San Francisco Chinatown to the American South: Chinese American Christians in the Civil Rights Movement, 1963-1966 Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

From 1963 to 1966, Chinese American members of the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown (PCC) in San Francisco and the Donaldina Cameron House participated in the marches and initiatives of the Civil Rights Movement. From traveling to Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington to canvassing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the activists engaged in the Civil Rights Movement at various points. Some, consequently, participated in the Asian American Movement in the late 1960s, while others continued their activism and advocacy work in their hometowns and other cities. This project analyzes the role of the Liberal Protestant social gospel on the upbringings, motivations, beliefs, and activism of four individuals: Franklin Fung Chow, Marion Kwan, Doreen Der McLeod, and Larry Jack Wong. The Liberal Protestant Chinatown social gospel, sustained and nurtured through institutions like the Presbyterian Church and Cameron House, guided the four individuals’ expressions of faith — in and beyond the church — and their activism. Cameron House equipped them with leadership skills, to express their faith through service, and opportunities to get involved in the community outside of San Francisco. These experiences and exposure to other ethnic communities primed their interest in interracial solidarity building, which they pursued in the Civil Rights Movement. Oftentimes they were the only Asian American or Chinese American present in activist spaces, forging Black-Asian solidarities that predated the emergence of Black Power activism in the late 1960s. Lastly, the Civil Rights Movement shaped their later activism in Chinatown and on the West Coast, on issues such as anti-poverty, housing, busing, parks and recreation, and the establishment of ethnic studies programs. Drawn to the nonviolent methodology of the movement and Christian values, the activists faithfully pursued the fulfillment of the social gospel in their communities at home.

Table of Contents

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………   1

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: Christian Community, Upbringings, Motivations……………… 20

Chapter 2: On the Ground in the South………………………………………………………………… 45

Chapter 3: Activism at Home and in the Asian American Movement…………………………… 62

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 84

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 89

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, History of Asian American Studies African American Studies
Keyword	Social gospel Civil Rights Movement Chinese Americans Asian American Movement
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Suh, Chris, Emory University
Committee Members	Anderson, Carol, Emory University Kim, Helen Jin, Emory University

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