Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (65 page)

5. In Step

i. See Chafe, American Woman; Ruth Milkman, Gender at Work: The Dynamics of Job Segregation by Sex During World War II (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1987); Margaret Randolph Higonnet et al., eds., Behind the Lines:
Genderand the Two World Wars(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987); Leila
Rupp, Mobilizing Women for War: German and American Propaganda, 19391945 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978); Karen Anderson, Wartime
Women: Sex Roles, Family Relationships, and the Status of Women During World
War 77 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981); D'Ann Campbell, Women
at War With America (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984); Susan Hartmann, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 19405
(Boston: Twayne, 1982); and Sheila Tropp Lichtman, "Women at Work,
1941-1945: Wartime Employment in the San Francisco Bay Area" (Ph.D. diss.,
University of California, Davis, 1981).

z. See Jones, Labor of Love, chap. 7.

3. See Nakano, Japanese American Women, chaps. 5, 7, and 8.

4. San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 193z, p. 8A; Chinese Times, December z9, 1939; Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. 566-73; and Wu Jianhung, "The Chinese American Patriotic Movement Before and After the 9-18 Incident" (in Chinese), paper presented at the First International Conference on Overseas Chinese
Studies, Peking, 1978. San Francisco Chinatown was full of conflicts between
political parties, social classes, religious organizations, and different generations.
Moreover, when the Communists split from Chiang Kai-shek's Guomindang
Party in 1927, a similar split between the left and right factions occurred in the
Chinese American community.

5. Wu Jianhung, "Chinese American Patriotic Movement," p. g.

6. San Francisco Chronicle, September 28, 1931, p. 7. The Kellogg-Briand
peace pact of 1928 pledged that the United States would back any effort to renounce war as an instrument of national policy.

7. Wu Jianhung, "Chinese American Patriotic Movement," p. 7.

8. Ibid., p. 18. According to Wu's calculations, the Chinese in the United
States gave more to the Nineteenth Route Army than Chinese in other parts of
the world (p. 13). Joe Shoong of the National Dollar Stores alone gave $30,000
(P. 9).

9. CSYP, August 19, 1936.

10. Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. 566-73; Wu Jianhung, "Chinese American Patriotic Movement"; and San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 1932, p. 8A.

it. Lowe, "Good Life," p. 130; and Tsai, Chinese Experience, p. III.

12. Chinese Digest, September 1937, p- 10•

13. Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. 569-70; and Chinese Digest, September 1937,
pp. 9-10.

14. Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. 577-83.

15. Chinese Digest, September 1937, P. 9; July 1938, pp. 12-13, 1g; and
San Francisco Chronicle, May 1, 1939, P. 9.

16. Chinese Digest, December 1937, pp. 14, 23; Y. K. Chu, History of the
Chinese People in America (in Chinese) (New York: China Times, 1975), PP.
125-27; and CSYP, October z5, 1939.

17. Lim P. Lee, interview; Ira Lee, interview with author, November 1, 1989;
and District Intelligence Office, Twelfth Naval District, Commandant's Office,
"Chinese Situation in the San Francisco Bay Area," General Correspondence,
folder A8-5, National Archives, San Bruno, Calif., 1945, pp. 20-2 1. See also
Norman Bock, "Chameleon Cloaks, Flying Tigers, and Missionary Ladies: The
Oral History and Political Economy of Baltimore Chinatown and the China Relief Movement, 1937-41" (B.A. thesis, Harvard College, 1976), chap. 5; and
Mei Zheng, "Chinese Americans in San Francisco and New York City During
the Anti-Japanese War: 1937-1945" (Master's thesis, University of California,
Los Angeles, 199o), pp. 6z-63.

18. CSYP, October 25, 1939.

ig. Liu Pei Chi, History, p. 579.

zo. Chinese Digest, November 1937, p• 15.

z i. Him Mark Lai, "Sprouting Wings on the Dragon: Some Chinese Americans Who Contributed to the Development of Aviation in China," in The Annals of the Chinese Historical Society of the Pacific Northwest (Bellingham, Wash.:
Chinese Historical Society of the Pacific Northwest, 1984), P. 182..

zz. CSYP, January 15, 193z.

13. Chinese Times, May 2.3, 1939. Similar editorials often appeared on March
8, International Women's Day: e.g., CSYP, March 8, 1942.; and Chinese Times,
March 8, 1942, 1944, 1945.

z4. Quoted in Chinese Digest, November 1937, P.-II.

25. For a further discussion of women's role in the War of Resistance in
China, see Ono, Chinese Women, pp. 161-70; Croll, Feminism and Socialism,
chap. 6; Esther S. Lee Yao, Chinese Women: Past and Present (Mesquite, Tex.:
Ide House, 1983), PP. 137-42; and Edith Hsiao, "Women's Activities in Wartorn China," Chinese Christian Student 30, nos. 3 (January 1940): 1, 4; and 4
(February 1940): 4.

z6. On "the process of social change," see Sherna Berger Gluck, Rosie the
Riveter Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change (New York: New American Library, 1987), p. z6o: "Rather than debating the degree of change resulting from the wartime experiences, the life stories of these former aircraft workers encourage, instead, a study of the process of change."

