DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and this one's worth every mile of road between here and there. Now, some folks come into a city and leave hardly a ripple. Edward K.
T. Chen was not some folks. He was born in San Francisco, California, as Chen Yuk Chow, the son of Chin Yuen Yee and Chin Luk Oi.
In 1928 he headed east to Columbia University in New York City, and while he was studying, he was working — setting type and writing as a reporter for the Chinese Nationalist Daily, a Chinese language newspaper. A man learning the world and telling it at the same time. Then, in November of 1932, Chen came to Galveston.
He arrived as secretary of the Republic of China's First Vice Consulate for the southern United States. The office moved to Houston the very next year, and Chen — being the kind of man who apparently did not believe in doing one thing when he could be doing three — simultaneously attended the University of Houston. He earned both his bachelor's and his master's degrees there, and along the way became the first Chinese-American professor in the city.
Let that one settle for a second. In 1934, Chen married Janie Ng. The two of them would have two children together.
Janie passed in 1965. Now here's where the story starts showing its backbone. In 1937, there was a bill moving through the Texas legislature that would have prevented Chinese from owning land in Texas.
Chen lobbied against it. And that bill was defeated. One man's effort, standing between a community and a law that would have shut doors across the state.
In 1940, he helped organize the forerunner of what became the First Chinese Church in Houston. He was building community from the ground up, brick by brick, vote by vote, conversation by conversation. World War II came, and Chen was a spokesman for the Republic of China.
In 1948, the Republic of China recognized what he was doing and promoted him to Deputy Consul. Then came the Korean War, and Chen found another front entirely. He worked to convince the federal government that most Chinese Americans were loyal to the United States.
He translated Chinese intelligence. He taught Cantonese to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The man was simultaneously a diplomat, a translator, a defender of his community's reputation, and apparently a language instructor — all at once.
And in 1954, he became the founding president of the Houston Lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, an organization formed specifically to fight prejudice directed toward Chinese Texans. Edward K. T.
Chen is remembered today as a diplomat and an educator. Born in San Francisco as Chen Yuk Chow, he arrived in Galveston in November of 1932 and spent the rest of his life making Houston — and the United States — a place where Chinese Americans had a better shot at being seen, heard, and treated fairly. Some people pass through a city.
Some people change it. You're driving through country that knows the difference.
What the marker says
Born in San Francisco, California as Chen Yuk Chow, Edward K.T. Chen, the son of Chin Yuen Yee and Chin Luk Oi, had a profound impact on the lives of Americans, particularly those of Chinese descent. In 1928, he attended Columbia University in New York City. While there, he worked as a typesetter and reporter for the Chinese Nationalist Daily, a Chinese language newspaper. In November 1932, Chen came to Galveston as secretary of the Republic of China's First Vice Consulate for the southern U.S. The office moved to Houston the next year, and he simultaneously attended the University of Houston, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees and became the first Chinese-American professor in the city. In 1934, Chen married Janie Ng (d. 1965); the couple had two children. While in Houston, Chen helped to increase the visibility of Chinese and Chinese Americans. In 1937, his lobbying efforts helped to defeat a bill that would have prevented Chinese from owning land in Texas. In 1940, he helped organize the forerunner of the First Chinese Church in Houston. During World War II, he was a spokesman for the Republic of China, which promoted Chen to Deputy Consul in 1948. During the Korean war, he worked to convince the federal government that most Chinese Americans were loyal to the U.S., translated Chinese intelligence and taught Cantonese to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. In 1954, Chen was the founding president of the Houston Lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, fighting prejudice directed toward Chinese Texans. Today Chen is remembered as a diplomat and educator whose work made a lasting impact on the lives of Chinese Americans and others in Houston and throughout the United States.