This article combines essays submitted by Jared Gee, a student at the University of Southern California, Micah Gee, a student at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, and Noah A., a student at UC Riverside.
In 1911, our great-grandfather Nam Wong was born in Gom Benn Village. In 1922, Nam and his older cousin moved to Riverside, California, a city known at the time for its citrus production, the development of refrigerated railroad cars and innovative irrigation systems, as well as its rapid growth in the late 19th century. The two were chasing the American Dream and, as a result, labored tirelessly in the plentiful citrus fields of Riverside to establish a more promising future for themselves and their descendants. Regardless of the trials they faced, the barriers they had to cross, or the hurdles they had to overcome, they persevered.
To make ends meet, they resided at temporary housing in Riverside’s Chinatown. Here, Nam had family; most of Riverside’s Chinatown was populated by those who also traveled from Gom Benn and possessed the last name “Wong.” The Riverside Chinatown was small, and most businesses occupied one downtown street. But Chinatown allowed Nam to enter a community equipped with a Chinese grocery store, laundry and boarding house.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1883, signed by President Chester A. Arthur, declared that the immigration of Chinese laborers would be prohibited. The law, building upon the 1875 Page Act banning the immigration of Chinese women to the United States, became the first implemented to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from entering the U.S. legally. Together, the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Page Act molded Riverside’s Chinatown into a society of bachelors, thus creating an ostensibly dire future for Chinese in California and, further, in the United States. Consequently, I read that there was a profitable business called the “Paper Sons” where one could pay a certain amount of money to someone who was willing to claim them as their firstborn son so they could immigrate to the United States. I wonder if my great grandfather was a “Paper Son.”
The first Chinatown in Riverside was near downtown Riverside, an area centered on Ninth Street. In 1885, however, a fire destroyed a majority of the structures in Chinatown. Eventually, a second Chinatown was established in the Tequesquite Arroyo, in the shadow of Mt. Rubidoux on the outskirts of the city. Over time, there lived almost 400 Chinese in what some called, “Little Gom Benn.” Unfortunately, just eight years later, another fire blew through Chinatown. The devastation forced our great-grandfather out of Riverside and into Los Angeles to find work in the laundry business. Nam returned to China in 1934. Eventually, he found love and married Lee Dick Jeow. Months later Lee Dick Jeow was pregnant with my beloved grandmother, Kim Wong, only putting more pressure on Nam to achieve success in the United States. Before she was born in 1935, Nam returned to the United States to chase his dreams of creating a future for those whom he loved so immensely. In the early 1940s, Nam was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed nearly 100 miles away at Camp Pendleton near San Diego.
In 1943, the United States Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act by way of the Magnuson Act. During this time, China had become an ally of the United States against Japan in World War II. While the Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens and diminished the overarching threat of deportation, discrimination in the United States against the Chinese was still prevalent. The Magnuson Act allowed the entry of only 105 Chinese immigrants per year. The United States did not repeal the restrictions on the ownership of property and businesses by ethnic Chinese.
A few years later, the Supreme Court of California ruled based on the California State Constitution that Chinese individuals could purchase, own, and sell property within specific boundaries. Almost simultaneously Nam opened Veteran’s Market, a South L.A. grocery store. In 1947, in heroic fashion, Nam returned to China for his wife and his daughter. Our grandmother, Kim Wong, was 12 years old when she saw her father in the flesh for the first time. They came to America, with Lee Dick Jeow helping at the market. Later they moved into a home in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Veteran’s Market became popular and, as a result, Nam became financially secure enough to sponsor and vouch for the immigration of the rest of his family. Nam and Lee became parents to four boys (Henry, Harvey, Hubert and Harry) in the span of just five years. Eventually, Nam sold Veteran’s Market to his brother-in-law in pursuit of a larger home in the San Gabriel Valley city of Monterey Park.
Beginning in 1964, Nam opened Nam’s Restaurant, invested in apartment complexes, and launched the creation of a bank. Nam’s was a formal restaurant on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel complete with cocktail waitresses, bartenders, maitre’d, dancing and delicious Chinese cuisine. The entire family helped to run the restaurant, and it flourished splendidly.
During these years, our grandmother Kim attended Manual Arts High School and later took classes at Los Angeles City College. She used her restaurant experience in greeting and serving customers to attain employment at Boy’s Market and then at California Bank in the check clearing house which was located in the RCA Victor building. Kim met our grandfather Dan Gee in April 1957 and went on to marry the love of her life in December 1957. Once married she helped provide for their future by working at St. Paul Insurance Company. Since Kim was much older than her brothers, she and Dan were able to take her younger siblings everywhere and basically showed them the ropes. They took them out on their dates and to all sorts of fun meals, activities and events. Kim’s brothers loved Dan like an older brother and sought his advice for many aspects of their lives. Eventually Kim and Dan’s family would grow to include their kids Cindy, Sandy, Andy and Randy. (And later, Cindy’s family would include Jesse and Noah A. Randy’s kids include Jared and Micah.)
In 1970, Nam pioneered the creation of the Gom Benn Family Association. He retired in 1974 and volunteered in his community until his death in 1979. Our great-grandmother, Lee Dick Jeow, died in May 1988. Now, my great uncle Harry Wong, carries on his legacy in the Gom Benn community through his dedication and time.
Nam was a hero. A pioneer. A businessman. Someone who we aspire to be. All those characterize a legendary figure and, fortunately, our great-grandfather, Nam Wong. No, we never did get the chance to meet him, but it’s because of his perseverance, dedication, and love that we write this essay. It is our greatest wish to accomplish even a fraction of what my great-grandfather did. Thank you, Nam.
