Lam, Anna
Over 130 interviews with Chinese Canadian women were conducted for the book Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Produced in 1992 by the Women’s Book Committee of the Chinese Canadian National Council, Jin Guo was intended to fill the gap in historical accounts of Chinese Canadian women’s history. Researchers traveled across Canada to interview Chinese Canadian women of various ages and backgrounds. The book’s authors, Amy Go, Winnie Ng, Dora Nipp, Julia Tao, Terry Woo and May Yee, organized the book around themes and patterns that emerged across multiple interviews – feelings of isolation and culture shock upon arrival in Canada, memories of parent-child relationships, the importance of education, the working lives of women, discrimination, cultural identity, marriage and dating, family life, perspectives on aging and retirement, and examples community activism. The interviews conducted for this project are stored at the Multicultural History Society of Ontario’s archives. This collections database includes a large cross-section of interviews conducted for Jin Guo – in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
In this two-part interview, Anna Lam discusses her family’s immigration history, her parents’ involvement in Methodist missionary work, her family’s experiences living in Nanaimo and Edmonton, her nursing education; and an experience of housing discrimination.
Anna’s father came to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1897, with his wife joining him in 1898. He learned to speak English with the help of members of the local Methodist Church, and this experience resulted in him becoming a Christian. Anna’s mother often supported her husband in his missionary work for the Methodist Church, where she was also an active participant in church activities. She passed away at age 50. Anna eventually accompanied her father to Nanaimo, British Columbia, in order to work with a newly opened Chinese church.
While in Nanaimo, Anna undertook training to become a nurse, and reflects on instances of racial discrimination she experienced and witnessed. When her family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Anna notes she and her father were warmly welcomed by the people living there.
After marrying, Anna and her husband George moved to Vancouver, where George worked in his father’s general store. After purchasing a home, Anna comments on the discrimination she and George faced by some members of the community who did not want any Chinese families in their neighbourhood. In the long run, Anna and George stood up to the discrimination and were eventually accepted by the community.
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