Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee:

A Collective Case Study

by

Judy King

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Masters of Education

at

Carroll University Waukesha, Wisconsin

December 2008 A thesis entitled

CHINESE IMMIGRANTS IN MIL WAUKEE:

A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY

submitted to the Carroll University Library in

partial fulfillment of the expectations

and academic requirements of the

degree of Masters of Education

by

Judy King

Date

( I Date

(t) I /olo~ I • Graduate Support Library Liaison, Allison Reeves Grabowski Date

I wish to thank Dr. Wilma Robinson for her inspiration

in launching this research and for her continued support throughout the project.

I wish to dedicate this to the wonderful members of

Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee,

who are my family in Christ.

Last but not least, I wish to thank my husband

Robert King, for his support, not only through the process of obtaining my

Masters of Education, but for all of his love and support in our 37 years together. ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 THE BACKGROUND ...... 2 THE PURPOSE ...... 7 THE SIGNIFICANCE ...... 8 THE OBJECTIVES ...... 11 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...... 13 DEFINITIONS ...... 14 DELIMITATIONS ...... 15 LIMITATIONS ...... 16 OVERVIEW ...... 17 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 19 HISTORY OF CHINESE AMERICANS ...... 20 CHINESE CULTURAL ATTITUDES ...... 32 CHINESE CULTURAL TRADITIONS ...... 38 FAMILY LOYALTY AND RELIGION ...... 46 THE CHURCH’S INFLUENCE IN CHINA ...... 47 THE CHURCH’S INFLUENCE ON CHINESE IN AMERICA ...... 49 CURRENT RESEARCH ON CHINESE CHURCHES IN AMERICA ...... 54 LEARNING TO ADAPT ...... 59 BARRIERS TO LEARNING ...... 66 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ...... 70 RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 70 PARTICIPANTS ...... 72 INSTRUMENTS ...... 75 PROCEDURE ...... 77 DATA ANALYSIS ...... 80 CHAPTER FOUR: CASE STUDIES ...... 82 JENNIE ...... 83 LILLIAN ...... 93 CHARLES ...... 98 DAVID ...... 106 PEARL ...... 113 MINAH ...... 124 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS, ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION ...... 134 WHEN DID THEY COME? ...... 137 WHAT ATTITUDES AND TRADITIONS DID THEY BRING? ...... 141 HOW DID THEY COME TO FORM A CHINESE CHURCH IN MILWAUKEE? ...... 149 HOW DID THEY ADAPT? ...... 155 WHAT WERE THE BARRIERS TO THEIR ADJUSTMENT? ...... 164

iii

DISCUSSION ...... 167 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS ...... 180 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADULT EDUCATORS ...... 182 QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ...... 185 TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE ...... 187 REFERENCES ...... 189 APPENDIX A: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM ...... 198 APPENDIX B: RESEARCH CONSENT FORM ...... 199 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ...... 200 APPENDIX D: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ...... 202 APPENDIX E: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION QUESITONS ...... 203 APPENDIX F: TIMELINE OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION ...... 204

iv

ABSTRACT

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study

by

Judy King

Carroll University, 2008

Under Supervision of Dr. Wilma Robinson

The stories of 6 immigrants of Chinese ancestry, who arrived in Milwaukee from

1912 to 1973, are captured through extensive interviews. They reveal the reasons why they left their homeland, in spite of the risks, and explain how they came to make their home in the Midwest. They detail the difficulties they encountered in this strange new land and remember how they came together as members of a Chinese church. They tell how they learned to adapt to a new culture and what role the church played in that process. Captured in first person narratives, the research compares their stories with those of other cohorts in the literature as well as ten other members of the same church, who were asked to respond to a questionnaire about their immigration experiences.

These accounts of tenacious people, who learned to construct new meaning and create new identities, have important implications to educators and others who work with multicultural populations.

v

LIST OF TABLES & APPENDICES

Interview Responses from Six Case Study Participants ………………………… p. 176

Questionnaire Responses from Ten Participants ………………………………… p. 177

APPENDIX A Participant Consent Form………………………………………… p. 198

APPENDIX B Research Consent Form………………………………………….. p. 199

APPENDIX C Interview Questions………………………………………………. P. 200

APPENDIX D Survey Questionnaire ……………………………………………. P. 202

APPENDIX E Focus Group Discussion Questions……………………………….. p. 203

APPENDIX F Timeline of Chinese Immigration to the United States…………… p. 204

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The population of Chinese Americans in Midwestern cities is relatively small compared to the concentration in larger cities, and information is scarce. According to the United States Census 2000, over half of the Asian population lives in only three states: California, New York, and Hawaii (Barnes & Bennett, 2002). There have been various studies done about Asians in these states, as well as in Seattle and in a few

Canadian cities. Most of these studies concentrated on the Chinese living in

Chinatowns in those cities. Research on Chinese immigrants living in cities where there is no Chinatown is limited. The most comprehensive volume appears to be a dissertation written over 20 years ago by Maurine Huang (1988) for her Doctor of

Philosophy in Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a

Caucasian American whose spouse was from Taiwan; her dissertation is entitled

Chinese Without a Chinatown, a study on the Chinese population in Milwaukee.

When the national oral histories project StoryCorps rolled its mobile recording studio around the country starting in 2003, aiming to record hundreds of thousands of personal stories to archive for generations to come at the Library of Congress, their stop in Milwaukee brought no Chinese. Was the event not well publicized among the

Chinese in Milwaukee? Or are the Chinese simply more private about their histories?

Coincidentally, in 2007, a website named The Milwaukee Chinese Historical

Society was launched “to document and promote the history of Chinese Americans in the Milwaukee area as well as Wisconsin” (Milwaukee Chinese Historical Society

2 webpage, 2007, p. 1) with an aim to set up a permanent exhibit of photographs and to publish a pictorial book. Their attractive website has a blog page, but only one person has submitted any comments, and this was the website administrator extolling the benefits of the website.

The problem is that there is very little information about the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee. If not recorded soon, the stories of Chinese Americans in

Milwaukee will be lost, because many older immigrants, primary sources of rich information, will pass on. In just the past two years, four elderly members of

Community Baptist Church, whose original members were Chinese immigrants, have already passed away. Their personal accounts of how they came to the United States and how they survived and adapted to a new culture may hold precious lessons for other immigrants, historians, educators, and future generations.

The Background

One of the earliest organizations for Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee happened to be a Chinese church. This may seem an oddity, since when one thinks of major religions in China, Christianity is not among them. In 1934 a young Chinese man sought out the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Milwaukee and asked for English lessons

(Chan, 1971). Pastor E. LeRoy Dakin had worked with minority groups and recruited eight teachers to tutor eight young Chinese men on Sunday afternoons. Thus began the

Chinese Sunday School, which included not only English lessons but also social gatherings for Christian holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, which led to religious instruction. The tutors became the main social services resource for the

3 immigrants, and most of the time was spent on helping them adapt to the new culture.

The tutors also provided interpreters and links to health care (Chan, 1971).

According to Chan’s (1971) report, there was a growing need to minister to the increased number of Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee after World War II, and thus, the

Chinese Baptist Mission of Milwaukee was established in 1951. The Wisconsin Baptist

State Convention (now American Baptist Churches Wisconsin) provided support by calling a former missionary to China, Charlotte Cobb, to work with the Chinese immigrants. Chan (1971) wrote that services were held at the First Baptist Church, at 911

East Ogden Avenue, located at the intersection of North Marshall Street and East Ogden

Avenue. According to church documents, Charlotte Cobb, who was fluent in the

Cantonese dialect, conducted Sunday worship services at the east side church in the afternoons. But she offered a multitude of other services during the week, as a language interpreter, social worker, legal aide, and friend to the families who depended on her assistance in acclimating to American life. She drove families to doctor appointments, taught English to those who wanted to apply for U.S. citizenship, filled out immigration papers to help reunite families in China with their loved ones in the United States, aided and even housed women who had been abused, and supported young women who were going through pregnancy for the first time in a strange new country. Thus, many babies of that generation were given biblical English names (J. Lowe, personal communication,

April 30, 1978).

The Community Baptist Church historical papers (2007) remember several people whose untiring volunteer spirit and dedication kept the early mission going. Miss Eva

Johnson taught Sunday School and English for many years. Claudius Vaughn played the

4 piano, taught Sunday School, and gave free piano lessons to several children. Everett and

Lura Newcomb, who had always wanted to be missionaries to China, became missionaries instead to the Chinese in Milwaukee. They helped in a multitude of capacities: teaching Sunday School and English, assisting people in applying for citizenships, driving them to appointments and to church on Sundays, and performing countless other tasks to help the immigrants adapt to American society. Although they did not speak Chinese, one church member said they had a “Chinese heart,” and so they understood even the broken English they heard (J. Lowe, personal conversation, June 29,

1982).

In 1966, the mission was moved to Grace Baptist Church on 34th and Lloyd

Streets in Milwaukee. Charlotte Cobb relocated to the American Baptist Council

headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Daniel Lam came to minister to the Chinese

congregation at that time. A civil engineer professionally, he was a dynamic speaker who

started an active youth group that met regularly for Bible study and social activities. He

served as an interim until Reverend Charles Ho arrived in Milwaukee on March 1, 1966.

According to church documents, besides serving as pastor of the church, Charles

Ho also had several roles and duties with the American Baptist State Convention in

Wisconsin. Reverend Ho speaks the Shanghainese dialect, but most of the congregation

at that time spoke Cantonese. This required the sermons to be translated every Sunday;

the pastor gave the sermon in English, and a Cantonese speaker translated, sentence by

sentence. Under Reverend Ho’s initiative, the congregation relocated to its current building, eliminating the need to rent space from other churches on Sunday afternoons.

On May 17, 1967, the congregation moved to its present location at 120 North 73rd Street

5 in Milwaukee. It was established as the Community Baptist Church and dedicated during a September 1967 service.

In 1977 Reverend Ho started the Golden Age Club as one of several programs of the Asian American Community Center in Milwaukee. The purpose of the center is the following:

to provide social services to the Asian population of the Greater

Milwaukee area, to promote Asian cultures and strengthen Asian identities

through education and community relations, and to establish an

environment which will enhance cross-cultural understanding among

Asians and the community at large. (Asian Community Center scrapbook,

1977, p. 1)

The Golden Age Club serves as a meal site for seniors as well as a social gathering place. Later on, with financial help from the Department of Aging in

Milwaukee County, the senior citizens could meet three times a week and enjoy a nutritious Chinese style lunch, activities, and conversation. Although many could speak

English, they enjoy having the opportunity to converse in their own village dialect. As many of the Chinese in Milwaukee were reaching their “golden years,” this program has

served a need for seniors whose children had grown and moved away or were busy with

their careers.

Reverend Ho ministered faithfully until December 1986 when he officially

retired. He continued to work in the interim capacity until August 1989 when Reverend

Benjamin Chan was called. Under Reverend Chan’s direction, a Chinese School started

6 in 1990 to teach Chinese language to young children. With the help of volunteer teachers, the official Chinese dialect of Mandarin was taught to children each Sunday.

It is interesting to note that this church began as a mission to teach the English language to the adult immigrants, but as the second and third generations of Chinese

Americans emerged, the church saw the need to teach the Chinese language to these children. Other Chinese language schools opened in the Milwaukee area to serve a growing desire for Chinese language instruction, and in 2004, the church decided to end its Chinese School.

In April 1992, Reverend Chan was offered a position with International Ministries at the American Baptist Churches’ national headquarters in Valley Forge. The Reverend

Dr. Grisana Sae-Lae was called to pastor in 1993; she is ethnically Chinese, born and raised in Thailand. In 1994, the congregation, which had previously rented the church building from American Baptist Churches Wisconsin, purchased the building. Reverend

Sae-Lae married in 1996 and remained as pastor until she retired from the ministry in

December 1996.

While searching for a full time pastor, three Caucasian interim pastors served in succession: Reverend Bonnie Bell, Reverend Inga Freyer-Nicholas, and Barrie White.

The church called Joseph Cleverton from Australia to pastor in January 2000. Mr.

Cleverton was ethnically Chinese, born in Thailand, but moved to Australia as a teenager.

Karen Sundland became pastor in August 2001 and served until 2004. In February 2005,

Mark Vincent was called as a consultant and interim pastor for 6 months, and it was at his suggestion that the church continue with a Ministry Team of four persons. Since August

7 of 2005, this team included Hongfar Chantarakasemporn, Anna Wong, Gary Huey, and

Judy King. Judy King is licensed as the pastor and serves as the lay minister.

Since the congregation began, the Chinese community of Milwaukee has grown tremendously, and the makeup of immigrants has changed dramatically. Most new immigrants can speak English quite well and do not require translation. A congregation which was comprised mostly of Chinese restaurant and laundry workers has changed to include mostly people in professional fields. Not all of its members are Chinese, but the church still preserves its Chinese culture and uses bilingual Bibles and hymnals. During worship services, the Lord’s Prayer is recited in English and Chinese, and the scripture is read in both languages. Instead of translating every Sunday, the sermon is only translated once a month, usually on the first Sunday of the month; the sermon is translated from

English to Cantonese or vice versa. On all other Sundays, the sermon is given only in

English.

The Purpose

Adult educators must become culturally aware and receptive in this increasingly diverse society. According to the United States Census Bureau Report 2000 (Barnes &

Bennett, 2002), 11.9 million, or 4.2% of the total population, responded Asian. Asians comprise many different groups, and on the Census 2000, Chinese was the largest detailed Asian group in the United States. About 11.7% of Asians lived in the Midwest, with over 51,000 in Wisconsin. Applications from Chinese students to U.S. graduate schools rose 19% from 2005 to 2006, and China is the second leading country of origin for international students in U.S. graduate schools (Thomas, 2007).

8

Historical research about the Chinese immigrants in the Midwest is scarce. The purpose of this historical study is to bridge this gap and to discover how a group of immigrants from China happened to come to Milwaukee and how they learned to adapt to a new culture. Specifically, it will examine how they came to become members of

Community Baptist Church.

The objectives of this research include:

 Explore reasons for Chinese immigration to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 Examine how Chinese who immigrated in the early to mid-twentieth

century learned to assimilate to a new culture, particularly adults

 Compare their experiences with other cohorts who immigrated within the

same decade

 Discover how this group of adults came together to form a church

community

This investigation will add to previous historical studies of Chinese American groups from more densely populated Chinese communities such as San Francisco, New

York, and Hawaii. It will give a snapshot of Chinese American history by recording the individual self-stories of a small group of Asian immigrants in Milwaukee and how they assimilated.

The Significance

diversity awareness for educators The audience who will benefit from this

effort includes educators, counselors, and other facilitators of learning. In order to be

effective facilitators of learning, adult educators must consider the cultural backgrounds

9 of their students and strive to become more receptive of the different backgrounds.

Educators have a responsibility to raise their awareness so that methods of teaching take cultural influences into consideration.

According to Villegas and Lucas (2002), based on their calculations from

United States Department of Commerce statistics from 1996, the distribution of 5 to 19- year-old Asians in this country will more than double from 3.6 % of all ethnic groups in

1995 to 7.8 % in 2035. Applications from foreign Chinese students to graduate schools in the United States rose 19 % from 2005 to 2006, and China is the second leading country of origin for international students in U.S. graduate schools (Thomas, 2007).

Because of the changes in demographics in this country and the challenges in educating a diverse population, educators have been required to take multicultural education courses. These courses are an honest attempt to increase awareness, but they are not adequate to fully prepare educators for the rapidly changing population. On top of this, the teachers are becoming more homogenous as the students are becoming more diverse, according to Villegas and Lucas (2002). These authors urge educators to have:

sociocultural consciousness, that is, those who recognize that the ways

people perceive the world, interact with one another, and approach

learning, among other things, are deeply influenced by such factors as

race/ethnicity, social class, and language. This understanding enables

teachers to cross the cultural boundaries that separate them from their

students…. [They should also be] familiar with their students’ prior

knowledge and beliefs, derived from both personal and cultural

experiences. (p. xii)

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acceptance of all individuals Besides educators, people in all professions may gain something from this study, since all areas of commerce and industry need to interact with an increasingly diverse population. Persons from all walks of life need to acknowledge the following basic concepts of individuality outlined by Locke (1998):

1. All individuals are like all other individuals, since they are all part of the

human race and share many basic qualities.

2. All individuals are like some other individuals because of membership in a

similar cultural group.

3. All individuals are like no other individual because each differs biologically

and socially, and each individual has his/her own unique experiences. (pp.xiv-

xv)

sharing stories In addition to the significance for others, the participants in this research may also see benefits (Creswell, 2008): “sharing their stories may make them feel that their stories are important and that they are heard” (p.512). Getting stories on paper allows participants to take part in creating something for the larger community.

Since all of the participants in the case studies are over 50 years old, according to

Erikson’s (1964) psychological theory, generativity expands at this stage in life. This means the older adult has an increased desire to extend oneself to the larger group, to leave a legacy (Berk, 2003). According to Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs, when the lower needs of physical and emotional well-being are met, then higher order needs of recognition and appreciation are sought.

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future generations of Chinese Americans Since there is scant literature on the

Chinese in Milwaukee, and the original immigrants are now aging, this history may be

lost to the future generations of these immigrants if not captured soon. Second and third

generations of immigrants tend to lose the ability to speak their ethnic languages, further

cutting off access to stories from those who do not speak English. Another reason for the

urgency to record some of these stories is that the colloquial dialects of many of these

immigrants are slowly diminishing in usage and may soon disappear, since Mandarin is now the official dialect China. The Chinese spoken language is different from the written, so the oral histories cannot be captured on paper or in a word document in their original forms.

trend towards mega churches Yet another reason for the urgency to capture these

historic case studies is because older ethnic churches are slowly dwindling as the

population and neighborhoods change. Many smaller churches are closing as the current

trend favors mega-churches with numerous programs and ministry opportunities

(Hartford Seminary website). Second and third generation Chinese Americans tend not

to join groups based on their ethnic heritage (Huang, 1988).

The Objectives

In view of the lack of documented history of the Chinese population in

Milwaukee and the urgency to do so, the purpose of this inquiry is to bridge the gap of

knowledge and explore how a group of immigrants from China came to this city and

learned to adapt to a new culture. Specifically, it will capture a few of the personal

12 stories via six case studies and examine why this particular group settled in Milwaukee, how they learned to adapt to a new culture, and how they became Americans and members of Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee.

The objectives of this research include:

 Explore reasons for Chinese immigration to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 Examine how these Chinese immigrants learned to assimilate to a new culture

 Compare their experiences with other cohorts who immigrated within the same

decade

 Discover how this group of adults came together to form a church community

 Determine what role, if any, the church played in assisting their adaptation

This research will add to previous historical studies of Chinese American groups from more densely populated Chinese communities such as San Francisco, New York, and

Hawaii. It will give a snapshot of Chinese American history by recording the individual self-stories of a small group of Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee and how they assimilated. By recording the individual stories of a small group, this study will help to inform educators, English language instructors, counselors, and others. This inquiry may be valuable for anyone who will need to work with people from a minority culture. It may also be useful for those who may find themselves in the minority within a dominant culture and need to find ways to adapt.

Research Questions

The United States has been known as a “melting pot” of different nationalities.

The Latin words inscribed on a dollar bill “e pluribus unum” mean “out of many, one” or

“one nation from many people” (U.S. Treasury website). We know that except for the

Native Americans, every other American immigrated to this country, or their ancestors did. The Chinese have been immigrating to this country for many decades. Why did so many take such a huge risk of leaving their homeland, families, and their familiar surroundings? Family ties and ancestral lines are important in Chinese culture (Hoobler,

1994), so why would a Chinese person travel almost 8,000 miles away from their home to an unfamiliar place? What were the obstacles they faced? Have they faced discrimination? How did they learn to cope with it? Without knowing the language perhaps, or without knowing how to obtain basic necessities such as food and medical care, how did they learn to adapt? In order to survive, they must have had to learn quickly. How did they go about seeking the knowledge and skills needed to survive in a different culture? Do their learning approaches match adult learning theories?

Since Christianity is not the dominant religion in China, this research will explore how this group became Christians. If they were Christians in China, did they experience any persecution for their faith? If they were Christians in the United States, did they experience isolation from other Chinese immigrants who were not Christian? How did they happen to become members of a Chinese church? How did Community Baptist

Church get its start? Was this church an important learning community? In researching the literature on Chinese immigrants in other parts of the country, this work will seek to 14 compare the experiences of those in Milwaukee with other Chinese immigrants in other parts of the country.

Definitions

In describing the Chinese immigrant experience, certain terms need to be identified and explained.

ethnic group: a group that (Locke, 1998, p. xiv)

 is different and less powerful than the dominant group

 is recognized as different by the dominant group

 has a cultural heritage

culture: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial,

religious, or social group; also the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and

practices that characterizes an institution or organization (Merriam-Webster).

It can also include language, economic and political structures, life stages and

communication styles (Creswell, 2008).

Chinese American: a person who is either a naturalized United States citizen or a

citizen by birth, whose ancestors were born in China. This person may have

been born in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines,

Viet Nam, Panama, Venezuela, Cuba, the United States, or any other nation in

the world. It is important to note that Chinese immigrants from different parts

of the world may have the same heritage but may not be able to speak to each

other. Even those who were born in China before the latter half of the

twentieth century, who were from different parts of China, may not be able to

15

communicate with one another verbally, since there are many different

dialects. The far-thinking first emperor of China mandated one written

language, which helped to unify this diversity. After the Communist

government in the 1950s declared Mandarin as the official dialect of China,

all schoolchildren were required to learn Mandarin, so there is now a unifying

spoken language also (Chang, 2003). adaptation: the process or state of changing to fit a new environment or different

conditions, or the resulting change (Encarta)

assimilation: the process in which one group takes on the cultural and other traits

of a larger group (Encarta)

acculturation: a change in the cultural behavior and thinking of a person or group

of people through contact with another culture (Encarta)

Delimitations

This research will be delimited to the following:

 There will be 6 participants interviewed for the case studies, ages ranging from 50

to 96, four females and two males, all members of Community Baptist Church.

 The participants were born outside of the United States and of Chinese ancestry.

 The participants immigrated to the United States.

 The participants have different educational levels.

 The short survey will include 10 participants who are members of Community

Baptist Church, of Chinese ancestry, and also immigrated to the United States.

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 This study will be conducted over a period of 10 months between December 2007

and October 2008.

Limitations

This research is limited to the following:

 The sample size (n = 6) is small, necessitating caution in forming generalizations

about the entire Chinese population in Milwaukee and the almost 3 million

Chinese American immigrants in the United States.

 The timeframe to conduct these interviews and complete this research is relatively

short to capture the stories of a lifetime of experiences.

 Several original members and older congregants of this church have already

passed away, including two who reached the age of 103.

 The 6 participants in the case studies are all part of an older immigrant

population, and therefore, their reasons for immigrating and the experiences they

encountered may be quite different from newer immigrants.

 Although all of the participants are alert and relatively healthy, the interview

questions will ask for past memories, which may have faded over the years or

may be too painful to recall. All participants will be informed of their right to not

answer any question, and they may withdraw from participation at any time.

 The researcher/participant is in a nonneutral position in recording the case studies

and interpreting the field texts. As a Chinese American herself, whose parents

were immigrants, she is not merely an “objective” observer. As a young girl, she

attended the church which started as the Chinese Baptist Mission, and since

17

August 2005, she has been serving as its lay minister. The participants, members

of the church congregation, are not merely items for study; they are dear friends.

Any interpretations or analysis of the literature and data will be colored by her

perspectives and background. However, since this research aims to record the

participants’ stories, the personal connection between researcher and participant

may be an advantage rather than a limitation.

 This research does not address the immigration issues currently being debated on

the federal and state levels of government.

Overview

In Chapter Two, a review of the literature will be presented. Studies of Chinese immigrants to the United States, Chinese Americans past and present, the Chinese in

Milwaukee, and Chinese Christians will be explored. In Chapter Three, an outline of the methodology will be laid out. The design, the participants, instruments, the procedure, and data analysis tools will be detailed. In general, data will be collected in three ways.

Six participants will be interviewed individually, a survey will be conducted with a larger population (n = 10) of participants who are immigrants to the United States, and a focus group discussion will be held with the original 6 participants. In Chapter Four, the stories of 6 participants will be captured based on interviews with them. An analysis of the findings, along with the results of the short survey and the focus group will be discussed in Chapter Five. Chapter Six will include a summary, conclusions, recommendations for adult educators, questions for further study, and implications for future policies.

18

This process, through the stories that will be captured, will provide evidence of the uniqueness, and at the same time, the similarities in the human experience. The Asian writer/director Greg Pak, in discussing his award-winning movie Robot Stories, cites movie actor/producer Spike Lee, with this wisdom: “that the more specific something is, the more universal it can become” (Pak, 2005, p.110). In relating specific case studies of a small group of immigrants, this research hopes to illustrate the universal human struggle to adapt and survive.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

In order to study how Chinese immigrants learned to adapt to a new culture, this literature review looks at the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States. When and how did they come to this country? What were the obstacles to their adjustment?

What attitudes and traditions did they bring? What attitudes did they encounter here?

Did the experience change their identity? How did a group of Chinese immigrants come to form a church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? How did religion affect the immigrants’ lives? Were other Chinese churches formed the same way? Finally, what adaptive strategies did immigrants apply to cope with the sudden and complete change in their environment?

The first part of this review of the literature will explore Chinese immigration history, describing the various phases of immigration over time and whether these phases are tied to the reasons for immigration and the types of immigrants who ventured to the

United States. It will investigate how events in American history affected what the immigrants experienced during each of the different phases of immigration.

Next, this review will give an overview of Chinese culture and traditions that the immigrants brought to this country. The third part of this investigation will explore the religious beliefs and practices of Chinese immigrants. Lastly, this review will explore adaptive strategies of immigrants and how these link with adult learning theories.

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History of Chinese Americans

Leaving one’s home to venture across thousands of miles into an unknown environment is not an easy endeavor. In her study of Chinese in America, Betty Lee Sung

(1967) cited several reasons that might have deterred any Chinese from leaving China.

Sung claimed that humans are basically creatures of habit and “are inclined to stay where they are and endure what they must, rather than strike out for uncertainty and the unknown” (p. 10). According to the author, the Chinese imperial government had strict laws against emigration until 1860, and violators risked being beheaded if caught. Sung also thought Chinese culture would compel the Chinese to stay put. A tenet of Chinese culture, based on Confucian teachings, is that of filial piety. Sons were required to honor and care for their parents, so to leave them for years at a time meant to fail in their duties as devoted offspring. In addition to laws prohibiting emigration and the custom of staying home to care for parents, Sung also mentioned that the fare for passage to the

United States was prohibitive for many Chinese in those early years.

Yet tens of thousands of these first Chinese immigrants left their homes and risked their lives to reach “Gum Shan” or “Gold Mountain,” their name for the United

States. In her extensive study The Chinese in America, Iris Chang (2003) grouped

Chinese immigration history into three phases which she called “waves.” The first wave began in 1849 with the California Gold Rush and ended around 1941, when the United

States sided with China and declared war on Japan. The second wave started around

1941 and extended to the 1970s, and the third wave occurred during the last two decades of the twentieth century.

21

Maurine Huang (1988) also grouped Chinese immigration into three phases, which roughly correspond with Chang’s dates, and called the first phase (1880s to 1940s) the “Early Years.” Since Huang’s study focused on the Chinese immigrants in

Milwaukee, her first phase starts later than Chang’s, since the Chinese did not migrate from the coast inland to the Midwest until the 1880s.

Buenker & Ratner (2005) broke Chinese American history into six time periods.

They divided Chang’s first wave into two periods: the Sojourner Period (1850 to 1868) and the Settler Period (1868 to 1875). During the Sojourner Period, Chinese immigrants intended to work in California’s gold mines only long enough to “strike it rich” and then return to their homes and families in China. The Settler Period is marked by several legal changes, intended mainly for the newly freed slaves after the Civil War. In 1868, the 14th

Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteed “equal protection under the law” to all persons living in the country. The authors did not report the numbers of

Chinese settlers during this period, which would warrant them calling this the Settler

Period. But perhaps more immigrants stayed for longer periods as they found steadier work with the Central Pacific Railroad Corporation, on the farms in California (Chang, I.,

2003), or in the South after the slaves were freed (Katkin, 1998). This review of the literature will divide Chinese immigrant history into three phases, following roughly the same time partitions as Iris Chang (2003).

the first phase Why would those first Chinese risk their lives, leave their families,

and gamble their savings to come to the United States? According to Sung (1967), the

first immigrants came out of desperation, mostly from the southern province of

22

Guangdong and particularly from the village of Toishan. Situated on the southern border of China, Guangdong had access to merchant fleets and trading ventures. Toishan had little cultivatable land, and after several natural disasters of flooding and typhoons, the villagers faced overwhelming poverty. In addition, Huang (1988) reported that civil turmoil during the Taiping Rebellion hit hardest in the southern regions of China.

In order to escape from a lifetime of poverty and even starvation, the desperate villagers saw an opportunity to save their families and themselves by going abroad.

When a few brave souls crossed the ocean to North America and came back reporting the prospects of gold, more and more Chinese saw this as a chance to get out of their miserable condition. Although Sung (1967) gave several reasons why the Chinese would not choose to leave their homeland, adversity can cause people to act outside the norm. Part of an Arabian proverb says: “…he who has hope, has everything”

(Inspirations, 1994). People will go to great lengths to find hope, and so the Chinese did.

These early immigrants were called “Gum Shan hok,” or “guests of Gold

Mountain.” They sent back a portion of their earnings to their families, which Sung

(1967) noted, was enough to enable a comfortable lifestyle in the village. “Toishan became one of the most prosperous districts in China (p.16),” claimed Sung. The funds remitted by the Chinese laborers in the United States were enough to build schools, a library and railroads. The goal of these sojourners was to accumulate enough money to enable them to return to China and retire with relative status and wealth. However, not many achieved this goal.

These early immigrants faced many problems with climate and persecution and a loss of identity. According to sociologist Rose Hum Lee (1960), the climate was much

23 colder in certain parts of California than in southern China, and the early Chinese wore only two-piece cotton outfits. Another problem was the hostility from European immigrants, who considered the Chinese competitors for resources and jobs. Huang

(1988) reported widespread persecution and anti-Chinese movements, including rioting against the Chinese in the late 1800s. This drove the Chinese in California to live in a compact area, forming a tightly-knit community and creating relative safety in numbers.

This community eventually became the well-known San Francisco Chinatown, and according to Huang (1988), this enclave had a population of 30,000 by the late 1880s.

Another problem the Chinese immigrant suffered was a loss of identity. Lee

(1960) describes this loss:

The Chinese sojourner remains outside the general social system and lives

a restricted life, until he finds an opportunity to return to China where he

truly lives and is another social being. This dual existence contributes to

his sense of non-belongingness in both societies, a fact seldom admitted

by the sojourner. As one with unusual insight said of himself, ‘I have one

foot in this country and one foot…in China.’ (p. 71)

In spite of the problems, Chinese immigration continued and was even promoted

by the America government. In 1860 American diplomat Anson Burlingame was sent to

China to advance trade dealings between the two countries (Sung, 1967). In 1866 he

negotiated a treaty with the Imperial Court of China, assuring terms long sought by the

United States. It guaranteed travel privileges between China and the United States “for

the purpose of curiosity, of trade or as permanent residents” (Sung, p. 47). Buenker and

24

Ratner (2005) reported that this treaty greatly increased the number of immigrants coming from China, and especially the number of females.

