Marjorie Young | Chinatown Connections: Strathcona and Beyond

Strathcona is Vancouver’s oldest residential neighbourhood. Bordering Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, it has historically been home to the working class, including the Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Irish, Ukrainian, and Black communities. While gentrification has caused significant change and displacement of some of these communities, the neighbourhood’s diverse makeup continues to be as evident today as ever before, with the majority of residents speaking a non-English heritage language. On this episode, host Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee chats with Marjorie Young, a Strathcona local and the first registered Chinese Canadian speech language pathologist in British Columbia. Reflecting on growing up in a multicultural environment, Marjorie describes what it was like going to school with classmates who collectively spoke over fifty different heritage languages. They then discuss Majorie’s memories of her family’s famous Chinatown restaurant, W.K. Gardens, the go-to spot for community banquets and celebrity visits until its closure in the 1960s, as well as Marjorie’s second career as a visual artist. To learn more about the Chinese Canadian Museum and book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/