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Title: Interview with Valerie Mah, Part 1 of 1
Date: September 22, 2009
Donor: Mah, Valerie
Subject: Arts, Celebrations, Childhood, Chinatown, Church and Faith, Citizenship and Civil Rights, Clubs and Organizations, Discrimination, Exclusion, Family Life, Family Separation, Food, Gender, Identity, Immigration, Cross-cultural Relations, Inter-generational Relations, Leisure, Work, War and War Effort
Province: Ontario
Language: ENG

Mah, Valerie

Valerie Ann Mah (née Lor) was born and raised in Brockville, Ontario. Her parents owned and ran the New York Café in Brockville for 55 years, and Valerie helped in the restaurant both as a child and an adult. In 1957, Valerie moved to Toronto, Ontario to attend university, earning a B.A. and B.Ed. She earned her Master’s degree in Education while working full time to support her family. During her teaching career, Valerie worked as a Special Education teacher, a Vice Principal and finally a Principal. She retired in 2003.

In 1964, Valerie married Daniel Mah, son of the first Chinese Presbyterian Minister in Toronto, Rev. T.K. Wou Mah. Daniel’s mother, Anna Ma, organized Chinese Christian women’s meetings and activities in the pre-World War Two years, one of the only social outlets for Chinese Canadian women during this period. Daniel and Valerie were instrumental in the founding of the Mon Sheong Home for the Aged in 1975, the first nursing home in Toronto catering to an aging Chinese Canadian population. Valerie was a key organizer of But Women Did Come: 150 Years of Chinese Women in North America (1987), a historical photo exhibition demonstrating the role of Chinese American and Chinese Canadian women in families and communities. The photos from this exhibition are available in this database. In 2004, Valerie ran as a NDP candidate in the Federal election. At the time of the interview, Valerie was an active Board member for many community organizations.

In part 1 of a 2-part interview, Valerie Mah (née Lor) discusses photographs that were collected for the exhibition: But Women Did Come: 150 Years of Chinese Women in North America (1987). She provides context for a number of photographs, especially those donated by her family, the Lors of Brockville, Ontario, and her husband’s family, the Mas, who were among Ontario’s pioneer Chinese Canadian families. The photographs serve as a touch point for discussion about the role of food in Chinese Canadian culture, Valerie’s experiences growing up in Brockville, Ontario, her father’s reunification with his daughter from China, her mother’s community work, the t