Jean Lumb Ontario Heritage Plaque (English)


Jean Lumb Ontario Heritage Plaque: English
Image Credit: Alan L Brown – October, 2015

The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque featuring Jean Lumb was unveiled in April 2016. The plaque is located on the southeast corner of Elizabeth Street and Foster Place. Here’s what it says:

Jean Lumb was born Jean (Toy Jin) Wong in British Columbia, and came to Toronto in 1935. She was soon operating a profitable fruit store and, by 1959, she co-owned the well-reputed Kwong Chow restaurant with her husband, Doyle Lumb. Energetic and outgoing, she established strong links with prominent politicians and, in the 1950s, lobbied successfully for the removal of discriminatory immigration regulations in Canada. Wide-ranging community work earned her numerous honours, including appointments to Women’s College Hospital Board of Governors and the Ontario Advisory Council on Multiculturalism. President of the Women’s Association of the Chinese Dramatic Society for 25 years, she is best remembered as the dynamic spirit behind the remarkable “Save Chinatown” campaigns. In 1976, Lumb became the first Chinese-Canadian woman and the first restaurateur appointed to the Order of Canada. Jean Lumb served as a voice for her community for over 40 years and left a legacy of social activism and cultural pride for future generations.