Arlene Chan

{{Short description|Canadian historian, activist, athlete and author}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Arlene Chan

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| birth_name = Arlene Lumb

| birth_date = 1950s

| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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| education = University of Toronto Bachelors, Masters

| occupation = Historian, Author, Activist, Athlete, Librarian

| employer = Toronto Public Library (retired)

| known_for = *Community leadership in Toronto's Chinatown

Author and historian in Chinese Canadian culture
Dragon Boat racing athlete and promoter

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| spouse = Leo J. K. Chan

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| children =

| parents = Doyle Lumb, Jean Lumb

| relatives = Janet Lumb, Ken Lumb, +3 siblings

| awards = *2012 Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award

2017 Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award
2018 Women of Achievement Award

| website = https://www.arlenechan.ca

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}}Arlene Chan ({{nee|Lumb}}) is a Chinese Canadian historian, activist, athlete, and author from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her works focus on documenting the lived experiences and histories of Toronto's Chinese community, as well as the cultural celebrations and traditions important to the Chinese Canadian diaspora. As a prominent member in the community, Chan serves as an advisor for the Chinese Canadian Museum and the Toronto Public Library's Chinese Canadian Archive, among other organizations. She is the president of the Jean Lumb Foundation.

Chan also represented Canada athletically as a member of the Outer Harbour Dragon Boat Club and the Canadian National Women's Dragon Boat Team, winning multiple gold and bronze medals at international championships.

Early life

Chan was one of six children born to Doyle and Jean B. Lumb who ran the successful Kwong Chow restaurant located at Elizabeth and Dundas Street in Toronto's first Chinatown. Growing up in the centre of Toronto's Chinese community with her socially and politically active family,{{Cite web|last=International|first=Radio Canada|date=2018-05-22|title=Asian Heritage Month-Toronto's past and present Chinatown|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/05/22/asian-heritage-month-torontos-past-and-present-chinatown/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=RCI {{!}} English|language=en-US}} she witnessed the activism and organization within the community, from their rights advocacy initiatives to efforts to save Toronto's Chinatown.{{Cite web|title=Story Profile {{!}} Passages Canada|url=http://passagestocanada.com/story-profile/?story=1134|access-date=2021-02-08|website=passagestocanada.com}} From these formative experiences, Chan became interested early-on in the history of Chinese Canadians, and from a young age collected print and documents to record the history of the community.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-06-08|title=Meet the Author: Arlene Chan|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuGWkpGaEE|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=|publisher=Canadian Children's Book Centre}}

Professional life

Arlene Chan studied at the University of Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English and Psychology. She subsequently completed her Master’s degree at the same university in the library sciences. She is an alumna of the international sorority organization Tri Delta, joining the sorority after attending an event there as guest speaker.{{Cite web|date=2016-05-21|title=I Am Tri Delta: Arlene Chan|url=https://www.tridelta.org/the-trident/i-am-tri-delta-arlene-chan/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Tri Delta|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Shireen|date=2017-10-19|title=Arlene Chan Receives Heritage Toronto's 2017 Special Achievement Award|url=https://torontotridelta.ca/2017/10/19/arlene-chan-receives-heritage-torontos-2017-special-achievement-award/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Toronto Alumnae Chapter|language=en-CA}}

After her education, Chan began her professional career as a librarian with the North York Board of Education and continued to work for 30 years at the Toronto Public Library where she was instrumental in the success of the organization's bookmobile and at-home services.{{Cite web|title=Ten Questions, with Arlene Chan|url=http://m.openbooktoronto.com/news/ten_questions_with_arlene_chan|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Open Book: Toronto|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Arlene Chan {{!}} Penguin Random House|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/58052/arlene-chan|access-date=2021-02-08|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}

Works

Chan's writing career began in 1997 with her book Spirit of the Dragon: the Story of Jean Lumb, a Proud Chinese Canadian. The book tells the story of her mother, Jean Lumb, the first Chinese Canadian to receive the Order of Canada and her role in changing Canada’s immigration laws and contributions in saving Toronto's First Chinatown.{{Cite web|date=2016-08-10|title=RicePaper Interviews Janet Lumb About Her Mother, Jean Lumb {{!}} Ricepaper Magazine|url=https://ricepapermagazine.ca/2016/08/ricepaper-interviews-janet-lumb-about-her-mother-jean-lumb/|access-date=2021-02-08|language=en-US}} Arlene Chan would go on to complete numerous children's books and research works documenting the history and experiences of Chinese Canadians in Canada and Toronto:{{Cite web|title=Arlene Chan, author and Chinatown historian : We Recommend : Books, Video, Research & More|url=https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/books/booklists/booklist.jsp?listTitle=Arlene_Chan,_author_and_Chinatown_historian&listId=1xGC2voNMpdGAQcfb_8ldZ7Y_9Ujg3k1VQ9rWNnH-d-c&sheetId=o1v1gew|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Toronto Public Library|language=en}}

