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It has been 150 years since the first Chinese came to America. Their history, and the history of generations of Chinese women after them is filled with stories of struggles, discrimination, disappointments, and learning to fight stereotypes while trying to retain a sense of dignity and pride in being Chinese women.
There is much to learn from the lives of Polly Bemis, Sieh King King and Ah Quon McElrath of earlier days to March Fong Eu, Maxine Hong Kingston and Pat Lee today. The experiences of the Chinese women in the U.S. from 1834 to 1982 are recorded in a photographic exhibition which will be shown at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library of the California State University in Los Angeles from April 12 to June 10.
The exhibition premiered in San Francisco last fall.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the library will host a public reception to honor nine Chinese American women who are community leaders in the Los Angeles area.
These women include former Chinese Times editor Lily Lum Chan, Mayor Lily Lee Chen of Monterey Park, journalist Louise Leung Larson, entrepreneur Lilly Mu Lee, movie agent Bessie Sue Loo, restaurateur Yiu Hai Quon, orthodontist Annie Siu, and community activists Dolores Wong and Maye Wong.
Lily Lum Chan
Lily Lum Chan is one of seven children of the late Walter U. Lum, founder of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, A third generation Chinese American, she was born in Los Angeles and educated at the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in education.
During her decades of involvement with the community, Chan achieved a number of firsts. She was the first American-born Chinese to teach in a San Francisco public school, the first woman elected to the board of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and the first woman to edit the Chinese Times, the official publication of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance.
She also taught at the Interdenominational Chinese Language school in San Francisco and founded the Women's New Life Association in 1939.
"I always wanted to help the American-born Chinese retain their culture," Chan said. "I'm not as active as I used to be but I'm still involved in activities which indirectly help the Chinese community."
Chan is currently assisting the...