Hong family papers addenda, 1910-2004

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Summary

Creators:
Hong (Family)
Abstract:
This collection contains 76 boxes of addenda to the collection of the papers and photographs of the Hong family, a family of prominent Chinese-American community leaders in Los Angeles, California, specifically focused on the papers and photographs of immigration lawyer You Chung Hong (1898-1977), his wife, Mabel Hong (1907-1998) and their two sons, lawyer Nowland C. Hong (born 1934) and architect Roger S. Hong (1941-2006).
Extent:
60.4 Linear Feet (76 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English and Chinese.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Hong Family Papers Addenda, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains addenda to the collection of the papers and photographs of the Hong family, a family of prominent Chinese-American community leaders in Los Angeles, California, specifically focused on the papers and photographs of immigration lawyer You Chung Hong (1898-1977), his wife, Mabel Hong (1907-1998) and their two sons, lawyer Nowland C. Hong (born 1934) and architect Roger S. Hong (1941-2006).

The addenda includes 14 boxes of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera organized by genre, subject, and/or original order. The contents include address books, biographies, card indexes, correspondence, financial records, Hong residence construction documents, manuscripts, periodicals, subject files, and transcripts of Y. C. Hong's 1928 congressional testimony (Box 11, Folders 1-3).

There are 54 boxes of photographic items including color slides, photographic negatives, and color slides of the Hong family. Boxes 12 to 21 are organized at folder-level, by genre, and alphabetically. Boxes 22 to 65 are organized only to the box-level (with less detail than folder-level) and contain mostly photographic materials created by Roger S. Hong from 1980s to 1990s.

In addition, there are also 8 boxes of oversize items such as calendars, certificates, periodicals, photos, plans, and posters.

Biographical / historical:

You Chung Hong (May 4, 1898 - November 8, 1977) was a prominent Chinese American immigration lawyer based in Los Angeles, California. He was one of the first Chinese Americans to pass, in 1923, the California State Bar exam. Born in San Francisco, California, in 1898, Y. C. was the son of a restaurant owner based in Daggett, California. He was raised in San Francisco by his mother after his father passed away when Y. C. was five years old. After graduating from high school, Y. C. settled briefly in Boston, Massachusetts, before returning to Los Angeles to work for the U.S. Immigration Service as an interpreter from 1918 to 1927 for court cases involving Chinese applicants for admission into the U.S. During the early 1920s, while working full-time for the U.S. Immigration Bureau, Y. C. enrolled in night classes at the University of Southern California School of Law. He earned his LL.B. in 1924 and LL.M. in 1925. From that point on, Y. C. became an active and successful immigration attorney by advocating for the right of Chinese Americans to bring their Chinese wives to the U.S. and pushing for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts. He was one of the key members testifying on behalf of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance before the Senate and House Immigration Committees in 1928 in Washington D.C. He testified in 1952 before a hearing of President Truman's Commission on Immigration and Naturalization. He served two terms as Grand President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (1949-1953), 14 terms as President of CACA's Los Angeles Lodge (1926-1949), and Chairman of the Chinese Times Publishing Company. In addition to his accomplishments in the legal field, Y. C. was also one of the founding members of Los Angeles New Chinatown (1938). He was married to Mabel Hong, and together they had two sons, Nowland and Roger.

Mabel Hong (May 31, 1907 - April 30, 1998) was also an active community leader in the Los Angeles area. Born May 31, 1907, in Portland, Oregon, Mabel was one of the earliest Chinese American women to receive a college education in the state of Oregon. She married You Chung Hong in 1931. In addition to her duties as a homemaker of a large extended family, Mabel served in leadership roles in the Chinatown chapter of the American Women's Volunteer Services during World War II, the Chinese Women's Club of Los Angeles, and the Kuun Ying Club. She was a major influence in the design of the three New Chinatown buildings that were commissioned by You Chung Hong.

Nowland C. Hong (born December 7, 1934) was the first of two sons of Y. C. and Mabel. He graduated from Pomona College in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then went on to study law at the University of Southern California School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1960 and passed the California State Bar exam in 1961. In the same year he was appointed Deputy City Attorney of Los Angeles by then City Attorney Roger Arnebergh. Nowland also served as the Chief General Counsel for the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the city of Los Angeles. Nowland is currently (2010) a senior partner for a private law firm. In addition to professional duties as a lawyer, Nowland was one of the founding members and president for two terms of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association and Grand President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance.

Roger S. Hong (September 23, 1941 - October 27, 2006) was the youngest son of Y. C. and Mabel. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1965, followed by a Master of Science degree in City and Regional Planning in 1968. He was certified in many states, including California, to practice as a licensed architect. Some of his notable architectural projects include the expansion of the California Exposition and State Fair (Sacramento, CA), Thomas and Mack Center (Las Vegas, NV), the United Bank headquarter (Los Angeles, CA), Kunlun Hotel (Beijing, China), Hotel Nikko (Beverly Hills, CA), the Hong Residence (Los Angeles, CA), Chieh Shou Sports Park (Taipei, Taiwan), Kaiser Richmond Medical Center (Richmond, CA), and various buildings and facilities in and around the Los Angeles Chinatown area. After he co-founded the architectural firm Arechaederra Hong Treiman Architects in the late 1970s, Roger retired from architecture in early 1990s and devoted himself to preserving the Hong family history, the restoration and preservation of Los Angeles Chinatown, and various charitable causes.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Roger S. Hong on June 26, 2006.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following 3 series:

  1. Correspondence, Manuscripts, and Ephemera Series (Boxes 1-11; Box 72, 73, 74, 76)
  2. Photographic Series (Boxes 12-65)
  3. Oversize Series (Boxes 66-71; Box 75)
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Hong Family Papers Addenda, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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