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Archival description
Chinatown (Vancouver, B.C.) Race relations--British Columbia
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Vancouver around 1900

SUMMARY: The third of three radio documentaries about early Vancouver, combining narration with reminiscences from older residents. "Vancouver Around 1900" includes discussion of the following: street cars and chain gangs, recalled by Reuben Hamilton; chain gangs, city police and road work by Sam Walker; Captain Canessa on the impact of the Klondike gold rush impact on Vancouver; Carl Timms on early businesses, the first bridge and the harbour; Captain Canessa on boat travel across Burrard Inlet; Sam Walker on saloons and gambling houses; Sam Walker, Captain Canessa and Reuben Hamilton on the mistreatment of the Chinese and the "Chinatown riot".

Roy Mah interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1970?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Bert Nelson interviews Mr. Roy Mah, a director of the Vancouver Chinese Publicity Bureau, which publishes the "Chinatown News" (where Mr. Mah is the editor). Mr. Mah talks about publishing; the format and background of the "Chinatown News"; other Chinese newspapers in Vancouver and their audience and circulation. He discusses the local Chinese community; the Chinese school; education; Chinese-White relations; "Brotherhood Week"; segregation in schools; race relations; the Chinatown riot of 1907; early Chinese immigration; Asian wisdom; and the future of Vancouver's Chinese community. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Gordon (Won) Cumyow interview

CALL NUMBER: T3131:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Strathcona neighbourhood : the Chinese community PERIOD COVERED: 1850-1970 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-11-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gordon Won Cumyow discusses background: born in Vancouver; father was Won Cumyow; switch of surname from Won to Cumyow; grandparents came by sailing boat in 1850s; grandfather ran supply store for gold rush miners in Fort Douglas; later moved to New Westminster; father was first Chinese born in Canada (possibly); also was first Chinese court interpreter; spoke Chinook as well. Discusses: gambling -- now syndicate gambling forbidden, but not so in those days; also Chinese lottery was very popular; it was later suppressed by Magistrate Oscar Orr who gave jail sentences; assault cases more frequent in old days- due to white drunks; Vancouver's Chinatown not as criminally organized as San Francisco's. TRACK 2: Discusses: pre-franchise ban on Chinese entering certain professions; medicine did not discriminate -- early Chinese doctors got training in U.S.; Gordon Cumyow studied law for 3 years but was not allowed to article. Mr. Cumyow gives a brief history of the relationship between Freemasons and Kuomingtang: an attempted coup of Freemasons by young Chinese immigrants. Stricter laws and more integrity on police force here prevented Vancouver from being like San Francisco re fighting tongs and gangsterism. Describes: raids on gambling clubs in old days and techniques for slowing down police (evidence hidden in v-joint planking in room; spring locks on doors and lookout; narrow corridor prevented police from battering down door); number of contemporary social clubs are really gambling clubs. Opium sold across the counter in father's days: vaults used to keep it in.; CALL NUMBER: T3131:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Strathcona neighbourhood : the Chinese community PERIOD COVERED: 1850-1950 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-11-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Life of early Chinese in Vancouver: hopheads in Steveston canneries- daily routine of smoking, floating walk; opium users mostly older people, so it did not affect their health; western liquor desirable; Chinese liquor used for medicinal purposes; servant girls brought over as daughters- badly mistreated in Victoria where Manchu teaching held sway; Methodist Church started refuge for abus;ed girls; Victoria's Chinese held to old customs longer than Vancouver's; value of learning English; going to Chinese school by streetcar; Chinatown in those days was dark, shoddy locale; gives physical description of Chinatown terrain. Describes Chinese opera: little scenery; magnificent costumes; codified gestures narrate plot. TRACK 2: More on split between Freemasons and Kuomintang: killing in a sawmill. Discusses: 1907 race riot; 1923 Exclusion Act; Depression days- CBA soup kitchens, Chinese helped themselves; Powell Street- relations with Japanese, evacuation of Japanese, Chinese buying up Japanese property, Japanese fishing settlement on Mayne Island; World War II for Chinese-Canadians -- opportunity to gain vote, nephews joined U.S. Forces because they were accepted earlier there, good medical and educational advantages. Changes in Notorial Society.; CALL NUMBER: T3131:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Strathcona neighbourhood : the Chinese community PERIOD COVERED: 1950-1977 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-11-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gordon Won Cumyow discusses: ties with mainland China and money being sent here from Chinese-Canadians; new immigrants learning English; dialects surrounding city of Canton learned in trade by Cantonese merchants; Mandarin now official language; calligraphy being nationally simplified. (End of interview)