The open door policy of the 1860s, however, was eventually closed with not just one, but fourteen pieces of legislation between 1880 and 1924 aimed at excluding

Chinese (Sung, 1967, p. 53). Buenker and Ratner (2005, p. 83) called this period the

“Period of Exclusion’s Dominance.” They reported that Democratic congressman Horace

Page pushed through the Page Act in 1875, barring Chinese laborers and prostitutes from entering the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 established the widest restrictions, prohibiting all Chinese except for merchants, diplomats, and students

(Hoobler & Hoobler, 1994).

In the early 1900s, scarce economic opportunities and growing hostility towards

Chinese laborers forced Chinese to find work almost exclusively in service occupations.

Huang (1988, p. 74) referred to 1930 census figures: out of 4,106 Chinese workers, 24% worked in laundries, 14% in restaurants, and 24% as domestics. It was during this time from the late 1870s to the early 1900s that Chinese began migrating from the West Coast to the Midwest and the East, hoping for more opportunities and less persecution.

Huang (1988) reported that the growing center of industry and commerce in

Milwaukee during this time attracted immigrants from many different countries, each settling in their own communities within the city. The early Chinese immigrants to

Milwaukee mostly settled in the downtown area near the Milwaukee River. The increasing opportunities in the Midwest brought more immigrants in a phenomenon that

Huang called “chain migration” (p. 81). The Chinese reported to their families and clan members in China about the economic opportunities in the States, and consequently,

25 many people with the same surname flocked to America and mostly lived in the same area. Huang reported a large number of early immigrants having the surname “Moy” in

Milwaukee and Chicago.

In spite of the laws to exclude Chinese from entering the United States, many found ways to enter the country anyway. Sung (1967) justified this by pointing out the unfairness of the laws aimed at only Chinese immigrants, arguing that “nonviolent civil disobedience” (p. 96) is a valid response. This reaction, she continued, “has been advocated by some of the foremost thinkers and leaders in the world” (p. 96). One way to gain entry into the United States was to claim to be the son of either a returning merchant or a U.S. citizen (Chang, I., 2003 & Lee, M., 2006). Chang reported that the

San Francisco earthquake in 1906 completely destroyed the Chinatown and all of its records, which opened an opportunity for the Chinese to claim they were born in the

United States. When these “native born citizens” returned to China on business or for a family visit, they would register with American officials upon return that they had fathered at least one son, whether they had done so or not, creating “slots” for prospective

Chinese males to emigrate (Chang, I., 2003). Carlyle Chan (1971), in his study of the

Chinese American family, listed an increase of about 45% in the Chinese population in

Wisconsin between 1920 and 1930, which calculates to a period 14 to 24 years after the

San Francisco earthquake. Is it merely a coincidence that this time span corresponds to the age when a young man would be old enough to be sent abroad to find employment opportunities and perhaps to claim one of the “slots” and immigrate to this country as a

“paper son”?

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This population of Chinese in Wisconsin increased despite several discriminatory laws. The Immigration Act of 1924 prohibited Chinese American citizens from bringing wives and children to the United States and sentenced the Chinese men in America to a life of forced bachelorhood, creating the “mutilated family” (Sung, 1967, p.156). In addition to this injustice was the Expatriation Act of 1907, which further hindered the

Chinese from settling and creating a home life in this country by stripping the citizenship of any American-born woman who married a Chinese immigrant (Buenker & Ratner,

2005). To emphasize the unfairness of these exclusion laws, Sung detailed the impact:

“In 1924, when the last of the exclusion acts was enacted against the Chinese, 89,336

Mexicans, 59,490 Britishers, and 20,918 Russians or Baltic states subjects were admitted against 6,992 Chinese” (p. 53).

Do the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee have family connections to the sojourners who came during the Gold Rush or during the building of the transcontinental railroad? Did the exclusion laws affect them or members of their families? Do they have any ancestors affected by the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906? Have any of them ever lived in a Chinatown? Why did they come to settle in the Milwaukee area?

the second phase In July of 1937, Japan invaded China with full force, launching

a war that would last eight years and take the lives of 35 million Chinese (Chang, I.,

2003, p. 216). The Toishan district was the hardest hit, as Japanese troops captured what meager cropland there was to feed their own troops. Communication was cut off between the men in America and their family members, who depended upon the remittances from the United States for survival. At the midpoint of this war, on

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December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war as it joined China against Japan. Sentiments toward the Chinese turned in their favor, thus

Chang marked 1941 as the start of the second wave of Chinese immigration. Just a couple of weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, Time magazine published an article entitled

“How to Tell Your Friends from the Japs” (Chang, I., p. 223). Almost immediately, efforts to overturn the exclusion laws began, and in 1943, Chinese immigrants were allowed to enter the country. The annual quota was only 105, but Chang thought the most significant part of the new legislation was to allow foreign-born Chinese to become naturalized citizens for the first time.

In 1945, the War Brides Act allowed Chinese American soldiers to bring their wives and children to the States, and Sung (1967, p. 85) reported that from 1948 to 1953, almost every Chinese immigrant who came was a young woman, some with young children. Chang (2003, p. 234) estimated that about 6,000 Chinese American soldiers brought brides to the United States by the time this act ended on December 30, 1949. She believed that the new brides and new births in this country had an effect on the enormous population growth of ethnic Chinese during the 1940s, increasing from 77,000 to

117,000.

During this second phase, another major historical event affected Chinese immigrant history. When Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s

Republic of China on October 1, 1949, multitudes of Chinese sought to escape the

Communist regime and political persecution. Many fled for Hong Kong and Taiwan. By

December of that year, Commander of the Nationalist Party, Chiang Kai-shek, left mainland China with his remaining troops, and escaped to the island nation of Taiwan

28

(Chang, I., 2003). The Communist takeover of China in 1949 brought different types of

Chinese immigrants to the United States. Officials, professionals, businessmen, and other “anti-Communist elites,” along with students on scholarships came during this second phase and settled in college towns and suburbs (Chang, p. ix). Huang (1988, p.

130) called the influx of the thousands of students who entered the United States, who had fully intended to return home, but who eventually opted to stay in America, the

“Brain Drain.” About 5,000 highly educated Chinese in the United States in 1949, Huang reported, were left stranded after the Communist takeover. In addition to the new educated and wealthy immigrants, Chang also found another group of immigrants who arrived during this second phase: political refugees. These less educated and poorer refugees ended up in Chinatowns and worked for meager wages in factories, restaurants, and laundries.

The different groups of Chinese immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s created a

“bipolar Chinese community in America, sharply divided by wealth, education, and class” (Chang, I., 2003, p. x). Rose Hum Lee (1960) pointed out other differences between the two groups, stressing the language division. The students and intellectuals were mostly from the northern provinces and spoke variations of the Mandarin dialect, the speech associated with higher social status. The southerners spoke Cantonese and its derivatives. Huang (1988) similarly found a conflict between two groups of Chinese in

Milwaukee during what she called “The Transition Years” from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s:

Wives and children of laundry workers were immigrating and bringing

with them new resources and new needs.… Many resorted to opening

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restaurants.…the Communist takeover of the Chinese mainland, and the

Brain Drain brought to Milwaukee a wave of Chinese who differed

radically from earlier Chinese residents, in that these new settlers had

educational and financial resources far surpassing those of the earlier

immigrants and they came from Shanghai, Peking, Taiwan and elsewhere,

and did not regard the Toyshanese laundry and restaurant workers as their

equals. (pp. 55-56)

[Note: Toishan is the accepted United States Postal Service spelling, but it has been alternately written as Toyshan, which is the spelling Huang used.]

Many of the new settlers to Milwaukee during this phase had higher education

and wealth than the Toishanese laundry and restaurant workers, and according to Huang,

did not intermingle much. In her dissertation, Huang found that the distinctions still existed during her time of study and classified the Chinese immigrants into three separate groups: the Intellectuals, the Restaurant People, and the Taiwanese. By the 1980s, many of the immigrants from the island nation of Taiwan were young men and women who had been born and raised in a generation separated from mainland China, and thus, they did not regard themselves as Chinese but Taiwanese.

In order to explain the conflict among Chinese immigrants, Rose Hum Lee (1960) posits that the thousands of students, who were admitted to the United States in order to help China with postwar recovery, suffered severe trauma. The students came enthusiastically with the mission of obtaining a college degree from an American institution, which would assure them of esteemed status and professional career

30 opportunities when they returned to China. However, the Communist regime left them stranded in a foreign country. According to Lee, the stranded students suffered

“financial, occupational, family, or emotional problems” (p. 104). After living through eight years of war in China, having their education disrupted, losing their homeland, realizing their hopes and dreams were shattered, and living in a society that did not fully welcome them, Lee described it thus: “It is as if one’s roots were cut ... and they would have to learn a new set of behavior patterns, norms, expectations and values, in order to adapt themselves to the American social milieu” (p. 105).

How did these stranded Chinese immigrants respond? Lee (1960) classified one manifestation as “identification reaction” (p. 111). She held that this response is common among people seeking to assimilate into an existing society. It occurs when people are forced to be with others of similar backgrounds whom they do not accept as equals. With the different groups of Chinese immigrants, this reaction occurred, as Lee noted: “Hence,

Chinese students and intellectuals took great pains to distinguish themselves, either by word or deed, from the native-born of Chinese ancestry and the sojourners with lower education” (p. 112). She reported that certain Chinese Americans were called “low class” or “chopsuey people” by those stranded intellectuals.

Were any of the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee affected by the War Brides

Act? Did any of them emigrate in order to escape Communist China? Do the Chinese immigrants recall the conflict of those Transition Years? Do they perceive that there are still distinct groups among the Chinese?

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the third phase A significant piece of legislation had an enormous affect on

Chinese immigration in 1965. Chang (2003) reported a new Immigration and Nationality

Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson that put an end to racial discrimination by

allowing each independent nation a quota of twenty thousand per year. She also reported

that initially the Taiwanese made up most of this quota, and when the United States

opened up diplomatic relations with mainland China, China and Taiwan were each given

quotas of twenty thousand. A separate quota of 600 was later given to Hong Kong.

Wives, minor children, and parents of American citizens could enter outside of these

quotas.

Although Huang (1988) started her third phase of Chinese immigrants in 1965

with the landmark Immigration Act in that year, Chang (2003) began her second “wave”

in the 1980s. Buenker and Ratner (2005) began the last phase in 1975, citing the

groundbreaking visit by President Richard Nixon to China in 1972 as easing into this new

era of Chinese immigrants’ “Movement into Mainstream Society” (p.89). Since 1965,

Chang (2003, p. 265) reported the ethnic Chinese population in the United States would almost double every decade, and this third huge wave brought Chinese immigrants from all backgrounds.

Many came, and are still coming, for the educational and economic opportunities in the United States. In the 1980s, Newsweek ran an article with the headline “Model

Minority” (Chang, I., 2003, p. 328), citing the number of Chinese Americans who won

National Merit Scholarships and Westinghouse Science Talent Search awards. Major

universities gained nicknames, such as “Made in Taiwan” for MIT, “University of

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Caucasians Lost in Asians” for UCLA, and “University of Chinese Immigrants” for UCI

(the University of California at Irvine).

As in the earlier periods, another historical and political event in China affected

Chinese immigrants in the United States. After the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989,

President George H. W. Bush signed an executive order to allow all Chinese nationals to stay in the United States (Chang, I., 2003). The Chinese Student Protection Act in 1992 further authorized more than fifty thousand students and scholars to gain permanent residency in this country. The Tiananmen incident drew attention to the political volatility in China and Hong Kong, and many more people sought to leave.

Did the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee follow the pattern of these three

“waves” of immigrants? Did they come for the same reasons that their cohorts did? Did they come under the same circumstances that have been reported by other studies done on

Chinese immigrants?

Chinese Cultural Attitudes

When we attempt to discover how people acquire new learning, it is important to find out about their previous learning. In the book How People Learn, Bransford and his colleagues (1999) noted:

One aspect of previous knowledge that is extremely important for

understanding learning is cultural practices that support learners’ prior

knowledge. Effective teaching supports positive transfer by actively

identifying the relevant knowledge and strengths that students bring to a

learning situation and building on them. (p. 66)

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In order to determine how Chinese immigrants learned to adapt to a new culture in the

United States, we need to look at the attitudes and traditions they brought with them. This section will look at the cultural attitudes that Chinese immigrants brought with them, which may have helped or hindered their adjustment to life in America.

It is not easy to lump all Chinese people together, as the single tie they have is to a geographic body called China. It is obvious that the over 36 million people of Chinese ancestry (Ng, 1998) are not homogeneous in background, language, social class, or experiences. Chinese immigrants can be from southern and northern Chinese provinces; from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, or other regions; and speak one or several of over one hundred Chinese dialects or none at all if they were raised outside of China.

They may be peasants, laborers, business men or women, artists, students, or professionals.

Despite all of the differences, Chinese immigrants brought some general characteristic traits with them. Chang (2003) identified a few of these traits: “reverence for education, hard work, thriftiness, entrepreneurship, and family loyalty” (p. x). Other authors noted additional cultural behaviors such as conformity and an attitude of superiority. Do the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee agree with or exhibit some of these behaviors and attitudes that the researchers reported?

reverence for education Practically every researcher found that the Chinese

stressed the importance of education. The Chinese philosopher Confucius laid down his

teachings about 2500 years ago, and a few centuries after his death, all Chinese

government authorities had to pass a series of open exams on Confucian literature in

34 order to achieve their prestigious posts (Hoobler, 1994). This merit system supposedly allowed an egalitarian society, and children were motivated to study diligently in order to rise to the highest ranks of society. Helen Zia (2000) recalled how her father continually reminded his children of the long-established method of advancement by studying hard and pressed on them that this was a Chinese conception.

In her study, Iris Chang (2003) found that the unrestricted opportunity to study and advance in ancient China was not completely accurate. She believed that only certain people were allowed to take the tests, and women were completely denied access to them. The wealthier families could hire tutors for their sons, giving them an edge to passing the demanding exams. Despite this inequity, the idea that education is the means to gain status has been passed along through generations of Chinese.

The emphasis on educational achievement by Asian students has been highlighted by several journalists. John Kuo Wei Tchen (1998) noted a New York Times front page story in 1988, which celebrated Asian “whiz kids” distinguished by the fact that all eleven finalists of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search were Asians. He also cited another New York Times article on Asian students by Fox Butterfield in 1986: “Asian students work harder, they try to meet the expectations of their families, they come from cultures that value education and self-improvement, they come from the ‘cream of the societies’ in which they originate, and maybe it’s in their genes.” Did the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee also value education? How did the children of the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee fare in educational achievements?

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superiority Author L. Ling-chi Wang (1998) claimed that before the 1960s, the

Chinese in America seldom thought of themselves as a racial minority. Most Chinese

immigrants who came during the first wave and most of the second wave did not discard

their cultural identity and assimilate completely into the mainstream society. One of the

reasons for non-assimilation may be what Lucian Pye (1968) found about the Chinese

immigrants that he studied in different parts of the world: “a profound, unquestioned,

generally unshakable identification with historical greatness” (p. 50). China could boast the longest lasting political system in history with an established culture for thousands of years. He asserted: “The Chinese see such an absolute difference between themselves and others that even when living in lonely isolation in distant countries they unconsciously find it natural and appropriate to refer to those in whose homeland they are living as ‘foreigners’ ” (p. 56). He argued that this feeling is so pervasive that the

Chinese do not even realize when they are acting superior to others.

In her autobiography, Jade Snow Wong (1950, p. 68) related a time in elementary school when a young boy confronted her after school hours, threw erasers at her, called her “yellow Chinaman” and chanted: “Chinky, chinky, no tickee, no washee, no shirtee!”

Wong’s reaction was not one of indignation, but she merely thought the boy was

“tiresome and ignorant.” Her reasoning was: “Everyone knew that the Chinese people had a superior culture.” She recalled how the Chinese invented the compass, gunpowder, paper, and created great contributions to art even before the rest of the world could be called civilized. She rationalized that the young boy probably could not help being the way he was, because her mother said the foreigners did not even know how to peel a clove of garlic correctly. Did the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee feel this superiority?

36

Has this feeling changed for those who have lived in the United States for a length of time?

conformity Confucius delineated a set of rules and guidelines for conduct and

propriety for the common people (Chang, L., 1984). It was his philosophy that if all

people obeyed these rules of conduct, then there would be peace and harmony in the

world. Pye (1968) observed in his book The Spirit of Chinese Politics: A Study of the

Authority Crisis in Political Development that Chinese children are brought up to obey strict rules for proper personal conduct. They are to constantly respond to reminders for correct behavior. Concurring with Pye that conformity dominates Chinese society, Chun-

Hoon (1973), in an essay on Chinese-American identity, wrote: “Whether they are reactionary traditionalists or revolutionary modernizers, the Chinese are, above all, conformist” (p. 126). Do the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee agree with these authors’ observations? That is, do they feel that the Chinese tend to be conformists? How would a conformist attitude affect Chinese preference for religion and worship styles?

attitude towards women In their article on Asian American women, Irene

Fujitomi and Diane Wong (1973) wrote about a long Asian tradition of discrimination

against women. They claim that Confucian teachings, although providing a strong set of

moral values and a stable political system, created a huge injustice to women. Prior to

Confucian influence, Asian women enjoyed more power as scholars, warriors, and

leaders. These authors found that, after Confucian thinking pervaded the country’s ruling

37 class, the Asian woman was indoctrinated with the idea that she is second-rate “in ability, intelligence, perception, and emotional stability” (p. 260).

Fujitomi and Wong (1973) also noted that when the men left their homes in China for opportunities in the United States and abroad, the women were expected to take care of the family home, which included the parents-in-law. If the elders passed away, the daughters-in-law were to assure proper burial and mourning rites. Parallel to the immigrant men in the United States who were essentially bachelors, many women in

China were virtual widows, since their husbands were thousands of miles away. The culture forbade divorce or remarriage, and so, these women were forced to tolerate what

Betty Lee Sung (1967) called a “mutilated marriage” (p. 156).

Although education is highly valued, in the earlier times, formal education did not apply to women. Not many daughters of early Chinese immigrants were encouraged to obtain an education above high school level. This attitude purportedly had economic grounds behind it. When she was about to graduate from high school in about 1940, Jade

Snow Wong (1950) asked her father for financial help to attend college. Although Jade’s parents were supporting her older brother through medical school, her father matter-of- factly explained that it was neither economically feasible nor prudent to finance a daughter’s education. The sons were the ones to carry on the family name and bore the responsibility to maintain the ancestral burial grounds forever. When a daughter married, she left home to join the husband’s family, and then had the responsibility to bear sons to continue the inheritance for that family name.

The economic reasoning for women to not obtain higher education was not exclusively a Chinese tradition. When Jade Snow Wong (1950, p. 234) worked as a

38 secretary for a shipbuilding firm, she asked her Caucasian boss for ideas for advancement. He told her frankly that she could not compete for equal compensation in a

“man’s world.” He explained his logic by bringing up the fact that women marry and have children, and therefore, any investment in training would be lost. On the other hand, if men married and had children, there would be more incentive for them to stay in the job to support their families, and furthermore, a higher salary would be appropriate.

How did the Chinese women immigrants to Milwaukee feel about their roles as women? Did their parents encourage education for them? Did they meet with discrimination for their gender when applying for jobs, as well as for their ethnicity?

Chinese Cultural Traditions

Confucius created a philosophy that emphasized an authoritarian hierarchy. If everyone followed this system, obeying the duties of his or her place in the hierarchy, then peace, harmony, and prosperity would prevail (Hoobler, 1994). Robert Orr (1980) also found the influence of Confucianism in creating a structural hierarchy among

Chinese traditions. He saw this value as an indication of selflessness, of regard for the larger group, a willingness to forego individual benefit for the mutual benefit of all. This obedience to authority contrasts greatly with the idea of individualism in America society.

authority structure Lydia Chang (1984) cited five relationships stressed by

Confucius from The Doctrine of the Mean, Chapter XX (n.d.):

The duties of universal obligation are five: These are those between

sovereign and minister, between father and son, between husband and

39

wife, between older brother and younger ones, and those belonging to the

association of friends (p. 225).

Lucian Pye (1968) contended that this adherence to Confucian hierarchical

organization pervades the Chinese culture, even influencing Chinese politics. He claims

that after eras of political revolution and times of turmoil, China’s political system always

returns to a “dominant hierarchy and a single ideology” (p. 16). Does this thinking also affect religious tendencies? Do the Milwaukee Chinese hold on to some of these

traditions?

When the Chinese immigrants come to the United States, the traditional Chinese

relationships and hierarchies may be disrupted. In her interviews with Asian Americans

across the country, author Joann Lee (1991) found many families where the children were

the spokespersons because they spoke English better than their parents. The husband is

traditionally supposed to be the head of the family, but in this different culture,

everything needed to pass through the children. The husband also needed to defer many

responsibilities to his wife, because he worked long hours away from home and did not

have the time or the energy to handle household decisions. Did these “inverted”

relationships also occur with the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee? How did they learn

to adapt to these differences?

discipline and family loyalty Jade Snow Wong (1950) wrote of her years growing

up in San Francisco Chinatown and how strict her parents were. Her parents’ influence

loomed so large that in her autobiography she never talked about herself in the first

person, referring to herself only as “small daughter Jade Snow Wong.” She recalled: “A

40 little girl never questioned the commands of Mother and Father, unless prepared to receive painful consequences. She never addressed an older person by name” (p. 2).

Related to the authority structure in Confucian thinking is the importance of family. In his study of Chinese-American family structure, Carlyle Chan (1971) quoted from Tao: “A Chinese does not live for himself and for himself alone. He is the son of his parents, the descendants of his ancestors, the potential father of his children and the pillar of his family” (p. 6). Various researchers found the significance of the family in

Chinese culture. Pardee Lowe (1944), in his autobiography Father and Glorious

Descendant, described the importance of family life growing up in the San Francisco suburb of Belleville. He sprinkled an assortment of Chinese phrases into his fascinating book, including this one: “Kah sahn yun mawng,” which means: “When the family goes to pieces the individual vanishes” (p. 75). Although he struggled with his father’s old- fashioned ideas and rebelled against the filial expectations, at the end of his book, he and his father developed a mutual respect, and the author learned to accept the ancient understanding of Chinese family life: “Among our people, children are begotten and nurtured for one purpose—to provide for and glorify their parents” (p. 322).

A 1955 report for the National Conference on the Chinese Churches in the United

States explained some benefits in these strong family structures. The strict structure assures a Chinese person of a promotion to a higher rank with age and experience.

Through numerous generations of Chinese family history, the Chinese know that conforming to the system promises security and status. It is analogous to a military chain of command, where orders must be obeyed, and theoretically, things will run smoothly

41 and with minimum confusion. People know where they stand, and with proper maneuvering, they can attain a higher rank.

When Chinese immigrated to this country, however, did this rigid family structure still hold true? Some in the later generations of Chinese who were born in America, as was Pardee Lowe (1944), questioned the absolute loyalty to family. Jade Snow Wong

(1950), after attending college courses that pushed her to think instead of simply to memorize facts, wrote in her autobiography: “My parents demand unquestioning obedience. Older Brother demands unquestioning obedience. By what right? I am an individual besides being a Chinese daughter. I have rights too” (p.125). Did the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee see a breakdown of absolute family loyalty?

Some argue that the strong family loyalty of the Chinese made them resistant to change, particularly to change their religious beliefs. The authors of the report for the

National Conference on the Chinese Churches (1955) reasoned: “With constant backward referral to this family and group, the Chinese has resisted change, the penetration of his culture and personality by new experience, or philosophical arguments, or the monotheistic Christian religion” (p.5). The Chinese family is so strong that it often acts as a substitute for any reliance on a god. Because of his links to the past, there is an almost spiritual view of his roots in history (Pye, 1968).

It is the son’s duty not only to obey and support his parents while they are alive, but to continue to do so after their death (Chan, 1971) by arranging a proper funeral and by worshiping the ancestors. Lowe (1944) detailed the elaborate altar that his mother’s friend arranged in their home. They lighted candles and incense, offered food and drink, burned paper “ghost” money, and whispered prayers to their ancestors to petition for

42

“righteous, upright lives, households overflowing with children, prosperity, and good health” (p. 71). Did the Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee come from families who engaged in ancestral worship? How do they reconcile these traditional beliefs with their

Christian beliefs?

Chinese Religious Beliefs

In China, religion is viewed differently than in Western cultures (Hoobler, 1994).

It is interesting to note that the word for religion “chiao” is also the word for education.

There is less emphasis on one Supreme Being and more emphasis on the teachings of a few wise men. There is neither a dominant religion nor the idea that any one religion ranks above others. Besides upholding “the three great truths” (p. 89) of Confucianism,

Taoism, and Buddhism, many people also revere several smaller gods for specific needs.

According to Robert Orr (1980), in his research on Religion in China, the common people also developed a folk religion of a multitude of spirits and deities which needed to be feared and appeased. He reported that many homes in China have shrines to honor ancestors and to ask them for protection and blessings from the spirit world.

The National Conference on the Chinese Christian Churches report (1955) concurred with other findings that the Chinese attitude toward religion is much different from American ideas. It unflatteringly asserted that Americans are more “emotional, self-centered and competitive” (p. 7), and therefore, are attracted to one superior God and an evangelistic viewpoint, believing in the supremacy of their religion and way of life.

The Chinese approach to religion is of a practical nature, calling for assistance as the needs arrive, which leads to a polytheistic tradition.

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Sometimes the Chinese religious attitude may not be polytheistic but monotheistic, set within an inclusive point of view. An example of this approach is clearly described by a woman from Vietnam in an interview for Joann Lee’s book Asian

American Experiences in the United States (1991):

My family’s religion is Buddhism. My mom would always go to temple

to pray. In Vietnam, when I wanted to leave, I would go to the temple and

pray all the time. “Help me,” I would pray. Now sometimes when I have

trouble I just pray to God. I think God can help me. God is one God—

Catholic, Christian, Buddhist. It is all God. There is one God, only one. I

have been to churches a few times in my life. I have been to a Catholic

church once or twice in my life and to a Christian church a few times. …

But I believe in God. God is for everyone, not just for Christians, or

Moslems, or Buddhists (p. 169).

Confucianism As mentioned above in the discussion on Chinese cultural

traditions, Confucian influence permeated daily life. His philosophy was seen in the hierarchy of authority structure, discipline and obedience to authority, women’s role in society, conformity, strong family loyalty, and a deep reverence for education.

Approximately 2,500 years ago, Confucius was born to the family line of Kong. His

followers called him “Fuzi,” which means “Master.” The Chinese title of Kong Fuzi was

later altered to Confucius (Hoobler, 1994). During his lifetime, he tried in vain to

persuade heads of state to apply his ideas to govern China, and it was not until four

centuries later that an emperor, in efforts to increase his own power, decreed

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Confucianism as the official religion. In order to enter executive ranks within the government, one had to prove mastery of Confucian philosophy by passing rigorous examinations. Strictly speaking, Confucianism is not a religion, but more a philosophy or body of moral teachings; Confucius never claimed to be a god, but people revered him for his ideas (Sung, 1967).

Taoism Another religious influence in China is Taoism (or Daoism), which grew

out of the teachings of Lao-tse. The fundamental belief is that “great inner peace and power” come from focusing one’s life on the “dao,” or the “way” of the universe (Hu,

1960, p. 87). Jeff Rasmussen (2000), author of Spirit of Tao Te Ching, contended that the

“way” is what followers inadequately call the nameless supreme being or ultimate truth, because the concept is beyond human words or understanding. Also according to

Rasmussen, Taoists do not name a god but believe in a recurrent balance between the two forces of yin (negative) and yang (positive), and that “any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short-lived” (p.1). In other words, people should just allow nature to flow its course, “from good to bad and back again” (p. 1). Hu’s study on China reported that Taoism may include practices such as fortune-telling, astrology, and communicating with the deceased.

Buddhism From its beginnings in 3rd century B.C. to approximately 100 A.D.

Buddhism spread to China from northeastern India (Hoobler, 1994). Instead of replacing

any other religions, Buddhism was simply added to previous beliefs. The idea of

reincarnation was appealing, and the idea that one’s conduct in this life can influence the

45 next life enhanced the Confucian rules of behavior. Further support of the blended idea of Chinese religions comes from an online article about the spread of Buddhism to China from BuddhaNet (2004, ¶ 3). The article claims: “The early translators had some difficulty in finding the exact words to explain Buddhist concepts in Chinese, so they often used Taoist terms in their translations. As a result, people began to relate Buddhism with the existing Taoist tradition.”

The different texts on Buddhism led to different sects, each based on one or more texts and different areas of Buddha’s teachings. Eventually all of the Buddhist sects were combined within the monasteries. Gradually the followers practiced Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism all under one roof. In a sort of “one-stop shopping” for worshippers,

Sung (1967) discovered that temples may include images and tablets of a variety of deities, so the public may come and pray and light incense to any or all.

Were the members of the Chinese Community Baptist church in Milwaukee influenced by these religious practices and beliefs? Do any of these teachings still color their philosophies, even after they became Christians?

the great flood story An interesting contrast between Western and Chinese

religion is exemplified by the telling of the story of the Great Flood. Francis Hsu (1971,

pp. 40-41), in his book The Challenge of the American Dream, pointed out the

differences in the biblical story of Noah and the Chinese one of Yu. In the famous Noah

story, no mention is made of Noah’s parents, and we do not know if they were still living

at the time of the flood. If they were alive, Noah did not include them, and if they were

already deceased, he did not think about caring for their graves. After their forced

46 confinement and shelter in the ark for a length of time, the storm ended, and Noah’s family members scattered.

In contrast, the Chinese account starts with aging Emperor Yao dealing with a great flood. Yao appointed Kun to be in charge of flood control, but Kun failed. Yao relinquished his throne to Shun, who then appointed Kun’s son Yu to manage the flood problem. Yu worked diligently for 13 years, traveling all over China, and although he passed by his home several times during his lengthy business trip, he never stopped to visit his wife and children. In the end, his heroic efforts were successful.

The Western perspective would condemn Yu for neglecting his family, but the

Chinese perspective sees him as sacrificing his own needs for that of others. Yu worked hard to restore honor to his family name where his father had failed. The biblical story chooses one family to escape and be saved, whereas the Chinese story has everyone staying in their hometowns to deal with the flood together. Hsu (1971) argued that the

Western story “glorifies the individual and his spouse, moving away from the homeland in defiance of the group, dispersing into different parts of the world” (p. 41). The

Chinese story, he claimed, gives emphasis to the group, the continuation of the father to son link, and enduring together in the same place.

Family Loyalty and Religion

The tradition of strong Chinese family bonds, Hsu (1971) asserted, also relates to the general attitudes of the Chinese towards religion. From the moment of birth, a

Chinese person knows his or her place in the family, and not simply the present nuclear family but an extensive history of generations of the family. Hsu contended: “Having

47 been so deeply woven into a human network which comes with his birth, the Chinese individual has far less need than his American counterpart for intimacy with a particular god or with those who share the same views about his gods” (p. 59).

