Narrow Results By
![Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020, [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0024_0027_001.jpg?width=280)
Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription12338
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (mp3) (00:53:46 min.)
- Scope and Content
- Recording consists of an interview with Julie Lee conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher Denise Fong. Julie Lee shares information about her mother, Suey Ying Jung's (Laura's) experiences growing up as a Chinese Canadian on a farm in Burnaby during the 1920s and 1930s. She also shares some …
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Subseries
- Chinese Canadians in Burnaby subseries
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (mp3) (00:53:46 min.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Denise Fong Interviewee: Julie Lee Location of Interview: Home of Julie and Cecil Lee Interview Date: February 6, 2020 Total Number of Tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 00:53:46
- Scope and Content
- Recording consists of an interview with Julie Lee conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher Denise Fong. Julie Lee shares information about her mother, Suey Ying Jung's (Laura's) experiences growing up as a Chinese Canadian on a farm in Burnaby during the 1920s and 1930s. She also shares some information about her father Puy Yuen Chan. 0:00- 01:47 Julie Lee provides background information on her families’ connection to Burnaby and conveys how her maternal grandparents farmed a five acre lot at Still Creek and Douglas Road. Her grandparents grew vegetable produce and operated a piggery at this location. Her mother, Suey Ying Jung (Laura) was the middle child between two older sisters, Maida and Annie and her two younger brothers Gordon and Harry. They were all born at home and educated at Edmonds Elementary School. 01:48- 11:47 Julie provides some background information about her mother, the friendships she made growing up, when she got married and places that she lived. She tells of her mother marrying in 1942 at age 30 years, moving to Fraser Mills and then onto Maillardville in 1958. There was easy access to the Interurban tram so her mother was able to have a social life with others in Vancouver’s Chinatown. She says that many of the only existing photographs of the family living on the farm at Still Creek and Douglas Road can be attributed to her mother’s friend Lil Mau [sic] who owned a camera. The farm was sold around 1949 when her grandparents moved to East Vancouver. While operating the farm, her grandparents only hired Chinese workers who spoke the same language and ate the same foods as them. Despite this, her grandparents made friends with the Collin’s family who assisted them in adjusting to the Canadian way of life. Julie tells that her mother’s sister Maida and brother in law lived with them at Fraser Mills. Her mother’s sister Maida had nine children so Julie’s mother helped her in raising them. 11:48 – 16:53 - Julie talks about racial prejudice towards the Chinese in Burnaby during the 1920s and 1930s. She says that for the most part, her mother’s family had a very insular life on the farm and mainly socialized only within the Chinese community. Julie tells of how she recently became aware of a memoir “The Way it Was”, written by Burnaby resident, Fannie Waplington. The memoir is held as part of the Burnaby Village Museum collection. In the memoir, Fannie Waplington tells of how she was forbidden from visiting Julie’s mother on their farm due to her ethnic background. Julie conveys that it seems like it was a missed friendship for both her mother and Fannie. 16:54 – 22:30 Julie describes what school life was like for her mother and what she may have done outside of school. Her mother attended Edmonds School in the 1920s up to Grade 7 or Grade 8. Julie explains that Asian girls were never offered the opportunity to pursue higher education while her mother’s brothers continued with their education attending Vancouver Technical School. Her mother continued to work on the farm until she was married cooking for workers and helping her mother. Outside of school, she may have helped with looking after nieces and nephews, played cards and mahjong. She says that her mother continued to play cards with her own children and was a skilled knitter into her 80s. 22:31 – 30: 53 Julie tells of what she knows about the Chinese workers on the farm and Fraser Mills and what they did on the weekends. She figures that many may have played card games to pass the time and at Fraser Mills gambling occurred. Fishing was a highlight for her father and she recalls him fishing sturgeon. Single workers may have gone into Vancouver on the weekends. Julie says that her parents had a hobby farm while living at Fraser Mills and that they grew enough garlic to sell in Chinatown. She thinks that before living at Fraser Mills, her mother must have went to Chinatown quite a bit, assisting with banking and enjoying a social life. Julie shares that her father, Puy Yuen Chan came to Canada from China at twelve years of age but working as a shingle packer, he never learned to speak English. She figures that her parents must have met at Fraser Mills while her mother was visiting her sister Maida. 