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Lum, Fong Shee : Sowing Strength in a Strange Land: The Life of Lum Fong Shee by Carla Koop Year of Arrival 1912 |
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The following is a biography of my grandmother, Lum Fong Shee, who travelled from a village in southern China to the United States as a new bride in an arranged marriage. She was 21 years of age when she left, and spent the remainder of her 78 years in California. I call my grandmother’s story “Sowing Strength in a Strange Land” because of the personal strength she drew upon, living as an illiterate, non-English speaking woman in a foreign culture and land. Despite her challenges, she raised a large family and achieved business success. |
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Ly, Andrew : Andrew Ly: From Refugee to CEO and winner of the Immigrant Heritage Award 2011 by Linda Lau Year of Arrival 1979 |
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We are proud to share the story of Andrew Ly, who fled Vietnam in the aftermath of the U.S.-Vietnam War, and settled in San Francisco. Through hard work and diligent studies and the support of his entire family, the Ly family enjoys tremendous success in business with the nationally-recognized Sugarbowl Bakery brand. Mr. Andrew was the recipient of AIISF’s Immigrant Heritage Award on October 1, 2011.
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Ma, Katherine : Portrait of a Female Chinese Immigrant by Janice H. Ma Year of Arrival 1985 |
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Katherine Kaitak Ma immigrated to the United States in 1985. Growing up in Guangzhou, Katherine and her family worked hard but always felt like there were more opportunities for them elsewhere. “I wanted to do more and live better.” said Katherine. Katherine felt limited under the strict regulation of the communist government and decided to move to Hong Kong as a teen. Leaving her family behind, she immigrated to Hong Kong and started a new life for herself. During the time that she was living there, Hong Kong was a temporary colony of the British Empire. In 1997, it would be back under the control of China. Fearing that she would once again be living under the same limitations as those present in her hometown, Katherine considered moving to the United States. |
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Makishima, George Akira : George Akira Makishima story by Eva Martinez Year of Arrival 1940 |
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On May 8, 1940, 19-year-old U.S. citizen George Akira Makishima arrived at the Port of San Francisco on the SS Tatuta Maru. He was returning from Japan where he had lived with his paternal grandparents for nearly a decade. |
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Marbach, Flora and Lizzy : Flora Sara Marbach, 50, and Lizzy Marbach, 12:Fleeing Hitler’s Germany for a new life in America by Erika Alvarez Year of Arrival 1940 |
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By late spring 1940, Hitler’s armies had roared through and conquered the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Paris was next to topple, in June 1940, when Flora Marbach was awaiting a visa to flee Vienna, Germany. A Jew, and a widow since 1937, Flora must have found the early days of the Third Reich terrible, especially after the government abruptly confiscated her husband’s textile factory and left her without any compensation. She managed to survive on some money of her own and her husband’s insurance, but she knew that as Jews, she and her twelve-year-old daughter, Lizzy, would have no future in a German-occupied Europe. They had to get out, but how?? |
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Marill, Alfred and Klara : From the National Archives’ Angel Island files - One Family’s Story: Alfred Israel Marill and Klara Elizabeth Sara Marill by Lakhpreet "Preeti" Gill Year of Arrival 1940 |
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Editor's note: Shortly after we posted the profile of Alfred and Klara Marrill, AIISF was contacted by Richard Kobayashi, who is the grandson of Alfred and Klara Marill. His mother is Alice Marill Kobayashi, who journeyed to the U.S. a year before her parents came through Angel Island. Richard’s sister Carol read the profile online and Richard very graciously sent us his grandfather’s detailed account of their journey from Vienna to Angel Island in 1940. |
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Ming, Jenny Gar-Yee Jang : Fate and the importance of remembering where you came from: The Jenny Ming story by Eva Martinez Year of Arrival 1964 |
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based on an interview of Jenny Ming by Eddie Wong |
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Moy, Damon : My Father, Damon Moy by Diane Lo Year of Arrival 1940 |
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A longtime resident in Sacramento,CA, Mr. Damon Moy immigrated to the U.S. in 1940 and was detained on Angel Island for three months. After a long career in the food service industry, he and his wife Helen retired in Honolulu where their children now reside. |
