Digital Collections of Chinese Canadian and Japanese Canadian Communities
Related Resources
Orientals in Canada by S.S. Osterhout
Dr. S.S. Osterhout was superintendent of “Oriental Missions” 1906-1939.
Orientals in Canada, published in 1929, is a sociological examination of “Orientals” with information on immigration, cultural background, economic and community life of diasporic communities in Canada from China, Japan, and to a lesser extent India. It also includes anecdotes and even first-person quotations, mostly from the Canadian-born generations of Chinese and Japanese Canadians about sociological challenges they face in Canada.
Osterhout’s own work in the Chinese Canadian community, and stories from his church colleagues, show a desire to know and understand “Orientals” as individuals and in their cultural context, for the purpose of improving their lives by providing social services and making them into Christians.
First- and second-hand accounts of individual Chinese and Japanese Canadians are supplemented by data, analysis, and other contemporary viewpoints. Osterhout criticizes discriminatory laws and attitudes against Asian Canadians as un-Christian and advocates for their assimilation into “Canadian” ways of life.
The book’s final section of “Seven Outline Programmes” provides a template for clergy and lay people to educate white congregations on the issues facing Asian Canadians and encourages them to pray for “Orientals”.
Presenting sociological information in a tone that was relatively sympathetic for the time, Osterhout’s research contributed to later publications by both Chinese and Japanese United Churches on their own histories.
PMRC Archives Reference collection, item BCCA 2-233
Chinese United Church (Vancouver, B.C.) fonds, item BCCA 2811.50
Bibliography/Works consulted
United Church archival records
Calderwood, Arthur. Email to Blair Galston, “Viewing the archives in Vancouver,” July 27, 2023.
Chinese United Church. A Hundred Years of Christian Chinese Work in British Columbia, 1859-1959. Vancouver. United Church of Canada, 1959.
Chinese United Church. 93rd Anniversary of The Chinese United Church, Vancouver, B.C., 1888-1981. Vancouver. United Church of Canada, 1981.
Ikebuchi, Shelly. From Slave Girls to Salvation: Gender, Race, and Victoria’s Chinese Rescue Home, 1886-1923. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2015.
Kawano, Roland (ed). A History of the Japanese Congregations in The United Church of Canada (1892-1959). Scarborough, Ont.: The Japanese Canadian Christian Churches Historical Project, 1998.
Osterhout, Dr. S.S. Orientals in Canada. Toronto: United Church of Canada Board of Home Missions, 1929.
Roy, Patricia E. A White Man’s Province: British Columbia Politicians and Chinese and Japanese immigrants 1858-1914. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1989.
Roy, Patricia E. The Oriental Question: Consolidating a White Man’s Province, 1914-41. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2003.
On Teruko Hidaka:
Kubota, Haruho. The Stories of Eleven Japanese Canadian Teachers: Colouring Racial Barriers into Teacher Training, Certification, and Hiring Processes in British Columbia, 1916-1942. [UBC Master’s Thesis]. Pp 93-100.
Landscapes of Injustice - Teruko Hidaka
Terry Hidaka Memorial Fund tribute to outstanding J.C. The New Canadian, 1980 May 2,
Web resources external to the Pacific Mountain Regional Council Archives
General genealogical resources
Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives, or GG Archives (ocean travel, military, and immigration related archives)
Past Presence
A blog by Linda Yip about Canadian and Chinese genealogy, about organizing, and archives.
Chinese Canadian resources
Chinatown Storytelling Centre
From the website: Our centre celebrates Chinatown’s contributions to the development of Vancouver and highlights the roles of Chinese Canadians in the building of Canada as a nation.
Chinese Canadian Museum, The Paper Trail to the 1923 Exclusion Act
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21: Before and After 1923: Chinese Exclusion in Context
Library and Archives Canada, Chinese Canadians research guide
UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections: The Paper Trail Collection
UBC Chung Collection
From the website: The Chung Collection represents an unique and extensive research collection of items in various formats related to early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement, particularly of Chinese people in North America, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
Vancouver Public Library, Chinese Canadian Genealogy
Japanese Canadian resources
Japanese Canadian Researchers Directory and Bibliography
Landscapes of Injustice main page and Digital Research Database
Library and Archives Canada, Japanese Canadians research guide
National Association of Japanese Canadians
Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre: Research and online collection