2.7. Signed by the United States at the Washington Naval Conference following World War I, the Nine-Power Treaty pledged respect for the sovereignty,
independence, and territorial integrity of China.

z8. Both letters and the history of New York's Chinese Women's Association are in The Chinese Women's Association Fifth Anniversary Special Issue (New
York: Chinese Women's Association, 1937), microfilm, New York Public Library.

29. CSYP, March 16, 1932. A sister of Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang
Kai-shek), Soong Ching-ling chose to side with the Chinese Communist Party.

30. Ibid. Liang Hongyu, the wife of the Sung general Han Shizhong,
stopped the advancing Tartars in a decisive battle by beating the drums to arouse
the morale of her husband's troops. Hong Xuanjiao lived during the time of the
Taiping Rebellion and was related to Hong Xiuquan, leader of the rebellion.
For a description of the activities of the Women's Patriotic Club, see CSYP, February 7, March 11, 193z; February 5, 1933; December 8, 1934; March 6, April z7, z9, August 17, 1935; March 9, 1936; September i9, October io, 1937;
November z8, 1938; and February 15, 1942.

31. Emily Lee Fong, interview with Him Mark Lai and Gilbert Woo, March
1, 1975, Him Mark Lai private collection; CSYP, May 23, 1939; and Liu Pei
Chi, History, p. 255.

3 z. Emily Lee Fong, interview; King Yoak Won Wu, interview with Genny
Lim; and CSYP, August z, 5, December 14, 1939; December z8, 1940; January 5, March 16, 1941; August 16, 1942; January 1o, August z1, 1943; August 21, 1944.

33. CSYP, September 2.o, z6, 27, October z, 8, 17, 1937; January z1, July
24, December a8, 1938; January 4, 12, October 8, 1939; and October 7, 1940.

34• Chinese Times, July 4, 1936; and CSYP, September 25, 1938; January
23, 1939; June 2z, August 1z, 1940; May 2, 1941.

35. Lorena How, interview with Sandy Lee, May 1, 1982, Chinese Women
of America Research Project, Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco.

36. CSYP, September z6, 1931; February 22,1932; and Chinese Digest, September 1937, P. to.

37. Lorena How, interview.

38. CSTP, April z, 3, 8, 11, 30, May 6, 7, and 15, 1939.

39. CSYP, May z, 1940.

40. J. Lee, "A Chinese American," pt. II, p. 110.

41. Ibid., chaps. 9 and To; and "Lianzhen chu ji" (Collection of plays by
Lianzhen) (unpublished collection).

42. CSYP, February 6, 1938; October 16, 1939; January 11, 1940; and
Square and Circle Club minutes, 1932-41.

43. Quoted in Mark and Chih, A Place Called Chinese America, p. 84; and
T. Chinn, Bridging the Pacific, p. 238.

44. CSYP, February 17, 1939.

45• Y. K. Chu, History of the Chinese People, p. 124; and Chinese Digest, October 1937, P. 3.

46. Chinese Digest, March 1938, p. io; May 1938, p. 9; Square and Circle
Club minutes, September 17, 1937; January z1, June zz, 1938; CSYP, September 30, 1937; and Chinese Times, September z9, 1937.

47. Chinese Digest, November 1938, p. 6.

48. Chinese Digest, February 1938, P. 9.

49. Zheng, "Chinese Americans in San Francisco," p. 40.

50. CSYP, February 5, 1932..

51. Community Chest 1930 Survey, p. 13; Stanley Lee, interview with author, July z6, 1985; CSYP, April z6, February 5, 1932; March 16, 1933; December 3, 1938, February 22, 1944; and Chinese Times, September 8, 1937.

52. Chinese Digest, March 1938, P. 3.

53• San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 1938, p. I.

54• Chinese Digest, July 1938, pp. 1z-I3, 19; San Francisco Chronicle, June
18, 1938, p. i; and California Chinese Press, May z, 1941, p. z.

55• William Hoy, "S.F. Chinatown's 'Bowl of Rice' Pageant," Chinese Digest, July 1938, PP. 12, 19.

56. CSYP, February 9-12, 1940; May 2-5, 1941; California Chinese Press, May z, 1941, p. z; and San Francisco Chronicle, February 1o-iz, 1940; May
3-6, 1941.

57. Dare, "Economic and Social Adjustment," p. 78; and CSYP, February
12, 1940.

58. Lim P. Lee, "Chinatown Goes Picketing," Chinese Digest, January 1939,
pp. 10-11.

59. CSYP, December 19, 1938.

6o. Chinese Digest, January 1939, pp. io-11; February 1939, p.7; San Francisco Chronicle, December zo, z1, 193 8; and Zheng, "Chinese Americans in San
Francisco," pp. 34-37.

61. Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. z54-55.

6z. Chinese Digest, December 1937, pp. 14, z3; and CSYP, December z,
1937.