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Nakamura, Kiyoye : Kiyoye Nakamura: Picture Bride by Tene Woo Kember Year of Arrival 1918 |
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Editor's note: After we posted Tene’s article, we received inquiries about the status of Kiyoye Nakamura. Did we know if she was able to land in the United States (this information for some reason was not in her file)? We did some more research and found the good news that it appears that the Nakamuras were listed in the 1930 census in Vacaville, California, with a three year old son, but the sad news that Kiyoye passed away of cancer in Vacaville in 1937. We also found a ship log showing Toragusu returning to the U.S. in 1940, with no listing for his son and can only speculate that he brought his son back to Japan to be raised. |
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Ong, Yet Nam : From Hoiping to Stanford by Roy Chan Year of Arrival 1901 |
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Ong Yet Nam was the first born son of Ong Yip Doy and Seto Shee. He was born in 1886 in rural Doung Moon Lei Village, Wu Lung, Hoiping, Guangdung, China, and died at the age of 43 in a tragic boating accident on the Pearl River in Canton, China |
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Park, Rose Young Soon : Two Korean Woman and a Child at Angel Island by Judy Yung Year of Arrival 1914 |
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There were no more than 1,000 Koreans among the half million immigrants who sought admission through the port of San Francisco between 1910 and 1940. Fleeing a harsh life in Korea under Japanese colonial rule since 1910, most were young men claiming to be refugee students, but there were also picture brides, wives, and children of Korean alien residents. To circumvent the Japanese government’s ban on Korean emigration, many had to steal across the northern Korean border into Manchuria and make their way to Shanghai, where they could book passage on an American steamer going to the United States. Some were lucky enough to secure Japanese passports that allowed them to travel directly to the United States. Among the lucky ones was three-year-old Rose Park.
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Pera, Philipos : Locked Out by the Quota Law: The Case of Philipos Pera, Assyrian Refugee by Judy Yung Year of Arrival 1922 |
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World War I and religious persecution wrecked havoc in the pastoral life of Christian Assyrians in Persia and the Ottoman Empire. Their participation in the war, fighting on the Allied side with the Russians and the British, left them vulnerable to massacres by Turks, Kurds, and Persians of the Moslem faith. By the end of the war, nearly 100,000 Assyrians, along with tens of thousands of Armenians, had been slaughtered, their homes looted, their lands destroyed, and their women carried away. Approximately 10,000 Assyrians found shelter in Russian Transcaucasia while many others escaped to Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Over 600 men, women, and children sought refuge in the United States, 200 arriving in San Francisco on Japanese ships from Yokohama between 1918 and 1922. Among them was 16-year-old Philipos Pera. |
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Pernik, Zhanna : Zhanna’s Ultimate Destination by Kriti Khari Year of Arrival 1996 |
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The exodus of Russians to the United States started in the 1880’s. During this exodus the majority of the people who moved to the United States were mostly Jewish. Those Jews who lived in Germany and Russia were degraded in status. In Russia, they were treated as the “other” and were in many cases stripped of their basic rights. They left Russia as settlers and not as sojourners. Settlers are those who cannot return to their home country again or do not wish to return and sojourners are those who leave their countries with an intention to return home. Zhanna Pernik was born on September 15, 1958 in Ukraine, Soviet Union. Zhanna is a Jewish settler who moved to the United States because of the humiliation she faced in Ukraine ever since she was a child. Even though Zhanna was not a part of the Russian migration in the 1880’s, she did have family that moved to the United States before her in the early 1990’s. While she was in Ukraine she lost her brother so her widowed sister-in-law moved to the U.S. with her kids. Her sister-in-law had to go through a lot of difficulties, especially because she was a widow staying in a European country. She had to go through Austria and Italy before she was allowed to enter the United States. Zhanna believes that her sister-in law’s immigration was very painful compared to hers since she at least had her family that backed her up throughout the process of immigration. Had it not been for them she would also have had difficulty. |
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