Curator

Urban, Andy

Curator

Delaney, Pat

Curator

Lopez, Aldo

Curator

Kushner, Aviva

Curator

Robinson, Stephen

Exhibition section

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Lii Yuen Sooy and Jew Goon Jing

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, 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.

Exhibition caption

Forms part of

A letter to the Chinese Inspector in Charge from the Inspector assigned to investigate Jew Goon Jing’s case, summing up the entire investigation process and the outcome of it [page 1 of 2].

When Jew Goon Jing’s applied for a return certificate allowing him to visit China there was an intense investigation that took place to determine the legitimacy of his claim to being a merchant. Jew, Willie Hung (the manager of the firm Sun May Lee & Co.), and three “reputable” white businessmen who shared the building with the firm that employed Jew, were interviewed and all gave sworn statements in regard to his status as a merchant. This was to determine that Jew was not a laborer, which would have barred him from reentering the United States after his visit to China.

Placement in digital exhibition

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