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A letter documenting Lii Yuen Sooy’s business and personal information.

Descriptive

Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO 639-3:2007); (type = text)
English
Subject
Name (authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart (type = personal)
Lii, Yuen Sooy
Subject
Name (authority = local)
NamePart (type = personal)
趙貞彦
Note (type = source note)
Lii Yuen Sooy (Box 94, Case 14, 1157) and Jew Goon Jing (Box 247, Case 47, 206); Chinese exclusion acts case files, 1880-1960; Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85; National Archives and Records Administration – Northeast Region (New York).
Note
The letter was written on November 12, 1898 and signed by the Collector of Customs January 20, 1899.
Extension
DescriptiveEvent
Type
Digital exhibition
Label
Chinese Exclusion in New Jersey: Immigration Law in the Past and Present
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (point = start); (qualifier = exact)
2012
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Urban, Andy
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Delaney, Pat
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Lopez, Aldo
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Kushner, Aviva
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Robinson, Stephen
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition section
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
Lii Yuen Sooy and Jew Goon Jing
Detail
Chinese immigrants to the United States faced many hardships during the early-twentieth century. Many did not speak the language and faced prejudice and suspicion over whether they would be able to assimilate. The Chinese faced many unfair practices that restricted their ability to enter the country, or did not allow them to return if they left.

As merchants however, Lii Yuen Sooy and Jew Goon Jing could use their class position and connections with prominent white Americans in order to prove their permitted status. Lii, for example, provided a letter from James Seymour (see image below), the Mayor of Newark, stating that he was a “highly respected merchant and resident” of the city.

Prior to coming to Newark, Jew Goon Jing resided in Havana, Cuba. Many Chinese immigrants who ended up in the New York City area came from Cuba, where a large Chinese community existed. In the 1850s, sugar planters in Cuba brought Chinese “coolies” – contracted laborers indentured to plantations – to the island. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, a more economically diverse Chinese community had developed in Cuba, and Havana’s “El Barrio Chino” was one of the largest Chinatowns in Latin America.
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition caption
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
A letter documenting Lii Yuen Sooy’s business and personal information.
Detail
In order to go to China for “temporary business purposes,” Lii Yuen Sooy was required by the Chinese Exclusion Act to establish his right to re-enter the country prior to departure. Lii was able to prove to the State of New Jersey that he had resided in the United States for twelve years, working for the past eleven years as a grocery merchant in Newark, New Jersey. He is 5’0 tall, twenty- six years old, and owns an interest in the grocery store worth fifteen hundred dollars. He was able to prove this fact via the sworn statements of two local whites acting as witnesses.
AssociatedObject
Type
Placement in digital exhibition
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
40
TypeOfResource
StillImage
TitleInfo
Title
A letter documenting Lii Yuen Sooy’s business and personal information.
OriginInfo
DateIssued (encoding = w3cdtf); (keyDate = yes); (qualifier = exact)
1898-11-12
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Chinese Americans
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Immigrants
Subject
HierarchicalGeographic
Country
UNITED STATES
State
New Jersey
Subject (authority = lcsh/lcnaf)
Geographic
United States--Emigration and immigration
PhysicalDescription
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
image/x-djvu
InternetMediaType
image/jpeg
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Sooy
NamePart (type = given)
Lii Yuen
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Applicant
Genre (authority = AAT)
forms (documents)
Identifier (type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore00000002171.Document.000065202
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Chinese Exclusion in New Jersey: Immigration Law in the Past and Present
Identifier (type = local)
rucore00000002171
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T37S7MP8
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (AUTHORITY = RU_Archives); (ID = RU_Archives_v2)
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs use of this work. You may make use of this resource, with proper attribution, in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Copyright
Status
Public domain
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
US federal document
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Source

SourceTechnical
SourceType
Text or graphic (paper)
Extent (Unit = page(s))
1
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Technical

ContentModel
Document
MimeType (TYPE = file)
image/tiff
MimeType (TYPE = container)
application/x-tar
FileSize (UNIT = bytes)
25016320
Checksum (METHOD = SHA1)
b520aa59bc045d902cc6bff377efd5b82bb888f7
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