In a report for the National Conference on the Chinese Christian churches (1955), the authors found that Chinese relate to their gods in much the same way they relate to their families, seeking assistance from their gods as they would seek help from members of their family. The strong reverence for the family manifests itself in the form of ancestor worship, which connects the living family members to those who have passed on. Some families may offer food, drink, money facsimiles, and prayers to the deceased ancestors, while other families may simply worship the memories of their ancestors

(Lowe, 1944). The son is required to care for not only his living parents, but also for the ancestors. The care for the ancestors, sociologist Rose Lee Hum (1960) found, is based on the reasoning that “what they need on earth for sustenance must, likewise, be needed in the afterworld” (p. 279). In order to reciprocate the kind offerings, the ancestors provide for the living when necessary.

The Church’s Influence in China

Dr. Shien-Woo Kung, who was a senior executive of the Bank of China and

received his B.A. from North Central College in Illinois and a Ph.D. from New York

University Graduate School of Business, wrote the book Chinese in American Life

(1962). In the book, he praised the accomplishments of Christian missionaries in China, especially for creating high schools, colleges and hospitals. The missionaries and their sponsors also provided scholarships and assistance toward education of Chinese in the

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United States. Rose Hum Lee (1960) found that the early Chinese immigrants had little contact with Christians before coming to the United States, but in the later immigration waves, many of the immigrants had already become Christians from the influence of the schools and religious workers in China. She also noted that the Roman Catholic Church had been at the forefront for sending missionaries to China (p. 288).

A number of Chinese converted to Christianity because of the chaos and devastation of living through natural disasters, political upheavals, and war (Yang, 1999).

Many were forced to leave their homeland. Suffering the difficulties of virtual homelessness directed some Chinese to embrace a powerful and loving God. Yang quoted a personal testimony of Paul Tang, which illustrates this:

My grandparents were devout Buddhists. After the Chinese Communists

swept the mainland, my father led our family to flee to Hong Kong. But

we did not know the local dialect [Cantonese] and customs. After many

difficult struggles and great efforts we started to hold on. However,

although we settled down physically, my soul could not find anything to

rest on. We were lost and did not know what could make life meaningful.

Then I met a pastor who introduced the love of Christ to my heart. Only

then I began to see that life was interesting and hopeful, thus I committed

myself to the Lord and decided to be a pious believer forever. (p. 78)

Were the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee influenced by missionaries in China?

Did they attend schools in China established by American church missions? Was their

49 education in China affected by any church workers? Did their experiences as immigrants lead them to find solace in a loving God?

The Church’s Influence on Chinese in America

According to the National Conference on the Chinese Christian Church report

(1955), the first Protestant denomination to take action to serve the Chinese immigrants in the United States was the Presbyterian Church. The report noted that the October 1869 issue of The Presbyterian Monthly declared: “We have access to more Chinese in

California than we can reach in China” (p. 38). In 1853, the document reported, the first

Chinese church outside of China was established with four members who came from a

Presbyterian church in Hong Kong. Dr. William Speer, a physician and former missionary to China, along with his wife, organized the Presbyterian congregation in San

Francisco. With his knowledge of the Chinese culture and language, he attended to the immigrants’ medical needs as well as spiritual needs.

For 16 years, the Presbyterian Church was the only denomination serving the

Chinese. Next came the Methodist Episcopal Church, which opened a mission in San

Francisco in 1868. The National Conference on the Chinese Christian Churches (1955) also recorded missions organized in 1870 by the Congregational Church and the Baptists.

By 1872, eleven denominations had established 271 Chinese Sunday Schools and missions across the country. Sung wrote in her study of the Chinese in America in 1967 that the most active denominations working with the Chinese were Southern Baptists,

American Baptists, and Presbyterians.

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The above National report (1955) praised the Protestant clergy not only for the services they provided to the Chinese immigrants who attended their churches, but also for their daring response against injustices upon all Chinese immigrants. Dr. Speer, the physician involved with the first Presbyterian church in San Francisco, composed a brief against discriminatory legislation which led to the repeal of oppressive 1855 tax laws aimed at barring Chinese from the mining industry. He also spoke out against the

Exclusion Act of 1882 and the riots against the Chinese (Lee, R., 1960). Women from the missions established rescue homes to shelter Chinese girls from prostitution.

For their sincerity and support in times of need, the Christian church mission workers were highly revered by the Chinese. Writing about his life in a suburb of San

Francisco in the early 1900s, Pardee Lowe (1944) remembered Miss Pauline McDonald of the Chinatown Presbyterian Mission Home: “one of the most Christ-like characters I have ever met…she was to spend more than three decades of her life in the dangerous work of rescuing Chinese girls who had become victims of the slave market” (p. 199).

According to Betty Lee Sung (1967, p.222), “one of the most beloved of Christ’s workers among the Chinese is the Sunday School teacher,” affectionately called “Sien-sung Po,” or “elder lady teacher.” She may be young, but to the Chinese, adding on years of age signifies respect. Sung insisted that the “Sien-sung Po” is “definitely one of the fixed and most important institutions among the Chinese in the United States,” honored for her devotion and service.

Sung (1967) reported that during the days of anti-Chinese sentiments and rioting in California in the late 1800s, the churches offered protection to many Chinese. She pointed out that, in subsequent years, the Chinese have viewed churches as service

51 organizations. Since he was a physician, Dr. Speer offered medical services. Dr. Speer’s

Presbyterian church was the first to offer English classes for the immigrants, and other churches soon did the same. To meet the needs of the immigrants, churches became places to obtain help for registration and immigration paperwork, translation, medical referrals, and countless other services offered to help the immigrants navigate in their new surroundings.

Paul Siu wrote a dissertation for the School of Sociology at the University of

Chicago about Chicago Chinatown in the 1930s. His intimate perspective on the Chinese

Laundryman (1987) was found years later and edited by J. K. W. Tchen. Siu related a story about the young Chinese immigrant boys who were sent to Sunday School by their fathers and uncles. The elders wanted the boys to attend the Sunday classes for two reasons: to get away from any negative influences in the Chinatown streets and to learn

English well enough to better help in the laundry business. The boys had their own reasons for joining Sunday School classes: to learn enough English to earn a livelihood and to have the company of a number of attractive female teachers. Siu found that the

Chinese Sunday School was also a way for the young laundrymen to learn about

American culture by observing the clothing, mannerisms, and customs of their teachers.

The author observed that sometimes a few of the boys would actually become Christians and join the church as a friendship gesture and as a way of making a good impression with the church community.

Did the Chinese church in Milwaukee begin as a mission outreach program? Was the Chinese church in Milwaukee viewed as a service organization? If so, what services were offered? Were there any respected “Sien-sung Po” in the Chinese church?

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In 1953, Francis L. K. Hsu predicted, in his study of Chinese culture American and Chinese — Two Ways of Life, that Chinese would gravitate toward Catholicism rather than Protestantism. He pointed out the similarity between Chinese religious beliefs and the Catholic traditions of saints, rituals, punishment for evil, and hierarchy of clergy officials. The Catholic conviction that the petitions and good deeds of those on earth can aid the departed is also in line with Chinese thinking. Pardee Lowe (1944), in his autobiography Father and Glorious Descendant, gave his reasons for the appeal of the

Catholic Church over the Protestant one:

…the barren ugliness of Protestant missions offered no spiritual uplift.

Accustomed to the flamboyant decorations of Chinese temples, they were

not intrigued by what they saw in the Protestant missions. The Catholic

churches with their lovely altars, flaming candles and gleaming statuary

appealed more… (p. 170)

In spite of the similarities between Catholicism and Chinese religious views,

Lowe reasoned that the Chinese did not embrace the Catholic practices until after World

War I because of the anti-Chinese stance of the Irish and Italian immigrants, who were

mostly Catholic. The author of Chinese in American Life, Kung (1962) noted that the

Roman Catholic Church did not start work with the Chinese until the 1900s, but reported that its popularity was growing steadily and many foreign-born Chinese were members of non-Chinese Catholic churches.

If Hsu’s predictions are accurate, and other authors give further reasons for

Catholicism’s appeal with the Chinese, then why did the Chinese members of

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Community Baptist Church choose a Protestant church? Have any of them attended

Catholic churches? Do they know any Chinese who attended Catholic churches?

The Role of the Church for Chinese in America

Courageous people worked in missions in China and in the United States to help, educate, protect, and speak out for the Chinese. What other roles did the church play?

Sung (1967) and Siu (1987) both observed that the church is often a main social organization for many Chinese in America. Church attendance is where the Chinese can associate with others of their same race and culture. Although she noted that some observers fault the Chinese Christian church for hindering total assimilation to the dominant society by isolating the Chinese within their own worship services, Sung argued that the Chinese, unlike European immigrants, will always be looked upon as foreign because of physical differences. Chinese immigrants and their progeny in

America will never be completely accepted, and Sung believes they need a place to feel acknowledged and safe, and the church provides such a place.

The church as a key social organization for immigrants is also evident with other

Asian ethnic groups. In an interview with Charles Ryu, a Korean American who immigrated at age 17, and who attended Yale Divinity School and was assigned to the

Korean Methodist Church and Institute in New York City, author Joann Lee (1991) related his viewpoint:

In America, whatever the reason, the church has become a major and

central anchoring institution for Korean immigrant society. Whereas no

other institution supported the Korean immigrants, the church played the

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role of anything and everything—from social service, to education, to

learning the Korean language; a place to gather, to meet other people, for

social gratification, you name it. The way we think of church is more than

in a religious connotation, as a place to go and pray, have worship service,

to learn of God and comfort. Your identity is tied so closely to the church

you go to. And it becomes social evangelism. (p. 161)

Ryu also reasoned that a person who is a minority often feels like a “nobody,” but

in the church, that person can feel like a “somebody” (p. 162). Was this feeling of

belonging important to the members of Community Baptist Church? What benefits do

the members see in attending an ethnic church?

In another interview, Joann Lee (1991) talked with Wontae Chu, the head minister of the Korean Methodist Church and Institute in New York City about his congregation of immigrants. Pastor Chu tries to connect the immigrant experience with biblical stories, calling it “immigration theology” (p. 170). In the Old Testament in the Bible,

Abraham was displaced from his homeland, and so Chu relates the biblical characters with the alien status of his congregants.

Current Research on Chinese Churches in America

The literature on the current status of Chinese churches in the United States is limited. One volume entitled Chinese Christians in America (1999) encompassed an

extensive study done in the 1990s. Author Fenggang Yang taught world religions in the

Philosophy Department at the People's University of China in Beijing before he came to

America in 1989. As a visiting research scholar at the Catholic University of America in

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Washington, D.C., Yang came to the United States to study. But after the Tiananmen

Square incident, he stayed on to enter the master's program in sociology and eventually earned his Ph.D. in 1997. Intrigued by the number of Chinese immigrants congregating in Christian churches, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Immigration

Research at the University of Houston, contributing to their project on Religion,

Ethnicity, and New Immigrants Research.

In his book Chinese Christians in America, Yang (1999) reported that there were about 700 Chinese Protestant churches in the United States by 1994. Visiting 20 churches in the D.C. area, as well as churches in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami,

Houston and San Francisco, he found most of these churches to be theologically conservative and non-denominational. Chinese churches on the west coast, however, were affiliated with mainline denominations, and he reasoned this was because they had been established by earlier mission churches for the Chinese immigrants. He reported that about half of the Chinese churches in the United States are non-denominational, and even those associated with a denomination tend to be quite independent. In 1995 the greatest number of Chinese churches (about 150) belonged to the Southern Baptist

Convention, according to Yang. Baptists support “local church autonomy,” explained

William Hull (2007) in his book The Meaning of the Baptist Experience, and they also emphasize the “right of self-determination to each person and group” (p. 15). It would make sense then that if Chinese Christians wished to organize a church affiliated with a mainstream denomination, but still wanted to maintain relative independence, the Baptist denomination would be ideal.

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Yang (1999, p. 10) argues that the ethnic church of today serves several purposes.

The church helps to assimilate immigrants into American society, and ironically, it also helps to retain the ethnic culture. When Chinese immigrants attend a Christian church in the United States, Yang pointed out that they carry three identities: Chinese, American, and Christian. At first thought, these three identities are so diverse that one would think they could not be merged. However, Yang claimed that as American society becomes more pluralistic, it tolerates and even welcomes ethnic differences (p. 17). Being a member of a church allows the immigrant to “selectively assimilate” to American society and to “selectively preserve” their ethnic culture. Furthermore, he believed that the church provides a place to do both:

Instead of choosing either American or ethnic identities, immigrants may

construct adhesive identities that integrate both together. In the process of

attaining American identity and retaining ethnic identity, religion may

play an important role because religion itself is a powerful source of

personal identity, and because particular religions are often closely

associated with particular ethnic and American identities. The religious

community, where face-to-face interactions are regular and frequent,

serves as a major social mechanism in the construction of adhesive

identities. (pp. 17-18)

Dr. Yang (1999) reasoned that Christianity, although not a traditional Chinese

religion, is nevertheless unproblematic for the Chinese to adopt. He pointed out that

Confucianism is not a religion but a set of moral teachings, and that as long as these

57 teachings were not completely abandoned, then the Chinese identity can still be retained while accepting Christianity. Citing Confucian scholars, he noted that Confucius never mentioned a theistic God or any ideas about life after death. Yang even claimed that “the

Chinese Christian church has become an institutional base for passing on transformed

Confucian values to younger generations” (p. 51).

Besides being a place to socialize with one’s own ethnic group and to maintain one’s ethnic identity, Yang (1999) believed the church offers hope and comfort for the immigrants who have endured numerous hardships and loneliness. His own experiences of feeling stranded in the United States after the Tiananmen Square violence in China and finding fellowship in a Washington, D.C. church enhanced his research. He observed first hand: “...the initial attraction to these mainland Chinese is often the loving community of the church and the intimacy of its fellowship” (p. 88). When uprooted from one’s homeland, one is compelled to somehow find security and meaning. Being an immigrant is a “theologizing experience” (p. 80), Yang declared.

Having endured multiple ordeals through war, social and political turmoil, and natural disasters, immigrants still face the uncertainty of living precariously in a strange culture. Yang (1999) admitted that most people, when faced with these obstacles, would tend to hold on to their traditional religions to find meaning and strength. However, he explained that the traditions for most contemporary Chinese immigrants had been wiped out by the Communist government, having banned all religions for decades; hence the

Chinese were free to search for meaning elsewhere.

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Conservative, evangelical Christian churches are appealing to Chinese immigrants, Yang (1999) argued, because they are the answer to the chaotic and severe experiences suffered by the immigrants:

Living in this fast-changing, pluralistic, relativistic, and chaotic world,

conservative Christians are assertive in proclaiming that the sole and

absolute truth can only be found in the inerrant Bible. Evangelicals assure

believers of absolute love and peace in this world and eternal life after

death. (p. 94)

Yang found these conservative beliefs to be similar to the absolute moral teachings of Confucius. The members of the conservative Chinese churches can find further validation for the strict ethical and behavioral codes that they require of themselves and their children. Additionally, the church helps the Chinese immigrants preserve their unique cultural traditions because the “universal claims of evangelical

Christianity make it easier for them to justify and defend their differences from the surrounding society” (p. 116).

The Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee is affiliated with American Baptist

Churches USA, which is not considered a conservative denomination. How do the members of this church feel about author Yang’s arguments for the appeal of conservative, evangelical and independent churches among Chinese immigrants? Is this church an anomaly among Chinese churches in the United States?

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Learning to Adapt

When people find themselves in new situations, they must learn to acclimatize to the new environment. This is true whether the new situation is the academic life of a college freshman or the wide-ranging new environs of the immigrant. How do humans learn to adapt? What strategies do they use? Did the Chinese immigrants follow some adult learning theories proposed by adult educators? How did the Chinese immigrants in

Milwaukee learn to adapt? What factors aided or hindered their adjustment?

brain function in learning In the book How People Learn: Brain, Mind,

Experience, and School (Bransford, et. al., 1999), the authors claim that new learning is a neurological formation of synaptic connections. There are two ways that this neurological formation occurs. The first way is in the overproduction of synapses, which are later pruned back, similar to a sculptor who chisels away marble (p. 104). The second way is by the addition of new synapses (p. 105). That is, new learning attaches onto old learning. This second process occurs throughout a person’s lifetime and is spurred by human experiences.

In describing brain research in rats, Bransford and his colleagues (1999) reported that the thickness and mass of the cerebral cortex in adult rats can be increased by placing them in a large cage with a complex and varying environment to explore, and also by surrounding them with other rats with which to explore. They summarized this experiment with this statement: “Thus, the gross structure of the cerebral cortex was altered both by exposure to opportunities for learning and by learning in a social context”

(p. 107). Although beyond the scope of this study, it would be interesting to know if the

60 brains of immigrants are affected by their exposure to a changing environment, and if the new learning is affected by social stimuli, as this experiment implies.

An interesting note from How People Learn (Bransford, et. al., 1999) concerns how the brain processes memory. The authors reported studies which compared people’s memory of words versus their memory of pictures of those same objects. The pictures promoted much better memory, and when the words and pictures were combined, the effect was even greater. Since the Chinese written language is in the form of pictographs, in order to be able to read a Chinese newspaper, one would need to memorize thousands of Chinese characters. Again, beyond the extent of this study, it would be interesting to determine if the Chinese who can read their language have increased capacity for memory, since Chinese characters are both pictures and words.

immediate application of learning Adult immigrants, when transplanted into a

new environment, must learn to cope immediately. Any learning must be applied right

away. They need to make adjustments and use all the resources available to them to

solve the immediate problems facing them. In her studies of adult learners, K. Patricia

Cross (1981) referred to Malcolm Knowles’ theory of adult learning. Knowles pointed

out the differences between learning in children and learning in adults:

The child’s time perspective toward learning is one of postponed

application. The adult, on the other hand, comes into an educational

activity largely because he is experiencing some inadequacy in coping

with current life problems. He wants to apply tomorrow what he learns

today, so his time perspective is one of immediacy of application (p. 189).

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Other scholars agree with Knowles. According to Gisella Labouvie-Vief (Berk,

2004, p. 433), learning in adulthood changes from hypothetical to “pragmatic thought,” in order to solve real-world problems. K. Warner Schaie’s theory (Berk, 2004, p. 432) moved the learner through different stages of learning, each increasing in complexity.

Early adulthood, Schaie believed, is the stage when there is less attention on acquiring knowledge and more on applying it.

social learning One adult learning theory very accurately describes how immigrants assimilate into a new culture. Known as social learning theory, it emphasizes

the social setting in which learning occurs. In Learning in Adulthood, Merriam &

Caffarella (1999, pp. 258-261) describe social learning as learning from observation.

According to social learning theory, after observation of a particular behavior,

information is stored, and imitation of the learned behavior occurs when the learner

wishes to act upon it. This theory lends itself to the way immigrants learn from

observing people in the immigrants’ new environment, storing the information, and using

it when needed. Immigrants learn in a social context as they interact with people in the

dominant culture.

The social learning theorists assert that “behavior is a function of the interaction

of the person with the environment” (Merriam & Cafferella, 1999, p. 260). The theorists

also take into account the effect that the learner has on the environment, which in turn

affects the learner. Does this apply to how immigrants learn to assimilate in this country?

The great influx of immigrants over the years has changed the overall American culture,

and according to Yang (1999), has changed classic theories of assimilation, in which the

62 new population loses its identity to assume the identity of the dominant society. The

“American way of life” and the dominance of white, middle-class, Protestant, Anglo-

Saxons are slowly changing, as more and more immigrants modify the makeup of the population and its culture. Yang observed an increasingly pluralistic society in many aspects: “ethnic, racial, cultural, political, and religious” (p. 24). He believed this acceptance of pluralism is actually making it more difficult for new immigrants to assimilate, since there is no longer a “core culture” (p. 24). It is similar to aiming to shoot at a target, but the target is continually changing shape, size, and character. Do the

Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee feel it easier or harder now for immigrants to adapt to life in the United States now than it was for them when they immigrated?

learning communities Perhaps to facilitate social learning, immigrants form

communities. Maurine Huang, in her study of the Chinese (1988), explained that

immigrants work out “adaptive strategies” (p. 31) in order to survive in their new

circumstances. She noted that one of the strategies that immigrants use is to gather in

voluntary communities, thus forming “social support networks” (p. 32). The support

networks created by earlier immigrants are a valuable resource to help the newcomers to

adjust to their new environment. Rose Hum Lee (1960) talked about “communities in

diaspora” (p. 56) formed by immigrants to preserve their culture while they adjust to the

new situation. She tried to explain the formation of Chinatowns throughout the United

States, where the Chinese could find safety in a common identity with other members.

But besides the safety factor, Chinatowns provided a means in which the adaptation was

made a little easier. The Chinese immigrants could “work, eat, sleep, worship and

63 socialize” (p. 62), and therefore, need to make fewer alterations in their daily lifestyles.

What kinds of communities did the Chinese immigrants form in Milwaukee?

Forming ethnic communities not only eases the learning process, it also promotes success. In her extensive study of Hmong immigrants in a particular American high school, Stacey Lee (2005) found that maintaining ethnic ties was fundamental to students’ achievement: “…ethnic networks provide economic support for immigrants and reinforce parental authority in immigrant families” (p. 9). She quoted several studies on immigrant assimilation, all of which found that immigrants who practiced “selective acculturation” (p. 10) were the most successful academically. One reason given for the success was the enhanced ability to “better understand their place in the world” (p. 10).

The Chinese church serves as a community for Chinese immigrants to learn to adapt to their new world. Many of these churches first began as places for the immigrants to learn the English language (Lee, R., 1960; Huang, 1988; Guest, 2003). In addition to being a place to learn basic survival skills, the church facilitated learning in other ways. Yang (1999) suggested that the Chinese church helped the Chinese immigrants to assimilate into America society:

It is within the church that the Chinese can learn to become American and

still retain their ethnic identity. At the local church, the old dialects and

language, religion, traditions, and customs were preserved to protect the

immigrant group from social disorganization and the shock of adjustment

to the new culture. The ethnic congregation contributes to ethnic

attachment by increasing social interactions among co-ethnic members

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and by providing a social space for comfort, fellowship, and a sense of

belonging. (p. 33)

Did the Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee help the assimilation process for

Chinese immigrants? What kinds of survival and social benefits did it provide?

constructivism theory of learning How people make sense of their experiences

and construct meaning from them is the foundation to constructivist theory (Merriam &

Caffarella, 1999, p. 261). When immigrants leave their familiar surroundings and are

plunged into a whole new set of experiences, they must learn to find new meanings.

Adult learning is a “process of negotiation, involving the construction and exchange of

personally relevant and viable meanings” (p. 262). In Cultural Psychology of

Immigrants, Mahalingham (2006) explained how immigrants are compelled to construct new meanings:

Immigrants are exposed to dual worldviews, cultural practices, and beliefs.

Immigrants’ “home culture” alone may not be sufficient to help us

understand the cultural psychology of immigrants. Unlike people in their

“home culture,” the comparative sociocultural context of immigrants

influences how they “represent” their “home culture” while trying to make

sense of their “host culture.” Immigrants are both folk anthropologists and

informants at the same time. The relational context of their displacement

makes them aware of the comparative nature of their cultural identity, and

they are challenged to develop a deeper understanding of their own

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culture. They develop a newer appreciation of culture not merely as a set

of practices and shared values, but as something that needs to be reflected

on and explained. A new immigrant, like an anthropologist in an “exotic

culture,” tries to make sense of the host culture—its mores and practices

and the meaning and grammar of various social cartographies. (p. 2)

attitude adjustment Learning to adapt requires a certain alteration in one’s attitude. Documenting some experiences of different Asian Americans, author Joann Lee

(1991) interviewed a Chinese born in Vietnam, who came to the United States in 1975 in his late teens. Cao explained that in order to learn to adapt in America, he had to be humble and open to constructive criticism:

Basically my sponsor would correct me if I didn’t say a word right or if I

didn’t behave appropriately in the American sense. He would tell me,

“Hey, you do it that way”—from eating habits, to sitting habits. I guess if

I was too proud of myself I couldn’t take the criticism, then there would

have been a barrier to learning. But it was hard because even though I

knew I needed to do this, I wasn’t a five-year-old kid any more. After a

while, I wondered why everything I did was wrong. (p. 104)

This attitude adjustment must be especially difficult for the Chinese, if it is indeed true that one cultural characteristic of the Chinese is the attitude of cultural superiority

(Pye, 1968). That is, the Chinese have had a civilized culture that extends thousands of years into history, with many more centuries of accumulated knowledge than most of the

66 rest of the world. The Chinese immigrant now must learn new ways of engaging in the world.

“Creative adjustment” is what author Francis Hsu (1971, p. 114) said all immigrants needed to make. He pointed out two choices that immigrants have when adapting to American culture. One choice is to follow the adage: “when in Rome do as the Romans do,” that is, assume all of the attitudes and actions of the majority group.

The second choice is to be selective in the attitudes and actions they wish to adopt. Yang

(1999, p. 17) observed that before the 1960s, immigrants were pushed to opt for the first choice, to shed their ethnic individuality and assimilate to the dominant society. Since then, however, Yang believes that a more pluralistic society has become more acceptable.

Barriers to Learning

When immigrants adapt to the new culture and opt for selective assimilation, Hsu

(1971) claims they run the risk of being called un-American. If immigrants choose to discard any cultural behaviors or beliefs of the dominant society, they may face offended individuals who counter with accusatory questions: “If you don’t like America, why did you come here” (p. 114)?

Marjorie Muecke (1998), in studying Laotian refugees in Seattle, found that the suffering endured by certain immigrants definitely affects learning because those experiences alter their known world. Not only had the immigrants suffered the pain of losing family and the country they knew, but “the former cultural solutions, the blueprints for action and interpretation of the world that one learned from childhood, cannot be trusted” (p. 274). If the constructivist theories are correct, and new knowledge is based

67 on old knowledge, then these people face a huge void when the old knowledge must be discarded.

The sociologist Robert Ezra Park (1974) coined the expression “marginal man.”

He defines this man as one who “lives in the margin of two cultures—that of the country of his parents and that of the country of his adoption, in neither of which he is quite at home” (p. 318). He noted that the process of assimilation and acculturation does not occur as easily for those of different races. Using the older adjective to describe Asians, he claims that an “Oriental” faces a difficult task when trying to assimilate, mainly because of being “constrained to wear his racial uniform” (p. 252). Unlike the Irish or other European immigrants, the Chinese cannot blend into the masses because of distinguishing physical characteristics.

In his book Yellow, Frank Wu (2002, pp. 79-80), the first Asian American law professor at Howard University, wrote about the routine question he gets whenever he meets a new person: “Where are you from?” When he replies that he was born in

Cleveland, but raised in Detroit, the next question is always, “But where are you really from?” He also appreciates friendly folks who compliment him after a speaking engagement to tell him that he speaks English so well. He is always tempted to respond:

“Why, thank you; so do you.” His point is that his Chinese genes will always mark him as a foreigner and colors all his interactions in society.

Writing about her own experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in suburban New Jersey, Helen Zia (2000) also wrote about feeling “marginal”:

In New Jersey, it was so unusual to see a person of Asian descent that

people would stop what they were doing to gawk rudely at my family

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wherever we went. When we walked into a store or diner, we were like the

freak show at Barnum & Bailey’s circus, where Chinese were displayed as

exotic creatures in the late 1800s, along with the two-headed dog.

What Mom and Dad couldn’t tell us was what it meant to be

Chinese in America. They didn’t know—they were just learning about

America themselves. (p. 9)

Because the Chinese will always look like a foreigner, Iris Chang (2003, p. xi) emphasized the difficulties and barriers to Chinese immigrants trying to assimilate. She noted that the Chinese were imported when the United States needed laborers to build a railroad and to work in the fields, or when scientists were needed to reinforce American defense during the Cold War. But they were excluded when they were deemed unfair competition for jobs during times of economic depression or a threat to passing secrets to

China.

How did the Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee learn to adapt? Was their learning in line with adult learning theories proposed? What, if any, were the barriers to their learning?

Ultimately the evidence from this review of the literature and other documentary materials show strong evidence of Chinese immigrants coming to the United States for more than a century and a half. They came for myriad reasons. However, the evidence suggests they share some common experiences.

Besides having a connection to a particular geographical place, they share certain cultural values and attitudes. After arriving in America, they have all had to learn

69 to adapt to a different culture with different standards and beliefs. Throughout the decades, they have been respected for their contributions and seen as threats for their foreignness.

This inquiry seeks to analyze the stories of a group of Chinese immigrants who happened to find their way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and who came together in an

American Baptist church. What were their reasons for coming? What common experiences, if any, did they share? How did they adapt to their new surroundings?

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The design of this research is a qualitative one. Qualitative research includes several types of inquiry that helps us to better understand some social phenomena

(Merriam, 1998). The assumption is that individuals construct their own reality by interacting with their environments. The research seeks to understand the unique situations without any predictions of outcomes. The main objective is to more deeply understand the phenomenon from the perspective of the participant(s).

The strategy used in this qualitative research is a historical collective case study, mainly comprising narrative research. A case study involves the exploration of “an event, an activity, a process, or one or more individuals” (Creswell, 2003, p. 15). An analysis of a phenomenon over a period of time is a historical case study (Merriam,

1998). When the case studies involve multiple cases in order to compare details from different perspectives, this is called a collective case study (Creswell, 2008). Using a narrative strategy of inquiry, the researcher solicits stories from the participants’ lives, which are recorded and retold (Creswell, 2003).

To increase the validity of the data, a triangulation process was used. The strategies of inquiry were: 1) a series of open-ended interviews, 2) a questionnaire survey, and 3) an informal discussion. The major strategy for inquiry in this research was semi-structured face-to-face in-depth interviews with 6 individuals who have shared a similar experience and culture. The intention is to present some different perspectives of the Chinese immigrant experience. A questionnaire was given to 10 different individuals

71 with similar cultural backgrounds. A focus group discussion involving the 6 participants in the case studies was to be held, with the purposes of obtaining any further insights into the research questions and of assuring validity of the data collected. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, it was impossible to schedule a date when all could be present.

Instead of the focus group discussions, informal discussions were held with various participants with the same backgrounds, using the same questions posed to the 6 case study participants.

Although particular attention was given to collect accurate and complete data, in qualitative research, there is an understanding that the basic instruments of research are human: both the collected narratives and the interpretations of them will be filtered through the biased lenses of participants and the researcher (Merriam, 1998). Besides having the bias of human perspectives, these case studies involved the participants’ memories of events that happened many years ago. Historical narrative is “the construction of a story about reality rather than as a direct representation of it”

(Polkinghorne, 1988, p. 59). There is no method to obtain the actual events of the past other than through the reconstruction of them through the eyes and the words of the narrator.

Since the purpose of this research is to examine the process of how adults adapt to a new culture, and specifically, how a group of Chinese immigrants to Milwaukee learned to adapt, the qualitative research approach and the strategy of obtaining a collection of individual historical case studies seemed most appropriate. A group of participants were interviewed individually at some length to determine how they have personally experienced adaptation to a new culture. Exploration of their experiences,

72 behaviors and attitudes were gathered via open-ended questions in extensive data collection.

