Tag Archives: New York City

Tsang Gee Kay and his dog

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Tsang Gee Kay photo with dog
“Tsang Gee Kay and his dog,” 1921, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Tsang Gee Kay file, Seattle, Box 1305, Case 38749/1-1.

In May 1921, Tsang Gee Kay, alias Bennie One, was applying to travel from Oakland, California to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia for two weeks. He was an actor and was playing in a skit at the Pantages. His dog was not mentioned in the file so it is assumed that the dog was part of the skit. Tsang Gee Kay was 25 years old and born in San Francisco on 2 December 1895 according to his birth certificate. His father ran a Bizarre and Chinese restaurants in Frisco. He had a brother, Ernest, and two sisters. He had never been back to China but had been to Canada three times—crossing twice at Blackrock near Buffalo, New York, and a third time at Emerson, North Dakota. Tsang Gee Kay was married to Augusta. She was living at 102-West 90th Street, New York City. They had no children. He was re-admitted at Seattle on 12 June 1921.

Mark Ten Suie – “A Story of Silk”

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A Story of Silk
“A Story of Silk,” 1917, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Mark Ten Suie file, Seattle, Box 1298, Case 38377/3-5.

This is the cover and back page of a 16-page booklet, “A Story of Silk,” included in Mark Ten Suie’s file. Besides the sericulture of the silkworm it contains a list of the stockholders of the American-Chinese Silk Manufacturing Company. Other subscribers are capitalists, physicians, merchants, salesmen, attorneys, teachers, a detective, bankers and a variety of other people. The head office was located at 316, 317, and 318 Boston Block in Seattle. Mark Ten Suie was being sent to China to secure a site for a silk factory and promote his silk business. Twenty acres on the Honan River within the city limits of Canton were pledged for the factory. Plans were drawn up for an office, a store room and a building to accommodate one hundred looms. Officers, trustees, and a detailed business plan are listed.
Also in the file are business cards for Mark Ten Suie Co. and Mak Chin Sui, an undated article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer with a photo of Mark Ten Suie, and another unidentified article with the headlines, “Chinese Mission Arrives in City, Silk Merchants on Way to International Exposition at New York, Local Business Sought, Delegation from Canton Expresses Hope for Friendly American Dealing.”

Rose Yip Woo- Section 6 Traveler – Rockefeller Foundation

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Rose Yip Woo box1020 7125 8_6
Photos of Mrs. S. T. Woo, Robert K. Woo and Ruth K. Woo, Precis in the case of the Traveler, 1927, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Mrs. S. T. Woo (Rose Yip) file, Seattle, Box 1020, Case 7125/8-6.

Rose Yip Woo, her husband, Shu Tai Woo, and their children Robert Kuotao, age 3 ½; and Ruth Kuochen Woo, age 1 ½ years, arrived in Seattle on 20 June 1927 on the S.S. President Madison. Rose was born on 27 May 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Woo family was scheduled to stay one year but they applied to stay another year and their application was approved. Rose and the children had traveler’s exemptions and her husband had a student exemption from the Peking Union Medical College in Peking, China. Dr. Woo had a fellowship with the Rockefeller Foundation. They were residing in New York City.
Rose Yip Woo’s visit was approved and extended to 20 July 1928. More information about the length of stay for her husband, Dr. Shu Tai Woo would be found in his file. 
Hundreds and hundreds of students entered the U.S. on Rockefeller Foundation grants.

Additional information:
The story of the Rockefeller Foundation by Raymond B. Fosdick or see an abstract his his book

According to the Rockefeller Foundation website, https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/our-history/:
The Rockefeller Foundation was incorporated in 1913 “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” The China Medical Board established a medical school in Shanghai in 1916 and one in Peking in 1917. 

Update 28 December 2024.