Lucretia Mott. Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When you hear those names you probably automatically think about women’s suffrage. The women’s suffrage movement in the United States was led by far more than the usual names, though. There were women of every color, ethnicity, race, and sexuality that fought hard for universal women’s suffrage. Recently, I was teaching my 5th-grade class about the 19th Amendment, and one of my students raised her hand and asked me, “Were there any Asian women involved in the suffrage movement?” While I knew the answer was yes, this was a moment where I had to tell her I needed to do more research, and the story of Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee is one that I want to share with you and with my student as one of empowerment and Asian joy.

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was born in Canton City, China. Her father, Dr. Lee Too, was a missionary and moved to the US when she was 4. He was fluent in English and was allowed to emigrate to the United States during a time when Chinese immigration was very limited (more on that later). The US was admitting teachers, diplomats, merchants, and missionaries to emigrate from China, but even then they had to have “proper certification.” Dr. Too led the 1st Chinese Baptist church in Chinatown in New York City. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee lived with her mother and grandmother until she moved to Chinatown in New York City in 1905 to reunite with her father who had earned the nickname “the mayor” in the neighborhood.

The Chinese population in New York City was really small compared to the west coast. According to 1910 census data, there were 10,582 people of Chinese descent in San Francisco in 1910 compared with 4,686 people of Chinese descent in New York City. The census data reveals some other interesting statistics, as well. For example, of the people of Chinese descent in the United States, 15% of males were listed as servants, 12% as farmers, and 10% as laundry operators; 33% of females listed “servant” as their occupation, followed by 12% as farm laborers, and 10% as garden, greenhouse, orchard, and nursery workers. I also wanted to find out about the Chinese population in the closest city to my home, Newark, NJ. According to the 1910 census, there were 261 people of Chinese descent in Newark, NJ. Interestingly enough, I learned of a Dutch Reformed Church in the town over- Belleville, NJ where I grew up- where many of the first Chinese immigrants to the east coast are buried. Most of them worked on the transcontinental railroad and were brought to Belleville to work at a laundry, and from there they moved to Newark to open their own businesses. But, I digress.

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who I will refer to going forward as Dr. Lee, won a scholarship to get an education in the United States. She attended Erasmus Hall Academy in Brooklyn. You can still visit it at 911 Flatbush Avenue. It isn’t open to the public, but it is still standing as a part of the National Register of Historic Places. Dr. Lee then went on to graduate from Barnard, and was the first Chinese woman to get a doctorate from Columbia University. Her degree was in economics.

It is really important to note that Dr. Lee couldn’t become a US citizen for most of her life because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a federal law in place from 1882-1943, which also means she would not be able to vote even if universal women’s suffrage came to fruition. The Chinese Exclusion Act prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens and was passed as a direct result of anti-Chinese sentiment at the time. It was meant to limit Chinese laborers when natives sentiments helped grow white American’s fears of losing opportunities to non-whites. We have to be honest in our understanding that Asian hate has a long history in our country, and by ignoring the contributions of people like Dr. Lee, we continue to “other” the Asian community, thereby perpetuating prejudice, stereotypes, and acts of violence against them. We can emulate part of Dr. Lee’s mission to dispel stereotypes about the Chinese and Chinese Americans and advocate for New York’s Chinese community.

Dr. Lee was heavily involved in the suffrage movement even though she wouldn’t be able to vote if universal suffrage passed. As a teenage student in the 1910s, she was considered a radical for being a suffragist- but she thought voting was key to women’s rights and she also recognized women’s rights as a big issue in China, too. Because suffrage was so much a part of both places she identified as home, she wanted to be involved in the US suffrage movement. Dr. Lee gave speeches, wrote articles for a monthly magazine for Chinese students in America, and she had a vision of equality based on the values of her family’s church. She also dreamed of going back to China, which because a republic in 1911 after the Chinese Revolution, which gave way to women’s enfranchisement in China. She wanted to use what she learned in the American suffragist movement to liberate Chinese women. She drew this inspiration from her mother who didn’t have educational opportunities in China and whose feet were only a few inches long because they had been bound as part of tradition. Unfortunately, she never realized her dream of liberating Chinese women as her father died in 1924 and she took care of her widowed mom and her father’s church.

Dr. Lee was a member of the New York Women’s Political Equality League. On March 4, 1912, at 16 years old, she led a group of Chinese and Chinese American women in the 1912 New York City suffragist parade. It was one of the biggest suffrage parades in US history. An estimated 20,000 suffragists marched up 5th Avenue from Washington Square Park. Dr. Lee rode on horseback and wore the colors of the British suffragists: purple for nobility, white for purity, and green as a symbol of spring and hope. The parade was just the beginning of her career as an activist. She also led a group of Chinese and Chinese American women in another New York City suffrage parade in 1917. Dr. Lee’s work directly led to the passage of New York suffrage in 1917.

Dr. Lee fought for women’s suffrage even though she’d not immediately be able to vote or even benefit directly from suffrage. It wasn’t until 1943, when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed, that Chinese American women got the vote. Even so, immigration from China was still capped at 105 people per year.

Suffrage was just one part of Dr. Lee’s life as an activist. She raised money to fund a Chinese Christian Center on 21 Pell Street in Chinatown. She thought having a Chinese church would be a place of support and freedom for Chinese people who were marginalized and oppressed in the United States. As the new leader of her father’s church, she organized the church’s missionary work as Morning Star Mission. The church gave lessons in English, taught trade skills, and had a medical clinic and a kindergarten. It is still open and still offers the social services Dr. Lee started so many years ago.

Dr. Lee was an incredible woman. She fought for suffrage even though she wouldn’t benefit. She fought to end stereotypes and marginalization of the Chinese and Chinese American community. She demonstrated what women could do given the opportunity to speak their minds and work freely in their communities!