Participants

All of the participants are ethnically Chinese, born in either China or Hong Kong.

They have all immigrated to the United States at least once in their lifetimes. Although they may have lived in different cities in the United States, they all currently reside in the

Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Some may have come from different religious backgrounds or none at all, but currently they are all members of Community Baptist Church, which is affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA. According to the American Baptist website, this Protestant denomination has 1.5 million members and 5,800 congregations in the United States. It shares a tradition with 43 million Baptists around the world.

Baptists consist of autonomous local church congregations, each maintaining its own style of worship, doctrine, and mission.

The 6 participants in the case studies comprise four women and two men. The participants speak at least one dialect of the Chinese language fluently. They also can read the Chinese written language. Their command of the English language ranges from good to excellent. They range in age from their 50s to the 90s. Their education levels range from below high school to graduate level. Their occupations are: retired beautician, retired pastor, retired laundry and restaurant owner, retired restaurant owner, retired mechanical engineer, and former geography teacher.

They have all consented to participate, after the purposes of this study had been explained to them. Their voluntarily roles in the study and the option to withdraw from

73 the study at any time were read to them, as stated explicitly in the Carroll University

Research Consent Form (see Appendix A), which each of them signed. The 6 participants for the case studies were selected for their ability to articulate their experiences and for the different ages when they first immigrated to the United States. The literature suggests that there were different phases of Chinese immigration to the United States, each connected with different world events that influenced their reasons for immigrating. An attempt was made to find participants who may have had experiences in those different phases. Other participants were included in the interviews, so as to not hurt any feelings of church members who may have felt left out because they also wished to share their stories.

The second instrument, the questionnaire survey, was given to ten church members, who also have Chinese ethnic backgrounds and have immigrated to the United

States. These participants range in age from their 30s to the 80s. Most have at least a conversational command of the English language, and most can speak at least one dialect of Chinese. This larger group may have less than a high school education up to a doctorate level. Some have worked in the restaurant business, some are business owners, and some are professionals.

Gaining access to the participants at the research site may be problematic in qualitative research. For this research, the purposes and processes of the study were explained thoroughly, and a consent form (see Appendix B) was used to obtain permission from the administrator of the church facilities to allow recruitment of participants and some of the data collection on site.

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In qualitative research there are many issues that may affect the interaction between the participants and the inquirer, and therefore, may affect the validity of the results. The researcher’s role in qualitative research involves a direct and continuous experience with participants. Without a trusting relationship between the inquirer and the participant, complete and valid data would not be obtainable. Since qualitative research is interpretive, there may be personal values and interests that may bias the data collection and analysis process.

For this qualitative research, there already exists a trusting relationship between the participants and the researcher. The 6 participants in the case studies have been friends of her family for decades. Besides this history with each of the participants, they also have been fellow church members for many years, and for the past 3 years, yet an additional relationship exists: that of congregant and pastor.

Because all of the participants are dear friends, this may color the interpretation of the interviews even more so than with other qualitative studies, where the data collection is sifted through the perceptions of the researcher. However, every effort has been made to examine and report objectively. In the course of this research, all precautions have been made to assure confidentiality. However, since a benefit to the participants was the opportunity to share their stories, their names were used if the participant did not object or so preferred. The decision was made to use only their first names, and the names of spouses and/or children mentioned in their interviews were not used.

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Instruments

Since a triangulation process will be used to assure greater validity, three instruments were constructed. These comprise: 1) a list of open-ended questions for the face-to-face interviews with a small group of participants for the case studies, 2) a one- page questionnaire for the survey of 10 individuals, and 3) a short set of questions for the informal discussion. Many of the questions ask participants about their past history, and their answers will be accurate to the extent of the reliability of their memories. In most cases, the questions concern the participant directly, inquiring about their own experiences and not filtered through someone else’s views. Although several of the participants are senior citizens and have some chronic health problems, they are all still living independently, socially active, and mentally capable. If one were to meet them, one might estimate their ages to be 10 to 20 years younger.

interview questions This instrument (Appendix C) constructed a basis for the in-

depth interviews with participants. Along with some basic information regarding the

time of and reasons for immigration, it also sought to obtain information regarding the

experiences, behaviors and attitudes of the immigrants when they came to the United

States. Since their attitudes after arriving in the United States may have been influenced

by their experiences in China, their memories of events in China were also sought. Many

of the questions came out of the literature on Chinese immigrants. For example, it sought

to discover whether any of the participants had relatives who were affected by the San

Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. For another example, Huang (1988) reported an

animosity between a newer group of immigrants in the 1960s and the older, more

76 established immigrants. Did these participants perceive this to be true? Although this instrument has a series of questions to elicit desired responses, the interviews were subject to other questions and probing as the interviews progressed.

questionnaire This was an original instrument (Appendix D) given to 10 church

members to obtain information about their native origins, their reasons for immigrating to

the United States, and some experiences when they arrived. The questionnaire was

constructed in order to determine how they learned some basics of survival in a new

culture and any barriers they faced. For example, the survey asked participants how they

learned to speak English, how they found a place to live, and how they found a job.

focus group questions This instrument (Appendix E) was used with the same 10 participants as chosen for the survey. This short list of open-ended questions was designed to initiate discussion among the participants, in order to obtain any areas of

agreement or disagreement between their experiences. Similar to the one-on-one

interview questions, these questions changed as the discussion progressed.

cases The 6 participants in the case studies (see Chapter Four) were interviewed

extensively, and these were transcribed word for word. At times the responses needed to

be translated from Chinese to English. For more clarity and to allow each story to flow

better, they were rearranged chronologically and/or topically. Then these narrative

instruments were scanned for themes, patterns, or dissimilarities.

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Procedure

first phase Permission to recruit participants and to conduct some data collection

on site at the Community Baptist Church was obtained from the Ministry Team member

in charge of facilities for the church (see Appendix B). Six participants were selected on

the basis of their ability to articulate their experiences and their different decades of entry

as immigrants to the United States. Data collection for this study was done between

December 2007 and October 2008.

Each participant was approached in person and asked if they would be willing to

take part in this research on Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee. Appointments with each

participant were made to conduct the interviews. Before each interview, the Carroll

University Research Consent Form (see Appendix A) was read to the participant, in order

to assure them of the voluntary nature of their participation, and each participant signed

the consent form.

Many of the interviews were done in the pastor’s office at the church. The church

offers a senior lunch program on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and since some of

the participants in the study attend these lunches, it was convenient to conduct the

interviews after the lunch. One interview was done at the participant’s home, and some

were done at a local restaurant.

During the interviews at the church, a tape recorder was used to capture the

conversation. While the interview was being conducted, notes were taken on a laptop

computer or with pen and paper. Several interviews with many of the participants took

more than one session. Altogether, the interviews were conducted over a period of over

11 months. A few of the participants left for long periods of time for vacation and/or a

78 winter home in a warmer climate. One participant’s husband passed away the day after one of the interview sessions.

second phase These interviews were transcribed word-for-word from the tape recordings. At times when the participant spoke in Chinese, the English translation was

typed into the document. In the instances when the Chinese phrase was not familiar, a

reliable translator was consulted as to the meaning of the phrase.

In the case of one participant, many of the life stories had been already recorded

in a booklet of her memoirs. Answers to many of the interview questions were found

within those pages and were taken as her words, although they were written and not

spoken. When there was need for clarification or more information, she provided them

during luncheon interviews with her.

In order to make the narrative more easily readable, sections of the transcribed

stories were rearranged in a more logical order. The events in the participant’s life were

mostly organized in chronological order. Their perspectives and feelings on certain

topics were organized topically. After rearranging the transcripts, each participant’s

narrative was edited down to the most essential sections that would answer the research

questions and still offer a compelling story.

Specific data, such as place of birth, year of immigration, birthplace, education

level and other information about each of the 6 case study participants were organized

and summarized into a chart form using Excel (see Chapter Five, p. 176). This chart facilitated the data analysis, allowing for comparisons between the different participants.

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third phase The questionnaires were completed mostly during social gatherings at

the church. On the first Sunday of the month, a fellowship time is held after the worship

service, during which time refreshments are served. Participants were informally asked if

they were willing to answer questions concerning their immigration experience.

Questions were read to them, and their responses were recorded on the one-page

questionnaire. Other questionnaires were answered over the telephone, and notes were

taken during the conversation.

The participants’ responses were condensed and organized into a chart using

Excel: Survey Responses (see Chapter Five, pp. 177-178). Quite often, the participants

gave much more detail than the short answers requested, as they wanted to further

explain their immigrant experience and share their feelings about being immigrants.

Since many of their comments were informative to this study, these were included in a

different chart of Additional Comments from Survey Participants (see Chapter Five,

p. 179).

fourth phase Informal discussions were held with the 10 participants in the survey, posing some of the questions used in the case studies. This was held at the

church, while notes were taken with pen and paper. These comments were typed and

categorized for further analysis.

lessons learned If doing this study again, it would be helpful to schedule the

interviews as early as possible. Although many of the interview questions emerged from

the literature review, preliminary interviews questions could have been used, with follow-

80 up questions and interviews possibly conducted later on. Since several participants are elderly, health problems, retreats to warmer climates, and even deaths of spouses delayed the interviewing process.

There was a particular individual, who was originally selected to be a participant, but because of unforeseen circumstances, was not available for interviewing. Her husband passed away during the timeframe of this research, and soon afterwards, she needed to undergo surgery and many months of recovery and physical therapy on the

East Coast, where two of her adult children reside. She returned too late to be included in the case studies, although her responses were sought for the short survey questions.

However, when asked for her reason for immigrating to the United States, her story was so engrossing that it involved many hours of taped interviews. Unfortunately, she speaks very little English, and her Toishanese dialect is very strong, which would require a much more talented translator, and much more tedious transcription.

Data Analysis

In qualitative research design, data analysis is an ongoing process. There is continuous reflection on the data as new meanings and new questions evolve. In this research of a group of Chinese immigrants, six case studies were collected using a tape recorder. As the interviews were transcribed, certain themes were noted in a journal.

After the data was collected, transcribed, rearranged and summarized, the data was analyzed for some broad themes, issues, or general meanings within the participants’ stories. Also, over the 11 months of interviewing, interim analysis was done by

81 recording memos in a journal, as similarities and differences were found among the immigrants’ experiences.

The printed narrative summaries were coded for general themes. Particular attention was given to data that connects with the participants’ reasons for immigrating, the Chinese traditions and culture that they brought with them, their religious upbringing and reasons for joining the church, and particularly, how they adapted to a new environment in the United States. These coded themes were organized to find broad ideas and to find connections or disconnections with the literature.

The chart of Questionnaire Responses (see pp. 177-178) was also gleaned for patterns, similarities, and connections. This, along with the additional comments during informal discussions with the participants in the survey, was used to supplement information gathered from the case studies.

The cases were compared to each other and to the additional survey responses, linking the micro to the macro levels of social reality for these immigrants. The specific events and details were synthesized into a comprehensive whole, weaving together many smaller generalizations and interpretations into coherent main themes (Neuman, 2004).

It is hoped that this research will give details as to why a group of Chinese immigrants came to America, what they shared in common, and how they learned to adapt to a new culture. It is hoped that this research will help others to better understand the immigrant experience and to facilitate others in adapting to new and challenging life situations. It is also hoped that this research can promote sensitivity to minority cultures living in the United States.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CASE STUDIES

The following 6 case studies were collected over a period of 9 months. All participants are members of the Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

All, except one, were born in mainland China. One was born in Hong Kong, which was a

British colony then, but since 1997, now belongs to China. They range in age from the

50s to the 90s. Interviews were mostly conducted in the pastor’s office at the church, where a tape recorder was used. Some information was gathered at restaurants while having lunch, and for one participant, much information was gathered from pages of her memoirs in progress. The interviews were transcribed, and the narrative summaries are presented in this Chapter.

The narratives have been kept in the first person voice of the speaker, or in the case of the memoirs, the writer. At times, some participants spoke in Chinese, when they could best express an idea using their native language; the English translations are contained in these narratives. Most grammatical errors have been left uncorrected, in order for the reader to “hear” the participant’s true voice. Any alterations have been made only if the meaning would be unclear if left unamended.

It should be noted that in the Chinese language, there are no differences in verb tense. For example, for the verb “walk,” in Chinese a person would simply add another word to denote past tense, as in “I walk yesterday.” That is why a Chinese person learning English as a second language may make errors in verb tense. Also, there is no difference between the male and female pronouns, such as “he” or “she.” There is just

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one word to denote either. A person, whose first language is Chinese, may often

interchange “he” with “she” or “him” with “her.” Since this may be confusing to the

English reader, changes have been made in the narratives.

In spite of any language problems, the narratives are as accurate as the

participants’ memories. Although some of the participants may be considered elderly,

they are all still very alert and reasonably healthy. These are all primary sources, first

hand accounts of events and recollections. There is no reason to believe that any of the

stories are made up. The participants’ relationship with the interviewer is a comfortable

and trusting one. Not only is the interviewer presently the pastor of the church, but each participant also was well acquainted with the interviewer’s parents as fellow church members and friends.

Much of this narrative comes from memoirs that Jennie started writing about 7 years ago, in anticipation of her 90th birthday. Jennie’s speaks perfect English. She

immigrated to the United States not once, but three different times.

Guangdong is mainland China’s southernmost province, formerly known as

Canton. It is bordered by Macau and Hong Kong. Its capital is Guangzhou.

Jennie

I was born in Guangdong Province, Sun Wei District, Ching Wan Li [section],

Wong Chung [village], in the year 1911, December 13. My father immigrated to the

United States as a merchant. He came to the United States as a teen, and he was already married to my mother. My paternal grandfather, Wong Oy Nam, had been an herbal

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doctor in San Francisco and owned a Chinese herb store in Chinatown. In 1906 after the

San Francisco earthquake, my father, my grandparents, uncles and aunt moved to

Chicago and settled in Chicago Chinatown. Like so many others, my father could claim that he was born in San Francisco, that his birth certificate was lost.

Here’s a funny story. We almost didn’t get to come to the United States. When

my father went back to China, he had found someone else younger than my mother, and

he wanted to bring her to the United States. But when he was questioned by the

authorities, they had noted that his wife had bound feet, but now his “wife” did not. So

they wouldn’t let him take this woman with him. My mother was so mad at him when

she found out about this.

coming to the United States for the first time In March 1912, my parents, my

brother Daniel and I arrived in San Francisco via China Steamship Mongolia. It took us a

month to cross the Pacific Ocean. My poor mother’s feet were bound when she was 11

or 12 years old, and she was having difficulty getting around. I can’t imagine how she

managed to nurse me and change diapers for a 2-month-old baby, plus the roughness of

the sea and the feelings of nausea.

We were detained in Angel Island for questioning by the Immigration and

Naturalization Service. My father ran a restaurant then, Cozy Inn, on the West Side of

Chicago, so we were released by the INS. It took three days and nights by train to journey to Chicago from San Francisco. We lived in a flat above the restaurant. Between

1913 and 1921, four of my younger brothers were born in Chicago.

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As a young girl, I remember there were taunts at school. The children would sing

“ching-chong-chink.” When we went to the movies or shopping or out to eat, there were

always dirty looks.

When I was the age of attending Sunday school, a couple of ladies, Miss Lily

Abbott and her sister Eva Abbott, came to pick me up every Sunday. They also came to

tutor Mother in simple English conversation. One summer they brought me to Lake

Geneva to a church camp. That was the start of my becoming a Christian.

returning to China When I was 10 years old, in the summer of 1922, my parents

brought us all back to Hong Kong to receive a Chinese education. Getting accustomed to

our new environment wasn’t easy. We didn’t speak the same dialect. In school we had to learn thousands of Chinese characters. In the beginning we used to write English pronunciation next to each character to get the correct sound. Gradually we were able to memorize Chinese classics and even took part in plays. Father, after settling the family in Hong Kong, left for the United States the following year in 1923.

I was able to test into Poi Doh Middle/High School in Guangzhou. To my advantage, many classes were taught in English. I was labeled an “overseas Chinese.” It was not a derogatory term; we were just different. Since the school was started by missionaries from the United States, I received religious teaching, and I was baptized.

These three years at Poi Doh were the best years of my life. Since Poi Doh was a boarding school, we [students] got to know each other so well, just like family. We studied together, ate together, and went to church together. Upon graduation I took second in my class and was the emcee during graduation exercises.

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coming to the United States a second time In September 1930 my brother Dennis

and I came back to the United States to study. We left behind Mother and the three

younger brothers. That was during the Depression, so Dad was only able to afford two

steamship fares for the two older children to return to the States first. As I recall, it was

painful and sad to part. When Dennis and I arrived by train to Chicago, Dad was there to

meet us. We found Dad had aged so much.

I stayed in a flat with a Chan family in Chinatown, who were old friends of my

grandparents. They had a daughter named Teenie, and I roomed with her. At that time,

she was working at the Chinese Merchandise Mart on Cermak Road in Chinatown. I went with her and applied for my first job. What a great feeling it was to land a job as a salesperson with the pay of $60 per month. That was lots of money during the

Depression years. We worked 12 hours a day from noon until midnight with no days off.

I saved enough money to pay tuition, which was 20 dollars per subject at Lewis

Institute on the West Side of Chicago. I worked part time from 5pm to midnight. Then I was up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready for classes. At 2:00 p.m. I tutored Chinese to Mrs. Ko in

Chinatown. Constantly on the go.

There were about nine Chinese students at Lewis, and we all became friends. I studied art subjects, like interior decorating. I hated math. One day during lunchtime at the school cafeteria, Henry came towards me with his tray and asked, “May I join you,

Miss Wong?” Eventually we got to know each other better. We both had attended

Christian high schools and had a great deal in common, despite the 9 or 10 years difference in age. We courted for 4 years.

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In the meanwhile, I went to LaClair Beauty Culture School in Milwaukee, which

was above the Woolworth Building. I completed the French Method Course in 9 months.

In 1934, after Henry received his Bachelor of Science degree, we both decided to return

to China, hoping we could contribute something to our mother country.

returning to China again At the end of 1934 I departed for Hong Kong. I just

didn’t feel happy with the environment, often feeling racial prejudice. If I went to the

movies, shopping, or going out to eat, there were always dirty looks. I was anxious to leave and had no intention of returning.

In Hong Kong I worked at the Cameo Beauty Salon at the Gloucester Hotel.

Cameo was an exclusive shop and catered to VIPs. Among the celebrities I did were

Clare Booth Luce [Ernest Hemingway’s wife], Madame Chiang Kai-shek [the Chinese

Generalissimo’s wife], Mrs. H.H. Kung [China’s Premier’s wife and sister of Madame

Chiang Kai-shek], Mrs. Ty Soong [Soong was a big banker and brother of Madame

Chiang Kai-shek and Mrs. Kung], and the wife of Hong Kong’s governor.

Henry arrived in Hong Kong in 1935, and we got married in the summer on June

7th. He obtained a position of Dean and taught mathematics at his alma mater in

Guangdong: Pui Ying Middle School. I continued working in Hong Kong until I was 7 months pregnant with my first son, Rod. Then I moved to Guangdong to join Henry.

When the Japanese started to bomb Guangdong in 1937, I brought Rod to live with my mother in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Finally, Henry’s mother came to join us, while Henry moved to Macau to another teaching job. We saw him every 2 weeks when he was free to join us.

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separating from family and surviving war times In 1939 Henry thought it wise to

return to the United States for further studies. He had his credits transferred to the

University of Chicago to work on his Master’s degree, and he was accepted. He didn’t

mind the temporary parting. I thought that it could be grounds for divorce.

In 1940 my mother also returned to the United States to join my father and

brothers. Once back in Hong Kong, I went back to work at Cameo. My mother-in-law

was there to take care of Rod with the help of a maid. On December 7, 1941, early in the

morning as I was ready to leave for work, sounds of bombs were heard. The Japanese

bombed Kai Tak Airport, which was only 2 to 3 miles from where we lived. Everything

was in a state of turmoil. The Japanese bombed Singapore, Philippine Islands, Pearl

Harbor and Hong Kong simultaneously.

Within 2 days, as the Japanese were marching nearby in Kowloon, the police

force disappeared, and we were faced with no security or protection. Looters entered the

houses without iron gates, people’s lives were threatened, and whatever money people

had on hand was taken. They came banging on our front gate with knives, hammers, and

heavy sharp equipment to break down our gate. It was a frightening experience.

Strangely enough, we were more relieved when the Japanese arrived. At least the city was in order and no more looting.

We didn’t have any money to buy food. We were afraid to go out, so whatever food we had on hand had to be stretched to last longer. Hong Kong was taken over by the Japanese on Christmas Day. The Japanese were encouraging more people to leave in fear of food shortage. I made arrangements for my mother-in-law to return to the village in China with an elderly aunt. Rod and I brought a young maid along with us when we

89 left for Macau, the first step towards the route to the interior of China. I managed to bring along two large steamer trunks and other small pieces of luggage. I hid the 24K gold chains and other pieces of jewelry by sewing them in the elastic bands of my underpants.

In Macau, I found a classmate, Suen-Ying Cheung, whose husband had studied in

Japan. They opened their house to Rod, Ah Nai our maid, and me. Then after awhile, we headed for Guangzhou Wan [inlet], the route that would lead us to the interior of China.

In Guangzhou, I saw my cousin Carrie who went to Poi Doh School with me.

From Guangzhou we walked, took sedan chairs, and rode the bus to Kwang Si province, to Liu Chau. Rod started to enter first grade in Liu Chau. Sometimes air raids came when children were still in school. We adults ran for our dear lives with whatever precious belongings, without our little children. Oftentimes we were out in the open fields. We saw Japanese planes diving down.

During the war there was no communication with Henry or my family in the

States. I had no news of my four brothers, who were all in the U.S. Army. Dad was forced to close his restaurant in Milwaukee on Green Bay Avenue. Without his sons, he wasn’t able to handle the business himself. Luckily, my brother Ben’s health prevented him from being called into service, so he was home to look after my parents. My parents not only worried about the boys in the service, but they had no way to know whether Rod and I were dead or alive. Ben told me in later years that my mother often went out to the veranda and cried for fear that Rod and I would not survive the war in China.

The days in Liu Chau were days of hardship, constant air raids and bombings.

Life was full of insecurity but we were thankful to have a roof over our heads. Winter

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months were so cold, no heat in the apartment. The Japanese were invading Liu Chau; it

left us no alternative but to leave on short notice, going further to the war capital,

Chungking.

Through the help of several friends, Rod and I boarded a freight train headed for

Kwai Zhou. We were able to find space to sleep on top of some cargo. Many others rode

on top of our train. We were cramped like sardines, and some even hung on the train

steps. On the road we saw people leaving children on the road, some falling off the train,

some committed suicide. While the train was running, air raid sirens came on several

times in the night, and we all ran out of the train with no sense of where to go in the pitch

black night. We were not sure whether we would be able to survive.

Eventually we arrived in Chungking. I stayed with a friend’s sister-in-law Yuet,

and her daughter and mother. They received us with open arms. With temporary

accommodations, all five of us in one room, we were grateful. We settled Rod in school;

he learned the different dialects quickly. In the meanwhile, I contacted another friend who was then working for the American Red Cross in Chungking. Immediately I obtained a job as a canteen manager and an interpreter, as civilian personnel, paid in U.S.

currency. I stayed at the airfield in Chungking while Yuet took care of Rod. When

possible, I visited Rod on weekends. I liked the job of bringing GIs to town to shop for

souvenirs. Some pictures were taken with them on the trips and once printed and written

up in the Milwaukee Sentinel. I have a clipping from November 15, 1945.

It was 3 years in Chungking when the war came to an end. Rod and I were the

first few who left Chungking for Shanghai. After reaching Shanghai I contacted a friend

Ann More who was working for Park Hotel. She gave me a room on the 13th floor,

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charged me a monthly rate of about $150 US. I started to work for Chinese National

Aviation Corporation as a filing clerk. My salary was $400,000 national currency a

month. When payday came I needed a suitcase; bananas were $2,000 a pound; rickshaw

rides to work were $1,500 one way.

reuniting with family in the United States After living in Shanghai for a year, in

the summer of 1946, we left for the United States. What a great joy it was to be reunited with the family back in Milwaukee. Rod entered grade school: he was in 5th grade math,

4th grade English, and 3rd grade spelling until he caught up in no time. He stayed in

Milwaukee under the care of my mother to complete the semester while Henry and I

ventured in grocery business in Webb, Mississippi in early 1947.

Henry was a certified accountant, but he couldn’t get work because he wasn’t a

U.S. citizen. So when we visited a cousin in Marks, Mississippi, and found a grocery

store up for sale in Webb, we made a decision to give it a try. We were located on the

main street; the store was named Good Earth Grocery. Those were the days of slavery

for us—getting up in the wee hours of the morning to open up to accommodate the cotton

people who would buy cold cuts and bread to eat in the fields. We had to be wide awake

and alert or many items would be missing without pay. It was primitive living in Webb.

Gas pipes were not connected until years after our arrival.

There were many Chinese-operated grocery stores all within 60 miles. Most of

the stores closed Thursday afternoons and Sundays. On the half-days off we often rode

to Memphis, Tennessee to shop at the wholesale general merchandise mart or to visit

relatives who also ran stores. In the South, the Chinese families believed in celebrating

92 with elaborate feasts whenever there was a special event, and we would feast until our hearts’ content.

After more than 2 years, we decided to have an addition to the family, being somewhat familiar with the environment down South. At that time 37 years old was considered old to have a baby. Carl was born in Clarksdale Hospital on July 4th, 1949, a very good-looking and also happy baby. We were blessed with two healthy boys. Thank

God.

On Sundays our entire family attended church services faithfully to praise God for all his blessings. We were just so grateful to be finally together as a family, even though life was hard. I felt I’ve always had guardian angels with me. Friends and relatives have been so kind and generous to me. I would not have survived without them.

Rod spent a couple of summers in Milwaukee working for Uncle Dennis when he ran the restaurant on Mitchell Street. We sold the store in Mississippi and moved to

Milwaukee in 1953, and when we left Webb, I never wanted to go back there again. Rod transferred to Rufus King High School for the second semester of his senior class. He won a scholarship to Marquette University for one semester upon graduation.

I started attending the original [Chinese] church on the East Side of Milwaukee after Miss Cobb called on me. I’d take the bus there. For awhile I went to a Baptist church in West Allis. I don’t think it matters if the church is Chinese. In Mississippi, there weren’t any Chinese at that church.

Things are a lot better now for Chinese Americans. We in the older generation paved the way for the new younger generation.

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Lillian has been a member of the church since its inception. These interviews were conducted in three sessions. The day after the second session, her husband passed away.

Lillian

I was born in Toishan in Canton, China. My mother wanted me to go to get an education. I went to grade school. When I was seven, the war started in Beijing. The

Japanese airplanes started bombing. Our village was in the middle between a major road for all the big buses, and on the other side, a railroad. They kept bombing. When I was in school, when the alarms came, then we would run home. So the schools were closed.

The war went on for 8 years. At the end, our Toishan village didn’t have enough to eat.

There was little farmland. Without enough food, you know what happened? The schools

did not ask for money for tuition—they asked for rice.

I remember my mother did take some rice to pay tuition. I went to school off and

on. We didn’t have much of anything. We didn’t even have any books. If I knew that

you had studied the same thing, and you had a book, I would come to you and ask if I

could borrow it. There just weren’t enough.

immigrating to the United States My husband came back from the United States

and met me, and we got married. When I married my husband, he stayed in China for 10

months, and then he had to come back to the United States. Then for 5 years, I didn’t see

him. During the 5 years, he sent home some money to support me, but not much money.

He worked in the laundry business. In Communist China, if you had just a little bit of

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money, you were at fault. Because my husband was in the United States, I was at fault.

Actually, if they wanted to press you for money, they would find some fault, so then

you’d give them some money.

In early 1952, I left China to go to Hong Kong. I left with one small suitcase.

With $20 in Hong Kong dollars, how far you can go? It was very difficult to try to leave

China, especially a one-way ticket. There had to be papers and letters from the United

States, to request my release from China to go to the United States. But there were so

many restrictions. I just had $20 and took a ship to Macau. I went with some of my

husband’s cousins. When we got to Macau, there was someone to receive us, and we

stayed overnight for one night. They lent us money to buy the fare to take the boat to

Hong Kong.

The Chinese have a saying, that if you sit at home and don’t have friends, when

you leave the house, then you know the loss. Friends are very important. If you’re like

me, if I didn’t have the people in Macau to help me, I wouldn’t be here. They were my

friend’s relatives.

I had one bed in Hong Kong in a big apartment building. I stayed there with a few

friends. I didn’t have a living room. We each had only one bed, no living room, and

shared a kitchen with other people. When we finished cooking, we’d bring our meal to

our bed and sit on our bed to eat it. When we were done, we would take our pans and

dishes and stick them under the bed.

When I was in Hong Kong, we hired someone to come to teach us some English.

We all pooled our money to hire the teacher; we wanted to learn as much English as we

could before we had to leave. My husband sent money to Hong Kong to a relative, so

95 some money was waiting for me when we arrived. So when I came here, I knew a little

English.

Then [after several months] I flew to the United States from Hong Kong. That was in 1952; it was November 2, and they were electing a new president, electing

Eisenhower, lots of commotion. It was cold, but I was younger then and could stand it.

adjusting to a new life I came to Milwaukee because my husband had a laundry on Wells Street. He owned it with a partner. We had a one room apartment. Later we had another laundry and we lived behind there. I did the simple things in the laundry. I folded the laundry and wrapped them in paper. Sometimes people asked me, “With so much laundry to wash, how do you know [which package of laundry went with which customer]?” After awhile, I would joke with them [laughs], “I weigh the laundry and match the laundry weight with the customer’s weight!”

I also was a seamstress later on. It was 3rd Street and National at Junior House. A friend Amy introduced me to this job. They taught me how, starting with simple ones, and they let you practice. I worked 8 hours a day, about $1.25 an hour. I took the bus there. With such little money, how could we save enough money for a car? Back then, the Communists were in China, and we had to help our family back there, both my family and my husband’s family. In the Communist time, they didn’t have enough to eat. If we sent some money, they were just a little better off.

overcoming barriers The language was the most difficult thing. At night I went to vocational school. It was very close by, and I could walk there. It was at 5th and State,

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and we lived at 4th and Juneau. Back then, there was a missionary named Kah Bo Lin

[Charlotte Cobb] who helped us and introduced me to apply to the vocational school. If she knew that you were a new immigrant, she would come to visit. She knew how to speak Chinese. She took us to church, the First Baptist Church on the East Side on

Ogden.

I know they had a church in China, but I never went inside one. When I came here, I went to church to learn English. And then later they taught the Bible. Miss

Sherman gave me a Bible. I probably still have that one. I would learn to memorize different verses, like Psalm 13, like that. I would learn a little bit at a time. And then I knew there is a God and there is a Jesus. And eventually, Pastor Ho encouraged me to be baptized.

