Bertha Hosang Mah

Bertha Hosang Mah (November 18, 1896 – 1959) was a Canadian student, the first Chinese woman to graduate from a Canadian university.

Bertha Hosang, from a 1918 publication

Early life

Hosang was born in Lillooet, British Columbia,[1][2] the daughter of Lena Hosang.[3] Her older sister recalled, "We were the only Chinese family and there weren't any separate classes in the school, so we talked English all the time."[4]

Education

Hosang attended McGill University, first at the Vancouver satellite location (now the University of British Columbia), and later at the Montreal campus; when she graduated in 1917, she was described as "the first Chinese woman graduated from a Canadian university".[5] At McGill, she won an award for best speech, from the Women's Literary Society (Delta Sigma).[6] She also won first prize in a national essay competition, with her article "Physical Education for Chinese Women", which was later published in Chinese Students' Monthly.[7]

Hosang was elected to the University Women's Club of Vancouver in 1918, and gave a presentation to the group that year, on "Chinese Literature".[8] Hosang worked as a secretary at the Chinese consulate in Vancouver in 1918 and 1919.[1] Her older sister Myrtle Hosang Lee studied economics at the University of California in Berkeley.[9]

Personal life

In May 1921, in Berkeley, California,[3] Hosang married Dr. Ng Wing Mah,[10] a Chinese-born political scientist who taught at the University of California. They had three children, Winberta, Bertwing, and Lynn.[11][12] Bertha Hosang Mah died in 1959, aged 62 years.[13]

References
  1. Who's who of the Chinese Students in America (Lederer, Street & Zeus Company, 1921): 42.
  2. "Clever Daughter of Local Chinese Merchant". The Vancouver Sun. May 20, 1916. p. 3. Retrieved September 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Marriage Announced". The Province. May 28, 1921. p. 30. Retrieved September 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Timothy J. Stanley, Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism, and the Making of Chinese Canadians (UBC Press 2011): 153-154. ISBN 9780774819336
  5. Francis J. Dickie, "Interesting Westerners" Sunset: The Pacific Monthly (October 1918): 45-46.
  6. "Personal Notes" Chinese Students' Monthly (November 1917): 77-78.
  7. "Girls' Essay Competition" Chinese Students' Monthly (1918): 364.
  8. "Miss B. Hosang Addresses Club" Vancouver Daily World (April 29, 1918): 7. via Newspapers.com
  9. "Former U. C. Reader Weds" Chinese Digest (January 31, 1936): 6.
  10. "Personal Notes" Chinese Students' Monthly (March 1922): 417.
  11. "Winberta Mah Announces Betrothal to Kechin Wang" Oakland Tribune (September 11, 1950): 17. via Newspapers.com
  12. "Berkeley Girl Engaged to Wed Kechin Wang". The San Francisco Examiner. September 17, 1950. p. 52. Retrieved September 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. R. A. Scalapino, E. C. Bellquist, P. Seabury, "Ng Wing Mah, Political Science: Berkeley" University of California: In Memoriam 1977 (University of California Press 1977).
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