30:54 – 37:33 Julie describes her mother as the cook, caregiver and the “one man show”. She says that her mother enjoyed cooking traditional Chinese recipes. Julie talks of her own cooking and gardening skills which she may have inherited from her parents including her large patch of garlic. 37:34- 40:23- Julie is asked as to whether her mother attended Chinese school and says that she had some Chinese schooling. She could read and write a little but didn’t attend a formal school as far as she knows. Julie shares some background information on her own husband Cecil, who grew up in East Vancouver. She shares that Cecil’s family went back to China from 1931 until 1939 when they returned to Queensborough. Cecil attended Chinese school in New Westminster. 40:24 – 42:19 Julie speaks briefly about what type of medical care her mother and her family had. She relates that all births took place at home and they accessed a Chinese herbalist in Chinatown. Hospitals were accessed in 1950s—1960s. The family did use Western doctors that were insured under the medical system. She recalls growing up and having to drink a particular herbal brew at least once a month to stay well. 42:20- 46:47 Julie describes how her parents stayed connected with their families in China. She says that her mother’s family didn’t stay in touch with relatives in China and that her uncles rejected anything to do with the past. On her father’s side they maintained a connection with cousins. She recalls that her father, Puy Yuen Chan supported some of his relatives back home in China and stayed in touch with some. Her mother, Laura travelled to China in 1991 and 1992 and connected with some relations on Julie’s father’s side. 46:48- 53:46 In this segment, Julie speaks of her mother’s character being very self-assured, independent and goal oriented. She feels that her mother valued being surrounded by her family and friends and felt very comfortable growing up in Burnaby and with the relationships that she had. She feels that her mother adapted to her roles being the last of four children on the farm and that she was very self-sufficient and determined.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Julie Lee (nee Chan) is the daughter of Suey Ying Jung (Laura) and Puy Yuen Chan. Her mother's family owned and operated a vegetable and piggery farm on Douglas Road near Still Creek in the early 1900s. Their farm was located in front of the Douglas Road interurban tram station. Her mother had two older sisters named Maida and Annie and two younger brothers Harry and Gordon. Her mother was born in 1912 and left the farm for Fraser Mills when she was married in 1942. Julie grew up with her parents and siblings on the Fraser Mills site during the 1940s and 1950s. Interviewer biography: Denise Fong is a historical researcher at Burnaby Village Museum. She has degrees in Anthropology (BA) and Archaeology (MA), and is completing her doctoral degree at UBC in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her primary research interests are in Chinese Canadian history and critical heritage studies. She is the co-curator of BVM’s “Across the Pacific” exhibition, and the Museum of Vancouver’s “A Seat at the Table – Chinese Immigration and British Columbia”.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Names
- Lee, Julie Cho Chan
- Chan, Puy Yuen
- Jung, Suey Ying "Laura"
- Wong, Suey Fong "Maida" Jung
- Jung, Suey Cheung "Harry"
- Jung, Suey Yook "Gordon"
- Jung, Gee Shee
- Jung, Chung Chong
- Jong, Suey Kin "Annie" Jung
- Responsibility
- Fong, Denise
- Geographic Access
- Douglas Road
- Accession Code
- BV020.6.2
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Douglas-Gilpin Area
- Related Material
- See also BV018.16.1
- Scan Resolution
- 1000
- Scan Date
- 01-Oct-2017
- Scale
- 96
- Notes
- Title based on contents of interview
- Photograph info: Suey Ying (Laura) with produce baskets [between 1940 and 1942]. BV017.24.27
Images
![Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020, [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0024_0027_001.jpg)
Audio Tracks
Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020, [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020
Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020, [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2020_0006_0002_001.mp3Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription14764
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1920-2006, predominant 1920-1979
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 6 photographs : col. + 1 photograph : b&w + 1 photograph : sepia + 41 photographs (tiffs) + 4 photographs (jpgs) + 12 cm of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of family photographs of the Jung, Chan and Lee families as well as business records collected and created by Cecil Lee in the nineteen seventies, while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chin…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 6 photographs : col. + 1 photograph : b&w + 1 photograph : sepia + 41 photographs (tiffs) + 4 photographs (jpgs) + 12 cm of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of family photographs of the Jung, Chan and Lee families as well as business records collected and created by Cecil Lee in the nineteen seventies, while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chinese mandarin oranges. Fonds is arranged into the following series: 1) Lee family photographs series 3) Cecil Lee business records series
