Two Extraordinary Grandmothers: Jean Lumb and Foon Hay Lum

For Back Lane Studios' next Extraordinary Women's series event at the Revue Cinema on Sunday, March 29, 12:30 pm, we learn about the sacrifices, resourcefulness and accomplishments of Jean Lumb, above left, and Foon Hay Lum, against the backdrop of Canada's restrictive immigration policies and the conditions in China during their lifetimes.

Both women had connections to our neighbourhoods.

In her documentary Exclusion: Beyond the Silence, filmmaker Keira Loughran, Jean Lumb's granddaughter, sets out with Helen Lee, Foon Hay Lum's granddaughter, to explore the lives of these two remarkable women and the history they lived through.

Through interviews, visits to museums and reconnections with family members the granddaughters discover some family surprises. They also chronicle the human impact of Canada's policies that barred Chinese immigration from 1923 to 1947 and caused decades of family separation.

Joining us for the discussion after the screening are Helen Lee and Arlene Chan, the daughter of Jean Lumb and a Chinese Canadian historian.

Watch the trailer here.

Buy tickets for a suggested donation of $16 here on Eventbrite or at the Revue Cinema. Please note that you can only buy one ticket at a time when payment is by donation on Eventbrite.

Jean Lumb, with her husband, ran a fruit market in the Junction in Toronto, later moving downtown to open Kwong Chow, a popular restaurant in Chinatown.

She was an activist on many fronts, by chance gained the ear of a prime minister on issues of family reunification and was inducted into the Order of Canada for her work.

Foon Hay Lum, separated by Canadian immigration policy from her husband for more than 30 years, finally was able to come to Canada at age 50, lived and worked in Parkdale for many years, and, late in life, joined the campaign seeking redress for Canada's head tax. She died at the age of 111 during the Covid pandemic.

A laneway and school have been named after Jean Lumb, and a campaign is underway to name a Parkdale laneway after Foon Hay Lum.

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