So I found the people here were so nice. They were willing to help you. If you needed anything, they would help. They would teach us English. At the church there were several people who were teaching English: Miss Sherman, Miss Johnson, Miss

Cobb, Miss Tapper. They taught us, one on one. When we left China, the Communists took over and they were very mean. So I thought that the people here were much nicer than the people in China. The Chinese people were so cruel; Chinese people hurting

Chinese people. When the Japanese invaded China, it was Japanese people against

Chinese; now it was Chinese people hurting their own Chinese people.

reflecting on Chinese traditions In the very olden times, many generations ago, the people, especially the women, would not even know how to read. The Chinese kept old traditions, and the men were very selfish. They said women who had no education,

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those women were more “soon jing.” That means like being a good housewife and not

going anywhere or want anything. And so they didn’t want the women to have any

education, to be smarter than they were, to have any power.

My mother told me that, since I was born in the year of the dragon, some people would not want their sons to marry a dragon, because it was considered too powerful.

Yes, but later people did not believe this. But, nowadays, I actually know some

people who still believe this. You shouldn’t believe this. But these people don’t have the

education from the Bible, and that’s why they believe these sorts of things. Every year

there are people who are born. Every day there are people who are born. And they look to see which days are good and which days are not? Jesus never said that. With Jesus every single day is good.

I think that Chinese parents are much stricter [than Caucasian parents]. The

Chinese children are much better behaved. This is true. When I was young, sometimes I don’t like my mother; she was so strict. Now I know she’s right. My father died young, so my mother raised me. In the United States, I wasn’t so strict with my son. When we had a coffee shop, my son worked there when he was young. We paid him a quarter maybe, then after awhile, a dollar. Later on, he climbed on top of the counter and said,

“I’m not working for any lousy dollar! [laughs]”

The Chinese people who immigrated here and the Communist people in China had a vast difference in their thinking about education. In the 1960s the Communists persecuted the people with an education. We, the people who left Communist China, our

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thinking is very different. Without an education, you can’t do anything. There is a

Chinese saying: “Gah moh dook see jee, gung ming haw chee lay.” If you don’t educate

your children in your family, how can you expect prosperity? What do you expect?

“Gung ming” means high ranking and with that, prosperity.

reflecting on newer immigrants Later in Milwaukee there were different groups of Chinese people coming. There were some with a high education; those who came later didn’t have laundries. The people got smarter as the years went by. There were

automatic washers, and they went to laundromats, and so they didn’t need laundries any

more. And then they made fabrics that didn’t need ironing, so the laundries lost business.

Little by little, no more laundries, and some went to work in restaurants. [The new

Chinese immigrants] might have, in their minds, looked down [on people who worked in

laundries], but their actions did not show it.

Charles was the first ordained pastor of the Chinese mission church in

Milwaukee. He was instrumental in acquiring the present church building in 1967 and

ministering to the Chinese community until he retired in 1986. The Chinese community

still reverently calls him Pastor.

Charles

I was born in the city Shao Hing, Chekiang province, east China, about 180 miles

from Shanghai. I went to school in a few different places, because it was during war

time. The first place was in Shanghai, when I was a freshman in college. Then in 1941,

99 because Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Second World War started. The Japanese bombed this area of Shanghai, where I attended college, and the school closed. Then we moved inland. It took me 8 ½ years to finish my college degree because of war and because of moving around—not because I was flunked!

In 1949 when the Communists came to power, I left China for Hong Kong. I was teaching social science at Bethel High School, like history and geography. And I also taught at Bethel Bible Seminary, teaching economics and bookkeeping using the abacus.

No computers in those days. My wife was teaching music at Bethel.

immigrating to the United States A missionary by name of Edna Smith from the

United States asked if I would be interested to come to the United States to study in seminary. Edna was a missionary to China, before the Communist came, to Swatow, and she spoke Swatow fluently. She was very fond of us. When Edna Smith came back [to the United States] on furlough, she talked to the First Baptist Church in Kansas City,

Missouri, where she met a man named Novis Reed. He volunteered to sponsor me even though we never met. He didn’t pay anything, because I borrowed money from Church

World Service in New York to come, and I got a scholarship to go to Berkeley [American

Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California].

We came by sea, because you know, those days airfare was very expensive. That was in 1955. We came by second class, not first class, because first class is too expensive. It took us 18 days to get here with the two boys. They had different compartments, male and female. They didn’t have a compartment for a girl. So [my daughter] was delayed. She came by herself 3 weeks later. She came with another

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family that we didn’t know, but someone connected us in the church group. At the age of

five, she was a very courageous girl.

My wife didn’t come, because those days, the consulate, they had everybody go

through a physical exam. They found out she had a spot on her left lung, and those days,

they were very strict, that it might be TB [tuberculosis], contagious. Every other month

the United States Consulate had to check her spot, whether or not it was active. Finally

they decided it was not active, she was not contagious. There was a lot of red tape. So

she was detained in Hong Kong almost 15 months, before someone told our story to the

TV show Truth or Consequences.

We knew of her coming, but she didn’t know anything. She stayed at Roosevelt

Hotel, and we stayed at the Knickerbocker Hotel, about a block or two away. We met at

the studio [on the air]. You know Bob Barker, he was the host. We had a very exciting

time. But we just stood there. You know, back in China, we don’t jump around and kiss

all over.

adjusting to a new life Before my wife came, I had to go to school [at Berkeley].

[My oldest son] was only 8 or 9 years old. As a matter of fact, he was a Berkeley Gazette

paperboy; he was a Paperboy of the Year! And [my second son] was his assistant. You know those two little boys, they took of themselves. And [my daughter] at that time, she was only 5 or 6 years old; she helped clean up the house. She vacuumed. She did a lot of housework. When I was in school, they just came home by themselves. It’s amazing, isn’t it? They were very behaved.

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If I had a question, I would go to the Dean’s office; there were some very helpful people. Not far from the apartment, we found a grocery store by ourselves; it was not far, walking distance. We didn’t check with anything, just paid the bill I suppose. After awhile, we took a bus to go places; we just asked a neighbor how to take the bus, but we didn’t have to go far. We were even scared to go far. In 1959 I learned to drive a car in

California. My first car was a used Studebaker for about $200. That was a lot of money then. I took driving lessons at Sears Driving School. I hadn’t graduated yet.

finding work During the school year I worked at the seminary library. I worked three jobs during the summertime, from May to September. I worked in a printing house;

I have to be there 5 o’clock in the morning. They printed magazines, flyers, you know, those advertisements. I handled those machines. I was there until about 9:00 in the morning. At 9:30 I have to be at the Bank of America in downtown Oakland. I took care of the vault, the vault in the basement, to carry the money, the coins, to distribute to the tellers. And then I was promoted to be one of the tellers. I worked three consecutive summers there at Bank of America. After Bank of America, every afternoon, like around

5:30, I went to Palo Alto to a machine shop, to work as a janitor. I cleaned up the machines, you know, pushing brooms. I worked three different jobs in order to keep the family going. Some weekends in the summertime, I painted the porches at the professors’ houses to get extra money. [My wife] took care of the kids. She didn’t work outside the home. I even didn’t want her to work. You know, family comes first. You know, my life was not easy, it was pretty tough.

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To find those jobs, some people recommended me. Or I looked in the paper. I

talked to some friends. I told people that I needed a job. It’s different these days; the

people who come from China or Taiwan, as soon as they get here, they can buy a car, or

even buy a house. Right now those people, they are really loaded! But not in my time.

connecting to family in China The one thing I miss most about China is my mother. I left China in 1947, and I went to school. Then we went back in 1979 for the first time. I didn’t see my mother for 31 years and 9 months. That’s what my mother told

me, and she prayed for me everyday. When I went back to China in 1979, all of my seven

siblings were still there. I was the only to leave China. I was third among the eight kids.

When I was in Berkeley, we wrote letters. Those days, because of the

Communists, it took a long time to get letters in and out. When my father died, I

remember that I was washing my car on a Saturday morning, and I got a telegram that

said my father died, at the age of 74. We never telephoned. Even when I went back in

1979, there weren’t too many telephones. You have to go to the public phone, maybe

walk about three blocks away. Those days were very strict, all controlled by the central

government. Somebody could definitely be listening.

My grandmother was converted by an American Baptist missionary. My father

was sent to a Christian high school. And then from high school, he went to a Bible

institute, not a seminary, for a couple of years. So he was ordained as a minister. We

have to give credit to my grandmother. All of my siblings were Christian, too. [My

wife’s] father was a minister, too. He graduated from the University of Shanghai, and in

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1932, he was sent by the East China Baptist Convention to Rochester, New York for 2

years. He got his Master’s from Colgate Rochester Divinity School.

My parents experienced persecution in China. In 1950 or 51, my father was

jailed. Because of the communist government, they wanted my parents to write a self-

confession. My mother, being a stubborn Baptist, she said, “I never did anything wrong

against the government. If you want me to write a confession, I will only confess myself

to the Lord. She was jailed 3 months. She still didn’t write any self-confession. Then

they let her out.

overcoming barriers When I first came, language was a major obstacle. I took

extra English classes in the evening for foreigners, in some sort of community school, for

about half a year. I knew a little bit of English before I came, not much. Actually, later

on, my children, they helped me, too. They corrected me all the time.

Especially when I wrote my thesis, I had to ask a special advisor to correct my grammar. I had to do three drafts before I presented it to the school. I had to think in

Chinese first, and then translate from Chinese to English. It takes longer. Most of the

courses in seminary were interpretation of the Bible. The professors at Berkeley taught

me one thing: don’t listen to what we say; you have to grow your own thinking and

interpretation about the word of God. This I like: a very broad freedom to develop your

own thinking.

When I was a senior in Berkeley, I was invited by my sponsor, to their home. It

was the afternoon when I was in front of their house, and the people, they looked at me

and said, “Hey, Chinaman! Why don’t you go back to China? We don’t need you!”

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They were a few young people. I thought that the wise man would not respond, so we

walked inside the house, my wife and I.

You know the house where we live in Brookfield? Next door, on the right side,

there was a couple who didn’t have any kids. She [the neighbor] called us Chinamen.

[My wife] said to her, “Please do not call us Chinamen. Just call us by our first names, if

you don’t mind. We don’t like to be called Chinamen.” You know what? In the next few

months, they moved out. That was in the 1960s.

reflecting on life in the United States I was ordained at First Baptist Church in

Oakland in Berkeley. When I finished my seminary in the early 60s, I was commissioned by the Home Mission Society, right now called National Ministries, in Providence,

Rhode Island. I was invited to be assistant pastor of Peddie Memorial Baptist Church in

New Jersey.

When I first got to New Jersey from California, I drove into the church parking lot. The parking lot had diagonal parking, and I parked a little bit crooked. There was a lady named Ada Simpson, who said, “You come to be our assistant pastor? If you park like this, I’m going to send you back to California!” The first day! I was a little bit intimidated. But after 5 ½ years, when I turned in my resignation at a Wednesday prayer meeting, Ada was crying, “You cannot leave us!”

In that church in New Jersey, there were about a dozen Chinese people. The

membership then was about 600. After a year and a half, the senior pastor retired, and

maybe they thought I did a good job, so the deacons, they asked me to take care of the church as a senior pastor. The church was 90% Caucasian, but somehow they trusted me.

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My wife was the substitute organist. I was there for 5 ½ years before I was asked to

come to Wisconsin.

The Home Mission Society asked me to come to Milwaukee as the Minister of

Community Witness for the Wisconsin Baptist State Convention, now changed to the

name American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin. I wore quite a few hats. One role was

for refugee resettlement, another one was international students association, another one

was to be a representative for Wisconsin Baptist State Convention to Interfaith organization. Another hat was to take care of the Chinese Mission in Milwaukee.

being thankful God is always gracious to me; in difficult times, He helped me get

through. Even though now we are not rich, but we are living comfortably. You know

that Chinese community says, “Who wants to be a minister?” Right? You know, a

minister doesn’t make any money. But God is always gracious to us. He has provided us

more than we need.

I got a special award from the Greater Milwaukee Alliance. I sponsored 888

refugees from around the world. I think that was my most successful achievement. I’m so grateful. There was a ceremony, and they had a special dinner.

My personality is that if I promise one thing, I would use all my power to fulfill

my promise. We have been married for 63 years, you know. A few years ago, a man in

California said to me, “Charles, how can stand a wife for 60 years?” A man of the

church! I don’t know if he was divorced once or twice. But once you’ve committed

yourself…regardless. We all have differences. We have to either forgive or be forgiven.

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Once I commit myself, I will commit until my last breath. That’s what my stubbornness is.

I would just like to be remembered that I’m a faithful servant of God, even though

I have a lot of ups and downs, but I’ve always stuck to my faithfulness. All my life, I only had two jobs, one in New Jersey and Wisconsin. That’s all I had in my life, because of my faithfulness. Even though sometimes it was tough, sometimes it was very tough.

David is a quiet, mild-mannered gentleman who is always ready to lend a hand.

He was most gracious and supportive in sharing his story.

David

I was born in Bone Yik in Toishan County, China. I had two parents, but they don’t teach their kids anything, because they didn’t have an education. They don’t have anything other than a house in the village. We were not rich. We weren’t the poorest ones in the village; we were probably average or below average. My father didn’t have a job, especially when I was born and during the war. In China, especially in Toishan, there were a lot of overseas Chinese. But other than that, in the village, there’s nothing.

There was a little farmland. We owned some farmland, and that’s all we depended on at that time.

I started grade school in the village. It’s not what I’d call a school, because

during that time, there were some high school students as teachers. They graduated from

high school in Guangdong City. During World War II, when Japanese took over China

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in the coastal areas, they fled back to the village and became teachers. They didn’t train as teachers, just had a little more education. So I went to grade school a few years.

Then I went to Toishan City for a year of junior high before I came over. It was a boarding school. Back then I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to junior high, because it was difficult to get in. Back then you had to know someone to get in. They say you have an entrance exam and tests and so forth, and as I see it now, that was just to say they have it. But to be admitted, you had to have a connection. The whole area, there were only two or three private junior highs; there were no public junior highs. I imagine you have to be pretty good plus you have to know someone to get in. Fortunately, in our village, two or three people owned a bookstore in Toishan City, and they knew some teacher or someone in the school. So my cousin and I got in to the junior high.

coming to the United States I came with my uncle when I was 13 or 14. I guess I

came because of the opportunity for an education. My Uncle Allan went back to China

three times, and he had three daughters. Back then, women didn’t come to the United

States, so he registered each time that he had sons. His youngest daughter was born

around the same time that I was born, so when he went to register a child, he registered my name [instead of the daughter]. My father was the oldest of several brothers; somehow they decided that one of the brothers had to stay in China, so he was the one to stay.

We came by boat, and I arrived on August 11, 1948. We landed in San Francisco and checked in a detention center, I don’t know what you call it. When I checked in, I was surprised to see so many Chinese detained in that building. We stayed for a week.

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Then we went to Baker, Oregon, where my uncle and four distant uncles ran a restaurant. I lived with my uncles and cousins on the floor above the restaurant. They made some rooms up there. I didn’t have any parents there; my uncle was the only one.

My aunt wasn’t here then. We were just living like bachelors then.

I have two stepsisters, one older brother, and one older sister; I’m the youngest.

My older brother came to the United States with someone else’s papers. So his last name

is different from mine. My Uncle Jack decided that all of my uncles should return to

China at different times, because they needed people to run the restaurant. Whoever was

not married yet could go first, and then whoever didn’t have a son yet could go next.

You have to go back two generations—my grandfather and others in his generation. The restaurant run by five uncles was really exceptional. They made a living in the United States back then with that restaurant. My grandfather’s generation were the ones who said, “Well, you guys (my uncles’ generation) should open a business, so the younger generation, when they come over, they will have someplace to go.” My grandfather’s generation was probably handymen or something; they couldn’t do anything else. Some were in Seattle or Walla Walla, in that area. They were the first generation to come, but I wish my uncle was still alive so I could ask him.

overcoming barriers I didn’t know anything, even how to say “yes” or “no.” But

fortunately, my older brother and my cousin came here a couple of years before I did.

One of the teachers at Baker Junior High School tutored my cousin and me after school

for about a year. She taught us English, spelling, social studies…I owe her a lot for her

dedication. Her name was Miss Sass. We were able to graduate to the 7th grade. My

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older brother and other cousins came to the United States before we did, and they all went to a private Catholic school, but they were placed in really low grade levels, almost kindergarten, because they didn’t speak English, and so they lost interest in school and dropped out. My uncles learned from that experience and put my cousin and me in a public school, and one of my uncles asked Miss Sass to tutor us. He offered to pay her for it, but she didn’t take any money. She was a member of a Lutheran church, and my cousin and I went to Sunday school there. I went to high school in Baker, and then on to

Oregon State University.

coming for a job in Wisconsin When I was in college, I went back to Baker to

work every summer. I worked washing dishes in the restaurant. When I came home

from college as a junior, my uncle bought a used car for me. It was a 1950 Plymouth,

stick shift car. That was a big surprise. You know, sometimes, real parents won’t buy a

car for you. But my uncle bought me a car. My cousin came from China about the same

time I did; he had a father here, and he didn’t even have a car. I was very close to my

uncle.

When I graduated from college, I was planning to work for Bonneville Power and

Light, for the federal government. It is like the Tennessee Authority. It’s located in

Portland, because that is the generation facility on the Columbia River. I was interested

in that kind of job as an electrical engineer. The reason I didn’t get hired is because you

had to be a citizen of the United States to be employed by the federal government. I got

my citizenship after I graduated a couple of months later, but when I applied, I applied in

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the spring. So I was disappointed. If someone is qualified for a job, it is not because they

are a citizen of the United States.

I got a job at Allis Chalmers [in West Allis, Wisconsin]. Allis Chalmers had a

recruiting office in Portland, Oregon. When I graduated in 1958, Allis Chalmers was

hiring over 150 college graduates every summer. I drove my 1950 Plymouth from

Oregon to Wisconsin [to start my job]. It took 3 to 5 days.

Something happened that made an impression on me. When I got to Sioux Falls,

it was about 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening. I decided to stay overnight. I went to the hotel

to check in, and I didn’t have reservations. There were several people ahead in line, and there was a young couple just ahead of me, and when they walked up there to ask for a room, the clerk said, “Sorry, it’s all full.” Then the young couple left. And me, I didn’t know any better. I walked up there and asked the same question. I didn’t even think about it. This guy looked at me, and said, “Yeah, I have a room for you.” Then he told me, “You know what? Did you hear that I told that young couple I didn’t have a room for them? I have one room. I will rent it to you. I didn’t rent it to them, because it’s a big room. It’s a much bigger room than you need. And I’m not going to charge you the regular price. I’m just going to charge you for a single room. You know, I look at you.

You are young. You don’t have any travel experience. I can tell. You know, at this time of year, it’s right at the peak of travel season, vacation time. Please, next time, reserve

ahead of time before you go. Don’t expect you’re going to stop where you wish and get a

place to stay. That young couple, if they can’t find a room, they can stay in a hotel

somewhere up the street and spend a night. For you, you don’t know anybody here. You are so inexperienced, and I don’t want you to get stuck in your car.” His name was Fox.

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I still remember his name. It was very nice of him. I’ll never forget that. I got the

impression that there are some nice people. You won’t find too many like that.

When I first came to Milwaukee, I didn’t know anyone. And I didn’t meet any

other Chinese person until I went to a Chinese restaurant in downtown Milwaukee and

struck up a conversation with the owner’s son who worked there.

becoming a Christian I only went to church once when I was very young in

China. I remember getting an orange at the end of the service. But I was not a Christian

in China. My wife went to a Christian college in Texas. When my wife and I built our

house in West Allis, we soon got a postcard in the mail about a Chinese church. My wife

filled it out and sent back the information. Soon we got a visit from Pastor and Mrs. Ho.

And so we started coming to this church.

reflecting on immigrants Right after World War II, the overseas Chinese who

were already here, most of them were from southern China, like Toishan and Guangdong.

So after 1950, the law changed. The ones who were in the military service, they were

granted citizenship immediately, and they can bring their wives and children over. That’s why there was a big group of people. You notice that most of them were restaurant people. Also, back in the 1950s, they also passed a law, that if you came to the United

States under false papers, whatever, if you come to change your record, admit what happened, you won’t get deported or anything like that [amnesty]. In fact, my uncle, the one with three daughters, went to San Francisco to get the record changed [so he can bring the daughters here]. Then he called me and told me what he did, and that means he

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disowned me in the records. So I went here [local courts] to do that [file for amnesty], and when I did that, it’s good for me, too. That’s why I claimed my sister, the one in

Portland now, and we brought her here.

I noticed the difference [in the immigrants] in the 1960s and 70s. The second

group were [made up of] professionals.

Did you think some of the professional people looked down on the people who

worked in restaurants and laundries?

I didn’t feel any negative feelings. Maybe I don’t feel anything, because I can

mix with them. In fact, I can mix with anyone. I was in between. I went through the

restaurant, and I know how hard they work, what they have to do, what type of people

they are. And also I know the professional people. I know what they do.

But I knew some people. I’m not going to mention any names. I know some

people. They do that. They look down on the Toishanese, for example. But they

changed though—over the years. I know, like the Golden Age Club [the senior citizen

lunch program], we have different people there. It started with lots of restaurant people.

You know, it’s a lot different now. One thing, I’m not going to brag about anything, but

that change, I have to say [my wife] had something to do with it. [David’s wife was the

director of the Golden Age Club for many years.] [She] can speak all the dialects; she

can talk to them. They get along fine. But I wouldn’t say that 30-some years ago.

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reflecting on changes The [difference in] dialects, the language, is getting less and less, because the older generation is dying off. And the young ones, they speak

English.

I changed myself a lot. First, when our kids were growing up, I said they have to marry a Chinese person. I changed. From what we see, a girl who meets a Chinese, a

Caucasian, whatever, if a good person, he’s a good person. It doesn’t matter what color.

For example, [my wife’s] second brother who lives in Houston: they have three daughters—they all married Caucasians. And way back then, he said, “We don’t like that. But we don’t have a choice.” But now they say, “I’ll tell you. Our son-in-laws are better than our daughters!”

So everything changes. Maybe we’re more Americanized or just go with the times or what. You change. I guess society changes. You get a broader perspective over time. It’s good. Opening up is a good thing. The younger generation, they travel a lot.

Even before they get out of high school, they travel all over the world. That’s good.

These interviews with Pearl were conducted over several sessions. Pearl was eager to share her stories without much prompting. This summary is about half the length of the original transcript.

Pearl

I was born in Sun Wei, Guangdong, China. My father [had come] back from the

United States, and when he came back [to China], he tore up his papers. He didn’t want to ever go back. He said they mistreated Chinese people; there were no laws to protect

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Chinese people. He made a little money in a laundry and then in a chop suey place in

Chicago. Then he went back to China and married my mother. He built two new houses and opened a new rice factory, the only factory in the whole area, too.

I didn’t get much education when younger that time, because we go to school at

the beginning of the war. Then at least 8 days out of 10, we were running out of school,

because there was bombing. The plane coming, bombing you anytime, just like

earthquake. They so close to you. You don’t have anything to fight back. The Japanese

flying the small airplane. And they come down so low. And you see people running, see

the machine gun shooting.

We heard airplane coming. We had to run out of the house, go to the rice paddy

or into the woods, hiding. The whole family, everybody go different ways. Don’t know where my mom go, where my brother go, where my sister go, who go. That time I had one sister, younger than me, that sister, I carry her, run out to the paddy. I was about 8 years old, 9 years old. Then after the plane gone, bombed a whole lot of houses down.

But I come back halfway, people all come back. Then some go ahead, and they come and tell me, “Your house all gone, bombed it all.” We cried all the way. We come back, the whole house flat. We got nothing left. Nothing. No home, no nothing. We lucky, we get out of the house. Thank God for that. No one was killed. We all got out. So that’s why my father was bankrupt. When he was bankrupt, he still had farmland. When he had money, he had bought good farmland. He sold half, more than half of the acres; then in the beginning, built part of a house. Then he sold some more, he could buy some clothes and build up the family back again together.

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immigrating to the United States My husband meets me and after about 2 weeks,

maybe 20 days, something like that, we got married. And then he told me all about the

United States, but then I thought, I can’t go there, different language. I can’t speak no

English. In China, after 6th grade in that area, you can learn English, but I didn’t have a

chance to go that high a grade. But I had a friend, who learned something: “pencil; you

and I go out; you my friend.” I knew a few things. That’s it. Here’s my pencil. You and

I go out. You my friend. We learned that. Like a little kid, you know [laughs].

[My husband] was born in the United States, a citizen. Then when he was 17 or

18, World War II, then he got to go into the service. Three brothers go at the same time.

He went to the Navy, his brothers in the Army, for 3 years. In 1947, once the war over, he went back to China. He got one more sister at home, a younger one. He tried to bring the younger sister back to this country. That year, the sister was the same age as me, about 19 years old. He wasn’t planning to get married. But then his stepmother said,

“Why don’t you get married, before you go back?”

That time I saw him, I like him real much [laughs]. My father really didn’t like it that I was going to marry a guy and go to the United States. But my mother didn’t mind, to go the United States, because you can make money more easily, instead of staying in

China and being poor. [My husband] was a G.I., so after the war, he could bring a wife with him. I can come with him at that time, but he said, “I don’t have anything, a foundation, house or apartment. I don’t have nothing.” About a year later, I come to the

United States.

When [my husband] come back the United States, I’m still young, not even 20 at that time. I have nothing do to. I missed school during World War II, I missed a lot, so I

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told [my husband] in a letter, why don’t I go back to school again. I got to do something;

I can’t sit around the house or go around. So [my husband] agreed with me, okay you can go to school, do what you want to do. Then I go to school for about 8 months. It was a regular school, grade school. No matter what age, you can still go.

I got married in 1947, and I came in 1948. I was supposed to travel by ship, but at that time, the ship workers were on strike, so I had to fly. I didn’t go back until in 1986, I went back to China to visit.

adjusting to a new life The first day I got to Chicago, it was October or

November, and I looked to see the trees were dried up. All the leaves fall off. I thought,

“Why are all the trees DEAD?” Then when spring coming, I thought, “The trees are

ALIVE!” In China we don’t have that kind of tree. It’s all year round, where we live in the south, we don’t have that kind of weather. All the time, green.

I lived in Chicago for one year when I first came, because [my husband] was a waiter in a restaurant in downtown Chicago. I just locked myself at home. I can’t even try to go out, because I can’t speak English. When people talk to me, I am so scared. I can’t talk to them. I don’t know how to say anything. That’s why I don’t go out until

[my husband] come home. He worked from 11:00 to 3:00, then he get a short time off.

Then he came home—not too far from where we lived, about 16 blocks to Chicago downtown, so he took the streetcar to come home. [Then he had to go back to work the dinner shift.]

Then later, sometimes I walked down there to meet him, straight down to where he worked. I know the day he gets off at 3 o’clock; I go an hour early to walk over to

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meet him. You know where I go to meet him? Most of the time, I go to the theater to

watch the news, only one hour of news. That time I don’t understand, but I love to watch

the news. [My husband] would explain to me.

I was so lonely. Because the language. I don’t understand. It’s very hard for me.

People smile to me and want to talk to me. But I’m just so afraid. I don’t know what I

say. I say something, they don’t understand. I feel very, very sad sometime, you know. I

didn’t live in Chinatown; I live outside. All American people, all kinds: Italian, Polish.

For a whole year, I hide in a one-room apartment.

Sometimes my husband would come home, and then we would take the streetcar

to Chinatown to buy groceries. I love to see Chinese people, because you leave your own

country, you come here, you see all American people. All of them look alike. Really.

Until later, you can tell. Just like American people look at Chinese, we all look the same.

There were a few small stores close to the apartment, and I could walk there and

get a few things. But I didn’t know how to speak English or count American money, so I

just handed them some money [shows her two open palms] and hope they wouldn’t cheat

me.

My brother-in-law married a Chinese girl who was born here. They got an

apartment close to ours, so she came to my apartment a lot. I didn’t speak English, and

she didn’t speak Chinese, but we got along and learned from each other. We both go and

look around, language by hand [sign language], until she learn a little Chinese, and then I

learn a little more English. Little by little.

I lived in an apartment near to one theater, and I go there everyday for a movie, the same movie for the whole week. Twenty-five cents. All cowboys at that time. I love

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the cowboy, I don’t know what they mean, but they running and fighting. It’s fun for me

to watch that. I love cowboys. I went by myself. Everyday, seven days a week, the

same movie. Then my husband got a radio for me, and I turned it all the time to only the

cowboy songs. I loved them so much. It helped pass the time.

building a life in the South We lived in Chicago about one year. Our daughter was born in 1949, and in 1950 we moved to Arkansas. My husband’s brother owned a grocery store there, and he couldn’t work it all by himself, and he asked my husband to come help. So we moved down there. There was living quarters attached to the grocery store.

I learned English from customers, because, day after day, they come in there.

They point, they teaching you: “This called that; that called that.” When you’re young, you remember. They tell you one time, two times, you remember.

I got one guy; he’s a very, very good guy, good carpenter. He’s very helpful. We built a house next to our grocery store. So he helped [my husband]. He teach [my husband] how to do the wood, how to trim, how to put up. He do it really perfect; he’s a professional. But only alcohol ruined his life. But such a good guy. When he’s not drunk, he’s very helpful, help you so much.

I didn’t learn much from [my husband and my brother-in-law] because they were so busy. Sometimes I ask and they would explain. After that, my kids grew up a little bit, and then my kids teaching me. You know my older son, he not even go to school, he knew how to read already. Down South they don’t have kindergarten, first grade only.

But we had a Baptist church. One lady, such nice, she come to take my four kids to the

119 church every Sunday, to the children’s class. Those days, the people, you can trust, real, real honest people. Now you don’t, you don’t trust. My kids, every Sunday morning, they all get up, they get ready to go to church. I dress them up, too. I got a picture.

Down South on the bus, the black people can’t sit in the front, just way in the back. Even an empty place, they can’t come up and sit down. They have to stand in there, in the back. I think the Chinese, they allow them to ride in the front, because the kids, they don’t send them to the black school, they send them to the white school.

Later on, I got a couple of kids that time, I hire one black woman. They’re so poor. Winter time, especially. Nothing to do. No cotton, no nothing to pick. So I offer them to do a little housework to me, to take care of my kids; I work at the store. I give them a little groceries, to pay them, like a salary. They said okay. They don’t want much either. I hire one just to do the ironing, for washing the clothes, the diapers. Wintertime they don’t got much thing to eat, and then I got lot of stuff leftover. So I give it to them.

They so happy, too.

The guy, the alcoholic, you know how bad he want to drink. Then he come in, and he say, “Hey, Pearl, I going to teaching you English. Then you give me a bottle of beer.” And I say, “Okay, deal!” He teaching me lots of stuff. But I just don’t know how to read and write. But I talk to the people, the public, pretty much. But down South, you learn English a little easier than the North, because they talk slow. You know the

Southern words, you can listen to them much easier than up here. They’re so fast. Even now, you say something, I can’t catch that fast. The only bad thing, no grammar, because you don’t go to school.

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Summertime, when they have to pick cotton, they get up at 2 o’clock in the

morning. We open at 3 o’clock to let them to shopping for cold cuts, bread, cake or whatever for lunch. They start coming in at 3 o’clock, they take about an hour, and then after they left, then we close again. Then we go to sleep to about 5 o’clock and get up again. We open at 6 o’clock, close at 10 o’clock at night. Long hours. When we were young, we really work our butt off, I’m not kidding.

