Women at Work


Page 2 of 5
Part of the exibition " But Women did Come:150 Years of Chinese Women in North America"

 

In addition to raising their children, women often worked in the family bussiness.

If a womane became widowed, she had two choices: to return to China or stay in Canada and work. Some took in sewing, others worked outside the home cleaning and cooking, and many started up their own laundry or café.

Restrictions on Chinese entering professions meant that women like Dr. Victoria Cheung and Agnes Chan had to go to Toronto to study.
 
Teachers at the Chinese Public School, Victoria, B.C., 1926. (courtesy Susie Nipp Collection)
Dr, Victoria Cheung, the first woman to graduate from the University of Toronto, Department of Medicine, 1923.
 
Mabel Yee at the Ideal Market, Victoria, B.C., circa 1940s. (courtesy Mabel and Fred Yee collection)
(courtesy P.M. Lee)
Onario Archives, CHI - 12233-2
Geemie and Lennie Lor, Iroquois, Ontario,1938. (courtesy Agnes Lor collection)
Toronto, Ontario, circa 1930s. (courtesy Pam Lock)
 
 
New World, New Changes
Growing up Canadian
Women at Work
Community Life
Making a Difference
Credits