The Chinese in America - Iris Chang [246]
402 drew arrows to three boxes: Author interview with Cy Wong.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Only when a book is finally finished—when one is left staring at towers of banker’s boxes stuffed with thousands of documents—does an author truly comprehend the degree to which she is indebted to others. I was blessed to have the cooperation of many wonderful people during this long and fascinating journey.
My deep gratitude goes to Susan Rabiner, my literary agent, for her superb judgment and her firm, unwavering confidence in this book right from the very beginning. She brought this project to Viking Penguin, where Caroline White and Wendy Wolf refined the narrative with their brilliant editing and meticulous attention to detail. I want to thank not only these two editors but other members of the Viking Penguin staff for their consummate professionalism: Yen Cheong, Carolyn Coleburn, Clifford Corcoran, Kate Griggs, Claire Hunsaker, Hilary Redmon, Nancy Resnick, Kim Taylor, and Grace Veras, among others. Carol Shookhoff, a line editor who carefully scrutinized the manuscript, also deserves special mention.
Within the historical profession, it was a great privilege to know Him Mark Lai, a scholar of rare and admirable spirit, a man whom I consider to be the father of Chinese American studies. Like many others, I stand in complete awe of his encyclopedic knowledge and tireless dedication to his life’s work. His mastery of both Chinese- and English-language sources has enabled him to pioneer this field as a historical discipline, and this book, largely a synthesis of previous research, rests on the foundation of his knowledge. Him Mark Lai spent several hours with me to discuss the broad outlines and themes of Chinese American history, and I treasured our conversations immensely.
L. Ling-chi Wang, head of the ethnic studies department at the University of California at Berkeley, veteran activist, and a spokesman for the Rape of Nanking Redress Coalition, steered me to his excellent research on Chinese American history in the Asian American Collection of Berkeley’s Ethnic Studies Library. At various academic conferences over the years, I learned much from his discussions of Chinese America in the context of the political struggle for American civil liberties. Always at these forums, I was both inspired by him and honored to be associated with him, because of his passionate commitment to Asian American scholarship and the future of human rights.
In Washington, D.C., John Taylor, a friend and cherished fixture at the National Archives for more than half a century, was one of the best allies an author could hope for. Compassionate and knowledgeable, profoundly wise and endlessly helpful, John Taylor played a special role in helping me research this book, just as he did for my first two books, and my research benefited from his vast experience.
I was lucky to have the help of other important experts as I gathered source materials. Roger Daniels e-mailed me his extensive bibliography of references. Suellen Cheng and her husband, Munson Kwok, at the Museum of Chinese American History (now renamed the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles) assisted me in countless ways as I conducted research in the museum archives and oral history collection. Peggy Spitzer Christoff graciously showed me her database of case files from the National Archives in Chicago, which traced the lives of Chinese immigrants in the Midwest. Douglas Knox generously shared with me his unpublished paper based on research conducted at the University of Chicago. Neil Thomsen, formerly with the National Archives Records Administration at San Bruno, gave me copies of the most intriguing historical documents he had found during his long career there. Wei Chi Poon, the Asian American Studies Collection specialist at Berkeley’s Ethnic Studies Library, helped me immeasurably in the early stages of my research and handled all of my inquiries with her cheerful and efficient manner. Bruce Nichols at the Immigration and Naturalization