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The First amongst many, Afong Moy and Anna Could Wong by Anjeanette LeBoeuf


This month’s Herstory Profiles are going to be on two extraordinary, brave, and underrepresented Chinese language Girls. Afong Moy was the primary Chinese language Immigrant to America who discovered fame and mock. Anna Could Wong was the primary Chinese language American Actress who was on the forefront of the ever-changing media and silver display. These two girls are trailblazers, revolutionaries, and have lengthy been regulated as footnotes.

I used to be launched to the historical past of Afong Moy by the theater firm I used to be a previous patron of Artists at Play. Their 2019 West Coast premiere of “The Chinese language Woman” was a shocking two particular person play which chronicles Afong Moy’s time in America. The play was written by Lloyd Suh which interweaves historic information and interpretations on the feelings and experiences of Afong Moy. You’ll be able to watch a scene under.

Afong Moy immigrated to the USA in 1834. Not solely was she the primary ‘official’ Chinese language Immigrant, however she additionally grew to become the primary publicly identified Chinese language Immigrant who would journey the Continental United States and even meet President Andrew Jackson. For 17 years, Afong Moy was a public determine and for many of that point, folks may purchase tickets to stare at her, watch her make tea, even simply to easily observe as she walked throughout a room. Afong Moy skilled the Chinese language Cultural follow of foot binding. *

There may be a lot that we have no idea about Afong Moy or that isn’t recorded by outsiders. We all know she was dropped at the US by the Carnes brothers who have been retailers. Francis and Nathaniel would capitalize on the feeling and novelty of Afong Moy to promote the products** that they have been importing from the “Orient.”***

In direction of the second half of Afong Moy’s public life- she grew to become considerably of an entertainer and sadly very a lot a circus spectacle. She grew to become so common that she would tour the USA for 3 years even touring to Cuba. P.T. Barnum grew to become her supervisor throughout the 1840s. Her acts additionally noticed Afong Moy beginning to interact along with her crowd with and with out an Interpreter. It was in these reveals the place Individuals obtained home windows into life in China, faith in gender, and what it meant to be a Chinese language lady. Her life was one among liminality. She was an immigrant – faraway from her beginning nation, she was single, and all her cash was managed by her managers. This was poignantly depicted within the Lloyd Suh play. Her final look was in April 1850. We by no means hear, see, or study what occurred to Afong Moy after 1850.

Afong Moy’s disappearance additionally got here on the arrival of anti-Chinese language/anti-Asian rhetoric, insurance policies, and therapy. This may culminate with what is going to turn into generally known as “Yellow Peril.” After the passing of the 1882 Chinese language Exclusion Act which barred new immigration from China, outlawed everlasting citizenship from those that already migrated, and even allowed companies and communities to refuse providers, work, and items. Yellow Peril and Anti-Asian hate have been strengthened with stereotypes, sexualization, and tokenization. It’s this panorama of discrimination that we encounter our subsequent main girl.

Anna Could Wong is a prolific artist and actress. She starred in over 60 motion pictures and is the primary Chinese language American star in Hollywood. Over the course of her profession, Anna Could Wong has been thought-about a whole spectrum actor as she starred in Silent movies, tv, and on the stage. Anna Could, whereas enduring numerous instants of discrimination, starred within the first technicolor movie made in Hollywood.

Anna Could Wong was born in Chinatown, Los Angeles in 1905. Her dad and mom named her Wong Liu Tsong, and her American/English title was Anna Could. Anna Could would go to the newly created film units and began to dream about changing into a film star. In 1919, Anna Could went to a casting name for the movie The Pink Lantern the place she was picked for her first position as a background additional. She was nonetheless in class and would proceed to be an additional in movies. On the age of 17, Anna Could dropped out of faculty and obtained her first substantial position within the 1922 movie The Toll of the Sea which was additionally the primary technicolor movie. Anna Could’s love of cinema and her goals inspired her to audition for major roles. Racial stereotypes and discrimination continued to be current for Anna Could as she was by no means solid in major roles. Attributable to racist and Anti miscegenation legal guidelines, interracial marriage and kissing was not allowed to be filmed. This was the primary given motive for Anna Could not being solid in major character roles.  In 1924, Anna Could created her personal manufacturing firm so she may begin making and starring in her personal movies. Sadly, her firm failed as a consequence of horrible enterprise companions.

Anna Could left Hollywood for the European movie scene and higher alternatives. It’s in Europe that Anna Could starred in her first speaking movie, The Flame of Love (1930). She was approached by Paramount Photos to come back again to Hollywood. She would star within the Broadway manufacturing of On the Spot. Whereas she was getting higher alternatives, anti-Asian therapy was nonetheless prevalent. She was requested to painting a Chinese language lady in Japanese costume and motion. She refused. She appeared with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Specific (1932). She would then turn into the primary Asian American to guide a tv present, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951). She handed away in 1961 from a coronary heart assault.

She by no means was capable of obtain the stardom and recognition that she had dreamed about throughout her lifetime. It was solely after her life and many years later that Anna Could’s true stardom was realized. In 2022, it was introduced that the likeness of Anna Could Wong can be put onto the US quarter – making her the primary Asian American to be on US forex.

Afong Moy and Anna Could Wong have been trailblazers within the unknown, in hostile waters, and located methods to turn into shining stars. Whereas their lives appear to have led to sorrow or the unknown, we are able to be sure that their lives, their goals, their braveness just isn’t forgotten and dwell within the daylight.

*Foot Binding was a follow began within the 10th Century that many upper-class households did to their girls. The smaller the foot on a lady, the extra refinement, magnificence, and marriage eligibility. It was an especially painful 2-year process. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/historical past/why-footbinding-persisted-china-millennium-180953971/

**The Carnes brothers would create viewings of Afong Moy the place she would assist to promote, publicize, and sensationalize all points of overseas commerce and life.

***That is an archaic time period and not the proper method to discuss concerning the East; nevertheless, it was the primary time period that was used for over 100 years. The time period additionally was used to explain all the things past Europe.

Extra Sources

Hye Seung Chung, “Hollywood Asian” Temple College Press, 2007.

Jamie Ford “The Many Daughters of Afong Moy” Atria Books, 2022

John Haddad “The Chinese language Woman and China for the Women: Race, Gender, and Public Exhibition In Jacksonian America” Chinese language America: Historical past & Views —The Journal of the Chinese language Historic Society of America (San Francisco: Chinese language Historic Society of America with UCLA Asian American Research Heart, 2011), 5–19.

Leslie Camhi https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/motion pictures/film-a-dragon-lady-and-a-quiet-cultural-warrior.html

Nancy E. Davis “The Lifetime of Afong Moy” https://lithub.com/the-life-of-afong-moy-the-first-chinese-woman-in-america/

Nationwide Girls’s Historical past Museum https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/anna-may-wong

New York Historic Society https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/afong-moy-the-chinese-lady

UCLA Asia Pacific Heart https://www.worldwide.ucla.edu/asia/article/6590

Girls and the American Story https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/anna-may-wong/

Digital Sources

Lloyd Suh “The Chinese language Woman”

Yunah Hong “Anna Could Wong: In Her Personal Phrases”

New York Historic Society Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlQ4C7oNh2k

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