sawmill in Fernridge.
Tracks 8 - 10 discuss provisions and shopping at Booth's store and in Vancouver. The market in New Westminster is mentioned.
Track 11 discusses World War II and the internment of Japanese people after Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Fukumoto family's move to Alberta is described.

People/Subject

Fernridge Lumber Mill

The Fernridge Lumber Company was formed in 1909 to take over the Dominion Shingle and Lumber Manufacturing Company, including the shingle mill in Aldergrove. Early investors in the company included Charles William Tait, Clarence Hunter DeBeck, Edward A. Grant J. Stilwell Clute, George Martin, and Thomas S Annandale.

The Aldergrove mill was located on the west side of Bertrand Creek and serviced by the Great Northern railway. Logs would be hauled onto flat cars pulled along the tracks by horses and dumped into the creek. An electric generator ran the mill and provided power to the nearby Nascous, William’s and Hamres households.

Many people worked at the mill. Surviving time checks show some of the workers were Japanese, Hindu (likely Indian), and Chinese. According to one source employees with an Asian background were not allowed to work around the machinery. Instead, they would pile the lumber, build roads, railway lines and work on the log boom. They were paid in tokens that only worked at the company store.

Speaking to the Alder Grove Historical society some locals shared memories of the mill. Mary (Dediluke) Farris recalled the small train which brought logs to the conveyor, which cut them into six-foot lengths. Mr. Dediluke lived on site, in a camp set up to house the workers. He lived there all week, going home to visit his family on the weekends. He would lose two fingers at the mill in a workplace accident. Byron Smith’s daughter remembered that her father, who ran a general store nearby, would use his Model T car to drive injured workers to a doctor. The manager of the mill would blast the steam whistle a certain amount of times to summon the Model T.

The mill was destroyed by fire in August 1914. The company was already struggling at the time, impacted by the depression that World War One had triggered, and the fire ended the company.

Fukumoto, Naoyuki "Joe"

Naoyuki "Joe" Fukumoto was born in Fernridge on August 8, 1922 to Keizo and Ichi Fukumoto. He attended Glenwood School. He was 18 years old when the war stated. The Fukumoto family was evacuated from Langley in May 1942; to stay together they all went to the sugar beet farms in Alberta. Joe remembers his mother being very scared. The family wasn't allowed to take many belongings other than clothing. A neighbour was asked to look after the farm, and he sent the family some money from the sale of their produce, until he wrote saying he wasn’t allowed to do that anymore. Joe later settled in Calgary and married Kinuyo.

George VI, King of England (1895-1952)

On the throne from 1937-1952.

Glenwood School

Glenwood School is located in the Langley School District, later School District 35 (Langley).

Japanese Canadians

Japanese Internment

Kitagawa Family

Mokichi and Rise Kitagawa came to Canada in 1918, settling in Summerland before coming to Langley in 1930. They purchased 160 acres of land; 15 acres of this was cleared and was used for growing fruits and vegetables. Like many, they were without running water, a telephone, or electricity. They celebrated Christmas, attended the Buddhist temple in New Westminster on special occasions, and got along well with their neighbours. The family grew to include six children, two sons, Eichi and Shigeri, and four daughters, Toshiko, Yoshiko, Sumiye, and Akiko. In 1942, the Kitagawas were not split up by the internment like many other families, but were sent to the sugar beet fields of Alberta. Like most Japanese families, the Kitagawas believed they would return to their home soon. It is believed that many belongings were locked in a shed to protect them from theft. The Custodian of Enemy Alien Property took the Kitagawa's property anyway. An Order in Council was issued on March 27, 1942 that allowed for the liquidation of Japanese property. Property was sold for much less than its worth.

After the war, the Kitagawa family returned to Langley to see the property that was taken from them, but like many Japanese-Canadian families, never resettled in the Fraser Valley.

Langley High School

In 1909 the first high school class was organized and held in rented quarters in Murrayville. From 1911-18, classes were held in Belmont Superior School (later Murrayville Elementary), but the school became overcrowded with elementary and high school students. The school board approached the Municipal Council, but their request for a new schol was turned down twice. The board resigned, but the next board was more successful and local contractor Owen Hughes was hired on a low bid of $11,900. The School Board temporarily found room for the overflow pupils from Murrayville in the downstairs portion of Milner Hall and by renting the Sharon Presbyterian Church Hall. In 1922, Langley High School moved from Murrayville to Milner School, where it remained until Langley High School was built on Yale Road in 1924. Langley High School opened in 1924 with two classrooms and one science room. It taught grades 9 to 12. Additional rooms were built in 1934. In roughly 1947 the new school on the current property (2005) was built, and it included Grades 11 and 12. In 1948, the old building on Fraser Highway became Langley Central Elementary, and the high school students moved to the current location (2006) at Langley SECONDARY School. In 1985 the school went from Grades 8-12.
See Also: Langley Secondary School
Term Source: History of Langley Schools" by Harry McTaggart, Maureen Pepin, and Norman Sherrit.

Noel Booth Store and Gas Station

The Booths arrived in Fern Ridge, south Langley, in the fall of 1921 to continue operating the local post office there. Mrs. Gertrude Lillian Booth assumed the role of postmistress while Mr. Booth commuted to Vancouver to his plumbing business until the mid 1920s. The Booths expanded the services of the post office soon after (a temporary partition was built to accommodate two services, the post office and a small grocery store). Initially a limited number of goods were offered for sale, due largely to the limited floor area. The post office ceased operation in 1926. The gas station at the Booth Store was built in the early 1930s, a small building with a covering for the pumps. There were two pumps - gas and coal-oil. Coal-oil was used extensively for lighting and heating prior to electricity in rural Langley. The store underwent a major renovation in 1936 when the Booths contracted the services of the Smith Brothers, a local construction company. The renovation changed the store layout from an "L" to a linear design. After the renovation the store was now called N. Booth's General Store. The Booth's expanded in 1940 and 1941, adding stores in Whalley and White Rock. The White Rock store closed for economic reasons, and the Whalley location after its manager enlisted in the army. During the Second World War the Booths' established a fleet of mobile stores, at the height of their use between 1946 and 1947. The service was decreased to a one vehicle operation in 1947, and the last remaining vehicle, a Diamond "T", remained in service until 1963 when the traveling grocery was cancelled.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"; Inventory of Historic Buildings in Langley by the Langley Heritage Society.

World War, 1939-1945

Link to Search Results