User talk:Bo Kinney

Thanks for your contributions!

Thanks for attending the Wikipedia Loves Libraries edit-a-thon at the Seattle Public Library! Your help was greatly appreciated Mlet (talk) 20:45, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Masajiro Furuya

OK, I've got one for you. Commons:File:Masajiro Furuya 4 January 1909 with text.jpg Online source gave a date, but didn't say where it was published. It wasn't the Seattle Times because I can't find it in their online archive. Maybe the P-I? Maybe something else, like a special publication in advance of the A-Y-P Exposition? Anyway, I figure this is one you'd be well-positioned to sort out! - Jmabel | Talk 00:09, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the question. I double-checked the Seattle Times database as well as SPL's AYPE digital collection, which includes a number of scanned & OCRd publications, but I also had no success. It looks like a scan from newspaper microfilm, so the PI is a good guess. The online source gives an exact date of publication (4 January 1909), as opposed to just the year, another indication that is likely from a newspaper and not some other type of publication. Since there's an exact date it would be fairly straightforward to check the microfilm of the PI for that day to see if this can be located. I'd offer to do this for you, but I am away from the library until January 7. If you submit this question to SPL's ask-a-librarian system, one of my colleagues could check. Or you could head to the Central Library (9 floor) to look it up. - Bo Kinney (talk) 19:34, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

I can certainly wait until you get a chance to look into it, no hurry at all. And thanks for taking that first shot. I agree, the P-I is likely, although there were also some smaller papers in town at that time.

Anyway, if you do have some time for this, I've got another related research question that someone asked me in an email: who were Furuya's partners in his various banking ventures and, in particular, did he always have a Caucasian as one of his partners, or might these be some of the first entirely Asian- or Asian-American-owned banks in the U.S.? - Jmabel | Talk 20:43, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

Good questions. I'll be happy to to some more digging on this when I'm back to work. Bo Kinney (talk) 20:51, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your patience on this. I found the source of the image. It's from the Seattle Star, another daily paper which operated in Seattle until 1947. It's available online via the Library of Congress's Chronicling America page. Thanks for the question, and please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Bo Kinney (talk) 23:24, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Did you get anywhere on the banking partners question? - Jmabel | Talk 05:28, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore the other question. I have found some information on Furuya's banks and banking partners, and I have some suggestions if you want to take the research further.

I started by doing some searching in the Seattle Times Historical Archive database, which includes the digitized Seattle Times from 1900 to 1984. This database is available via The Seattle Public Library website for SPL cardholders. Just visit http://www.spl.org/databases and scroll down to Seattle Times. (You'll need to log in with an SPL card number and PIN.)

A search in that database for the terms furuya bank* brings up 110 results. I found several items like this one, which lists the shareholders of Seattle banks. You'll notice in the linked article (from Sept. 12, 1926) that Furuya is listed as the primary shareholder in the Japanese Commercial Bank and the Oriental American Bank, but that both banks also have shareholders with Western names--notably W. A. Keene, a shareholder in both banks.

According to the Seattle Times obituary for Furuya, he was president of the Pacific Commercial Bank and the Oriental American Bank, and was a stockholder in the Seattle Specie Bank. A little more searching uncovers that the Pacific Commerical Bank was formed in 1928 as a merger of the Oriental American Bank and the Japanese Commercial Bank, the two banks mentioned above.

For more research on these banks, it might be worth a visit to the Puget Sound Regional Archives in Bellevue. They hold business records, including Articles of Incorporation, for businesses in King County, which may give you more information about the history of these banks and the major business partners who were involved.

I hope that's helpful. Please let me know if I can answer any further questions. Bo Kinney (talk) 23:51, 22 January 2013 (UTC)