Remembering their Work

Lum Lin had resided in California for well over a decade, reporting that he had lived in Stockton, California for a decade and then came to live in Los Angeles for another five. While in Stockon, Lum Lin ran his own laundry business (specifically stating "I owned a laundy."), though he does not clarify if he sold or closed the business when he moved to Los Angeles. He continued to work in laundry while living in Los Angeles, working for the Dak Kee laundry on Upper Main Street. He received seven dollars a week as compensation for his work, totaling roughly $24 a month. Additionally, he invested $700 into Fong Yip's store and $350 into Lim Wong's future restaurant.

Wong You reports that he had lived in California for 21 years, having lived two years in Santa Paula and then the remaining 18 years in Los Angeles. Wong You does not discuss his past employment, however, on his official records, he is listed as a laborer, so he likely worked as a manual laborer for various businesses. At the time of the interview, he states that he is currently employed at Po Sang Ranch, which is owned by the Po Sang Company.

Albert Hing had an incredibly interesting career, one that appears to have started while he was a teenager in order to help his family with the bills. Mr. Hing reportedly worked as an illegal dealer at an unnamed gambling house in LA, a job he quickly left after a next-door gambling house was raided and he feared for his safety. He worked as a fruit picker within the San Dimas area, as a houseboy (a domestic servant) for a stockbroker in La Brea on Beverly Boulevard. Then he moved on to working as a dishwasher in a nightclub in Los Angeles. Following this, he was employed as a butler, assistant chauffeur, and a script boy for an unnamed director and another director he referred to as Warren McCarthy. As he grew into his adult years and graduated high school, he moved on to a job as a produce salesman, a maintenance man for a sewing factory, a bartender, and then into an insurance Salesman for   Guarantee Insurance Company His last job involved him working at a defense plant while he attending going at the University of Southern California (USC), although he was forced to stop attending due to a lack of funds and a need to work more hours to support his family. At some point, Mr. Hing mentions joining the Chinese-American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A) in an effort to work towards "the betterment of the Chinese".

(American Name: Kay Wong Gee)

Gee Wong Howe spent the majority of her life working and running the grocery store her husband had started in an undisclosed city. After his death, she reminisces on the initially difficulty in maintaining and running the store, however, she continued to keep it open and hired help to run it until she eventually closed the store down and rented it out for $30 to $40 a month. She kept the business going until all her children had moved into a more stable position in their lives and had reliable jobs. At that point, she sold the business for a large sum (approximately $18,000) and worked smaller jobs in her elderly years despite the financial assistance her children provided. She states she worked as a shoe shiner, as a field laborer where she tied onions and scallions alongside her niece, worked as a nanny for several children, and sold vegetables from her own garden to local restaurants. All of this netted her very little money but it was enough to support her.