Eva Lee, FCLC 2027

Major: International Political Economy, Minor in Asian American Studies

Bio: Eva Lee is an International Political Economy major and Asian American Studies minor on the Pre-Law track. Her professional experience spans legal work at the Asian American Bar Association of New York, policy analysis at the Asian American Federation, and political fundraising at Berger Hirschberg Strategies. As a Dean’s Fellow investigating documentative failures in Chinese women’s immigration at the height of the Chinese Exclusion Act Era, she bridges archival research with modern advocacy.

Title of Research: Uncanny Agency: Navigating Survival and Identity Among Early Chinese Immigrant Women

Mentor: Grace Shen, History

Abstract: This research examines how federal legislation, including the Page Act of 1875 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, systematically branded Chinese immigrant women as inherently "lewd and immoral." These racialized restrictions facilitated the systemic exploitation of women from Guangdong while fostering a "white savior" narrative centered on missionary figures like Donaldina Cameron. This project seeks to dismantle that trope by centering the life of Tien Fuh Wu, a formerly trafficked immigrant who became a pivotal, yet often overshadowed, leader in the San Francisco mission movement.

The methodology involves a critical analysis of legal records and primary source archives in the San Francisco Bay Area. By investigating "documentative failures"—instances where biased policing and naming conventions erased or misidentified Chinese women—the study reveals the agency hidden within historical gaps. The scope further extends to the sericulture districts of Guangdong, where women’s economic independence in the silk industry provided a foundation for their transpacific autonomy and their ability to navigate a "double rejection" by both their homeland and the United States.

Ultimately, this project argues that Chinese immigrant women were not merely passive victims of historical forces. Instead, they were resilient actors who redefined labor, marriage, and survival. By addressing archival silences regarding queer erasure and reframing sex work as a calculated tool for financial survival, this research concludes that these women exercised fierce agency. The final study restores a nuanced historiography that balances the harsh realities of subjugation with the undocumented pursuit of freedom and joy.