When Alon Yu thinks of remarkable women from Nevada County’s history, one person stands out in his mind.
His mom, Alice Fong Yu, was born on March 2, 1905 near the banks of the South Yuba River in the small gold mining Town of Washington. Her legacy, combined with that of her sisters and her mother, provides an overlooked chapter of women in Nevada County’s history.
In the early 1900s, a first-generation Chinese immigrant named Suey Chung (later better known as Fong Chow) held a prestigious job as the superintendent of the Omega gold mine in Nevada County.
He married a young and beautiful wife, Lonnie Tom of Marysville, and together the couple had 11 children.
“I think it’s a great story and deserves to be told and shared widely,” said the couple’s grandson, Professor Gordon Chang, Department of History, Stanford University and author of several books. His mother Helen, was born in Washington and became a pioneering Chinese entrepreneur who married his father, Zhang Shuqi, the famous Chinese watercolor artist.
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and this year’s theme is “Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together,” according to the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC).
In recent years, the Nevada County Landmarks Commission has taken efforts to recognize Nevada County’s Asian heritage.
In 2024, the nonprofit group dedicated a memorial plaque in Washington at the site of the Chinese quarter, where houses, stores and a temple once stood in what was historically called “China Alley.” Fong Chow and Lonnie Tom’s family attended the small ceremony honoring the contributions made by the Chinese community during the town’s early days.
In the 1850s, more than 20 percent of Nevada County’s population was Chinese and hundreds of Chinese lived in Washington, making it one of the largest Chinatowns in the County, according to records by the Landmarks Commission. Most were miners, others were storekeepers, teamsters and cooks who forged robust communities. People endured persistent prejudice, such as discriminatory taxes, violence, segregation and even a prohibition against testifying in court against whites, according to the Landmarks Commission. Following years of anti-Chinese sentiment on the West Coast, the U.S. passed the first Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
“Washington had one of the largest Chinatowns in Nevada County, and some historians report that the majority of Washington’s population was Chinese. The story of the Chinese in California was either neglected for many years in our history books or was reduced to racist memes. The reality is, the Chinese contributed substantially to making California a great state, and it is important for people to understand that,” said Bernie Zimmerman, Chair of Nevada County Landmarks Commission.
In 2024, Truckee’s Chinatowns were declared a County historical landmark by the Board of Supervisors at the recommendation of the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission. A ceremony was held during the 155th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Early Years in Washington
The story of Suey Chung (Fong Chow) and Lonnie Tom is retold through family stories and in the pages of the 1954 book, “China Gold” by Theresa A. Sparks, found on the shelves of Nevada County’s Doris Foley Library for Historical Research in Nevada City.
“My grandfather entered the United States in 1882, although I have ancestors on my grandmother’s side in Marysville in the 1850s,” said Gordon Chang, who attended the plaque dedication in Washington.
“My grandfather came from southern China, as many foreign interests did. He came from a farm family and his village is still there,” Chang said. It is believed that his grandfather was 14 when he first came to North America through Canada.
“He was a fascinating person and made his way down from Vancouver and eventually settled in Sacramento. Records seem to show that he walked the entire way,” Chang said. Eventually, he made his way to the remote goldmining town of Washington.
“Grandpa worked very hard and was very ambitious. He was quite talented and became the manager of the Omega gold mine. The Omega gold mine was the most profitable in California, for a time. He became quite prominent as a manager and an entrepreneur,” said Chang.
At 33, Suey Chung (Fong Chow) married Lonnie Tom, “the eighteen-year-old daughter of a Marysville family and daughter of one of the first Chinese gold miners,” according to Sparks. Raised in the customs of a country she had never seen, she did not speak English and had traditional semi-bound feet.
“She was amazing. I never met her, but what I’ve heard from relatives growing up is that she was a lovely person,” said Chang.
To prepare for her arrival, Suey Chung (Fong Chow) found a piece of land and built a modest one-room home for the new couple. Lonnie Tom made the dusty 45-minute journey from Marysville to Nevada City by stagecoach to meet and marry her yet unseen husband and spend their wedding night at the National Hotel. Their names can still be found on the historic registry, said Chang.
Once the couple began starting a family, it became clear that the town’s remote location made it difficult for doctors to arrive in time to deliver babies. During the spring of 1905, when it came time for the birth of the couple’s second baby, Alice, heavy snow prevented the doctor from traveling to Washington from Emigrant Gap.
“The impenetrable wall of mountain snow forbade entrance to or exit from the little town, for the month was March and the snow was deep and impassable,” wrote Sparks.
Suey Chung (Fong Chow) helped his wife during labor, putting into practice what he had learned from the midwife who attended the birth of his first son.
