Chinese American History

Views of Chinatown and related neighborhoods in Downtown Los Angeles, approximately 1933
This collection includes 129 black and white photographs of Los Angeles' Old Chinatown and surrounding area. The photos were taken right before the partial demolition of Old Chinatown to make way for Union Station. Photographer is unknown.
Call number: photCL 502

Ernest Marquez photograph collection, 1860-2009 (bulk 1880s-1930s)
Ernest Marquez is a descendant of Mexican land grantees who collected historical photographs on Southern California for over 50 years. This collection contains a small number of photographs on the Chinese in Los Angeles.
Call number: photCL 555

C.C. Pierce collection of photographs, approximately 1840-1930 (bulk 1880-1920)
Charles C. Pierce compiled one of the most important historical photograph collections on Southern California. It contains a small number of Chinese subjects, such as studio portraits of Chinese residents and rare 19th-century photos on Los Angeles' Old Chinatown.
Call number: photCL Pierce

Lisa See Collection, 1881-1910 (bulk 1890s-1900s)
This collection contains glass plate negatives and photographs of Los Angeles’ Old Chinatown and portraits of its residents, most dating from the 1890s to the 1900s.
Call number: photCL 624

Photographs of the Feast of the Dead festival in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, 1902 October
Nine photographic postcards documenting the Chinese community's Feast of the Dead festival in Los Angeles' Old Chinatown, October, 1902. The religious celebration invoked Taoist rituals to honor the dead, and was popularly called the Feast of the Dead, though other translations may be Ta Chiu festival or Dajiao festival.
Call number: photCL 629

Hong Yen Chang papers and addenda, 1879-2016
Widely regarded as the first Chinese lawyer in the US, Chang was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1888. After moving to California in 1890, his request to practice law in California was denied by the state court. In 2015, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously to give a posthumous law license to Chang. This small collection contains both personal and professional papers.
Call number: mssChangpapers 

Chow family collection, 1893-2009
William Jack Chow was an immigration attorney based in San Francisco, California. In 1949, Chow and Jack Wong Sing formed the law office of Chow and Sing in collaboration with Chow’s politically connected older brother, Albert Chow. This collection contains papers related to Chow’s personal and business affairs, but it does not contain documents from the Chow and Sing law office.
Call number: mssChowfamily 

Sherman Fung photograph collection, 1915-1946
This is a small photographic collection documenting Kenneth Y. Fung and his friend You Chung Hong. A set of photographs show their outing to Mount Lowe in the Los Angeles area.
Call number: mssFungPhotographs 

Hong family papers, 1764-2006 (bulk 1906-2006)
You Chung Hong (1898-1977) was a successful Chinese-American immigration lawyer based in Los Angeles, California. He advocated for the immigration rights of Chinese Americans, including making immigration more accessible to the Chinese during the exclusion era. The papers and addenda include material related to his work and interests, plus that of his wife Mabel Hong (1907-1998), who was active in the Los Angeles Chinese community. The Hong family was one of the founding members of Los Angeles' New Chinatown in 1938.
Call number: mssHong family papers 

Hong family papers addenda (1), 1910-2004
See Hong family papers.
Call number: mssHong family papers addenda (1) 

Roger S. Hong Collection, 1936-2001 (bulk 1960-1995)
Roger S. Hong was the younger son of You Chung and Mabel Hong. This collection includes some of Roger Hong’s work as an architect. It also contains earlier drawings by architects Erle Webster and Adrian Wilson on the Los Angeles' New Chinatown, which was constructed in 1938.
Call number: archHong 

Gilbert, Florence, and Leslee See Leong collection, 1870s-1960s
This collection includes the papers of Gilbert Leong (architect, one of the founders of East West Bank, and husband of Florence See Leong), Florence See Leong (Chinatown community leader and wife of Gilbert Leong), and Leslee See Leong (current owner of F. Suie One and daughter of Gilbert and Florence Leong). It also contains the papers from the See family (Lisa See’s book On Gold Mountain was based on this collection) and some early drawings of Chinese American artist Tyrus Wong.
Call number: mssLeong

Peter SooHoo Sr. papers, 1883-2007 (bulk 1923-1945)
Peter SooHoo Sr. was an engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was also an active and prominent member of the Los Angeles Chinese community, particularly in leading the development of Los Angeles' New Chinatown in the 1930s.
Call number: mssSooHoo 

Tom Leung papers, 1900s-1940s
The Tom Leung papers contain documents, photographs, and ephemera related to his family and herbal business in Los Angeles. Born in 1875 in China's Guangdong Province, Tom Leung (aka Tom Cherng How) and his wife Wong Bing Woo immigrated to Los Angeles in or after 1898. Tom Leung started a successful herbalist business catering to both Chinese and non-Chinese clients, while his wife raised three daughters and five sons. One of the children, Lillie Leung, married Peter SooHoo, Sr., founder of Los Angeles' New Chinatown. This collection is uncataloged and currently unavailable to researchers.
Call number: mss [UNCATALOGED]

David and Dora SooHoo family papers, 1910s-1960s
This collection contains personal and professional papers by David W. SooHoo (1911-1970), brother of Peter SooHoo, Sr. Subject areas include the Chinese Presbyterian Church (a popular church in the Chinese community in Los Angeles), Los Angeles’ Old and New Chinatowns, Mei Wah Girls' Drum Corps (David SooHoo served as manager of this group for many years, especially during World War II), and Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.). This collection is uncataloged and currently unavailable to researchers.
Call number: mss [UNCATALOGED]

Lily Lee Chen papers, 1936-2021
Lily Lee Chen was the first ever female Chinese American mayor in the United States. As mayor of Monterey Park, CA, in 1984, Chen fought against the Monterey Park City Council’s effort to approve a proposal that would require all businesses in the city to display English signs. This collection is uncataloged and currently unavailable to researchers.
Call number: mss [UNCATALOGED]

Seid Back, Jr. photograph collection, 1899-1949
This photograph collection (49 photographs) documents the lives, celebrations, and significant events of Seid Back, Jr. (aka Seid Gain Back, Jr. ) (1878-1933). He was the son of Seid Back, an influential and prominent Chinese merchant based in Portland, Oregon. This collection is uncataloged and currently unavailable to researchers.
Call number: phot [UNCATALOGED]

Phoenix Bakery records, 1927-2020

Materials related to the history of Phoenix Bakery, its founder F.C. (Fung Chow) Chan, and head baker Lun F. Chan. Includes documents related to the design and construction of the 969 N. Broadway building; business records; advertisements and press; ephemera including stationery, menus, and employee name tags and clothing patches; photographs; and construction drawings by architect Gilbert Leong and artist Tyrus Wong. Other materials include a small amount of papers related to the founding of East West Bank and some of F.C. Chan's other business interests, and Lun F. Chan's United States Army documents.
Call number: mssPhoenix