IMMIGRANT VOICES |
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Sue Tin, Susie : Unbound from Tradition - Susie Sue Tin's Adventure from Australia to California via China by Cathy Huang and Sue Pon Year of Arrival 1923 |
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From the Orient to Oceania Oh, to be a young woman in the 1920’s, unbound from tradition. This is the story of Susie Sue Tin, unbound, who journeyed from Australia to California to marry, in her own words, “for the adventure.” |
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Tom, William : From a young boy from Hoi Ping, Guangdong, China to a successful optometrist in Los Angeles, CA by Steve Kwok Year of Arrival 1937 |
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The following was written by Steve Kwok based on an interview by Roy Chan with William Tom in Monterey Park California on March 15, 2012. |
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Tom, Melanie : My Chinese New Year by Melanie Tom Year of Arrival Born in U.S. |
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Growing up, I felt like an outsider. When holidays like Chinese New Year came around, I would panic. My Taiwanese friends would talk excitedly about how they would spend their New Year money and compare their plans for the holiday. As for me, I had nothing to say. Instead I would go home, wishing that my parents were hiding their special knowledge of how to be Chinese and that this was the year they were finally going to teach me. That never happened. |
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Tran, Thanh : Thanh Tran by Ngoc Tu Year of Arrival 1981 |
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On the 30th anniversary of my first experience with freedom, the bittersweet memory of leaving Vietnam’s prison camp, it seems, took place just yesterday. The date is November 25th, 2010. My family surrounds me and I give thanks for the beautiful display of successful sons and daughters, healthy grandchildren, and an array of oriental as well as traditional Thanksgiving food. All this at the cost of four gold nuggets, I say to myself. I sigh, am relieved, and remember all the individuals who could not afford this opportunity… |
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Wong, Li Keng : Li Keng Wong by AIISF Year of Arrival 1933 |
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This is an early cut of an interview of Li Keng Wong by AIISF intern Cathy Huang in September of 2012.
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Wong, Shee : Teacher, Mother, Wife by Larisa Proulx Year of Arrival 1922 |
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On November 16, 1922, Wong Shee, a 33-year-old schoolteacher, mother, and wife, arrived in Hong Kong with her 14-year-old son. Leaving their village in China was the first leg of their journey to be with her husband and his father in America. After about ten days in Hong Kong, the mother and son boarded a ship bound for San Francisco. Her husband, a businessman who operated a meat market in Chinatown, had an attorney prepare their paperwork and awaited their arrival in America. Ahead of them was a journey that required hopeful determination. This is their immigration story. |
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Wong, Myron (Yao Nam) : Through a Child’s Eyes: Myron Wong (Wong Yao Nam) and His Immigration Experience by Erika Alvarez Year of Arrival 1940 |
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Though many detained in the purgatory of Angel Island remember it with no great fondness, for Myron Wong, it was simply part of a boy’s great adventure. It brought the 10-year-old Wong Yao Nam from the mountainous Chinese province of Guandong across the sea to America to live with a father he had never met. It is an immigrant story that begins with ancestors; is triggered, as so many are, by war; is sprinkled with hardships and hard work; and ultimately ends well, with an old man looking back on a full and happy life. |
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Wong, Helen Hong : Reminiscences of a Gold Mountain Woman by Helen Hong Wong and Judy Yung Year of Arrival 1928 |
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Judy Yung met and interviewed Helen Hong Wong, a.k.a. Yuen Lan Heung, in 1982 while researching the history of Chinese women in America. A petite and spry woman of seventy-four years, Helen immigrated to the United States in 1928. During the interview she was quite candid about her detention experience at Angel Island, her hardworking life in the Midwest, where she was often the only Chinese woman in town, and her struggles raising a family of four children during the Great Depression. Although she never realized her Gold Mountain dream of a life of wealth and leisure, she nevertheless found fulfillment in her work, family, and community. Helen made her home in Chicago, where she passed away in 2001 at the age of ninety-three. |
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Wong, Moon Tung : Eat More Potatoes and Go Back to China: The Life of Moon Tung Wong by Edward Wong Year of Arrival 1929 |
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As a child, I was often confused about the three different names associated with my father. First, there was Fook Gooy Wong, the name on his citizenship papers. Then there was Frank Wong or Frankie as he was known to the customers at the laundry he and my mother, Siu Fong Yu Wong, ran for 40 years in Hollywood, CA. And finally, there was Wong Moon Tung, a name only used by his friends and cronies from Bak Hang Toon, his birth village. |
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Wong, Tyrus : A Profile of Tyrus Wong by Rosalind Chang Year of Arrival 1920 |
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Immigrant Voices is a collection of stories of Angel Island and Pacific immigrant experiences. We are proud to present a profile of Tyrus Wong, a renowned artist and kitemaker, as he prepares to celebrate his 100th birthday. |
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Wong, Poy (James) : Life in America (Nov 11, 1901 – Jan 4, 1990) by Linda Lum Year of Arrival 1916 |
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Wong Poy began his life in America with three months of interrogations, but he was finally landed in March 1916. After working and studying in San Francisco, he moved to Augusta, GA where he spent many years in the grocery business. He finally settled in Oakland, CA. |
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Wong-Woo, Harmon : Video Interview with Harmon Wong-Woo by AIISF Year of Arrival 1938 |
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In the summer of 1997 and 1998, several former detainees returned to Angel Island where they were interviewed in the detention barracks. Here's an interview with Harmon Wong-Woo. |
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Yanes, Guillermo : Finding a Home by Hayden Stern Year of Arrival 1994 |
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Guillermo Yanes was born in El Salvador to poor, peasant parents in the rural countryside. His family worked the land, deeply connected to the soil and plant life of their country. They had clear values and a strong work ethic. Guillermo grew up as someone who worked hard and had distinct morals. His family made sure of this. |
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