The Wongs of Beloit, Wisconsin
eBook - PDF

The Wongs of Beloit, Wisconsin

  1. 214 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Wongs of Beloit, Wisconsin

About this book

Through family interviews, original photographs, and national records, Beatrice Loftus McKenzie traces the many lives of a resilient multigenerational family whose experiences parallel the complicated relationship between America and China in the twentieth century. In the early 1900s, Charles Wong moved from Guangdong Province to the United States and opened the Nan King Lo Restaurant in Beloit, Wisconsin. Soon after, his wife Yee Shee joined him to build the "Chop House" into a local institution and start a family. When the Great Depression hit, the Wongs shared what they had with their neighbors. In 1938, Charles's tragic murder left Yee Shee to raise their seven children—ages one through fourteen—on her own. Rather than return to family property in Hong Kong, she and her children stayed in Beloit, buoyed by the friendships they had forged during the worst parts of the 1930s. 

The Wongs thrived in Beloit despite facing racism and classism, embracing wartime opportunities, education, love, and careers within the U. S. McKenzie's collaboration with descendent Mary Wong Palmer reveals a poignant story of Chinese immigrant life in the Upper Midwest that adds a much-needed Wisconsin perspective to existing literature by and about Asian Americans. 

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Yes, you can access The Wongs of Beloit, Wisconsin by Beatrice McKenzie in PDF and/or ePUB format. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. List of Illustrations
  3. Introduction
  4. 1. Transnational Migration in the Exclusion Era: Grandfather Wong Doo Set
  5. 2. Immigration and Settlement in Beloit: Charles Wong
  6. 3. Surviving and Thriving in Beloit: Yee Shee Wong
  7. 4. Family, Work, and Wartime Service: Gim, Fung, and George Wong
  8. 5. Part of a National Community: Helen, Harry, Frank, and Mary Wong
  9. 6. Family Reunions: Legacies and Advice for the Next Generations
  10. Epilogue: Return to Mong Dee: Mary Wong Palmer
  11. Appendix
  12. Notes
  13. Index