The Chinese Canadian Museum has won a major national prize just over a year after its grand opening. This week, it announced that it’s the recipient of the annual Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive!
The Canadian Museums Association and Canada’s History Society are partners in the award, which will be presented by Governor General Mary Simon.
“It is with great honour that we receive this enormous accolade from the Governor General of Canada with the History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive!, recognizing our achievements and dedication to preserving our Chinese Canadian heritage,” said Grace Wong, board chair of the Chinese Canadian Museum, in a news release. “This is a testament to the power of museums in shaping understanding, fostering dialogue, and inspiring future generations to appreciate the richness of Chinese Canadian history, stories, and our contributions to the building of Canada.”
Ecclesiastical Insurance supports the prize, which was presented for the first time in 2011 at Rideau Hall.
The Chinese Canadian Museum opened in the historic Wing Sang Building (51 East Pender Street) in Vancouver’s Chinatown on July 1, 2023. It came on the 100th anniversary of Parliament passing the Chinese Immigration Act. Because this law banned virtually all Chinese immigration until 1947, it became known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
The museum’s opening exhibition, The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, features hundreds of identity documents. Officials relied on these papers to track Chinese immigrants.
Catherine Clement curated this community-sourced exhibition in partnership with the Canadian Chinese Military Museum. It’s the largest collection of these papers ever publicly shown, documenting how Chinese Canadians were treated as second-class citizens for decades.
Museum helps interpret Chinese Immigration Certificates
The Chinese Canadian Museum offers assistance to people looking up their family’s paper trail on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Curatorial assistant Naomi Louie provides this service for free inside the museum. This includes helping interpret Chinese Immigration (C.I.) Certificates
To schedule a Wednesday appointment or contact for service outside of office hours, email naomi.louie@chinesecanadianmuseum.ca. To schedule a Saturday appointment, email huabin.zhou@chinesecanadianmuseum.ca.
“Our goal is to create a positive, inclusive and transformative place where people can gather to bridge cultures and generations, and learn about our shared history as Canadians,” Chinese Canadian Museum CEO Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee said in the news release. “This Governor General award is a reflection of our commitment to elevate Chinese Canadian voices, enrich our legacy, and engage with diverse communities across Canada.”
The exhibition and collections manager of the Chinese Canadian Museum, Sarah Ling, will be part of a free panel discussion at 2:30 p.m. on Friday (November 15) in the Montalbano Family Room on the eighth floor the Vancouver Central Library. She will joined Museum of Vancouver urban cultures curator Denise Fong and Vancouver Art Gallery program coordinator Lynn Chen for Beyond Chinese: How Cultural Institutions Reflect the Diversity of Diasporic Populations. It’s part of Pancouver and the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association’s Beyond Chinese project.
For more information on the Chinese Canadian Museum, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on X (formerly Twitter) @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