And then we build a big home: three bedrooms, one big bedroom for the three

boys, and one small one for [our daughter], and one for us. It was pretty nice that time,

got a big living room, big kitchen. Pretty nice. Build that all, we settle down.

moving for educational opportunities When we had the grocery store in

Arkansas, I thought about the kids’ future, how to get a good education. There are not

many good colleges in Arkansas, and then business was going down, so we sold the store.

For us, it doesn’t matter where we live, we’re old. But for the kids’ future, we move back up north. We moved back to Chicago. After awhile, my husband’s sister, they had a restaurant in Milwaukee; she said they needed help, so we moved to Milwaukee in 1960.

I come in 1960, I move back to Milwaukee. My kids all go to school, then I go to work for Uncle Kay [not an actual relative]. He had a little coffee shop down at 3rd and

Juneau. I never do the waitress before. But they tell me, “Oh, you can learn.” So I say,

“Okay, I try.” So I go down there and learn. I just watch people, and then I do it. Little by little. I learn from the South the basic English, how to count money, simple words, I can joking a little, talk laugh [literal translation for the verb “joke” in Chinese].

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I worked in a coffee shop at 3rd and Juneau when the kids were in school, and

Lillian had a laundry next door. That’s why I know Lillian for many years. Lillian introduced me to the vocational school a few blocks away. I was that time still young, maybe 31 or 32 years old, and I think, I have to learn something, how to read and write, those two things. Otherwise, I’m just blind, I can’t see the A-B-C-D. It’s really hard, really, really bad. I go shopping, I just know the number, the price, $3.49 or $2.99 or a dollar, something like that. Then I got an idea, I had to do something for myself.

Otherwise, it’s too hard. Street name, I didn’t even know. Store, I didn’t even know. A-

B-C-D, I didn’t even know. I said, “What use is that for me in this country?” I had to go to school.

So I work there at 3rd and Juneau, not too far from vocational school. The

vocational school: Juneau and 6th. So I walk down there and register for learning. Once I

put my kids to the school, and then I take the bus. The school start about 9:00, something

like that. I go there and then I get off about 11:30. Then I got to take the bus, come

home and make lunch for the kids. Then after lunch, I take the bus go to work, start to

work 1 o’clock to 7 o’clock. Then when I get home, I got to cook dinner for the kids. At

that time, it’s not easy. [My husband] work almost to 10 o’clock, 10 hours. Sometimes

he work to 1 o’clock in the morning. When my kids come home from school, they stay

home alone. Now I think about it, sometimes I cry. Today people raise the kids so nice.

We, that time, we not even have toys. One toy, they have to share with everybody. But

they get along okay.

I went to vocational school for 3 months in Milwaukee. After 3 months of

English, I learned sewing at the same place. I learned sewing for 3 months. I could sew

122 in China, but not on machines like they had here. That time I work with the factory, sewing that time, I do about 6 or 7 months for sewing.

starting in the restaurant business After that, then Lillian had a coffee shop on

35th, she don’t have a waitress. She need one. So I said, okay, I quit my job. I worked for Lillian and her husband, 35th and Capitol Drive, waitress for 3 years, something like that. And then I got my own.

I have my own place, 7 years the first one, on North Avenue, 57th. That time, was a really nice area. It was called Uptown Grill. In the coffee shop, we work 6 days a week, and more than 14 hour a day. I was in that place 6 or 7 years. After that, 1970 something, we got tired of it, so I get rid of that.

And then 2 or 3 years, we get a second one back in West Allis, on 67th and

Burnham, coffee shop: No Name Restaurant. People call. “No Name Restaurant.”

What’s your name? “No Name” [laughs]. We used the old owners’, they had a big sign, you know. Oh, might as well use it. We don’t have to pay a different one. I had that for

7 years, until I really sick, 1983. I almost died that time. My doctor, after he retired, he see me, he said, “You still around, Pearl?” I said, “I’m still here!” He said, “You’re pretty tough!” I said, “Yes, I am” [laughs]!

reflecting on raising children The coffee shop [business] you got to open at 6 o’clock. Hard work, 14 years. Really. So I said, “No more.” Kids all grown up. I don’t have to support them; they can stand on their own feet. I really thank God for my kids that time. Both of us, we don’t speak much English, we don’t read much English. You

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can’t help the kids for homework. That’s really, I’m proud of my kids, for they do their

own. Nobody help them. Down South we both right there, we live right next to the

grocery store. And then we’re home all the time.

Two of my grown children live with me. My daughter and my son are all spoiled all day long. I do my son’s laundry. I cook the meals. My daughter works close to home, so she comes home for lunch.

reflecting on newer immigrants When the people come later on, have an education, then you feel little bit like, sometimes they don’t look at you like the same

class. They look down at you, you don’t have much education. The Chinese people, is

number one [the most important thing], they, what you call it, lose face. [If] you don’t have knowledge, it makes people lose face, makes you feel so low. The elderly in China, education or no education, you still have to respect them. Even if you don’t like them.

Later on, the one bunch come, they had a little more education. They come here, they have the chance to go to school right away. So they can learn a little more than we do.

attending church I become a Christian because of Lillian. She go to church at

Garfield Church. That’s the only friend I know, Lillian, [in the] beginning. I’m up here;

I don’t know no Chinese people at all. So I know Lillian. I worked with her 3 years, together down there at the coffee shop. Then she go to church. My husband went to the church on Ogden, Miss Johnson, Miss Nye [the Sunday school teachers], to learn English and the Bible, about 1941.

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Lillian introduced me to all her friends, and then I know that, and then after that, she talk to me, to the church. I say, okay, I go with her. When I was working 6 days a week at the coffee shop, once in awhile, I come to church, but not too often. Then step by step, I come a little more, little more. Then I know God. I used to ask, “What is God?

What is Jesus?” Now I feel that God really has been with me all my life and help me all the time.

Of the 6 participants in these case studies, Minah immigrated last, in the 1970s.

She has served as a translator during church services, translating a sermon from English to Cantonese.

Minah

I was born in Hong Kong. I grew up bilingual. I went to a parochial school, a church school. So I had all these English teachers, I mean from England, they speak with a cockney accent. The schools were from the Church of England, close to Episcopalian.

When I first came, I speak with a cockney accent. My kids always tease me, and I still speak with a cockney accent, but it doesn’t matter. I came to this country because

Chinese communist government was going to take over Hong Kong.

coming to Milwaukee We [my husband and I] immigrated to Canada in 1972.

[My husband] had an internship in Winnipeg, but it was really bad, because Winnipeg was a town where nobody wanted to go, so the interns had to work really hard. Every other day he was on call. We stayed in a residence hall, which was not the same place as

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the hospital where [my husband] worked. And if I wanted to visit him, I had to take a

one-hour bus ride, and I had to change to another bus, and I had to wait and wait for the

next bus to come, and it was so unbelievably cold, especially coming from Hong Kong.

So it was very tough. That’s why we decided that maybe we want to try to go to the

United States. And we looked at a map, and Milwaukee was the closest to Winnipeg, where we were.

Our first day end up in Milwaukee was glorious, because when we left Winnipeg, it was about 30 degrees below zero, and when we arrived in Milwaukee, that day was 32 degrees above zero, so it was like a heat wave. Of course, we learned later that

Milwaukee can be bad, but not that day. That was in January. We knew nobody in

Winnipeg or Milwaukee, so I had a very tough time.

When we first came, VA [Veterans Administration] Hospital had a hotel across the way. So we stayed there. We had a car. So during the day, I drove around the neighborhood and looked around the surrounding area to see if there were any apartments for rent. Around Highway 100 and 122nd, there are a lot of apartments for rent, and I

went in and talked to the manager. And they had a promotion: if you signed a 2-year

lease, you get 1 month free rent. So at night, I showed Greg, and we signed a 2-year

lease.

I spoke English, and I guess that’s an advantage. I have no problem

communicating. And I know how to read newspapers and look at maps, so from then on,

I looked at the newspaper and maps and I went to buy furniture and buy what we need.

I learned how to drive in Hong Kong.

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When I came here, I know that I would have a problem finding a job easily. So I

went back to school. I looked at the paper, investigate. One thing is, right at the corner

on Lincoln where we lived, there was a library. So when Greg took the car to work, I

have no car, so I walked to the library. It’s not there any more. It was a small library, but

it helped. I went to MATC [Milwaukee Area Technical College], and I took courses in

accounting and economics for 2 years. I came in 1973, and in 1974, I took classes. And

as soon as my courses were done, I looked for a job. So I got hired in a job in payroll in a

factory.

adjusting to life in the United States I guess it’s not just living in the United

States, but the North American life and married life as a whole, coming from Hong

Kong: I had to start cooking, cleaning, shopping. We were married just a few months

when we left for Winnipeg. We were newlyweds, so it was quite a big change, from not

cooking or doing any housework to doing everything.

I bought a book, cookbook, measuring spoon [laughs]! The reason that I forced

myself to learn to cook is that, you know, the typical Chinese family, we are very much

into good food. We don’t like junk food. We want to try different foods, but we don’t

eat junk food. And then we come here, and we look at the people here, and there’s all

this junk food. We don’t want any part of it. So I forced myself to learn. The cakes here

are so sweet. When you grow up with European pastries in Hong Kong, you can’t eat the cakes here.

After coming here, I don’t miss things, but people, the people, like my mom. I write letters. Back then, calling was very expensive. My mom was very understanding,

127 but my dad was not. Every time he wrote me a letter, every letter was not comforting but scolding. Like he said, “You abandoned the family; you went so far away while your parents are still home.” Every letter. My siblings were still in Hong Kong, but they didn’t live with my parents.

My father was always like that. It’s not just me, or my younger brother. Just he himself was like that. He had to be the number one person in anybody’s life. He was born the first son of a big family. So he was doted upon; he was king. Of course, when we were young, we didn’t understand. But now we look back; he was the way he was.

He had many older sisters, but he was the first son born. He was Number 5; he already had four sisters with a different mother. My grandpa, I never met him, but from what my mom told me, he had three wives and four concubines. The first wife had no kids, so she went into a nunnery to spend the rest of her life. The second wife produced many daughters until she finally produced a son much later on. And then my grandma produced my father, the first son in the family. He was really spoiled, very spoiled.

I usually wrote letters, about once a week, more often in the beginning, but less later on. I have two brothers and one sister; now only one sister and one brother. You met my younger brother. My older brother passed away very suddenly. It was a very sad time for the whole family. In 2000, he passed away in his sleep in Hong Kong. It was a very tough time for everybody.

overcoming barriers I consider myself quite intelligent, right? I went to apply for a job, and I do very well in tests and things like that. So one time, when I applied for a job, after I got my accounting and economics classes, I went to a bank, and I just

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applied for a teller position. They don’t even give me an interview. They don’t even

give me a form to fill in.

They just kind of ignored you.

Yes! That was in Brookfield. I was so upset. The bank, they didn’t even give me

a say or anything or say they’re not hiring—but I know that they were hiring. But give

me something. But they just ignored me. That was one of the incidents; there were other

incidents, but that one really stood out. I went there myself, and to be ignored.

Your qualifications were probably way above what they were looking for.

Yes, I used to work in a bank in Hong Kong before I came over here. I got the

training. But, oh, it doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. See, Christians, we don’t

look back. It helps you.

You can be forgiving.

Yes.

Then later on, I went to this factory on the South Side, I went in to see the

Personnel. There were quite a number of other people there. They gave us all a test, you

know, the usual tests. I did the test. And then right away, someone said, “Can you come in—and talk to whatever?” So I got the job. Probably I did much better on the test. I

129 worked at the factory; it was called the Perfects Corporation, manufactured air conditioning units for homes and cars. It doesn’t exist any more. I only worked for their

Payroll.

reflecting on the woman’s role After the kids were born, and [my husband] started making money, there’s no point [in working]. Because if I go to work, I won’t make a lot of money. So if I work, I have to use that money to hire help. Might as well I earn the money myself, and then it’s better for my kids. [My husband] has his own things to do. I’m married to the house. I do the major things. Yes, where to find the school, find this, find that. We [mothers] are the secretary, we’re the driver, we’re the cook, nurse, accountant—we’re everything. [My husband] worked very long hours, and he was on call. Especially in the beginning, it was very tough. And I worked later on, you know, too. Our weekends were just like unending. You have to clean, you have to do the laundry, and then you have to go shopping. And cook extra food, so that when you come home from work, you don’t have to do that. Sometimes I remember making sandwiches, make a lot of sandwiches and put it in the freezer.

My father is the typical Chinese father, you know. He didn’t communicate with the kids. My mom was the typical old-fashioned Chinese woman. She married very young, maybe 18 or 19. So my father was always the number one man in the family. I think her job was to raise the kids, run the home, and apart from that, she did not really participate in our education. Maybe because she herself did not have a strong educational background; I think she only graduated from high school. I think she went to one of those girls’ schools. I don’t know if she really graduated or not, I don’t know. She could

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read and write. And I think that was already good enough in those days. She was a very

kind and gentle person.

reflecting on education I have an associate degree—and a university degree from the University of Hong Kong. My family is different. Somehow education is not restricted to boys in my family. From what I heard, my father’s oldest sister was a midwife. So that was very unusual at the time. I have Number Two and Number Three

Aunts; they were certified teachers. Not so Number Four Aunt; she married a long time ago to go in Vietnam. So my father went to a technical college in Shanghai. He was a radio operator. So that’s why he worked in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport as an airport controller.

My husband and I are the first in our families to graduate from college. Our parents always told us that education was a good thing, but it was not forced on us. Our daughter earned her BA in architecture from RPI [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute] and her MBA from MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. Our son graduated with a degree in bacteriology from UW-Madison and got his PhD in immunology and bacteriology from the University of Washington. He is now on a Fulbright Fellowship in

Helsinki. I always tell them that in life a lot of things you have can be taken away, but your experience in the colleges, this is something you have which nobody is ever going to take that away from you. It’s the experience. Whether you enjoy it or don’t enjoy it, you pick up something. It’s the experience. That’s something that only belongs to you. No one can take that away from you.

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becoming a Christian In Hong Kong we lived right next door to a church. So I

have some neighborhood friends, girls who are my same age. And [in the] summertime, we all go to Bible school, because it was fun, and then you got to do a lot of coloring,

reading books, telling stories. My brother went to a school called Ying Wah. Ying Wah

School is a middle school, but Sundays the church used the facilities of the school. So it

was the school, and it was the church. So we have been closely connected with that

church as long as I can remember. My mom was baptized later on, before I got married;

she was almost 50-some years old. My dad was never baptized, never went to church.

My younger brother used to go to church, but after his divorce, he says there is not a God.

I tried to convince him, but it doesn’t help. If someone doesn’t want to help himself, there is nothing you can do. You can try and try and try.

joining a church We were away from Milwaukee, after [my husband] graduated

from VA [Hospital]. He joined a group in Norfolk, Virginia. Then a friend told him

there was an opening at Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee. [So we came back.] We lived

in Springdale Apartments in Waukesha. When in Waukesha, we heard about the Civic

Club [a Chinese American social organization] maybe through flyers or something, and

we went to Civic Club functions. We met [a friend], who asked where we lived. And he

said, “We have a friend who lives almost right next to you.” We met his friend, and

through them we were introduced to many others, people who were members of the

church.

I was baptized Methodist. But I just knew that there was this church that catered

to Chinese families. This church has become my family. God has played a tremendous

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part in my life, tremendous. We all know that there are so many problems, so many

hurdles that you have in life. Whenever that comes up, I say, “I’m going to give You this.

Help me!” And so I feel better. It’s very important. Some people in difficulty say, “Oh,

where can I turn to?” But for me, ah…so difficult? Talk to God. Yes, pray to God.

Either thank Him for doing something or thank Him for maybe not doing something.

reflecting on newer immigrants Since I first arrived, there are more opportunities

for Chinese immigrants, that’s for sure. I guess still there are a lot of people who need to

be educated, and of course, they tease you and still call you names and things like that.

But they don’t do that to adults any more. But the kids do that to kids. Kids tease one

another.

The older immigrants, they were like the restaurant people, the laundries, the

cleaners. The new ones were the engineers, professional, like doctors.

Did you observe any animosity?

I don’t think so. I never observed that. I don’t think there’s any unfriendliness.

No, it’s just that the backgrounds are different, that’s all. You dress differently, you talk

differently. Actually, I always say that, it’s something that I miss very much, is that once

in awhile I go to the Golden Agers [a senior citizen lunch program at the church], and I know they are very friendly to me, you know, especially the “ah moh” [older ladies].

They know who I am, and they’re very friendly to me, and they talk me so

enthusiastically and lovingly, but in their own dialect. And I can only understand 50% or

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30%. I wish I could know more. I myself miss out some. They can understand me, but I wish I would understand more. Then I would have a better rapport with them.

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CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Why did they come? Why did the Chinese risk their lives, leave their families, and gamble their life savings to come to the United States? The 16 participants in this project had various reasons for immigrating to the United States. One of the most common reasons for their immigration was a desire for an education in the United States.

Another common response came from several women, who said they came to join their husbands who were already established here. In fact, many had relatives in the United

States and wished to join them. An underlying reason for most of the respondents was a political one; they wanted to escape from the cruel communist regime.

Of the 7 immigrants who came in the 1950s and earlier, 5 were from the southern province of Guangdong, which supports the literature reports of the first immigrants coming from that area and the chain migration that occurred from those original immigrants (Huang, 1988; Sung, 1967). Since Guangdong is a region that is situated close to the sea, its inhabitants have access to merchants and ships from abroad.

Therefore, they had early contact with the West. Lillian explained how the people of her village of Toishan suffered during her lifetime; she gave details as to how her village depended on imported food products, because there was little cultivatable land, which is one of the reasons why she and many fellow villagers had very little to eat when the

Japanese army took over the ports of entry. This matches what Sung reported: the devastating famine in southern China forced its immigrants to flee. After surviving through 8 years of war, from 1937 to 1945, the Communist takeover in 1949 compelled

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Lillian and many others to break away from the turmoil and an oppressive government.

Poverty and political unrest were reasons why these earlier immigrants left China, which

is consistent with the literature.

Many of the immigrants in this research came in part because they already had

relatives here. The six case studies support the idea of chain migration (Huang, 1988) that was created from the earliest Chinese immigrants advising their relatives to follow their lead to find fortune in “Gum Shan,” the Gold Mountains. Of the six case studies, the four earliest ones had relatives or spouses in the United States prior to their arrival,

creating links in the chain. Jennie believes that her ancestors first came to work on the

Transcontinental Railroad. Her grandfather and uncles had already established a business

in San Francisco, and her parents brought her here as an infant in 1912. Pearl came to

join her husband, a year after their marriage in China. Pearl’s father had already been in

the United States and had returned to live the rest of his life in China. Her father fulfilled

the dream of the early Chinese sojourner which Sung (1967) mentioned in her book: to build up enough money in the States to be able to retire in China in relative comfort.

Chain migration was also evident in David’s case. His uncles had established a

restaurant in Oregon, and he came with one of those uncles, claiming to be his uncle’s son. Lillian’s husband had been in the United States for many years before returning to

Toishan to find a suitable wife. When asked why they chose to come to Milwaukee, all

10 of the participants in the survey responded that they had at least one relative here, further evidence of the chain migration suggested in the literature.

When these earlier immigrants came to the United States, they often sent financial support to their families back home in China. At first this was welcomed, but later it

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became a worrisome problem during the early 1950s and 1960s, when the Communist

government persecuted landowners and anyone with any level of modest wealth. This

fear of persecution is what drove many to leave China. Lillian remembered how the

Communists demanded money from those who had ties to the United States. She

escaped to Hong Kong with only 20 dollars and a small bamboo suitcase. One of the

survey participants was severely punished because her in-laws owned property in

Toishan. After years of suffering under the Communist regime, she was able to escape to

Hong Kong. Because of the particularly restrictive immigration laws and quotas against

Chinese immigrants (Chang, I., 2003), she and her two young children did not see her

husband for 13 years. Her reasons for immigrating were not only to be reunited with her

husband, but also to be free from the fear of persecution by the Communist government.

Ten of all of the 16 respondents claimed education to be their main reason for

coming to the United States. Many of the participants pointed out the inaccessibility to higher education in China, which was a severe disadvantage to a society that values

education. The older immigrants remembered the barriers to getting quality education

when they were younger. Two participants from Toishan recalled that after the Japanese invasion cut off food supplies to their town, tuition had to be paid not with currency but with bags of rice. This coincides with Iris Chang’s (2003) report that the Toishan district

was the hardest hit, as the Japanese army seized the scant farmland to feed its own troops.

David, as a young boy in Toishan, felt that his teachers were not “real” teachers; they

were perhaps only high school graduates from the cities who could not find jobs there,

and so they went to the villages to set up schools. Charles experienced disruption of his

postsecondary education during the war. He came to the United States in order to earn

137 his Masters of Divinity degree. With a wife and three children to support, it was not easy to attend school, but the chance for advanced education and eventually the opportunity to find employment serving God was too great an opportunity to pass up.

In the survey, the last 3 immigrants who arrived in the United States responded that they came primarily for educational reasons. One had already graduated from medical school in the Philippines and sought to do his residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Another received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee in chemistry, and then when no jobs were available, she continued her schooling at Marquette University in order to keep her student status and to be able to remain in the United States. Yet another participant had already obtained a bachelor’s degree in English in Thailand and achieved her Masters of Business Administration from

Marquette. A related topic is the importance of education in the Chinese culture, which will be further discussed later in this chapter.

When Did They Come?

The question of why the immigrants came is closely connected to when they came. Historical events or laws either accelerated or deterred Chinese immigration (see

Appendix F). Several authors grouped Chinese immigration history into three phases, which was summarized within this document in the literature review in Chapter Two.

The 16 participants in this research spanned all three of these phases, starting from 1912 and extending to 1998.

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the first phase This phase began with the Gold Rush in California in 1849 and

ended around 1941. Jennie, the oldest of the participants, came during this first phase, first as an infant in 1912 and then again as a young adult in 1930, both times settling in

Chicago, where her grandfather ran a Chinese herbal store. Prior to opening the Chicago store, he owned a similar store in Chinatown in San Francisco. Chinatowns, according to

Rose Hum Lee (1960), were created as safe havens for the Chinese immigrants, to protect them against the prevalent anti-Chinese movements in the late 1880s. We do not know if this was the reason why Jennie’s grandfather chose to live in Chinatown. However, according to Huang (1988), the population in San Francisco Chinatown rose to about

30,000 by the late 1880s, thereby providing Jennie’s grandfather and his sons with a sufficient local customer base to which to sell their Chinese medicines and herbs. We can presume that Baby Jennie came to Chicago when her father had enough financial security to bring his family members.

The San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 was a significant event in Chinese immigration history, indirectly causing the migration of Chinese to Milwaukee. Since many Chinese living in San Francisco Chinatown could claim to have been born in the

United States, declaring the loss of all of their legal papers in the disaster, thousands more Chinese immigrants claimed legal citizenship after 1906 (Chang, I., 2003). Citizen status enabled these individuals to bring their families to the United States with much less red tape. Jennie admitted that her father took advantage of that opportunity. Another participant also revealed that her husband’s ancestors bought someone else’s lost papers in the San Francisco earthquake. After the earthquake, limited economic opportunities on the West Coast and growing industries in the Midwest compelled the Chinese to migrate

139 eastward, and Jennie’s father and grandfather followed this pattern with many other

Chinese immigrants (Huang, 1988). The first Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee originally came via Chicago, later moving north to Milwaukee for the growing industrial climate in Wisconsin, which is what Jennie’s father eventually did.

the second phase The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 marked the beginning of

World War II for the United States, and the start of the second phase of Chinese immigration. After the war ended in 1945, Jennie and her young son were finally able to reunite with her family, as she came to settle in the United States for the third time and for the rest of her life. Pearl came in 1948, a year after she married her husband, and so she was one of the thousands of cohorts who immigrated under the War Brides Act of

1945, which allowed wives of servicemen to join their husbands here (Sung, 1967). Her husband, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri of Chinese immigrant parents, had served in the United States Navy. Also in this second phase, David came in 1948 with his uncle, filling a “slot” created by his uncle, who had returned to China, had a daughter, but reported upon returning to the United States that he had fathered a newborn son. A participant in the survey also admitted to being a “paper son” and immigrated here via

Canada, which had more lenient immigration laws than the United States. According to the literature, this practice of creating paper sons was repeated throughout Chinese immigration history (Chang, I., 2003); this was attested to by several participants.

During this second phase, the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949

(Chang, I., 2003), which swelled the numbers of Chinese who wanted to escape from

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communism to apply for immigration. Eleven of the 16 participants in this research

immigrated during this second phase, from 1941 to the 1972.

Several authors described a different makeup of the Chinese immigrants during

this time. Chang (2003, p. x) called this a “bipolar Chinese community” and noted that

the Chinese immigrants were divided by level of education and status. Unlike the group

who emigrated mostly from the southern region of Guangdong during the first phase, the

immigrants who came during the second phase were from all parts of China (Lee, 1960).

Several participants in this project remembered the influx of a different mix of Chinese

immigrants to Milwaukee in the late 1950s to the 1960s. In fact, Charles, who became

the pastor of Community Baptist Church in the 1960s, spoke Shanghainese, a different

dialect from most of the earlier immigrants who spoke Cantonese.

Huang (1988, p. 55) called these years the “Transition Years” and tactlessly

labeled one group the “restaurant/laundry people” and the other group the “professionals”

(pp. 184-186). When asked whether they felt any conflict during these transition years,

only one participant perceived some negativity personally. Pearl sensed that those who

were more educated looked down on her. During the interviews, she commented on her

inadequate education several times. David observed that there were some people in the

60s and 70s who did look down on those who were less educated, but that it has changed

over the years. He could examine this issue from both sides, since he originally came from a poor family in Toishan, worked in his uncles’ restaurant, and earned an engineering degree in college. The other participants in the case study did not notice any disapproval by one group of another; they only expressed the desire to be able to speak more than one dialect so they could communicate easier. Perhaps the teachings in the

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church, specifically, that all are equal members of God’s family, helped to diminish any

imbalance of status or wealth.

the third phase Charles, a former pastor of the church and a participant in the case

studies, highly praised former President Richard Nixon for opening the doors to China in

1972, which ushered in another phase in Chinese American history. In 1979 he was

finally able to return to China to visit his mother and siblings after an absence of almost

32 years. Five of the participants immigrated in 1972 or after. Minah, who first

immigrated to Canada in 1972, gave her reason for leaving Hong Kong as political; she

wanted to leave before the British colony would return to China’s rule in 1997. One

other participant in the survey came to join her husband in 1972, a year after marrying in

Hong Kong. The other three who came in this third phase pursued educational

opportunities. These were consistent with Chinese immigration patterns described in the

literature.

What Attitudes And Traditions Did They Bring?

reverence for education Unquestionably, the participants in the case studies agreed that Chinese people have a high regard for education. This sentiment matches those found in the literature. Hoobler (1994) reasoned that the importance of education in Chinese culture originated with the teachings of Confucius; after the philosopher’s

death, a high government official declared that all government posts were only to be

attained by those who could pass rigorous examinations on Confucian literature. When

asked about the Confucian influence, one participant replied that she had not heard this,

142 and her family did not consciously follow Confucian teachings, but she does know that her parents always stressed the importance of education. Lillian quoted a well-known

Chinese saying, which she translated thus: “Without an education, you can’t do anything.”

Jennie grew up as a young girl in Chicago until her parents decided to take her and her siblings back to China for a Chinese education. She recalled her struggles with learning how to read and write Chinese, especially in a different dialect from the one she spoke at home. She came back to the United States as a young woman at age 18, again for the purpose of getting an education, since her parents then wanted her to get an

American education. In the case studies, both Charles and David came for the educational opportunities here. Charles came to study for a Masters of Divinity, and

David came to attend secondary school and then college. Seven of the 10 survey participants named education as a reason for immigrating to the United States, pointing to the importance of education in the Chinese culture.

Perhaps education was especially valued because it was a so difficult to obtain. In economic terms, when something is scarce, it commands a relatively higher value. Both

Pearl and Lillian talked about the Japanese bombings while they were in elementary school, which necessitated the closing of the school. One can only imagine the fear that gripped the young students who had to run home when the sirens went off to warn of incoming bombs. Charles had to start and stop his college studies many times because of the Japanese occupation in Shanghai, but he was persistent and finally achieved his college degree after 8 ½ years. David recalled how difficult it was to get into junior high school in Toishan; only someone with connections could even hope to be admitted.

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Each person interviewed in the case studies sought an education for themselves and for their children, even during very difficult times. Lillian and her friends pooled their money to hire tutors in Hong Kong to learn English even while living in a cramped community apartment. When Pearl was waiting for her husband to secure her passage to

America, she decided to go back to grade school to catch up on her interrupted education.

When Jennie was in America in the 1930s, she saved her hard-earned money to pay for tuition at a local college, and later, she attended beauty school to learn a trade. When she was in China, in spite of her many travails to escape dangerous war zones, Jennie still enrolled her young son in schools whenever she could and even hired tutors for him.

Among the 16 participants all but 3 have at least some college experience. Ten have at least a bachelor’s degree; five have at least a graduate degree; two have a

doctorate. Perhaps the most significant evidence that the Chinese value education is in

the educational achievements of their children. Of the participants’ combined 32 children

who are at least college age, all but two have at least some college background. Of these

30 children with college credentials, 24 of them have graduate degrees or higher.

Although this is only a small sample, one can see the importance that the Chinese culture

places on education, a point which agrees with the observers of Chinese culture in the

literature.

discipline and obedience to authority Obedience and discipline were mentioned

several times in the literature as characteristics of the Chinese people (Wong, 1950; Orr,

1980). The extent of obedience to all types of authority cannot be established in this

inquiry, but several participants agreed with the authors regarding the discipline and

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obedience of children to their parents. Lillian thought that Chinese parents are much

stricter than Caucasian parents. Minah recalled how her father insisted on being “the number one person in anybody’s life.” When Charles talked about his father the minister and his mother as being a “stubborn Baptist,” the listener can understand the authority the parents commanded in his family, but at the same time, one can also feel his respect and love for them. This sense of duty and respect was carried down to his own children, as

Charles proudly explained how his young children took care of the housework as well as themselves when he was in seminary and while his wife was still detained in Hong Kong.

Discipline was evident within the case study participants themselves. As a young woman, Jennie worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week at a shop in Chicago Chinatown in order to save enough money to attend college. Many years later, as a grocery store owner in Mississippi, she also worked long hours and recalled those times as “days of slavery” for her and her husband. Pearl and her husband also owned a grocery store in the South, and she remembered opening the store at 3 o’clock in the morning and closing at 10 o’clock at night. Years later, when she moved to Milwaukee, she and her husband worked at their coffee shop 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. David recalled washing dishes in his uncle’s restaurant for 25 cents an hour. When Charles was in seminary, in the summers, he worked three different jobs, from 5:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night.

Then on weekends, he also took on odd jobs. One participant in the survey, who immigrated in the 1990s, commented: “I love living in America, because I know as long as I’m willing to work hard, I will be okay.” The discipline to work hard, day after day, even doing menial jobs, was a noticeable trait among the participants, providing evidence for the claim made in the literature.