Mary Lee Chan and Shirley Chan interview

CALL NUMBER: T3170:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Strathcona neighbourhood : the Chinese community RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-12-23 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Chan discusses: her family background; life of her grandfather; 1907 Vancouver Chinatown riots as experienced by her mother; grandfather's desire to be part of the gold rush; life of her father, various jobs he held including wood cutter, gardener, farm work; being born on Slocan Street; memories of Chinatown in the 1920s; role of women in Chinese society. Mrs. Chan then discusses her family's return to China in 1922-23 because they were so poor: family's dissatisfaction with return to China and difficulties adjusting to it; Mrs. Chan went to a co-ed school in China, rare at the time; medical services in China were limited, but all of Mrs. Chan's siblings were straightforward deliveries. TRACK 2: More about Mrs. Chan's memories in China: burglar anecdote; becoming a teacher for a government school; marriage. In 1947, Mrs. Chan returns to Canada due to help from money sent over by her sisters. Discusses: changes in Vancouver Chinatown; arrival of her husband to Canada in 1949 (daughter Shirley is 1 year old at this point); being a Chinese teacher in New Westminster; family store; growth of Chinese community; other neighbours in Strathcona area. Mrs. Chan starts to discuss her interest in stopping the urban renewal campaign of City Hall. Shirley not involved until she was a university student. More discussion about the campaign to stop the city from demolishing Strathcona community.; CALL NUMBER: T3170:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Strathcona neighbourhood : the Chinese community RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-12-23 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: More discussion about SPOTA and the campaign to stop urban renewal. Role of Mary's husband in SPOTA: failing health, but still chaired first meeting. Mrs. Chan is only founding member of SPOTA still on board. Mrs. Chan's plans to build Cultural Centre, another united Chinese community effort. Discusses how SPOTA achieved success. (End of interview);

Nora Hendrix interview

CALL NUMBER: T2717:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Black-Canadians in the Strathcona neighbourhood PERIOD COVERED: 1911-1940 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1977-07-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Nora Hendrix discusses background: born in Tennessee in 1883; brief record of where she lived including places in Vancouver from 1911 to 1977. Life in Strathcona: Strathcona area restaurants; work for Mrs. Pryor's chicken house and at Soldier Williams; Jackson Street Church begun by black community in 1918; church activities -- bazaars and suppers, services, early families, entertainments, choir. TRACK 2: More about her life in the Strathcona area: big church dinners on American Thanksgiving; chitlin suppers; other black families; attitudes to life, hard times and the Depression; work as a washerwoman and cleaning lady; taking her children to the silent movies; Vaudeville and other entertainment; Mrs. Pryor's minstrel club and shows in the 1930s; husband's work; hardship for family in the Depression. CALL NUMBER: T2717:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Black-Canadians in the Strathcona neighbourhood PERIOD COVERED: 1911-1940 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1977-07-14 & 28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Discusses: Grey Sisters' lunches for men in the 1930s; a big wedding in the black community; 1911, social club for coloured people on Homer St.; other black newcomers; Jackson St. church; black businesses in 1911; Buddy White's place and other clubs; Ernie King family of Prior St. TRACK 2: Conversation about the Tosi family. Talks about: Fountain Chapel; cherry trees; carnival on Powell St.; Mayor McGeer's ideas for Stanley Park; celebrations in Chinatown; Mayor Taylor and prostitution; Chinese lottery. CALL NUMBER: T2717:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Black-Canadians in the Strathcona neighbourhood PERIOD COVERED: 1914-1940 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1977-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Discusses: Chinese lottery; lack of crime; description of Chinatown; prostitution in the area; Hogan's Alley clubs; Tamale sellers; stories about life during the great flu epidemic of 1918; dances in the Orange Hall in the '20s; public washrooms at Hastings and Main. TRACK 2: More about public washrooms. Story about a shooting and comments on coloured people and crime. Steambath on Hastings St. Difficulties of black men getting jobs. How Italians got rich. Visit to a bootlegger. Georgia Viaduct, 1914. Music in the family. Benefits of poverty. (End of interview)

Jessie Lam Ross interview : [Low, 1980]

