Allisonian Firsts: Raitaro Okuro

Raitaro Okuro was born in Hakodate, Japan, in 1873. He was converted to Christianity circa 1886 and attended Cobleigh Seminary (which became Nagasaki Wesleyan University).  While there he became acquainted with the English language and literature.  He came to Canada with Captain Charles Seeley of Barrington, Nova Scotia who employed him for some time after his arrival.  He also worked for the Canadian Atlantic S.S. Company to save money in order to further his education.  He attended the Mount Allison Boy's Academy from 1890-1894 with the intention of pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at the University after matriculation. According to the January 1891 issue of The Argosy, Okuro hoped to one day return to Japan as a missionary.

While in attendance, he was part of the men's gymnastics team. He pursued an academic course at the Male Academy and recited a Japanese translation of "Ye Mariners of England" at the closing exercises held in June 1891 and read an essay entitled "Signs of the Times in Japan" at the conclusion of the following year.  In March 1892, he lectured at Five Islands, Nova Scotia on the Methodist missions in Japan.  In 1895, he left Mount Allison to pursue further studies at the Boston School of Theology. Okuro was likely the first person of colour, and certainly the first Japanese student, to attend Mount Allison.

By 1899, he was employed as a butler in the home of Boston businessman, Charles Bond. While working there he met and fell in love with Dorothy Duffieu (18??-1917), the family’s live-in English governess. The two were married on 29 April 1903 at the West Somerville home of manufacturer Albert B. Bent by Rev. Arthur Page Sharp.  They had one son, Arnold (1905-1973).

In the 1920 United States census Okuro was recorded as a widower. At the time, Okuro worked as a bacteriologist at the North Reading State Sanitorium for tuberculosis patients where he had formerly been a patient. According to research published by the North Reading Historical & Antiquarian Society: 

Raitaro earned a fraction of what white bacteriologists at other state institutions earned ($1,000 to $2,000 annually).  Even if we assume that he received free room and board, Raitaro was conspicuously underpaid [$420 in 1919].  

He died on 1 August 1922, aged 49, and was buried two days later in the Riverside Cemetery in North Reading, MA. 

Image Gallery