Canceled: Author: Roland Hui

        Meet and discuss with Roland Hui, the author of Chinaman Tycoon: The Life and Times of Lew Hing. During the program, Roland Hui will talk about Lew Hing, whom he considered the first Chinese industrialist and celebrity in America. Lew arrived in San Francisco in 1871 at age 12 to join his brother who tragically died in an accident the following year. Alone in America, and with indomitable courage, he achieved fame and fortune by venturing into the white man's business world at a time of intense, pervasive anti-Chinese sentiments. Starting with a fruit cannery in 1904 in Oakland that employed as many as a thousand workers of all ethnicities, he diversified into banking, shipping, and cotton ranching within the next 12 years. His business pursuits challenged the societal boundaries imposed on the Chinese, rendering his story still relevant today. 

        Roland Hui attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong and San Francisco State University. After a career at the Social Security Administration, he became a community historian and researcher of Chinese American history. Chinaman Tycoon is his first book. He is currently working on a book about Chinatown elites during the Exclusionary Era (1882-1943).

      This program is in partnership with Chinatown History and Culture Association.