Date(s) -Thursday, May 22, 2025
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: James Bay New Horizons
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Join Victoria Historical Society for a talk on May 22, 2025 with May Q. Wong speaking about Victoria’s Lesser Known “Firsts”. Talk takes place at James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street, Victoria V8V 2G7. James Bay New Horizons opens at 7:15 pm for refreshments and conversation. Talk begins shortly after 7:30 pm. Admission is $5 for non-members.
May Q. Wong will be sharing stories from her book City in Colour: Rediscovered Stories of Victoria’s Multicultural Past (TouchWood Editions, 2018).
She is also the author of A Cowherd in Paradise: From China to Canada (Brindle & Glass, 2012). The memoir explores the lives of a family impacted by Canada’s immigration laws against the Chinese. Her father paid the $500 head tax to enter Canada. The Chinese Exclusion Act forced her parents to live apart for the first 25 years of their over 50-year marriage.
With degrees from McGill University and the University of Victoria, her career in the
British Columbia Public Service centred on improving the lives of those in need. She received the Canada 125 Medal for her volunteer contributions at the local, provincial, and national levels. In addition to chronicling the lives of “ordinary people,” May was a Mentor for Diaspora Dialogues, has written for The British Columbia Review, and has been filmed in 3 documentaries. May creates through knitting, painting, cooking, and sewing. She holds a 2nd degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate.
This presentation is about some lesser-known pioneers of Victoria.