Tye Leung was born in San Francisco, the youngest of seven children born to Chinese immigrants. The family lived in a two bedroom apartment in Ross Alley[1]. When she was nine her parents sold her to a San Francisco family as an indentured servant, but an uncle living with the family was able to get her back. In 1901, when she was 14, her parents arranged a marriage between Leung’s older sister and a much older Montana man. The sister ran away with her boyfriend and Leung’s parents decided to send Leung to Montana instead. Leung ran away and sought refuge at Donaldina Cameron’s Presbyterian Mission Home[2], a sanctuary for Chinese women sold into slavery or prostitution. Leung lived there for the next nine years learning English, converting to Christianity, and assisting Cameron and local police in their raids of ChinaTown brothels. At Cameron’s suggestion, Leung applied for and passed the Civil Administration exams. In 1905 she became the first Chinese American female federal employee when she was assigned as an interpreter at the Angel Island Immigration and Detention Facility[3]. In May 1912 Leung made history again when she became the first Chinese American woman to vote in a national election (the Democratic Primary).
While at Angel Island, Leung met Charles Schulze. Because California law prohibited interracial marriage, the couple moved to Vancouver, Washington and married. Upon their return to California, both Leung and Schulze lost their jobs. Schulze became a patrol officer and street car conductor, ultimately landing a job at Southern Pacific Railroad. Leung worked as a social worker at the San Francisco Chinese Hospital. During World War II[4] she worked for a year at the Chinese Tea Garden[4A]. When Schulze died unexpectedly in 1935, Leung became responsible for raising their four children alone. She took a job as a nightshift PBX operator for Pacific Telephone’s China Exchange[5]. She was an invaluable asset as she was able to memorize the telephone numbers for every family and business in ChinaTown.
Leung worked at the Chinese Telephone Exchange Building at 743 Washington for 20 years. She became a local celebrity in ChinaTown, not only because she offered her interpretation skills to the community, but because she was a local pinball wizard.
In 1948, at the age of 61, Leung made headlines again, this time when she was arrested for allegedly being a part of an illegal abortion ring. Following an investigation and trial, charges against her were dropped. Leung died in 1972 in San Francisco at the age of 84[6]. Her place of burial remains unknown.
[1] Ross Alley: see story coming October 18th
[2] Donaldina Cameron: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4344
[3] Angel Island Immigration and Detention Facility: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3487
[4] World War II: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4222
[4A] Japenese Tea Garden: story comoing September 12th[5] Pacific Telephone Exchange: see story coming May 30th
[6] For a touching story about Tye Leung and the Schulze family, written by their grandson, visit www.immigrant-voices.aiisf.org
