Labour History - Photographs

Statistical data of South Asian immigration to Canada between fiscal years 1904-1907. The data shows that incoming immigrants rose from 45 in 1904 to 2,623 in 1907.

Photo of Kartar Singh riding a horse cart with wood.

Text written by Kartar Singh Sarabha.

Portrait of Darshan Singh Sangha.

Numerical record of South Asian immigration to Canada. Racist immigration restrictions meant women did not begin arriving in significant numbers until the late 1950s. James G. Chadney, "East Indian immigration to Canada by sex: Adult Female", The Sikhs of Vancouver. AMS Press, 1984, 189. Reprinted in Sarjeet Singh, 1991, 138. more

Seaman labour reports illustration.

Group photo of labourers at Industrial Timber Mills Ltd. (now B.C. Forest Products), Youbou, BC during a day shift. Back Row: Sandager S. Chahl; Harbent S. Sandhu; Rasham S. Atwal; Hazura S. Singh; Sham S. Uppal; Rajmal S. Johal; Hansraj S. Bahala. Front Row: Buran S. Gill; Swarn S. Sihota; Charn S. Attwal; Hardit S. Gill; Santa S. Gill; Gurbux S.Singh.

Racist advertisement against Asians printed by BC's labour newspaper, The British Columbia Federationist, September 11, 1914, 4. more

Photo of Indian immigrants near the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) wharf in Victoria, BC.

Asiatic Exclusion League public meeting invitation published in The Province, August 10, 1907, 9.

Photo of damaged Japanese owned store during Vancouver riot of 1907 - 130 Powell Street.

Aims and objects of the White Canada Crusade by W. R. Page-Wilson and Associates.

Photo of new immigrants of South Asian origin near the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) wharf in Victoria, British Columbia making bricks.

Photo of South Asian men standing on a railway platform next to a Canadian Pacific Railway train. Various bags and bundles are on the ground next to and near the men.

Photo of Ocean Falls on BC's central coast, which was a remote community where South Asians worked in sawmills. more

Group photo of Sikh men employed at a lumber mill in Port Moody, BC.

Group photo of workers at Carlson mill, Nakusp, BC.

Statistical data from the Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Item depicts 20 men living in a "Lodging House owned by the Lumber Company for Hindoo crew" at the Columbia River Lumber Company in Golden, BC. The 12-year-old son of one of the workers is identified as a student. The earliest arrived in Canada in 1906. more

Group photo of Sikh labourers at a wharf, Tod Inlet.

Photo of living and cooking quarters at Tod Inlet, which were racially segregated and crude. Cardboard was used for insulation and flour sacks as blankets. The 1911 Census recorded 63 men living in the "Hindu Camp" and 239 in the "Chinese Camp". more

Signatures of shareholders of Guru Nanak Mining and Trust Company.

Photo of Columbia River Lumber lumber mill in Golden, BC, 1910-1920.

Group photo of mill workers [?]

Fraser Wilson illustration, Vancouver Sun, February 6, 1943, 35.

Article title, Victoria Daily Times regarding South Asians.

The Vancouver Gurdwara on 2nd Avenue was located close to the sawmills that lined False Creek.

Newspaper clipping titled, A task for the union, published in The B. C. Lumber Worker.

Map of Canadian Western Lumber Co. Ltd. and Fraser Mills Sash, Door and Shingle Co. Ltd. and a photograph of Mewa Singh's funeral procession in 1915. more

Map of sawmills & shingle mills, and the 2nd Avenue Gurdwara at False Creek, Vancouver, BC.

Group photo of Sikh men standing in front of the Hillcrest Sikh Temple.

Photo of Granthi [head priest] at the Ocean Falls Sikh Temple.

Map of the Dominion Creosoting and Lumber Company Limited at the bank of Fraser River.

Photo of a bunkhouse and cookhouse, Youbou, BC for the South Asian labourers.

Group photo of lumber mill workers at the North Pacific Lumber Company.

Group photo of soldiers in Vancouver harbour en route to or from London for Edward VII's coronation. more

Group photo of Sikh lumber mill workers at the Hillcrest Lumber Company, Sahtlam, BC.

Group photo of Sikh men at the Second Avenue Gurdwara, Vancouver.

Group photo of sawmill workers in Youbou, BC.

Province of BC annual report regarding the Sawmills West of Cascades.

Photo of South Asian immigrants at CPR Pier, Vancouver.

Photo of the arrests during the free speech demonstration, Vancouver, BC.

Charter: Industrial Workers of the World, Vancouver Industrial Mixed Union No. 322.

Advertisement of J. Edward Bird's legal firm. J. Edward Bird, hired by the Khalsa Diwan Society to represent the passengers on board the Komagata Maru in Vancouver, 1914 was a regular advertiser in the Socialist Party newspaper. The Western Clarion, April 6, 1907, 4. more

Group photo of Husain Rahim and five unidentified individuals in front of the Immigrational Hall in Victoria, BC.

Graphic logo of Western Clarion with a tagline, "Published in the interests of the working class alone." more

Photo of lumber miill workers at the Fraser Mills. Fraser Mills (Canadian Western Lumber Company) was a vast lumber plant on the north shore of the Fraser River, in what was then the Francophone community of Maillardville – now a suburb of Coquitlam.

Group photo of lumber mills workers at the Fraser Mills. Fraser Mills (Canadian Western Lumber Company) was a vast lumber plant on the north shore of the Fraser River, in what was then the Francophone community of Maillardville – now a suburb of Coquitlam.

Portrait of a Sikh millworker at the Fraser Mills. Fraser Mills (Canadian Western Lumber Company) was a vast lumber plant on the north shore of the Fraser River, in what was then the Francophone community of Maillardville – now a suburb of Coquitlam.

The One Big Union flyer.

Mugshot of Husain Rahim.

Group photo of Sikh sawmill workers.

Newspaper clipping titled, Sikh honor Harold Winch." Harold Winch was given a ceremonial sword called the kirpan in recognition of his efforts to help South Asians during his political career. more

Group photo of the "donkey" crew on Hill 60, Kapoor Lumber Company, Sooke Lake. South Asian-owned Kapoor Lumber Company at Sooke Lake was notorious for paying lower wages to its Asian workers. For this reason it was a target for union organizing in the 1940s more

Photo of Darshan Singh Sangha with members of the BC District Council of the IWA in Vancouver.

Photo of 1943 Lake Cowichan Dominion Day parade. The entire membership of the IWA got behind South Asian demands for equality at work. In this photo from the 1943 Lake Cowichan Dominion Day parade, children of union members held a banner promoting "Equal Pay For Equal Work For All" — a key union demand that was achieved in the 1943 and 1946 agreements. more

Group photo of workers at Kapoor Lumber Company, Sooke Lake.

Letter addressed to Hindi workers by International Woodworkers of America [I.W.A.].

Labour Day Sports, Lake Cowichan, BC.

International Woodworkers of America promotional label.

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Election illustrations.