Seeking Justice – Bea Zucco’s Incredible Crusade

Years ago, when I was still writing the Chronicles in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, I received a complaint from a young woman I knew to be an activist for her gender. (I’m trying not to say, feminist.)

She accused me of not writing about women pioneers, only men.

She hadn’t been paying attention. I was able to reel off a list of women whose stories I’d told from my days of writing for the Colonist to that point in time in the Citizen. To name just a few, locally, provincially and nationally:

—Annie Duncan
—Clara Gravenor
—Johanna Maguire
—Elizabeth Sea
—Minnie Paterson
—Nellie Cashman
—Laura Secord
—And numerous others

There were more but I’m not going to dig for them now. Yes, by far, my articles were male-oriented because, folks, that’s the way it was. The British Columbia frontier was, for decades, predominately a man’s world for the simple fact that there were very few women. They came later.

Which isn’t to say I couldn’t have tried harder to be more inclusive. But when working to deadline, as I almost always was doing in those days (in truth, nothing’s changed), I followed the line of least resistance. So men’s adventures, achievements, conflicts and failures it was...

But enough. The lady’s complaint did give me pause for thought which, in my usual roundabout way, brings us to next week’s Chronicle. For years now, and I do mean years, I’ve had a book on my desk that contains an article about a truly amazing woman who so impressed me that I’ve wanted to write about her.

But there’s always something to do and I’d need the publisher’s permission to make use of the firsthand content so I kept putting it off and off and off. The book I’m referring to is Volume 13 of Boundary History, published by the Boundary Historical Society boundaryhistorical@gmail.com.

Well, this week I bit the bullet and emailed them, asking for permission. Talk about service!

Within half an hour I had a response from Doreen Sorensen, Secretary, saying she’d pass my request on to her board of directors. Next day, I had their approval. All they asked in return is that I acknowledge the BHS which, as you see, I’m doing here.

So who is the heroine who so impressed me that I’ve kept her at my elbow all this time?

Hands up, those of you who recognize Bea Zucco. To quote the BHS, “From miner’s wife and mother in the bush to champion on the steps of the provincial legislature, and more, Bea...travelled a unique path. Her story is an inspiration.”

Quite simply, her husband, a miner, became terminally ill with the dreaded occupational hazard and ‘widow-maker,’ silicosis. But there was no workman’s compensation, no government interest, just the old story of “so sad, too bad...”

Mrs. Zucco, like 100s of other miners’ widows with young children to care for, was on her own. She resolved to fight to have the disease officially categorized as a hazard of the workplace and a threat to workers’ health. Her years-long struggle took her all the way, as noted by the BHS, to the Provincial Legislature.

That’s the Bea Zucco I’m going to tell you about next week. A workers’ champion who has received too little recognition. As I’ve long argued, we Canadians just don’t seem to honour our heroes, male or female. Ironically, in the few cases where we have done so, we’re now hellbent on tearing down their statues and their reputations.

But no editorializing; just the story of Bea Zucco who, unable to save her own husband, set out to save the lives of 1000s of others—and succeeded.

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PHOTO: —Grand Forks Gazette