Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CHINESE

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1965

Materials

PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

18.5

Width

13

Description

THIN PAPER BOOKLET WITH GLOSSY COVER. CARTOON PICTURE OF THREE ORIENTAL WOMEN ON SHIP. BORDERED BY PURPLE AND BLUE GEOMETRIC DESIGN, WITH TITLE AT TOP IN ORIENTAL CHARACTERS. DUPLICATE IMAGE ON BACK COVER. COMIC STRIP SEQUENCE INSIDE, PRINTED IN BLUE AND PURPLE, WITH ORIENTAL TEXT THROUGHOUT.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

NARRATIVE BELOW TAKEN FROM "CHINESE SCHOOLS IN LETHBRIDGE" ARTICLE, WRITTEN BY COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT AIMEE BENOIT (NEE VIEL), FOR LETHBRIDGE LIVING MAGAZINE’S, FALL 1997 ISSUE. FOR MORE INSIGHTS INTO LETHBRIDGE'S CHINESE SCHOOLS, PLEASE REFERENCE THIS ARTIFACT'S PERMANENT FILE, THE DONATION'S SCHOOL DESK (P19950073070), AND THE OTHER THIRTY-SEVEN TEXT/WORK BOOKS IN THE COLLECTION. EDUCATION HAS ALWAYS PLAYED A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE SOCIAL LIFE OF LETHBRIDGE. IN ADDITION TO THE MANY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN OPERATION, SEVERAL PRIVATE SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED OVER THE YEARS TO SERVE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. DURING THE 1950S AND 1960S, LETHBRIDGE HAD TWO CHINESE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS: THE CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE ASSOCIATION SCHOOL, AND THE CHINESE COMMUNITY SCHOOL. LOCATED ACROSS THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER IN CHINATOWN (2ND AVE. AND 3-4ST. S.), BOTH SCHOOLS OPERATED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF SEPARATE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS, THE KUOMINTANG OR CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE, AND THE CHINESE FREEMASONS RESPECTIVELY. YET, RIVALS AT TIMES, THE SCHOOLS WERE UNIFIED IN THEIR MAIN OBJECTIVES. BOTH HOPED TO PERPETUATE CHINESE TRADITIONS AND LANGUAGE IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. THEY ALSO SOUGHT TO PROVIDE A BRIDGE FOR NEW IMMIGRANTS BETWEEN THE CUSTOMS OF THEIR HOMELAND AND THOSE OF WESTERN SOCIETY. CLASSES IN BOTH SCHOOLS WERE HELD TWO HOURS DAILY, FROM MONDAY TO SATURDAY. IN ADDITION, STUDENTS ATTENDED REGULAR ENGLISH PUBLIC SCHOOL. CHILDREN LEARNED TO READ AND WRITE IN CANTONESE, AND HAD SOME INSTRUCTION IN MUSIC, DANCING, AND CALLIGRAPHY AS WELL. ALTHOUGH SOME TEACHERS WERE PAID, MOST VOLUNTEERED THEIR TIME, TEACHING ANYWHERE FROM TEN TO TWENTY STUDENTS. BY THE LATE 1960S, THE TWO SCHOOLS HAD FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN INTEREST IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE CULTURE, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS BORN AND RAISED IN CANADA. AS A RESULT OF INCREASING “WESTERNIZATION” AND DECLINING ATTENDANCE, BOTH CHINESE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS WERE FORCED TO CLOSE THEIR DOORS. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING ONE DONATED AS PART OF THE ING ESTATE (P19950073023). SHE EXTRACTED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON THE ING FAMILY FROM PERMANENT FILE P19950073001, WHICH CONTAINS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW COLLECTIONS TECH KEVIN MACLEAN CONDUCTED WITH HAROLD ING JR., SON OF HAROLD AND MYRA, IN HIS ROOM AT THE LETHBRIDGE HOTEL IN SEPTEMBER 2005. MYRA WAS BORN IN GOLDEN B.C. TO SHIN-BOW AND CHOW TING RAH; HER FATHER ORGINALLY EMIGRATED TO CANADA TO WORK ON CANADIAN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AND LATER BECAME A RESTAURANTEUR, WHERE MYRA DEVELOPED HER ENGLISH SKILLS AS A WAITRESS. "IN 1906 MY DAD [HAROLD ING SR.] LEFT HONG KONG FOR VANCOUVER, HE COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH... HE'S GOT TO BE A WAITER, A BUSBOY... AND HE LEARNED ALL THE WAY UP, IN THE MEANTIME PICKING UP ENGLISH... WENT TO WINNIPEG. THIS IS BEFORE ME. BY THEN HE KNEW THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF RESTAURANTING." MYRA AND HAROLD SR. MARRIED AND ADOPTED HAROLD JR. WHEN HE WAS BORN INTO A POOR FAMILY OF ELEVEN IN 1944, IN VANCOUVER. "ME AND MY TWIN SISTER WERE SOLD BECAUSE THERE WERE JUST TOO MANY. SO DAD, MY MOM PICKED ME AND DAD SAID YES THAT'S GOOD... I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY SISTER IS... THERE'S NO WAY OF FINDING OUT." THE ING FAMILY SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE IN THE LATE 1940S, AND HAROLD SR. OWNS AND OPERATES THE NEW MOON CAFE AND TWO GROCERIES, WHICH ARE RUN BY THE FAMILY AND NEW CHINESE IMMIGRANTS THAT HAROLD SR. SPONSORED. "AT APPROXIMATELY FIVE YEARS OLD [MY FATHER] INTRODUCED ME TO THE NEW MOON CAFE, AND I WAS A BUSBOY AT THE AGE OF FIVE... IN 1951 HE SHOWED ME MY FIRST HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL... BECAUSE HE WAS THE OWNER... HE'D WAKE UP AT FIVE IN THE MORNING TO GO TO THE CAFE, OFF AND ON TO THE GROCERY STORE AND MIGHT BE DONE AT EIGHT AT NIGHT, SUPPER AND IMMEDIATELY TO CHINATOWN [FOR] GAMBLING, PUTTING DOWN MAH JONG." HAROLD JR. ATTENDED WESTMINISTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DURING THE DAY, AND CHINESE SCHOOL AT THE CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE IN THE EVENINGS - HIS FATHER WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE, AND THE ORGANIZATION RAN THE SCHOOL, CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS, FILM SCREENINGS, AND BANQUETS, FUNDED BY MEMBERSHIP FEES. HAROLD'S YOUNGER BROTHER, CALVIN, "GOT SENT TO A BOARDING SCHOOL SOMEWHERE. HE WAS GIFTED, BUT HE HAD A BYPASS SURGERY, HE HAD SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS HEART. HE COULDN'T HANDLE PUBLIC SCHOOL, SO THEY SENT HIM TO B.C." AFTER HIGH SCHOOL AND A BRIEF STINT IN CALGARY, HAROLD JR. RAN ING'S GROCERY FOR HIS FATHER, AND IN THE LATE 1960S AND EARLY 70S ALSO WORKED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND A SALESMAN AT SEARS. BOTH HAROLD SR. AND MYRA ING PASSED AWAY IN THE 1990S, AND THE OBJECTS ENCOMPASSING DONATION P19950073001-231 WERE COLLECTED FROM THE FAMILY HOME. FOR A COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW, COPIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND WRITTEN DETAILS ON THE CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE, SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P19950073207

Acquisition Date

1995-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail