Unbound Voices brings together the voices of Chinese American women in a fascinating, intimate collection of documents―letters, essays, poems, autobiographies, speeches, testimonials, and oral histories―detailing half a century of their lives in America. Together, these sources provide a captivating mosaic of Chinese women's experiences in their own words, as they tell of making a home for themselves and their families in San Francisco from the Gold Rush years through World War II. The personal nature of these documents makes for compelling reading. We hear the voices of prostitutes and domestic slavegirls, immigrant wives of merchants, Christians and pagans, homemakers, and social activists alike. We read the stories of daughters who confronted cultural conflicts and racial discrimination; the myriad ways women coped with the Great Depression; and personal contributions to the causes of women's emancipation, Chinese nationalism, workers' rights, and World War II. The symphony of voices presented here lends immediacy and authenticity to our understanding of the Chinese American women's lives. This rich collection of women's stories also serves to demonstrate collective change over time as well as to highlight individual struggles for survival and advancement in both private and public spheres. An educational tool on researching and reclaiming women's history, Unbound Voices offers us a valuable lesson on how one group of women overcame the legacy of bound feet and bound lives in America. The selections are accompanied by photographs, with extensive introductions and annotation by Judy Yung, a noted authority on primary resources relating to the history of Chinese American women. "Dense, meticulously researched tome. . . the photographs are priceless."-"San Jose Mercury News "A landmark contribution. . . . These rich materials including proverbs, immigration interrogations, poems, articles, photographs, social workers' reports, recipes, and oral histories add a new dimension to Asian American studies, U.S. women's history, Chinese American history, and immigration studies." Valerie Matsumoto, University of California, Los Angeles "A landmark contribution. . . . These rich materials―including proverbs, immigration interrogations, poems, articles, photographs, social workers' reports, recipes, and oral histories―add a new dimension to Asian American studies, U.S. women's history, Chinese American history, and immigration studies."―Valerie Matsumoto, University of California, Los Angeles Judy Yung is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of the award-winning Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (California, 1995), Chinese Women of America: A Pictorial History (1986), and Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 (1980). Unbound Voices A Documentary History Chinese Women S.F. By Judy Yung University of California Press Copyright © 1999 Judy Yung All right reserved. ISBN: 9780520218604 Chin Lung's Affidavit, May 14, 1892 My great-grandfather Chin Lung (a.k.a. Chin Hong Dai) immigrated to the United States for a better livelihood right before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed. He was hardworking and resourceful. Within six years he had learned to speak English and saved enough moneysacking rice at the Sing Kee store in San Francisco Chinatown and, later, engaging in tenant farming with fellow villagers in the SacramentoSan Joaquin Deltato go home and be arranged in marriage to Leong Kum Kew (a.k.a. Leong Yee, her maiden name; and Leong Shee, her married name). But he could not bring her back with him to the United States because he was still considered a laborer, and the Exclusion Act did not allow family members of Chinese laborers to immigrate to this country. Upon his return, therefore, Chin Lung invested wisely in the Sing Kee store in order to establish merchant status; he was finally able to send for Leong Shee in 1892 .1 Biographical information on Chin Lung is from Chin Gway, interview with author and Him Mark Lai, July 29, 1979, San Francisco; Chin Sou and John Chin, interview with author and Sucheng Chan, October 12, 1979, San Jose; Jew Law Ying, interview with author, September 7, 1982, and January 14, 1987, San Francisco; Sucheng Chan, "Chinese American Entrepreneur: The California Career of Chin Lung," Chinese America: History and Perspectives 1987 (San Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America, 1987), pp. 7386; and Ruthanne Lum McCunn, "Chin Lung's Gold Mountain Promise," in Chinese American Portraits: Personal Histories , 18281988 (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1988), pp. 8897. (SOURCE: Leong Shee, case 12017/37232, Chinese Departure Case Files, San Francisco District Office, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85, National Archives, San Bruno, California) This notarized affidavit, attesting to Chi