- History
- Julie Cho Chan Lee is the daughter of Suey Ying Jung (Laura) (1912-2006) and Puy Yuen Chan (1903-1978). Suey Ying "Laura" and Puy Yuen Chan were married in New Westminster in November 1942 followed by a fourteen year residency in the “minority town site” of Fraser Mills where their daughters Julie and June were born. Julie's mother Suey Ying "Laura" Jung was born in Burnaby in 1912 to Chung Chong Jung (1875-1956) and Gee Shee Jung (1879-1952). The family had six children (five of which lived to adulthood); Suey Fong "Maida" (1909-1997) (married Quinn Wong) ; Suey Kin "Annie" (1911-1962) (married George Jong); Suey Ying "Laura"; Suey Cheung "Harry" (1916-1991) and "; Suey Yook "Gordon" (1919-1998). The family owned and operated a five acre market garden and piggery at 5460 Douglas Road near Still Creek (address was changed to 5286 Douglas Road in 1958). This was conveniently located directly across the street from Douglas Road Interurban Station. The children attended Edmonds Elementary School and while the girls only completed their elementary school years, the boys continued their education at the Vancouver Technical School. Chung Chong and Gee Shee Jung sold the farm on Douglas Road around 1949 and moved to East Vancouver. Julie's mother, Suey Ying "Laura" Jung continued to live and work on the Jung family farm until she was married in 1942 when she moved to live with her husband, Puy Yuen at Fraser Mills. Suey Ying "Laura"'s sister Maida and her husband Quinn Wong also lived at Fraser Mills with their nine children. Julie's father, Puy Yuen Chan joined his father, Chin Yip Hong in Canada at the tender age of 12, worked as a shingle packer and plywood plant handler at Fraser Mills for forty years and retired without ever learning to speak English. In 1972, Julie Cho Chan married Cecil Lee and lived in Surrey where their two boys, Rodney and Darin were born. Just prior to the start of school for Rodney, the family relocated to Coquitlam where Julie had lived since 1956. Julie worked as a teacher and later as a teacher-librarian in the Coquitlam School District. Cecil Chue Kan Lee was born in Queensborough to Sui Seo Ngen and Ding Quai Lee. Cecil is the youngest of eight children; Chue Ngan "Gladys"; Chue Fay "Walter"; Chue Quon "Charlie"; Chue Jan "Pearl"; Chue Moi "Rose"; Chue Duck "Dick" and Chue Kwong "Ken". Cecil’s father, Ding Quai Lee was a jack of all trades including a labour contractor as a well as a millwright for G.W. Beach’s three mills, Keystone, Sapperton and Harrison Mills.In 1931, with the arrival of the Depression, the family made the difficult decision to return to their homeland of Guangzhou province, eventually returning to Canada in 1939. With this decision, Ding Quai wrestled with the burden of the repayment of the loans for two way steamship fares to and from China. Upon their return to Canada, the family lived a short time on Union Street in Vancouver before relocating to Queensborough (New Westminster). Cecil and his siblings were schooled at Queen Elizabeth Elementary School followed by varying stints at FW Howay and Duke of Connaught High Schools. In 1951, Cecil Lee joined Kelly Douglas & Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the George Weston Empire, as a produce warehouseman, followed by several years as a foreman and then in the early seventies until his 1991 retirement after forty years of service, he served as one of the KD produce buyers. In this capacity, he worked closely with local farmers along Marine Drive and in the Fraser Valley. Kelly Douglas and Company Limited was founded in 1896 as a wholesale grocery business and became one of the largest food distributors in Canada. In 1946, its headquarters moved from Vancouver to Burnaby and a manufacturing plant and warehouse were built on the site at 4700 Kingsway. In the mid-1970s, Lee along with the associates at Western Commodities, the head office for produce imports, was asked to oversee the import of Chinese mandarin oranges into western Canada. Until that time, mandarin oranges had come only from Japan and were sold in the winter, especially at Christmas. When the Japanese market could no longer keep up with the popular demand, Kelly Douglas and Company Limited looked to China. The company relied on Lee’s cultural knowledge to build this very profitable part of their business. Moreover, Cecil Lee designed, though not patented, the cardboard Chinese mandarin orange box to replace wooden containers. The iconic design required no glue or staples, making it possible for farmers to assemble and pack the boxes as they picked the oranges. In 1986, the Kelly Douglas and Company building was demolished and the produce department of Kelly Douglas was relocated to 6451 Telford Burnaby and the head office to 808 Nelson Street, Vancouver.
- Accession Code
- BV017.24; BV019.6; BV019.33; BV020.38; BV021.19
- Date
- 1920-2006, predominant 1920-1979
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Textual Record
- Arrangement
- Records within fonds are composed of business records and family photographs arranged by the Lee family.