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superiority A number of authors noted a feeling of superiority among the Chinese

(Pye, 1968; Wang, 1998; Wong, 1950) even as immigrants in different parts of the world.

As a young girl growing up in Chinatown San Francisco, Jade Snow Wong (1950)

reasoned: “Everyone knew that Chinese people had a superior culture.” However, none

of the participants in the case study acknowledged this. It often took them by surprise

that the word they use to refer to Caucasians actually means “foreigners,” as Pye pointed

out. Perhaps this label for Caucasians was merely a carryover from China, when white

people were considered foreign. Or perhaps, as Pye claimed, they are not even conscious

of the fact that they are acting superior to others. After relating the story of Jade Snow

Wong’s mother’s declaration that the foreigners do not even know how to peel garlic,

Lillian aptly responded that Americans were able to put someone on the moon, which is much more important than peeling garlic. The participants all bear some pride in being

Chinese, but the notion of superiority asserted in the literature was not evident.

women’s role In their article on Asian women, Fujitomi and Wong (1973) claimed that Confucian teaching subjected women to second class status. Lillian

confirmed this to be true in “olden times,” when women were forbidden to attend school.

However, she believed that was only in generations past. She was encouraged to attend

school, as were Pearl and Jennie. Minah graduated from college in Hong Kong, the first

in her family to do so.

The four women in the case studies assumed traditional women’s roles within the

home, doing most of the cooking, cleaning and raising of children. However, all of them

also worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Minah reported that one of the

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most difficult adjustments to Western culture was taking on these roles: “I had to start

cooking, cleaning, shopping.” Coming from Hong Kong in 1973, when domestic help

was relatively inexpensive, she was not accustomed to doing these chores.

Sung (1967, p. 156) wrote about the “mutilated marriage,” how married women

were expected to live in their husband’s households and take care of their in-laws, which

was especially difficult when their husbands were across the ocean in America. There

was evidence of this with several of the participants. Of the women in this research who

had immigrated to the United States to rejoin their husbands here, two of them waited

about a year for the paperwork to be processed. However, three of them were separated

from their husbands for many more years. World War II and the Communist takeover created chaos for these women, who not only had to fend for themselves, but they also had to take care of their children and their in-laws. One of the participants did not see her husband for 13 years.

The women in the case studies felt that within their generation, the status of women has improved. The roles they took on, whether as homemakers or alongside their husbands in family businesses, were seen as partnerships in establishing the family unit.

Perhaps because of the hardships that many endured in China, the struggles they faced as new immigrants to this country, and the accomplishments they have achieved in launching their lives here, the women participants are all quite independent and capable.

None of them would be seen walking two steps behind their husbands, as in the picture of

Chinese women in ancient times. One participant said, “I know that I am a strong woman.”

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authority structure The literature claimed that Chinese culture adheres to a

Confucian hierarchy of authority, with parents above children, husband above wife, older

above younger (Chang, L., 1984; Pye, 1968). However, when Chinese immigrate to the

United States, these relationships may be inverted (Lee, 1991). Charles admitted that

when his young children attended school here and learned to speak English, they would

often correct his grammar usage. Minah confessed that her children chided her for

having a cockney accent. Pearl said that her children taught her some English. None of

them indicated that this compromised their authority; in fact, they seemed proud of their children’s command of English. Even with their increased skills, the children of these

Chinese immigrants were expected to respect and obey their parents.

As discussed in the preceding section on women’s roles, the women in this project did not see themselves as lower in status than their husbands. Quite often, the traditional idea of husbands making the household decisions was deferred to the wives, because the husbands needed to work very long hours and were not home to make those decisions.

Without delving into the personal intricacies of their married lives, the inverted authority structure did not seem to cause many problems. None of the participants in this research have been divorced.

A reverence for the elderly, who hold a higher rank of authority according to the literature, is very evident within this group of participants. Pearl was firm in her statement: “The elderly in China, education or no education, you still have to respect them.” When addressing someone older, the Chinese often add “lao,” meaning old, in front of a title, or they may add “gung” or “poh” to someone’s name, promoting their status to grandfather or grandmother. At potluck lunches at Community Baptist Church,

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the eldest are always asked to be first in line. At Chinese New Year celebrations, the

eldest gets to hand out lucky red envelopes as the younger ones bow to them.

In this case study, only the first names of the participants were used. It should be

noted here, however, that one of the participants, Charles, a former pastor of the church,

is never called by his first name by any church member. In respect for his authority, and

perhaps for his age now, he is always referred to as Pastor or Reverend. So there is still a

tradition of an authority structure that the Chinese immigrants brought with them, but

they have had to adjust to some inverted relationships.

family loyalty The literature indicated the strong significance of the family in

Chinese culture. Although many of the participants in this research left family members

in order to immigrate to the United States, they still felt strong family bonds. Minah

recalled her father’s reproof in his letters to her, accusing her of abandoning the family.

David had to leave his parents at age 13, but he had a strong bond with his uncle, and

they created an alternate family unit here.

According to one author, Chinese children are born for one reason, and that is “to

provide for and glorify their parents” (Lowe, 1944, p. 322). Within this Chinese

community, there is always an unspoken expectation that, if the parents required it, their children would support them. Many of the participants sent home a portion of their meager wages to help out their own parents and other family members throughout the years. Lillian recalled that when she was making $1.25 an hour as a seamstress and her husband labored in a laundry, she still had to send money to her family and her husband’s family in China. When air travel was more affordable in more recent years, many of the

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participants went back to visit their parents. Some participants now try to make the trip

every year.

Along with the family loyalty, Chinese tradition expects the sons to live with and

care for their parents. However, this has not been followed with the participants in this

project. Only in one family do the grown children still live with their parents. Although

the grown children have followed American culture and moved out of the home, all of the

participants’ children remain close to their parents, indicating agreement with the

literature.

conformity Several authors pointed out that Chinese people are conformists, and

that this stems from a Confucian philosophy of proper conduct. In trying to ascertain if

the participants agreed with these authors, the first few interviewees did not understand

the concept, and it was too difficult with the interviewers’ limited command of the

Chinese language to explain it. Therefore, this question was dropped from subsequent

interviews.

How Did They Come to Form a Chinese Church in Milwaukee?

What religious beliefs did they bring? Three of the 6 participants in the case

studies were Christians prior to settling in the United States. Jennie remembered attending Sunday School as a young girl in Chicago, when a couple of church women picked her up to take her. Then, when she was a teenager in China, she went to a boarding school that was established by missionaries from the United States. Charles’ grandmother became a Christian with the help of a Baptist missionary to China. His

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father went to a Christian school and later became a minister. When Charles was teaching at Bethel Bible Seminary in Hong Kong, he was offered the opportunity to study for the ministry in Berkeley, California. Minah grew up living next door to a church in

Hong Kong, where she enjoyed art projects and Bible stories in the summer, and that was how she became a Christian. A couple of the participants in the survey attended Catholic schools in Hong Kong, which were regarded as top notch private schools. The

participant who was born and raised in the Philippines was a member of an Anglican

church before immigrating to the United States. The Christian backgrounds of several of

the participants confirm the influence of missionaries to China and Asia, as stated in the

literature (Kung, 1962).

The other three participants did not recall any significant religious traditions in

their families. They did not attend religious services of any kind. Pearl and David faintly

remember a shrine to their ancestors in their childhood homes; however, they do not

recall actually worshipping them. According to Charles, many Chinese families set up

shrines simply to honor the memory of their deceased ancestors, which agrees with the

literature (Lowe, 1944).

Did their experiences lead them to Christianity? Yang (1999) believed that the

suffering the Chinese immigrants endured helped to convert them to Christianity.

According to the literature, introducing them to the strength of a powerful God and the

solace of a loving Christ served to make life more bearable and meaningful. The data

seems to confirm this. Jennie recalled that she and her husband attended church every

Sunday in Mississippi, because they were especially thankful to God for finally reuniting

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their family after years of separation during World War II. After suffering years of

persecution from the communist government in China, one of the participants in the survey was convinced that God had enabled her to finally escape to Hong Kong. When she arrived in Hong Kong, she headed straight to the most famous church there and was baptized. Lillian sorrowfully regretted that when she was trying to escape from the

Communist stronghold in China, she did not know there was a God to whom to pray.

Pearl confessed that she did not know about God until her later adult years, but now when she looks back, she believes that God was with her all along to bring her to America and through all her hardships.

How did they happen to come to Community Baptist Church? Jennie recalled

being contacted by Charlotte Cobb, a former missionary to China who ran the Chinese

Baptist Mission of Milwaukee, located on Milwaukee’s East Side (Chan, 1971). Lillian

recalled how Miss Cobb knew almost every Chinese immigrant to Milwaukee. She

would call on the new immigrants to see if they needed any help and invited them to

attend the church. It was Miss Cobb who introduced Lillian to the vocational school to

learn English. This Chinese Baptist Mission eventually evolved into Community Baptist

Church.

The literature reported a variety of social services offered by many churches for

Chinese immigrants (Lowe, 1944; Sung, 1967; Siu, 1987), which is comparable to those

offered by the mission in Milwaukee. In a casual conversation with Pearl’s husband, it

was discovered that he had attended English classes at the mission church years before he

met Pearl. One of the participants in the survey, who arrived in 1963, recalled the

152 enormous help that Miss Cobb gave her when she arrived as a refugee with her two daughters. When asked about what types of services Miss Cobb offered, the answer was that they were too numerous to list; it was anything that involved being able to speak and read English. Miss Cobb also went to drive this family every Sunday to attend church services.

In contrast to the callousness of the Chinese Communist soldiers whom she encountered, Lillian gratefully recalled the Sunday school teachers who patiently helped her: “So I found the people here were so nice….If you needed anything, they would help.” The dedicated teachers, who were so welcoming to Lillian, were evidence of an elite group of “Sien-sung Po”, the female Sunday school teachers, reported by Sung

(1967). Sung claimed that they were one of the “most important institutions among the

Chinese in the United States” (p. 222).

Thus, the original members of the church came for the social services and kindnesses offered there. In later years, the mission became the Community Baptist

Church. Other participants in this research were made aware of the church through someone else, or by a postcard sent to them, or by a visit from the pastor. Two participants found the church by looking in the Yellow Pages. All were attracted to the church because of their Chinese ethnicity. Some members come from Catholic or

Anglican backgrounds, but the Chinese part of the church is what brings them to this

American Baptist church. Although most members now can speak English and can attend any church in the area, they feel an attraction to a congregation of mostly Chinese members. One participant commented: “I went to an American [Caucasian] church, and

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the people were very friendly, but it’s just not the same—it’s not the same connection as

being in a Chinese church where you share the culture.”

Why a Baptist church? One author predicted that the Chinese would prefer

Catholicism, reasoning that the rituals, prayers to various saints, and the hierarchy of

clergy are similar to Chinese religions (Hsu, 1953). These features did not seem as

important to the participants, even those who came from Catholic or Anglican

backgrounds. It was not the particular denomination that brought them to the church; it

was the desire to worship within a Chinese culture.

Charles became an American Baptist primarily because his grandmother was

converted by an America Baptist missionary to China. His seminary experience was at

the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley. Although the Chinese Mission

Church in Milwaukee was begun by the American Baptist Church, one participant

recalled that there was no emphasis on the particular denomination in those early years.

Miss Cobb simply stressed that it was a Christian church.

One author found that among the 700 Chinese Protestant churches in the United

States in 1994, most of them were theologically conservative and half of them are non- denominational (Yang, 1999). He did, however, mention that most Chinese churches in the western part of the United States were affiliated with mainline denominations, probably because they were started by earlier mission churches. Community Baptist

Church started as a mission church, and that is why it is now affiliated with the American

Baptist Churches. This denomination is theologically liberal, which does not fit Yang’s

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description of most Chinese churches in this country, but it agrees with his assertion that those which were established by mainstream denominations remained that way.

What is the purpose of an ethnic church? Yang (1999) observed that the ethnic

church today serves dual purposes, which at first glance, seem to contradict one another:

the church helps to assimilate immigrants into American society and it also helps them to

retain their ethnic identity. This author’s reasoning appears to be consistent with the

responses given by the participants in this project. The earlier immigrants in the survey

sought help in the church to assimilate to the America culture, and later immigrants

mentioned that the reason they came to the church was to give their children a place to

identify with their Chinese culture.

The Chinese Baptist Mission in Milwaukee was viewed as a social service

organization, consistent with the literature’s description of other Chinese churches in the

United States (Lee, 1991; Siu, 1987; Sung, 1967). The original mission helped

immigrants to assimilate by offering classes in English, acclimatizing them to events such

as summer picnics, Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas celebrations. Miss Cobb and the

Sunday school teachers provided transportation to doctor’s appointments, enrolled them

in vocational school, taught classes in preparation for United States citizenship, and

helped them deal with countless other situations in American life. It also served as a

learning community, as will be discussed in the section on adaptive strategies.

At the same time that the church helped immigrants to assimilate, it helped them

to retain their ethnic identity by giving them a place to gather with others with similar

backgrounds, allowing them to worship in their native language, offering Chinese

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language classes to the second generation children, and providing occasions for sharing

potluck meals of authentic Chinese foods. The feelings of isolation that many of the

participants revealed in this project could be soothed by meeting and talking with others

who faced the same problems. One of the case study participants, Minah, who did not

know anyone here when she arrived in 1973, emphasized this point: “This church has become my family.” So how the Chinese immigrants came together to form Community

Baptist Church is consistent with the literature, given that it allowed them to keep and

promote both their identities as Chinese and as Americans.

How Did They Adapt?

When the participants in this project immigrated to this country, they learned to

cope with the sudden change in their environment by applying various learning strategies.

Most of the immigrants were adults when they entered this country; the strategies they

used to adapt to their new surroundings are consistent with adult learning theories.

immediate application of learning One of the differences between learning in

adults and learning in children is the timeframe for application for that learning,

according to Malcolm Knowles (Cross, 1991). Children have the leisure of accumulating

knowledge over an extended period, to be applied at a later point in time when necessary.

Adults do not have this freedom and must apply their knowledge right away. This is

certainly true of the Chinese immigrants who were suddenly transplanted into a new

country and needed to learn to adapt immediately.

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An example of this adult learning approach is Pearl, who learned things as she

needed them. Although she did not have many opportunities for formal education, she

gained much knowledge from her experiences. When she came to the United States, she

learned how to ride a bus to get around in Chicago; she learned how to read enough in

order to recognize store signs and labels; she learned how to count money; and she

learned enough English to work in the grocery store and to be able to joke with customers

at the coffee shop. She was a quick learner, and her learning was for immediate application.

One immediate and essential need for most of the Chinese immigrants in this research was that of language skills. The difficulty with the English language was

brought up multiple times by the participants in this project. Even those who had studied

English prior to coming here had difficulties with applying that knowledge immediately

to their college studies and/or social conversations. One interviewee commented:

When you are an immigrant coming to study, you have a much harder

time than students born here. You not only have to use your brain to

translate first in order to understand the meaning of words, but you have to

produce something right away, like a paper or other homework

assignments. The learning has to be applied right away. Your brain is like

a sponge soaking up water. But you don’t have time to absorb all the

water, and then you have to squeeze it right away to get the water out. If

you were born here, you are able to start absorbing since first grade.

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In order to solve the immediate problems facing them, the adult immigrant had to

use all the resources available to them. When Charles first arrived, he sought answers

from helpful people in the Dean’s office of the seminary. In order to find summer

employment, he contacted everyone he knew to tell them that he needed a job. Lillian

pooled resources with her friends and hired a tutor in Hong Kong to learn more English during the months while they were waiting to come to the United States; they knew that they would need this knowledge immediately upon landing here. After she arrived, she sought out more learning in the evenings at the vocational school in Milwaukee. Pearl sought more schooling after she got married in China while waiting for passage to the

United States. She knew she was deficient in her education, so when she had a window of opportunity to go to school again, she went. She also attended English language classes in Milwaukee.

An extension of the idea of the immediate application of learning can be seen in what the Chinese immigrants chose to study for a career or employment. Unlike young adults who are born in the United States, the immigrants did not have the luxury of choosing a “dream job” and pursuing it. They also did not have the resources or the time to change majors in the midst of their college studies. They could not go home and live with their parents if their dream did not work out. They had to be realistic in their choices, to know which fields would assure them of finding employment immediately upon completion of their training.

One example of this was in the case of Jennie, who attended a beauty school in

Milwaukee to learn a skill that would help her find employment when she moved to

Hong Kong soon afterwards. Her investment of 9 months of training paid off quite well

158 when she found a lucrative job in an exclusive beauty salon there. Another example was

Pearl, who learned machine sewing in vocational school, which she applied directly to a job in a shop making sports gear. A third example was in the case of Minah, who, although she was a geography teacher in Hong Kong, did not attempt to continue that profession in the United States. She knew that she would be required to spend several years in school to be credentialed to teach in the United States, and she presumed that her prospect of getting a job as a geography teacher here was unlikely. Consequently, she earned an associate degree in accounting, which resulted in a payroll position soon after graduation. Yet another example was David, who as an adult, attended Oregon State

University and earned a degree in engineering. He knew that engineers were in great demand. On the whole, of the 13 participants who attended college, 8 of them chose to study in the medical or science fields, which would better assure them of a direct line to employment and immediate application of their learning.

social learning The immigrants in this research applied the strategy of social learning (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). They learned to adapt in a social context as they interacted with people. When they observed a particular behavior, they stored that information, and then they imitated that behavior when they deemed proper. When asked how they learned how to navigate in this new culture, one participant replied, “You just watch. You learn.”

When the earlier immigrants were welcomed by their dedicated Sunday school teachers, they were able to observe the Americans’ behaviors and interactions. When they worked in laundries and restaurants and grocery stores, they were able to observe the

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behaviors of their customers. An alcoholic carpenter, who was a regular customer at her

grocery store in Arkansas, became an unlikely teacher for Pearl. She remembered how

he patiently taught her English by first pointing out the names of the various items in the

store. Lillian recalled starting out to work as a seamstress; she was shown how to sew

some simple things until she was skilled enough for the more complicated designs.

Another participant remembered how, at a clothing manufacturer’s shop, she observed a

demonstration of a project, and then she could attempt it herself. Since her English was

very limited, learning by observation was the ideal method. For the immigrants who

came for an education, they learned to assimilate by observing the behaviors of their

fellow classmates and dormitory residents, and as one participant admitted, she even

learned how to eat the strange Western food served in the dormitory dining hall.

The social learning theorists also claim that, due to the interaction between the

learner and the environment, the learner has an influence on his or her environment

(Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). One author asserted that the influx of immigrants to this

country has changed American culture over the years, and the “American way of life” is

no longer a fixed standard but a static and evolving culture (Yang, 1999). One small

example of this is the impact that Chinese immigrants have made on the culinary front:

Chinese restaurants are now embedded in American life. Chinese cuisine is no longer considered exotic but now may be thought as American as apple pie.

learning communities Forming communities was mentioned by several authors as

a strategy that immigrants used to survive their new surroundings (Huang, 1988; Lee,

1980; Lee, 2005). Many Chinese immigrant communities lived in Chinatowns to ease

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their adaptation to America, where they could find relative safety in numbers and where

they could move about and conduct their daily activities without much English.

However, the number of early Chinese immigrants in Milwaukee was not large enough to support a Chinatown, and the laundries and restaurants were scattered around town

(Huang). Lillian remembered that as a new immigrant to Milwaukee in 1952, when she saw another Chinese person, she was so happy, comparing it to seeing one’s own mother.

She met Pearl soon after arriving here; they became fast friends and have since remained very close friends.

Jennie recalled a very social community of Chinese grocery store owners when she and her husband lived in Mississippi. On Thursday afternoons or on Sundays, they usually visited with each other, talked shop, and occasionally gathered to celebrate holidays, new babies, or weddings. Instead of being competitors, they were all friends and learned the ins and outs of the business together.

The Chinese church serves as a learning community for Chinese immigrants. At first, it was a place for them to learn the English language and to receive assistance in

basic survival skills. As newer immigrants came, the more established immigrants in the

church helped them to adapt by passing on what they had learned. One of the survey

participants gratefully recalled how an older church member invited her and her children

for dinner and conversation after every Sunday service for many months. Similar to any

two mothers anywhere, they talked about their children, swapped recipes, gave

recommendations on the latest new products available on the grocery store shelves, and learned from each other.

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For new immigrants the church serves as more than a place to worship; it is a

place to build a social network. In years past, it was a place to learn English and to learn about American customs and culture. In later years, by connecting newer immigrants to those who had been in this country for awhile, it serves as a bridge to help the newer immigrants adjust and learn about their new environment and its peculiarities.

constructivism theory of learning When immigrants leave their home countries,

they are forced to learn to find new meanings. According to one author, the new

immigrant is like an anthropologist who tries to make sense of the new host culture

(Mahalingham, 2006). Because of their exposure to different worlds and cultural

practices, the immigrant is aware of the contrasts and is perhaps more inclined to reflect,

evaluate, and explain the differences.

According to constructivism theory, adults construct meaning to new knowledge,

and they try to adapt the new knowledge to what they already know (Merriam &

Caffarella, 1999). An amusing example of this is the creation of “Chinglish” words,

which a few of the participants use. When there is no direct Chinese translation for the

English, a pseudo-Chinese word or phrase is substituted. For example, there were no

such things as school buses in China, so the vehicles became “see-GOO BUS-see.” One

of the participants, speaking completely in Toishanese, dropped a Chinglish word in her

sentence and even put it in the Chinese past tense by adding “ah” in the middle: for the

verb “retired,” she said, “lee-ah-TAHR.” When asked how she learned to go shopping

when she first arrived in the United States, she alluded to her dire financial situation by

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replying: “Shop MUT ping? Mo PING shop!” This meant: “What shopping? I had no

‘ping’ to shop!”

In the case study, Minah revealed how she had to find new meaning to her idea of

being a wife. Growing up, she remembered that her mother never worked outside the

home and had domestic help. But as a newlywed and a new immigrant, she said she had

to force herself to learn how to cook. Unlike her stay-at-home mother, she found

accounting work after earning her associate degree, working full time. On the busy

weekends, she did all of the housework. Recalling this as one of her most difficult

adjustments to life in the West, she admitted, “It was quite a big change.”

The church also helps to connect new meaning to the immigrants’ understanding.

An Asian pastor in New York City tries to connect the immigrants’ experiences with

Bible stories that reflect the alien status of his church members, such as Abraham’s displacement from his homeland. In the case study, Pearl made known that she was not a

Christian in China; she had only peeked through the window of a church there. Her conversion to Christianity, however, created new meaning to her experiences as an immigrant, and she feels now that God really has been leading her all along.

attitude adjustment When immigrants construct new meanings from their new

experiences, this quite often necessitates an adaptation or alteration in one’s attitude or

mind-set (Hsu, 1971; Yang, 1999). A couple of the participants in the case studies gave

examples of this. Pearl said that when she arrived in the United States, she did not

practice the Chinese medical folklore any longer. For instance, new mothers in China

were given special soups and other dishes that were supposed to help their bodies recover

163 from childbirth and increase milk production for the baby. One key ingredient in those recipes is ginger. Pearl pointed out that there was no ginger in the South, so she was not able to make those potions, but in spite of that, she concluded that she and her children turned out fine. She also remembered being admonished to drink only boiled water in

China, but when she and her family were living in the hot South, they only drank cold water from the tap. She gave these as examples of how one needs to adapt to new ways of thinking when living in a different country.

David revealed how he adjusted his attitude after a number of years of living in the United States. He admitted that, when his children were growing up here, he insisted that they each marry a person of Chinese heritage. His brother-in-law felt the same way, until all three daughters married wonderful Caucasian husbands. Of David’s three children, only one is married to someone Asian, and he is perfectly happy with that. Out of all 16 participants’ collective 26 children who are married, only four married someone of Asian descent. Additionally, none of the married children live with their parents, a change from the traditional Chinese family, where a son and his wife lived in his parents’ home. David wisely said, “You change…You get a broader perspective over time. It’s good. Opening up is a good thing.”

The participants in this research applied various strategies to cope with their new environment, consistent with the literature on how adults learn to adapt. They sought help from any resources available to them: from friends, relatives, schools, and churches.

Their learning required immediate application to their situation. Much of their learning was informal, that is, not obtained from educational institutions. They employed social

164 learning: their observations of other people in the community provided lessons in cultural norms of behavior. They formed communities in which to make the learning process easier and to learn from each other. They learned to construct new meanings to their experiences, and in doing so, they needed to adjust their viewpoints about their world and about themselves.

What Were the Barriers to Their Adjustment?

language In learning to adapt to a new culture, most of the Chinese immigrants in this project gave language as the greatest barrier. Even those who had studied English prior to coming said they had troubles. One participant recalled how people misinterpreted what he said. The language barrier made it hard for him to fit in to the school where he attended. Since communication is the primary tool for social negotiation, without a command of the language, it is extremely difficult to assimilate.

isolation Several participants felt isolated when they first came; they did not know anyone or perhaps just their husbands. So although they may have been able to speak English, they had no one to talk to. One participant remembered her first year in the United States in a tiny apartment, where she and her husband had a telephone, but she lamented that it was never used. She had no one to call on the telephone, and no one called her.

employment biases The Chinese immigrants also had barriers to employment.

Jennie recalled that her husband could not get work as a certified accountant because he

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was not a U.S. citizen. That was one of the reasons they decided to open a grocery store

in the South. When David applied for his first real job during his senior year in college,

he was rejected because he was not yet a citizen, even though he became one just a few months later.

Perhaps this is the reason why many of the earlier immigrants became business owners, to bypass the scrutiny of an employer. To those who grew up in the United

States, owning a business may seem like an unrealistic venture for new immigrants.

However, given the limited English skills, owning a business may seem more rational to

them. It means that they do not have to worry about misunderstandings with a boss or

colleagues. If the immigrant originally came from a small town or village, many of the

people they knew probably earned a living by owning small local businesses. The earlier

Chinese immigrants opened up their own laundries and restaurants, offering desired

services which required very few English skills (Chang, I., 2003). Several of the

participants owned businesses, consistent with the literature.

racial prejudice One particularly significant barrier to assimilation and

acculturation for the Chinese immigrants is what one author called the constraint of a

“racial uniform” (Park, 1974, p. 252). Iris Chang (2003) agreed with this in explaining how different it is for a Chinese immigrant to assimilate compared to a European immigrant, pointing out that the Chinese will always look like a foreigner. Even Pearl, when she first arrived and lived near downtown Chicago, said that there were no Chinese people near their apartment, but only “American people, all kinds, Italian, Polish.” Her neighbors were also probably immigrants, but they were able to blend into the Caucasian

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landscape and more easily identifiable as American. The interviews and surveys in this

research gave examples that were consistent with the literature.

In 1934, although she could speak perfect English and learned marketable skills

here, Jennie was anxious to leave the United States because she felt a pervasive prejudice here. She recalled encountering “dirty looks” in various public places. In the 1950s, when Charles went to have dinner at his sponsor’s home, some young people on the street shouted for him to go back to China. Then, in the 1960s, Charles recalled some neighbors in their Milwaukee suburb calling his family “Chinamen,” and when they politely requested to be called by their first names, the neighbors moved out soon afterwards. During the 1960s and 1970s, three of the participants recalled being rejected when looking for an apartment. In the 1970s, Minah remembered trying to apply for a job at a bank and was just ignored and not even offered an application form.

Sometimes the prejudice is subtle, commented one participant, as sometimes people would ask him, “How come you speak good English?” Frank Wu (2002), in his book Yellow, wrote about the exact same question posed to him, even though he was born in Cleveland and raised in Detroit and is currently a law professor at Howard University

Law School. Sometimes the prejudice is not so subtle, as another participant talked about an instance that happened just recently to him. Although this participant speaks perfect

English and has lived in the United States for 45 years, when he was in an auto parts store, a group of young men made noises at him, mocking the sounds of an Asian language.

Many of the participants agreed that things are much better now for Chinese immigrants than in the past. The barriers are slowly coming down, as the nation becomes

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much more diverse. Pearl remarked that the new immigrants have more chances to go to

school. Charles wholeheartedly agreed that the newer immigrants have it much easier,

pointing out that many are also much wealthier. He remarked, “Right now those people are really loaded! But not in my time.” Lillian observed that some of the newer immigrants come with a higher educational level. David noted that the younger

immigrants come with better English skills. One participant in the survey thought that

the newer immigrants have too many resources available to them, referring to the

generous welfare system in this country, which he believes, promotes laziness and is

counter to the work ethic for which the Chinese have been known. Jennie took some

credit for the improved conditions for the newer generation of Chinese Americans by declaring, “We in the older generation paved the way for the new younger generation.”

Discussion

the research process Although the researcher’s parents were Chinese immigrants,

her knowledge about the Chinese immigrant experience was incomplete. This investigation was helpful to understand the depth of the immigrants’ stories. Conducting the interviews for the case studies was a captivating experience, similar to the excitement of delving into a good book. It was sometimes difficult to abbreviate their delightful stories in order to fit the limits of this project. There were similarities in the experiences and in the barriers that the participants faced, but even so, their individual stories were

fascinating, reflecting their own personalities and struggles. Knowing more about their

backgrounds allows a better understanding and appreciation of the risks they took to

come to this country and the hurdles they overcame in order to adapt to this new life.

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It was surprising how willing and eager they were to share their stories, since

Chinese people are known to be more reserved and private. However, it has been said

that everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has a need to be validated. Sharing one’s

story, to be listened to, to have another human interested in one’s life, is a way to be

given validation. Even so, their willingness to cooperate with this project has been

heartwarming, and the trust they conveyed was humbling.

Although they were all quite agreeable to be interviewed, it was not easy to arrange the times to interview them. Because all of the case study participants are retired, they were quite often away on vacations or took extended trips to visit their grown children. One participant spends most of the colder months of the year in California.

Another participant lost her husband during the course of this project. One of the intended case study participants also lost her husband and soon afterwards, needed major surgery, which occurred on the East Coast. There were episodes of illness and hospitalization with several of the individuals in the case study. As a result, the focus

group discussion, the third data collection method, was impossible to schedule.

Therefore, additional comments were solicited from the 10 survey participants, repeating

some questions used with the case study participants. This was done to ensure validity

and to get different perspectives on certain items of inquiry. These additional comments

are included in the data results (see p. 179).

Some of the findings of this investigation were supplemented by the researcher’s

general knowledge of these individuals. Because of their history together as members of

the same church and long friendships with her parents, there was information that was not

necessary to ask in the survey questionnaire or the interview items. For example, it was

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not necessary to inquire about the number of children they had or what level of education

those children achieved. In the course of general conversations over time, these

individuals have talked about their children. Most of the children have belonged to or, at

least, visited the church. The special relationship between the participants and the

researcher helped in collecting the data, and an attempt to minimize researcher bias has

been integrated in the depth of the case studies gathered and the triangulation of data collection methods.

the findings Overall the findings agreed with the literature. The reasons for these

participants to come to the United States were consistent with the reports from other

studies of Chinese immigrants. It is difficult to conclude if this group of immigrants

followed the phases or waves of immigration, as described in the literature, because of

the small sample size. Most of the participants came during the second phase, but this

may be just because they belong to a certain age group.

Chang (2003) claimed there are a number of cultural traits that she could identify

with Chinese immigrants. The data in this project supported many of these claims.