= Youth books =

Awakening the Dragon: the Dragon Boat Festival. 2004
The Moon Festival: A Chinese Mid-Autumn Celebration. 1999 (shortlisted for the Ontario Silver Birch Award)
Spirit of the Dragon: the Story of Jean Lumb, a Proud Chinese Canadian. 1997 (Awarded Choice Book by the Canadian Children’s Book)

= Non-fiction books =

Righting Canada's Wrongs: the Chinese Head Tax and Anti-Chinese Immigration Policies in the Twentieth Century. 2014 (nominated for the Red Cedar Award and Heritage Toronto Book Award){{Cite web|title=Arlene Chan {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/author/arlene-chan|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}
The Chinese Community in Toronto: Then and Now. 2013
The Chinese in Toronto from 1878: From Outside to Inside the Circle. 2011 (nominated for the 2012 Heritage Toronto Book Award and 2013 Ontario Speaker’s Award){{Cite book|url=https://49thshelf.com/Books/T/The-Chinese-in-Toronto-from-1878|title=The Chinese in Toronto from 1878}}
Paddles Up! Dragon Boat Racing in Canada. 2009 (the first book on the sport of dragon boating in Canada)

Representing Canada in athletics

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Arlene Chan

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Women's Dragon boat}}

{{MedalCountry | {{CAN}} }}

{{MedalCompetition|11th World Dragon Boat Racing Championship 2013 Szeged, Hungary{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Competition Results: WDBRC 11, Szeged 2013 July 24 – 28|url=https://idbfchamps.org/2013_sze.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019210548/https://idbfchamps.org/2013_sze.php |archive-date=2019-10-19 |access-date=2021-02-08|website=idbfchamps.org}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|10th World Dragon Boat Racing Championship 2011 Tampa, Florida{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Competition Results: WDBRC 10, Tampa, FL 2011 August 03 – 07|url=https://idbfchamps.org/2011_tampa.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218014818/https://idbfchamps.org/2011_tampa.php |archive-date=2019-12-18 |access-date=2021-02-08|website=idbfchamps.org}} }}

{{MedalCompetition|Club Crew World Championships 2010 Macau, China}}

}}Chan entered into dragon boat racing during her background research for Awakening the Dragon. The experience would compel her to go on to compete in multiple international competitions as a member of the Outer Harbour Dragon Boat Club (2010) and the Canadian National Women's Dragon Boat Team (2010-2013), winning multiple gold and bronze medals.

Awards

2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award{{Cite web|last=General|first=Office of the Secretary to the Governor|title=Arlene Chan|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/126-264019|access-date=2021-02-08|website=The Governor General of Canada}}
2017 Heritage Toronto Special achievement
2018 Tri-Delta Women of Achievement Award{{Cite web|date=2018-06-26|title=2018 Women of Achievement|url=https://www.tridelta.org/the-trident/2018-women-achievement/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Tri Delta|language=en-US}}

Community leadership

Arlene Chan serves on the boards of various organizations:{{Cite web|title=Arlene Chan {{!}} Speakers Series|url=http://www.yorkminsterpark.com/speakers-series/22/the-chinese-in-toronto-then-and-now/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.yorkminsterpark.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Many Stories of Toronto: Online (2021-04-21)|url=https://torontofamilyhistory.org/event/diversity-lecture-series/?instance_id=1447|access-date=2021-03-26|website=torontofamilyhistory.org|language=en-US}}

President of the Jean Lumb Foundation
Board member of Little Pear Garden Dance Company
Advisor for Myseum of Toronto
Advisor for Toronto Public Library’s Chinese Canadian Archive
Member of Ontario Infrastructure Heritage Interpretation Working Group.

She shares the history and her own stories of Toronto’s First and West Chinatown through her writings, her Chinatown tours, and presentations are various organizations and educational institutes.{{Cite web|last=Chan|first=Arlene|date=2016-11-29|title=Bringing the Chinese Canadian Archive into view|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2016/11/29/bringing-images-chinese-canadian-archive-life/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Spacing Toronto|language=en-US}}

References

External links

[https://www.arlenechan.ca Arlene Chan's personal website]

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian women historians

Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers

Category:University of Toronto alumni

Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent

Category:Writers from Toronto

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Canadian librarians

Category:Canadian women librarians