Chinese American American Legion Post in Portland
Rickshaw Jamboree
Notes: A program for a Chinese-themed variety show put on in May 1947 by the Portland, Oregon, Chinese-American American Legion post named after Portland native Victor Ying Lee. The jamboree appears to have drawn support from throughout Portland's Chinese American community, both as participants in the "theatrical extravaganza" and as advertisers (at least two dozen Chinese American businesses took out ads, including the Bamboo Inn, which was owned by the Lees' family).
Lee, a Chinese American soldier in an anti-tank unit, was killed in action in France in November 1944. His sister, Hazel Ying Lee, one of the first Asian American piliots (and now a celebrated Asian Americana aviation pioneer) died three days earlier from injuries she sustained in a plane crash while flying for the WASPs.
The Victor Ying Lee post formed in 1946 (see the Oregon Journal, Jan. 22, 1947 for more information). This program does not include any information about the Lees, although it seems likely that they were mentioned during the program. The back cover features an American flag and pays tribute to the contributions of citizens of foreign birth during the recent war.
Scarce. 20 pages.
Edition + Condition: A near fine copy in stapled wrappers.
Publication: Portland, OR: Victor Ying Lee American Legion Post, 1947.
Item No: #308172
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