Overwhelmingly, the participants agreed that a reverence for education is one of those traits. They went to great lengths to seek educational opportunities, and the level of education that most of these participants achieved was significant. Their children’s achievements further verify this pursuit for education. Similarly, discipline and obedience to authority was alluded to by the participants in their expectations of their children’s behavior. Their own discipline was evident in their willingness to work long hours to realize financial security for themselves and their families. Authority structure

170 was somewhat seen in their respect for elders, but the authority of husbands over their wives was not conclusive. Although the women took on the traditional duties of housework and childcare, they did not feel inferior to their husbands. This was possibly due to the increased responsibility of household decisions that the wives needed to bear, and for some of them, the partnership involved in running family businesses. Family loyalty and adhesiveness was also demonstrated by the participants in this inquiry. Two other traits named by the authors, superiority and conformity, were not detected. Pride in their ethnic heritage was apparent, but not to the extent of deeming it superior to other ethnicities. The concept of conformity was too difficult to assess.

Community Baptist Church evolved from the Chinese Baptist Mission, similar to studies of other Chinese churches in the United States. Dedicated and beloved Sunday school teachers and missionaries were instrumental in the formation of the earliest

Chinese churches. The participants in this research agreed that the church is a place where they learned to adapt to American culture, and it is a place where they can hope to retain their Chinese culture.

In order to adapt to a new culture, the participants applied several strategies described in adult learning theories. They used social learning methods, formed learning communities, and sought out resources for immediate application to their adaptation needs. To cope with their new environment, they constructed new meanings to their knowledge base, and therefore, sometimes had to adjust their attitudes and outlooks.

In learning to adapt, they had to overcome barriers of language, isolation, employment biases, and racial injustice. They all agreed that the current environment is much better for the newest Chinese immigrants. There are now laws established to

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protect against discrimination based on race; but according to some respondents, there are

still some who need to be educated on the importance of tolerance.

implications for adult educators and others When a student enters the doorway to the classroom, it is similar to an immigrant entering into a new land. Like the immigrants who came, students take a risk. They enter new frontiers of unexplored terrain. Adult

educators can better facilitate learning if they have a deeper understanding of where their

students came from, why they came into that particular class, what attitudes they bring,

what obstacles they face, and how to help them adapt to new learning.

When David told of his experience with the hotel clerk, he illustrated what a

difference just a few kind words can make. It left David with an impression that has

lasted a lifetime. Adult educators have that opportunity with every contact with a

student. When David asked the clerk for a room, a question that the clerk had heard

probably hundreds of times before, he could have simply dismissed David. The clerk had

just told the previous customers in line that the hotel was full, so he could have lost his

composure. How many times do educators hear the same questions? How many times do the answers seem obvious? How many times are the questions about something that was just explained in class? The clerk perceived David’s inexperience. Educators need to

realize that their students may also be inexperienced. Adult students may be returning

after many years out of the school environment. Students from a different culture may

misinterpret or misunderstand the English idioms. The educator’s reaction to and

patience with the “dumb questions” may make a vast difference in student learning.

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Besides the encounter with the hotel clerk, David recounted a much lengthier

story about his trip alone to Yellowstone National Park, one that was abbreviated for this

study. He recalled his feelings of utter loneliness in that vast space, especially because he

saw families enjoying their vacations there. He promised himself that when he had a

family, he would return to Yellowstone with them, and he did. His story illustrates how

humans are social beings and crave connections with others. Adult educators must strive

to create a “family” within the classroom, to ensure that each student feels they belong.

Classroom climate is crucial to learning. David was there at Yellowstone, but he felt he

did not get the full experience of it. Educators should not allow that to happen in their

classrooms.

Pearl was one of the most enthusiastic and animated participants in the course of

this research. She has a charming accent and way of expressing her thoughts. For the

level of education that she was able to obtain, it is remarkable that she has accomplished

so much. She worked alongside her husband in running a grocery store and two

restaurants, while raising four children. Adult educators need to realize that a student

who speaks English with a foreign accent is not necessarily less intelligent. Adult

students come with myriad experiences that can add richly to the learning in the

classroom.

We can also notice from Pearl’s case study that she demonstrated the immediate

application of learning. She learned English a little bit at a time from social interactions

with different people and from formal classes in vocational school. She then took up

sewing classes and attended the school for only 9 months. Having four children to help

support, she applied her sewing skills right away in a job. Sometimes adult educators are

173 disappointed when their students leave an educational program before its completion and believe that something must be wrong. This may not be the case at all; it is merely the fact that adult students have other facets in their lives that may need their immediate attention.

Charles talked about attending a special English class to help him with his studies in the seminary. David remembered getting help from a woman who tutored him in

English when he first started school in Oregon. Within a short time, both of them were able to achieve the language skills they needed to succeed in school. The implication of their stories is the similar need for support for foreign students as they begin their education in the United States. A short period of intervention for these highly motivated individuals would go a long way to ensuring their success.

A constant thread through many of the case studies is the importance of human relationships. For several of the participants, strong friendships saved their lives during difficult times. For those who lived through the Japanese occupancy and World War II in

China, there were certain people who meant everything to them. Even after 30, 40, or even 50 years later, some of them remembered the names of those who were kind to them. It was devastating to lose most of their material possessions, but their losses seemed to increase their gratitude for the smallest joys in life. Lillian related how, during her quest to leave China, she had only 20 dollars and a small suitcase. She had pawned all of her jewelry and kept only her wedding ring, but friends in Macau and Hong Kong helped her survive. Jennie spoke of dozens of friends who came to her rescue, whom she regards as her “guardian angels.” Is there a lesson from these stories? Lillian expressed it in a Chinese saying, translated roughly here: If you sit home and do not have friends,

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then when you leave the house, you will know your loss. In other words, people are more

important than things.

One of the most essential implications from this project is the need to include

awareness and sensitivity to other cultures within the experience of every adult education

program. Besides incorporating this understanding within the curriculum, it is especially

necessary for adult educators to model an attitude of showing consideration and

appreciation for the diverse traditions that students bring to the classroom.

recommendations for future research It is a hope that this project will encourage others to try to capture the stories from their older relatives and friends who have immigrated to this country, to interview them about their experiences, before it is too late.

The history that they lived is a valuable resource of information for all of us. These important stories from primary sources will eventually be gone if not captured soon, and the knowledge, experience and wisdom they contain will be lost.

Another recommendation for future research is to investigate the second and third generations of these immigrants, to discover any similarities or trends. Since only a few of the children of these immigrants chose spouses of the same ethnic background, would future generations retain any Chinese cultural traits? Will the increasingly diverse population in the United States diminish racial and ethnic prejudices?

There has been a new group of Chinese immigrants to the United States in recent years that has not been mentioned in this inquiry: adopted Chinese children. At

Community Baptist Church, there is one family who has two young daughters adopted from China. Research about this large group of ethnically Chinese individuals and how

175 they have assimilated into America culture would be of great interest. Because they have

Caucasian parents, do they encounter fewer barriers than other children of Chinese descent? Since there are so many foreign adoptions from China, does this serve to lessen their “foreign-ness”?

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Interview Responses from Six Participants

How you How you How you Age at Years in the Reason for Education happened to Birthplace learned found a job Difficulties in adjusting Immigration United States Immigration Level come to English here church

2 months 1912-1922 Parents Grew up Head of the 2nd trip: missing Sun Wei, Jennie 18 1930-1934 Education in College Friend Chinese family, long hrs of Guangdong Chicago Mission work, prejudice 34 1946-present Join husband ESL Sun Wei, classes, Grade Pearl 20 1948-present Join husband Friend Friend Language, isolation Guangdong on the School job

Toishan, Tutor in Recruiter in David 13 1948-present Education Bachelors Postcard Language, culture Guangdong Jr High College

Tutor in Hong Sunday Toishan, Grade Lillian 25 1952-present Join husband Kong, Husband School Language, culture Guangdong School ESL teachers classes Classes in China, National National Shao Hing, Masters of Charles 34 1955-present Education ESL Baptist Baptist Language, finances Chekiang Divinity classes Organization Organization in college

School in Weather, housework, Minah 24 1973-present Political Hong Kong Hong Bachelors Newspaper Friend missing family Kong 176

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Questionnaire Responses from Ten Participants

Why you How you How you Year How you Reason for chose to How you Education found a happened to Birthplace of US found a job Difficulties in adjusting immigrating live in learned English Level place to come to arrival here Milwaukee live church

Job Studied in high Bachelor's in Worked at UW Education: opportunity Dorm in Language, feeling Hong Kong 1955 school in Hong chemistry Dept of Friend college for college isolated Kong from UW Pharmacology husband

Bachelor's in Canton City, Studied in high nutrition from Husband Education: Husband Through the Postcard sent Guangdong, 1958 school in Mary already Language, dorm food college here church by the church China China Hardin/Baylor here College, TX Toishan, Studied in high Some college Worked in Education: Relatives Dorm in Guangdong, 1962 school in at UWM and relative's Wife Language, culture college here college China Canada UW-Oshkosh restaurant

Went to Bachelor's in No problems adjusting Worked at the NA, was Catholic electrical Wife; wanted a to high school; Father same 15 when Shanghai, schools in engineering Chinese academic level was 1963 Political found a job company immigrated China Hong Kong from community for higher in Hong Kong. here where father with where English Marquette the kids My English was better was employed parents was used University than my Chinese. Husband knew of the Chinese Husband Toishan, Political & Husband mission Husband Studied in asked friends Language, Guangdong, 1963 reunite with High school already church; here China & culture, lack of money China husband here missionary acquaintances gave me rides on Sundays 177

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Survey Responses (continued)

Why you How you How you Year How you Reason chose to How you Education found a happened to Birthplace of US found a job Difficulties in adjusting for leaving live in learned English Level place to come to arrival here Milwaukee live church

Bachelor's in Yellow Pages; Studied in high engineering Through wanted a Education: Job Dorm in Language, then later, Hong Kong 1963 school in Hong from Cornell; employment Chinese college opportunity college acceptance by colleagues Kong Ph.D. from U agency community for of Pittsburgh the kids Went to Feeling isolated, knew no Catholic Panama; Join Nursing Husband one except husband; Husband schools in Through the Visit by the grew up in 1972 husband degree from already couldn’t even get a job as here Hong Kong nursing school pastor Hong Kong here Hong Kong here a nurse's aid when I first where English arrived. was used Yellow Pages, MD from Asked Education: Studied in high Opened wanted a The weather; learning Job Philippines; people at Philippines 1979 medical school in the private church within how to find an apartment opportunity Medical the residency Philippines practice walking and how to buy a car. College of WI college distance Degree in physical Personally Lived Sister knew Zhengzhou, Education: Sister was Studied in Language; culture (people 1993 therapy from delivered with someone who China college here China have different priorities) Marquette resumes sister was a member University

Studied in Aunt was the Applied Getting started from the Thailand; was MBA from pastor of the Narathiwat, Education: Aunt was through the Lived bottom again; already had 1998 an exchange Marquette church; found Thailand college here company's with aunt a job and people who student to New University the people to website respected me in Thailand. Zealand be loving. 178

179

Additional Comments from Survey Participants

I was the only Chinese student in a dorm of 180. The first two years of study were really hard. I didn't go back to Hong Kong for 6 years; my father had to pay for the education of nine kids.

I learned English in a Christian high school in China; my teachers included missionaries from New Zealand who could speak Chinese fairly well.

In college [in the United States], it was very hard to get used to the food in the college dining room, especially cheese. A group of Chinese students, mostly from Taiwan, gathered for Bible study on Fridays; I learned to speak their dialect.

I left China at age 17 for Canada, where my "paper father" lived. I lived in a boarding house owned by a Chinese restaurant owner and worked in the restaurant on weekends.

It was hard fitting in. Because of the difference in language and culture, people would misinterpret what I said. Certain restaurants would not welcome Chinese.

I learned about American culture as a kid by reading comic books.

When I went out with some Caucasian friends in high school, the girl’s father ignorantly said, “I went to war against people like you.”

Just recently at a store, a group of young men started making noises, mocking what they think an Asian person would sound like. It’s interesting, because my English is probably better than theirs.

I didn’t see my husband for 15 years, and when I came here, I didn't know anyone. It was hard to find a job. I finally found a job sewing for a small shop run by a nice Jewish woman; it was right below a Chinese restaurant.

A couple of times in grad school, landlords would not rent to me.

When I got here in 1972, several times I called to see an apartment, but when I got there, I was told it was not available. If it happens once, you don’t think anything, but after several times, you know.

I knew English, and I knew how to take the bus, but it was still difficult, because I felt so isolated. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for those who don’t know the language.

Sometimes prejudice is subtle, like people ask you, “How come you speak good English?” or “Where are you from?”

After graduating from UWM, I couldn't find a job, so in order to keep my F-1 status to stay here; I had to keep going to school.

I went to an American church, and the people were very friendly, but it’s just not the same—it’s not the same connection as being in a Chinese church where you share the culture.

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CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The immigrants in this research did not just hop on a plane or get on a ship and instantaneously assimilate into American culture. In fact, some took a very circuitous route, both literally and figuratively. Many waited years before they were able to come, due to exclusionary laws, tragic world events, and complex bureaucracy. Some came with family members; others came alone. They came for economic, educational, political, and personal reasons. They all took risks, endured long periods of separation from family members, and struggled to overcome numerous barriers.

In spite of the many difficulties, these immigrants did adapt. Within one generation, if they had begun in poverty, they were all able to rise out of it. They were all able to find employment, and they all worked hard to achieve stability for themselves and for their families. Today they all own their homes. Many are retired comfortably. All of their children have at least a high school education, and most have college and graduate degrees. Their children live all across the country, from California to Texas to New

Jersey.

The important thing to realize is that all of them have many valuable experiences and vital lessons to share. The immigrants brought with them particular cultural traits and attitudes that they did not discard when they arrived in this country. In learning to adapt to a new culture, they needed to adjust some of their ideas and construct new meanings. However, it should not be an expectation of the dominant society that they completely shed their former identities. Advancements in this country do not require the diminishing of others to achieve it. On the contrary, this nation is made stronger by the

181 diversity within it. Immigrants from all nations have enriched American culture through their contributions to science, medicine, literature, music, architecture, and countless other endeavors.

Accordingly, it is important to inquire more about the lives of the immigrants living among us. Their stories hold valuable lessons for all of us. For those who have close relatives or friends who are willing to share their stories, it is crucial to collect their histories while they are still available. It is this researcher’s hope that the stories recorded here will inspire readers to record their own families’ stories. The benefit will be for the informant, the interviewer, and those individuals who will be fortunate enough to have access to those stories.

In view of the importance of capturing the history of immigrants to this country, the value can similarly apply to all persons, not just immigrants. In many ways, we are all immigrants, at least at one time or another. Although we may not have traveled across an ocean to arrive here, our lives are also often circuitous. In the courses of our lives, we all enter into new territories, sometimes frightening, sometimes impeded by barriers of many kinds, sometimes leaving us feeling isolated. For those who have gone away to college, the emotional experience of being on a college campus may parallel those of the

Chinese immigrants. Higher education places students in a new environment, requires them to learn new things, and surrounds them with people who are not always like them

(Schuman & Olufs, 1995, p. viii). We have all had to learn to adapt in one way or another. Therefore, it is essential to document our own journeys, in order to reflect upon our own progress, and in order to pass on these lessons to others. The tools required are simple: a tape recorder, a pen and paper, and just a modest amount of inquisitiveness. It

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is said that learning is a lifelong journey. If that is true, then our education is an

accomplishment that takes many years and many miles and many life experiences, and it

does not merely take place in classrooms, comparable to the learning obtained by the

Chinese immigrants in this study.

Recommendations for Adult Educators

Students who come from abroad to seek educational opportunities in the United

States often face many barriers. In order to effectively facilitate their learning, the

following is a list of recommendations for adult educators who may have the privilege to come across not only Chinese students, but any students from different backgrounds. As

alluded to in the previous paragraph, for many students, a college campus is a strange

new world of its own.

 Be informed. Stay abreast of world events that impact students. Read about

different cultures, especially those of the student populations entering your

classroom. Do not be afraid to ask students about their ethnic backgrounds, as

long as it is done with sensitivity and sincere curiosity.

 In order to understand adult learners better, allow them to share their stories and

their experiences. Incorporate this storytelling into the curriculum whenever

possible. As evident in this project, the participants were eager to share their

stories. For example, in teaching a mathematics class, invite students to write

about their past experiences with the subject. It might be helpful to know if any

anxieties about mathematics or deficiencies continue from prior courses. On the

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other hand, it may be helpful to know if they may have any unique approaches to

solving mathematics problems which would help other students.

 Similar to the above recommendation to allow students to tell their stories,

incorporate different perspectives in class discussions. They may view world

events, political outlooks, and historical facts from different angles. The diversity

will enrich learning.

 Encourage cultural exchanges between students in different countries. Study

abroad programs offered in many colleges help promote cultural understanding.

 Encourage cultural exchanges between faculty members in different countries.

 The English language was one of the major barriers for the Chinese immigrants in

this research. Minimize the use of jargon, idioms, and acronyms when speaking

to foreign students. Those who are new to the English language tend to take

words quite literally.

 Offer academic support for English skills in order to bridge the learning gap.

English language coaching was valuable to several of the participants in this

project and helped them to succeed in school.

 Illustrate concepts visually, and use demonstrations if possible, rather than giving

merely oral or written instructions. Several participants learned skills by

observation, especially when their English skills were insufficient.

 Promote cooperative learning by assigning group activities. Make sure there are

spaces in the learning environment for students to informally gather. The

immigrants in this research applied social learning effectively.

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 Encourage ethnic student associations. The immigrants joined a Chinese church

to connect with others of the same heritage, which helped in the adaptation

process by giving them a comfortable setting and an opportunity to preserve

certain parts of their culture. A few students spoke of joining Chinese student

organizations at their schools and were able to form close bonds with their fellow

members. Students need a place to feel at ease with those who are familiar with

their backgrounds, since many are miles away from their families and need to

create a new type of family here.

 Highlight different cultures by offering special events to do so. For example, in

some schools, Hispanic Heritage Month and Asian Pacific American Heritage

Month are celebrated with films, displays, luncheons, and presentations. This

allows foreign students to take pride in and showcase their culture.

 When students do not understand a concept, do not assume it is their fault. How

can the concept be expressed differently in order to make it clearer and more

memorable? Seek frequent feedback to assure understanding.

 To accommodate immigrants who may need to work long hours in order to earn a

living, offer flexible hours for classes and study times. Ideally, learning

opportunities should be on demand with open entry, open exit.

 Offer short, accelerated courses that lead directly to employment. Some

immigrants need to learn skills or credentials for job placement as quickly as

possible.

 Soft skills need to be incorporated into any training, to acculturate immigrants to

American job culture.

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 Most importantly, seek to understand rather than to be understood.

Questions for Further Study

In the course of this research, many other questions emerged regarding Chinese

Americans. The following is a list of just some of those questions:

 How do women perceive their status in China now? How does that compare with

Chinese American women living in the United States?

 Some participants commented on the newest immigrants coming from China,

suggesting that some recent immigrants come with expectations of being cared for

by the welfare system. Is this really true? What percentage of Chinese

immigrants actually are taking advantage of the generous social welfare system in

this country? What sorts of safety nets are available? Are these being abused?

 With the increased social services available to new immigrants, is there a

decreased need for Chinese churches to provide them? What are new roles for the

Chinese churches now?

 Does a person with a Chinese language background learn differently that a person

who speaks only English? Because of the thousands of characters words in the

Chinese written language, which are not phonetic but require memorization, does

this increase their memory capacity later in life? Do Chinese children have an

advantage in learning mathematics, because the words for their numbers

inherently incorporate the base ten system? Are they able to memorize the

multiplication facts easier because the different tones in the Chinese spoken

language naturally make the recitation of the facts sound like a song?

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 Since immigrants are exposed to varying environments and must learn to adapt to

them, do these complex stimuli affect the actual physical makeup of their brains,

as shown in previous research done with laboratory animals? Does the immigrant

experience actually increase their capacity to learn, perhaps by constantly forcing

them to construct new meanings?

 Do the Chinese members of conservative, evangelical, independent churches

attend for the reasons outlined by Yang (1999), who claimed that the turmoil

faced by immigrants compel them to a theology that is traditional and absolute?

 Do Chinese tend to be conformists as some authors contend? If so, does this

influence their worship preferences?

 How are other Chinese churches that began as missions from mainline

denominations doing? What is the makeup of their congregations several

generations later?

 How do the second and third generations of the Chinese immigrants fare? Do

they retain any Chinese cultural traits? How do they view their ethnic heritage?

 How are the youngest immigrants, the adopted Chinese children, adjusting to their

lives with Caucasian parents in the United States? Are there any problems in

reconciling their dual identities?

 The literature talked about strong Chinese ethnic groups in the Philippines, Cuba,

Venezuela, and the United Kingdom. How did Chinese immigrants fare in other

places? Did they follow similar patterns as their cohorts in the United States?

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Trends for the Future

Asians account for 4.2% of the U.S. population (Barnes & Bennett, 2002), and

Chinese comprise the largest group of Asians. According to one source, China is the

second leading country of origin for international students in graduate schools in the

United States (Thomas, 2007). If the observations of the participants in this project are

correct, the newer Chinese immigrants come with higher education levels, better English

skills, and more financial resources. Not only is the makeup of the immigrants changing,

but the nation itself is also changing. These immigrants coming to America today find a

different America from the one that the earlier immigrants set foot upon. Iris Chang

(2003, p. 389) quoted Governor Gary Locke of Washington State:

My grandfather came to this country from China nearly a century ago and

worked as a servant. Now I serve as governor just one mile from where

my grandfather worked. It took our family one hundred years to travel

that mile. It was a voyage we could only make in America.

—January 28, 2003

Another sign of this changing America is the fact that, as this project is about to come to

an end, the first minority President of the United States has just been elected. We hope

and wonder if there will be an Asian person in that office in the not too distant future.

As cultures interact and blend together, they are also changing. People are seeing the world from different perspectives. As shown in the cases of this research, the immigrants learned to adjust their attitudes. At the same time, the “American culture” is transforming as it is being affected by the mingling of its diverse inhabitants (Schuman &

188

Olufs, 1995). Predictions for the future point to increasing multiculturalism, and so to be able to understand the culture we live in, it is important to understand the cultures that helped to create it (Schuman, p. 231). Schools and their educators and administrators will need to look at their student populations differently and find new ways to serve these changing populations. Recommendations for those involved in adult education were listed above.

By the same token, changes are needed for Chinese churches if they are to survive and grow. Chinese Americans no longer comprise the same group of Chinese immigrants from the past. There are 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Chinese Americans who may not feel they need what the Chinese churches offered to their ancestors. In order to retain their ethnic uniqueness, Chinese churches may need to give their attention to other ethnicities as well. Some churches in California have evolved to accommodate many Asian cultures, such as Korean, Japanese, and Burmese as well as Chinese (Cha, Kang, & Lee,

2006). Because the children and grandchildren of the original immigrants do not tend to marry Chinese spouses, the churches may also wish to focus on these mixed couples and their families. The arrival of so many adopted Chinese children may be another population that would desire a connection to Chinese or Asian culture.

The future survival of the ethnic churches depends on opening up to the multi- ethnic neighborhoods, the multi-generational congregations, and the ever-changing needs of the community. In the end, the ultimate objective is to bring all peoples together into one unified community, which was God’s intention from the beginning, to have humanity live together as equals, bounded together by love.

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APPENDIX A

CARROLL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Judy King

The purpose of this study is to discover how a group of immigrants learned to adapt to a new culture. Specifically, it will examine why Chinese immigrants settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and how this group came together as members of an American Baptist church.

The following information is provided to help you decide whether you wish to participate in the present study. You should be aware that you are free to decide not to participate or to withdraw at any time without affecting your relationship with this department, the instructor, or the church.

Participants will be interviewed regarding their reasons for immigrating to the United States, how they learned to adapt to a new culture, and how they came to be part of a Baptist church. Interviews will be of varying length, at the convenience of the participant, and wherever they feel most comfortable.

Do not hesitate to ask questions about the study before participating or during the study. I will be happy to share the findings with you after the research is completed. Your name will not be associated with the research findings in any way unless you so desire.

There are no known physical or psychological risks and/or discomforts associated with this study. The expected benefits associated with your participation are that you will be able to share your stories and increase awareness of the Chinese American experience in the United States. Results of this study may help readers to better understand the background of Chinese immigrants; specifically, it may help adult educators and counselors to be culturally sensitive when working with Asian students.

Your participation is completely voluntary and a decision not to participate will involve no penalty or loss.

If you have any complaints about your treatment as a participant in this study, please call or write:

Dr. Joanne Passaro, Provost Carroll University 100 N. East Avenue Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186 262/524-7267

I have read or have had read to me all of the above. Judy King has explained the study to me and answered all of my questions. I have been told of the risks or discomforts and possible benefits of the study.

I understand that I do not have to take part in this study, and my refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of rights to which I am entitled. I may withdraw from this study at any time without penalty.

The results of this study may be published, but my records will not be revealed unless required by law.

Any identifying information obtained in this study will be treated as confidential and will be safeguarded in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974.

I understand my rights as a research subject/participant, and I voluntarily consent to participate in this study. I understand what the study is about and how and why it is being done. I will receive a signed copy of this consent form.

______Participant’s Name Participant’s Signature Date

_____Judy King______Researcher’s Name Researcher’s Signature Date

199

APPENDIX B

December 2, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

I give permission for Judy King to collect data for her thesis required for completion of the Masters of Education in Adult and Continuing Education from Carroll University. I have reviewed the research proposal submitted by Judy King and believe that it involves no risk to participants. This study consists of interviews with several church members as to their experiences as immigrants to the United States. The members will be informed of the voluntary nature of this study and their rights to withdraw from the study at any time. The recruitment of the participants will be the responsibility of Judy King and must be conducted within the privacy guidelines and policies.

This permission expires one year from today or immediately if the proposed procedures are altered.

I, Judy King, agree to conduct the research that I have proposed according to the procedures that I have described and submitted for Institutional Review. I understand that any deviation from those procedures invalidates the permission granted.

______Researcher/participant Date

______

______Title Date

200

APPENDIX C

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Participant Interview Questions

Date: Time: Place: Interviewee:

Where were you born?

Before you came to the US, what did you know about this country?

What were your reasons for leaving China?

How did you come to the US?

When did you first arrive in the US?

Describe your first day in the US.

Where have you lived in the US?

How did you end up in Milwaukee?

What obstacles did you have to face when you arrived?

How did you learn how to:  Find a place to live?

 Buy groceries?

 Find a job? (What types of jobs were available to you?)

 Obtain the skills to do your job?

 Get from place to place?

 Drive a car?

 Speak English?

When you had to find information about something, how did you go about finding it?

What was the most challenging adjustment you had to make in living in the US?

When things were difficult, what did you do to cope?

What one thing about your life in China do you miss most?

201

How did you communicate with family back in China? How often?

Have you experienced any prejudice in your lifetime? If so, tell me about a particular incident.

Do you recall any conflicts during the “Transition Years”?

One author observed an attitude of superiority in Chinese immigrants in various countries. Do you agree with that?

Another author said that the Chinese are conformists. Do you agree with that?

Do you think that Chinese culture values education?

Are Chinese parents strict disciplinarians?

How do you feel about the role of Chinese women?

How has being a Chinese American in the US changed since you first arrived?

Tell me about your educational background.

What types of experiences have you had in your career?

When and how did you first come to be a Christian?

Were any members of your family Christian? Did any of them engage in ancestral worship?

Since most Chinese are not Christian, did you experience any exclusion or persecution for being Christian?

How did you come to be a member of this church?

How has the church played a part in your life?

How has God played a part in your life?

202

APPENDIX D

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Survey Questionnaire

1. Where were you born?

Country ______City or Village______

2. What were your reasons for immigrating to the United States?

Marriage_____ Political____ Education____ Employment____ Other______

3. When did you first arrive in the US? (year) ______

4. Why did you choose to live in Milwaukee?

Job opportunity____ Education _____Knew someone ____ Other ______

5. How did you learn to speak English?

6. Where did you go to school and what degree did you obtain?

7. How did you find a job when you first came?

8. How did you find a place to live?

9. How did you happen to come to Community Baptist Church?

10. What was the most difficult thing about adjusting to the United States?

203

APPENDIX E

Chinese Immigrants in Milwaukee: A Collective Case Study Focus Group Discussion Questions

What was it like when you first arrived in the United States?

What was the most difficult thing about adjusting to life in the United States? Tell me about how you adjusted.

Have you experienced any prejudice in your lifetime? If so, tell me about a particular incident.

How do you think the experiences of Chinese immigrants coming now compare with your experiences?

Why do you choose to attend a Chinese church?

204

APPENDIX F Timeline of Chinese Immigration to the United States Year Event or Law Affect on Chinese Immigration 1849 Discovery of gold in California More than 100,000 Chinese laborers came to make their fortunes in “Gum Shan” (gold mountain) 1865 Central Pacific Railroad Corporation recruits Central Pacific needed 5000 workers, but only Chinese laborers to lay tracks eastward from 800 white men were willing to work. Chinese Sacramento, CA men in CA provided cheap labor 1868 The US and China sign the Burlingame Treaty, Eventually thousands of Chinese laborers were allowing citizens the right to enter each other recruited to cut through the Sierra Nevada country mountains and the deserts of Nevada and Utah 1878 US Supreme Court denies right of Chinese to become naturalized citizens 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits Chinese from Chinese immigration severely limited entering the US, except for merchants, diplomats, and students 1898 US Supreme Court rules that children born in the US are legally citizens 1906 San Francisco earthquake levels Chinatown Chinese living in San Francisco claim they were born in the US. Chinese men who return to China can register slots for “paper sons,” allowing others to immigrate 1909 Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco opened to screen Chinese immigrants claiming to be relatives of American citizens

1924 Immigration Act prohibits Chinese American Chinese immigrants mostly comprised of citizens from bringing wives and children to the “bachelors.” Not one Chinese woman was US allowed for the next 6 years 1937 Japan invades China 1941 US declares war on Japan, allying with China in WWII 1943 Chinese Exclusion Act repealed 1945 War Brides Act About 6,000 Chinese American soldiers went to China and brought back wives With new births, by the end of 1949, Chinese population in the United States went from 77,000 to 117,000 1949 Mao Zedong establishes communist government More than 5000 refugees arrive in Taiwan from in China; Nationalists set up independent regime mainland China in Taiwan 1965 Immigration law abolishes “national origins” as About 2000 students per year leave Taiwan for basis for immigrant quotas; Chinese are graduate degrees in the United States permitted to enter on equal basis with other immigrants 1979 China adopts one-child policy About 400,000 adoptions occurred per year between 1984 and 1986 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre impels President Political instability encourages Chinese to George H.W. Bush to sign an executive order to emigrate allow Chinese nationals to stay in the United States

1997 Hong Kong returns to China’s jurisdiction, Many Chinese in Hong Kong feared the according to a British treaty implications of Chinese rule and leave before the July 1, 1997 date Sources: Hoobler, D., & Hoobler, T. (1994), Huang, M. (1988), Chang, I. (2003), http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/countries-of-the-world/asia/china/chinas-one-child-policy