63. Liu Pei Chi, History, pp. 5 5 z-63.

64. San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 1932, P. 3.

65. Chinese Digest, November 1937, p. 1; and December 1937, PP.14, z3•

66. Chinese Digest, October 1937, p. "; February 11938, p. i2; and CSYP,
January 114, 1941; February 4, 1942.

67. San Francisco Chronicle, September 18, 1937, p. 11.

68. San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 1937, p. z; and Chinese Digest,
November 1937, P. 13.

69. Margaret Chung, "TV Summary of Margaret Chung's Life" (unpublished autobiography, Asian American Studies Library, University of California,
Berkeley, ca. 1945).

70. CSYP, October z, November 9, 1938.

71. J. Lee, "A Chinese American," pt. II, p. 132.

72. CSYP, November 9, 1938.

73. CSYP, April 27,1939; Ruth Brown Reed, "Career Girl, Chinese Style,"
Independent Women, September 1942, pp. z6o, z86; and Guan, Study on Chinese Women Aviators, pp. 120-28.

74. San D i e g o Union, April 17, 1939, P. 3

75. CSYP, May 2, 1939•

76. CSYP, February 8, 1941.

77. For a report of Madame Chiang's visit to San Francisco, see Chen Yueh,
Madame Chiang Kai-shek's Trip Through the United States and Canada (San
Francisco: Chinese Nationalist Daily, 1943), PP. 76-106; CSYP, March z6-31,
1943; and Chinese Press, April z, 1943, P. 2.

78. Chen Yueh, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, p. 8o; and CSYP, March 31,
1943. The six key groups included the Women's Council, Women's Patriotic
Club, New Life Association, Chinese YWCA, Square and Circle Club, and Fidelis Coteri. The Refugee Relief Committee was omitted most likely because it
was an auxiliary of the CWRA.

79. CSYP, June 17, 1945.

8o. Chinese Christian Student, November-December 1933, P. 11.

81. CSYP, June r6, 1945.

8z. San Diego Union, April 17, 1939, P. 3.

83. Chinese Times, March 8, 1945.

84. Lonnie Quan, interview with Genny Lim, August io, i98z, Chinese
Women of America Research Project, Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco.

85. For a discussion of the differential impact of World War II on the various Asian ethnic groups owing to politics and foreign relations, see Ronald
Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore.: A History of Asian Americans (New
York: Little, Brown, 1989), chap. to.

86. Jules Archer, The Chinese and the Americans (New York: Hawthorne
Books, 1976), p. io6; and J. Lee, "A Chinese American," pt. II, p. 169.

87. Helen Pon Onyett, interview with author, January 9, 1983-

88. Time, March 1, 1943, P. z3.

89. Life, March 1, 1943, P. z6.

go. Time, March 1, 1943, P. 23.

91. Chinese Press, April z, 1943, P. z.

92. Fred W. Riggs, Pressure on Congress: A Study of the Repeal of Chinese Exclusion (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950), p. 111.

93. San Francisco Chronicle, October 1z, 1943, P. 4.

94. For a discussion of the negligible impact of repeal on Chinese Americans, see L. Ling-chi Wang, "Politics of Assimilation and Repression: History
of the Chinese in the United States, 1940-1970," chap. 5 (typescript, Asian
American Studies Library, University of California, Berkeley).

95. Rose Hum Lee, "Chinese in the United States Today: The War Has
Changed Their Lives," Survey Graphic: Magazine of Social Interpretation 31,
no. 1o (October 1942): 444.

96. Lonnie Quan, interview.

97. Although internment disrupted family and community life and was an
equally negative experience for Japanese American women as for men, women
did gain some advantages by it. For the first time in their hardworking lives, issei (first generation) women found leisure time to pursue educational classes and
hobbies, while nisei (second generation) women were able to work in nontraditional positions of authority in the camps. In addition, nisei women who resettled outside the camps before the end of the war benefited from their travel,
work, and educational experiences. See Valerie Matsumoto, "Japanese American Women During World War II," Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 8,
no. 1 (1984): 6-14.

98. Tsai, Chinese Experience, p. 117; L. Wang, "Politics of Assimilation,"
pp. 156-57; "Veterans Survey Report," Bulletin, Chinese Historical Society of
America 17, no. 7 (September 1982): 2; Y. K. Chu, History of the Chinese People, p. i z9; and R. Lee, "Chinese in the United States Today," p. 444.

99. Buckley Armorer, February 4, 1944, PP. 1, 4.

too. Midway through the war, the U.S. Army decided to induct Americans
of Japanese ancestry into an all-Japanese combat team. Approximately 25,000
nisei ended up serving in the military, 18,ooo in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In contrast, Chinese American G.I.'s were in both integrated and
segregated units. See, for example, the story of the all-Chinese American
407th Air Service Squadron of the Fourteenth Air Force (Flying Tigers),
which served in the China-Burma-India theater of war. See Christina Lim and Sheldon Lim, "In the Shadow of the Tiger: The 407th Air Service Squadron,"
and Peter Phan, "Familiar Strangers: The Fourteenth Air Service Group Case
Study of Chinese American Identity During World War II," ChineseAmerica:
History and Perspectives 1993, pp. 25-74-, 75-107, respectively.