The Sea Island Heritage Society was honoured last Thursday at the Richmond Heritage Awards for their work in preserving the history of Sea Island at the Chinese Bunkhouse in Steveston.
The society, which was founded in 2002, is a non-profit organization that collects the history of Sea Island in the Fraser River estuary in Richmond through photographs, stories and memories.
The Richmond Heritage Awards annually recognize organizations and individuals that promote the conservation of historic places and diverse heritage in Richmond.
Any individual or organization may earn special recognition for the preservation or restoration of a historic building or structure, promoting local heritage through education and contributing to local public history projects.
Sea Island had an “amazing amount” of history, which the society decided to record in their work, said Eunice Robinson, president of the Sea Island Heritage Society.
The society has been engaged in interviewing past and present Sea Island residents and collecting school photographs from the Sea Island and Duncan McDonald Schools to identify children in the photos.
“If you went to Sea Island school and you didn't get a class photo or it got lost… people can contact us and say, ‘Hey, do you happen to have my Grade 4 class photo?’”
If the society has a record of the photograph, they email it out to people for their personal records.
The society also works on family stories of people on Sea Island to learn about the first people who moved there, where they lived and if they have any photo records from the past.
“We would love to either have them donated to us or just scan them and send them to us,” Robinson said.
There were two major subdivisions on Sea Island — Cora Brown and Burkeville — when Robinson was growing up. The Cora Brown properties, however, were expropriated in 1974 for the development of a new runway, whereas the Burkeville subdivision still exists.
Burkeville was built for Boeing workers during the Second World War, Robinson explained, which soldiers returning from the war could occupy.
After leaving the subdivision, Robinson participated in reunions. In 1995, she connected with Doug Eastman and they later decided to co-found the Sea Island Heritage Society.
She said the society has been honoured a few times before and “every time has been a great honour.”
“This time was very exciting because it recognized the amount of work that our small group is contributing to preserving the history in British Columbia.”
Robinson said it is important to remember the history, memories and contributions of the previous generations.
The Sea Island Heritage Society has recorded history of the island on its website.
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