Bertha Hosang Mah (November 18, 1896 – 1959) was a Canadian student, the first Chinese woman to graduate from a Canadian university.
Early life Hosang was born in Lillooet, British Columbia,Who's who of the Chinese Students in America (Lederer, Street & Zeus Company, 1921): 42. the daughter of Lena Hosang. 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."Timothy J. Stanley, Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism, and the Making of Chinese Canadians (UBC Press 2011): 153-154.
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".Francis J. Dickie, "Interesting Westerners" Sunset: The Pacific Monthly (October 1918): 45-46. At McGill, she won an award for best speech, from the Women's Literary Society (Delta Sigma)."Personal Notes" Chinese Students' Monthly (November 1917): 77-78. 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."Girls' Essay Competition" Chinese Students' Monthly (1918): 364.
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"."Miss B. Hosang Addresses Club" Vancouver Daily World (April 29, 1918): 7. via Newspapers.com Hosang worked as a secretary at the Chinese consulate in Vancouver in 1918 and 1919. Her older sister Myrtle Hosang Lee studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley."Former U. C. Reader Weds" Chinese Digest (January 31, 1936): 6.
Personal life In May 1921, in Berkeley, California, Hosang married Dr. Ng Wing Mah,"Personal Notes" Chinese Students' Monthly (March 1922): 417. a Chinese-born political scientist who taught at the University of California. They had three children."Winberta Mah Announces Betrothal to Kechin Wang" Oakland Tribune (September 11, 1950): 17. via Newspapers.com Bertha Hosang Mah died in 1959, aged 62 years.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).
References