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- See also: Interview with Julie Lee by Denise Fong February 6, 2020. -- [1920-1992] (interview content), interviewed Feb. 6, 2020 BV020.6.2
- See also artifact descriptions under accession BV019.6 including BV019.6.1 - for description of original box to ship and sell mandarin oranges; BV019.6.15 and BV019.6.16 for Chinese mandarin orange wrappers "Snow Mountain Mandarin Orange"
- Many of the "Business records" are closed and subject to FIPPA, contact Burnaby Village Museum regarding access
Chinese Canadian history in Burnaby resource guide
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary7608
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Publication Date
- [2022]
- Call Number
- 971.1 CHI
migrant Chan Puy
Yuen married
Burnaby-born Suey
Ying Jung (Laura)
at Fraser Mills and
went on to raise two
daughters: June
(left) and Julie (right),
1946. BV017.24.9,
COURTESY OF
JULIE LEE.
Chinese Canadian men who left behind
families in China often carried
photographs of their treasured children.
Many
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection
- Digital Reference Collection
- Material Type
- Digital Resource
- Accession Code
- BV022.8.1
- Call Number
- 971.1 CHI
- Contributor
- City of Burnaby
- Place of Publication
- Burnaby, BC
- Publisher
- City of Burnaby
- Publication Date
- [2022]
- Physical Description
- 36 p. ; ill. (some col.), maps, ports
- Library Subject (LOC)
- Burnaby (B.C.)--History
- Burnaby (B.C.)--Social Life and Customs
- Chinese Canadians--British Columbia--Burnaby--History
- Chinese--British Columbia--History
- Pharmacy--Canada
- Pharmacy--United States
- Pharmaceutical museums
- Directories
- Object History
- Chinese Canadians have contributed to Burnaby’s growth for over a century. The long and intertwining histories between Chinese Canadians, Indigenous people and other communities have shaped the founding of Burnaby and British Columbia. This resource guide was created because their life experiences and important contributions to Burnaby’s development are not widely known.
Images
Digital Books
Rooted : Chinese Canadian stories in Burnaby
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary7646
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Publication Date
- 2023
- Call Number
- 971.133 ROO
with this custom. Instead, she
worked on the family farm until she married, at the
age of thirty, and moved to Fraser Mills, a small
milltown that contributed to the establishment of
Coquitlam. The Jung farm was the result of the hard
work and dedication of family members, along with
a few hired farmhands. Harry
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection
- Digital Reference Collection
- Material Type
- Digital Resource
- ISBN
- 978-0-9689849-2-5
- Call Number
- 971.133 ROO
- Contributor
- Fong, Denise
- Lemke, Jane
- Codd, Lisa
- Place of Publication
- Burnaby
- Publisher
- City of Burnaby
- Publication Date
- 2023
- Printer
- Metropolitan Fine Printers
- Physical Description
- 203 p. : ill. ; 30.5 cm
- Library Subject (LOC)
- Chinese Canadians--British Columbia--Burnaby--History
- Race discrimination -- Canada
- Subjects
- Persons - Chinese Canadians
- Agriculture
- Agriculture - Farms
- Persons - Families
- Rights
- Rights - Human Rights
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Notes
- There are two versions of the book: English and Simplified Chinese (left, below) and the other in English and Traditional Chinese (right, below).
- From the late 1800s to the present day, Chinese Canadians have made Burnaby into a more vibrant and livable city. Rooted: Chinese Canadian Stories in Burnaby brings together a collection of diverse stories and photographs from the community, celebrating the legacy and contributions of Burnaby’s Chinese Canadian community spanning over a century. This coffee-table book features oral histories and interviews with descendants of multigenerational family farms, green grocers, corner stores, restaurants, and places of worship. Also included are archival research and community perspectives on anti-Asian racism, community activism, courage, and resilience.
- The publication has been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Chinese Exclusion Act by the Government of Canada in 1923. This federal legislation followed decades of discriminatory legislation by Canada’s federal, provincial and municipal governments that targeted Chinese Canadians by limiting opportunities to live, work and raise families in Canada. The Chinese Exclusion Act banned almost all migration from China and remained in place until 1947. Publishing this book in 2023 is an effort by the City of Burnaby to recognize the impact of discriminatory legislation on Chinese Canadians in our community, including discriminatory bylaws and practices implemented by Burnaby’s early municipal government.
- Edited by Denise Fong (Lead Researcher), Jane Lemke (Burnaby Village Museum Curator) and Lisa Codd (City of Burnaby Heritage Planner).
Images
