Lumb, Jean
Jean Lumb was a community activist, business owner, and the first Chinese Canadian recipient of the Order of Canada. She was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and moved to Toronto, Ontario as a young women. She ran a number of successful businesses, including the Kwong Chow chop suey house in Toronto's Chinatown. She was also part of a delegation that lobbied the Federal government to change its immigration laws, that kept Chinese Canadian families separated.
In this interview, Jean Lumb discusses growing up in British Columbia, her experience as the only woman to travel to Ottawa, Ontario to appeal the Chinese Immigration Act in 1947, and her work with a popular dance group
Jean’s parents were in their early twenties when they came to Canada to settle in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She recalls that due to discriminatory policies, she attended a segregated school until the family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and Jean entered a public school. In Vancouver, Jean’s mother raised 12 children. Jean attended Chinese school for about two years until she turned 12 and was taken out of school to seek employment. At 20 years old, Jean entered into an arranged marriage and settled in Toronto with her husband.
Jean goes on to discuss her truly amazing experience in Ottawa. She was the only female to travel to Ottawa to speak for the women of Canada at the repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act in 1947. She sat beside John Diefenbaker and told him what the spokesperson was saying.
Jean explains the Chinese community’s dance fundraisers held between 1935 and 1949. In the 1960s, Chinese dance groups were returning to China, risking the future of Chinese dance in Canada. Jean decided to create a dance group. The group became extremely successful and in 1967 had the opportunity to perform in Ottawa for the Queen of England. The Taiwanese government presented Jean’s dance group with a Golden Dragon to promote the continuation of dance in the Chinese community. Jean goes on to say that in 1970 the group dissolved because the child dancers grew up. Fortunately, a dance group called the Chinese Dance Workshop formed, and carried on what Jean had started.
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