Lee, Janet
Janet Lee was born in 1949 to Mamie and David Chu Lee. Mamie Lee (née Howe) was Canadian-born herself, having grown up as the daughter of a railroad worker in Rainy River, Ontario. As one of the few Canadian-born Chinese girls of her era, Janet says Mamie always had ‘one foot in Canadian culture and one foot in Chinese culture.’ She and David migrated to Halifax in the late 1930s or early 1940s, where they settled. The family became part of the small, close-knit Chinese community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, taking part in organizations such as the Lee Society. Mamie Lee did not fit the stereotypical portrait of a Chinese woman born in the early 1900’s. Very intelligent, articulate, and with a mind of her own - she showed great determination in dealing, not only with the ever changing social norms expected of woman, but that of Chinese Canadian women. Although Mamie did not have the opportunity to study past grade ten as a teenager, she fulfilled her dream of going to university when she studied sociology at St. Mary’s University, Halifax, after her children were grown.
In part one of a two-part interview, Janet Lee talks about her mother Mamie Lee’s childhood, working life, and interests. Mamie was born in Rainy River, Ontario, in 1919. Her family ran a restaurant that served stevedores in the 1930s and 1940s. Janet notes that women of Mamie’s generation were only offered menial jobs. Mamie’s parents did not allow her to finish high school, instead expecting her to begin working at a young age. In the 1970s, Mamie went to university, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
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