“It’s incredible when you think about it. (My grandmother) had 11 children, and doctors came by horseback. My mother was the second oldest, and she always told me the story. During the winter, there was no way the doctor could get into town,” said Alon Yu, son of Alice Fong Yu, the first Chinese American public school teacher in San Francisco.
Of the 11 children, eight were born in Washington and three were born in Vallejo. The children were given American names: Theodore, Alice, Minnie, Taft, Helen, Hiram, Albert, Marian, Martha, Leslie and Lorraine. The first son, Theodore, “Theo” was named after the president of the United States and Alice was named after the president’s daughter. In all, Lonnie and Suey would have six daughters and five sons.
Nearly all “went to college and became successful in their careers and prominent members of the community. Albert Fong was killed in WWII and his Purple Heart was posthumously awarded to his father in 1945,” said Alon Yu.
The brothers and sisters who spent their childhood in Washington were bilingual and attended the one-room schoolhouse that still stands today. They experienced heartbreak and disappointment when other students and townspeople treated them with racist discrimination.
After gold prospects dried up in Washington and the untimely death of Theo in China at the hands of ransom-seeking bandits, the family moved to Vallejo to start the next chapter of their lives as owners of a downtown Asian market.
A family’s “gold” and a legacy of education
“His wealth was in his children and not in gold,” said Alon Yu, speaking of his grandfather. “He always encouraged his children to get an education.”
Alon Yu’s mother, Alice Fong Yu, was born on March 2, 1905 near the banks of the South Yuba River in the small gold mining town of Washington. Her legacy, combined with that of her sisters and her mother, provides an overlooked chapter of women in Nevada County’s history.
Alice would grow up to become the first Chinese American public school teacher in San Francisco and a respected organizer of social and community causes. In 1997, when she was 92 years old, San Francisco Unified School District named its first Chinese language immersion K-8 school in her honor, the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School.
“She was always teaching something. Her mind was always set on teaching,” said Alon Yu.
In Chinese culture, daughters and sons are cherished and valued, and the Cantonese word, “Cheen Gum” translates to “One Thousand Gold.” This reverence for daughters never dimmed and aided the girls’ commitment to succeed, even in the face of a society that tried to shut them down.
“The girls were quite distinguished. They all went to college and had professions,” said Chang.
Chang’s mother, Helen, attended the University of California and specialized in physical education. Minnie enrolled in the Nurses’ Training course at the San Francisco Hospital, becoming the first public health nurse of Chinese ancestry. Marian enrolled at the University of California, becoming the first dental hygienist of Chinese ancestry. Martha went to Whittier College and worked during the war years at a nursery school in Vallejo so mothers could work to support the war effort, becoming the first nursery school teacher of Chinese ancestry. Lorraine, the last of the “Cheen Gum” daughters, was in high school when she failed to recover from the flu and died in 1943.
In 1924, Alice became one of seven teenage founders and the president of the Square and Circle Club, the first Chinese-American women’s service club dedicated to supporting the Chinese community in San Francisco. In June, 2024, the club celebrated its 100th anniversary.
“At the time, it was unheard of that a young woman would do that,” said Alon Yu. It was also unheard of for girls to get an education or enter a profession.
In 1922, Yu applied to San Francisco State, then known as San Francisco Normal Teachers’ College. She was discouraged from attending, and the president of the time, Frederick Burke told her no one would hire her. Alice persisted and told school administrators she planned to teach English in China. She was admitted and graduated in 1926.
“A notable irony is that although Frederick Burke, then president of the San Francisco Teachers College discouraged my mother from attending in 1922, she was later honored by the same college when she was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1997,” said Alon Yu.
Upon graduation in 1926, Alice Fong Yu was hired at Commodore Stockton in Chinatown, where she taught 34 years. As the only bilingual teacher at the school with a predominantly Chinese-speaking student body, she became translator, social worker and all-purpose liaison.
Alon’s brother was born with cerebral palsy, a special need that made mobility and speech difficult. Alice became a speech therapist and traveled to other schools to help students with speech disabilities in the last decade of her career. She retired in 1970.
Yu married Jon Yong Chang Yu, a Chinese newspaper editor, writer and businessman, who died in 1966.
“I like helping people,” she said in an interview with SF Gate in 1996.
She remained active in human rights causes throughout her life, leaving a legacy that has inspired two grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces, including four who have become university professors: Gordon H. Chang at Stanford University, Ernest Chang at UC Davis, Robert G. Lee at Brown University and Peter Fong at Gettysburg University in Pennsylvania.
“I think it was the fact that she had felt so many injustices and wanted to fight against that. She spoke up and organized for things she believed in,” said Alon Yu. “I’m very proud of her struggles and her perseverance and overcoming discrimination to become a teacher and encourage others.”