CALL NUMBER: T3719:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jessie Lam Ross : Chinese at work in B.C. : The Hong Wo Store and the Richmond Gardens Farm PERIOD COVERED: 1890-1930 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1980-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Family arrived in B.C. in the 1890s. Her father, Ling Lam, arrived and worked first in Victoria then settled in Steveston. Hong Wo Store started in Steveston, 1895. Ling Lam died 1939. By 1939 he owned a mixed farm, general store and operated a fish contracting business to hire labour for the canneries. Jessie and her brother John bought-out other family members in the business after 1939. The company had contracts with vegetable/fruit canneries such as Empress Factories, Grower's Canneries (Royal City Brand), and to some wholesalers in Vancouver Chinatown. The farm hired full-time Chinese workers who lived on the farm and Japanese women and their families as day labourers. Description of Chinese farm workers' living and working conditions on the farm. Details of father and mother's family background prior to immigration to Canada. Description of second store after the first store burnt in 1904. Store built on stilts over water, and warehouse on wharf over deep waters for boats/fishermen to shop and pick-up supplies. Location of farm. Description of father as a "gentleman farmer" wearing three-piece serge blue suit. TRACK 2: Discusses veg/cannery contract with Empress Factories. Description of their farm's Chinese foreman and his sons who worked on the farm all their lives. Ling Lam did not permit swearing or gambling on the farm, or by any family members. Details of Ling Lam's children's education. Description of farm workers' meals. Ling Lam's invention of cucumber grader and his introduction of the Utah green celery to the area. Ling Lam was head of the Chinese Growers' Association, the group against B.C. Coast Marketing Board. Making boxes for farm produce.

CALL NUMBER: T3719:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jessie Lam Ross : Chinese at work in B.C. : The Hong Wo Store and the Richmond Gardens Farm PERIOD COVERED: 1900s-1960s RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1980-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Farm produce on consignment to wholesalers up until the 1960s. Ling Lam supplied all Occidental and Oriental labourers to the Phoenix Cannery (ABC) until the 1930s; then just Oriental labourers. Ling Lam was active with the clan organization the Lum Association. Jessie Lam comments on the difficulties of her contemporaries in finding professional jobs after receiving post-secondary education. Describes some neighbouring farms. The credit/accounting system with farm workers on wages. Jessie Lam's summer vacation work experience on the farm. Shipping/transportation of pickles by railway to Eastern Canada. Chinese women day labourers working on the farm in the 1950s. The end of the fish contracts with B.C. Packers (Phoenix) in 1968. Sugar rationing during WW II. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T3719:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jessie Lam Ross : Chinese at work in B.C. : The Hong Wo Store and the Richmond Gardens Farm PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1973 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1980-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mother had Caucasian cleaning ladies to help with the household. Jessie Lam went to chaperoned parties/social functions during her teens. Talks of the soup kitchens in Vancouver Chinatown during the 1930s Depression. Marriage of brother John and sister Mary. Talks of the family motorcar holiday trip to Oregon in 1928. Recalls mother's prized baking, and father's vegetable competition at the PNE. An anecdote of father's temperament. Refers to the community of Eburne on Sea Island. Attending church on Sundays at the Methodist Chinese Church in Vancouver Chinatown. Describes her typical Sunday activities with her family. Going to Chinese language school after regular school day. Jessie Ross was "Miss China" during WW II as part of the Allied countries effort to raise money for the troops. Helped sell government bonds during the war. Involved with the Chinese community's effort to raise funds for the "Rice Bowl" campaign. Chinese professionals in B.C. could only attract Chinese clientele in the 1920s-50s. TRACK 2: Chinese vegetable and fish peddlers in Jessie Lam's neighbourhood (as a child) and Jewish junkmen. Milk delivered by horse and carriage until WW II. Speaks of various prominent Chinese families in Vancouver during her youth. Refers to Chung Chuck, Delta farmer who fought with her father against the B.C. Coast Marketing Board (to the Privy Council). Problems farmers, especially the Chinese, had with the Board. The closure of the farm and store in 1971 and liquidation of the property and business in 1973. Lists of goods sold at the store. Anecdote of Jessie Ross and brother John rowing out to Steveston Island.

CALL NUMBER: T3719:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jessie Lam Ross : Chinese at work in B.C. : The Hong Wo Store and the Richmond Gardens Farm RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1980-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: [No content summary available for this tape.] TRACK 2: blank.

Chinese women and work in B.C. collection

  • PR-1754
  • Collection
  • 1984

The collection consists of oral history interviews with Chinese women about their experiences working in British Columbia from the 1920s to the 1950s. The interviews, with nine first-, second- or third-generation Chinese-Canadian women, were recorded in Vancouver, Victoria and New Westminster during the first half of 1984. The project focused on "women's work" (whether paid or unpaid), including work in the home and in family businesses. The interviews discuss the kind of work these women did; what they experienced; how they perceived their roles in the family and the Chinese community; and the legislative policies which affected their work and their lives. The interviewees are to remain anonymous, and should be referred to only by the assigned pseudonyms. In addition, two of the interviews are closed to public access.

Adilman, Tamara