Born in Hong Kong, Bernie Wong moved to the United States in the early 1960s to attend college. A decade later, she cofounded the Chinese American Service League (CASL) to help meet the needs of the citys isolated Chinese immigrants. Susan Blumberg-Kason draws on extensive interviews to profile the community and social justice organization. Weaving Wongs intimate account of her own life story through the CASLs larger history, Blumberg-Kason follows the group from its origins to its emergence as a robust social network that connects Chinatown residents to everything from daycare to immigration services to culinary education. Blumberg-Kason also traces CASL activism on issues like fair housing and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At once intimate and broad in scope, When Friends Come from Afar uses one womans life to illuminate a bedrock Chicago institution.
Foreword
The Ten Founders of the Chinese American Service League
Authors Note
Prologue: Chinatown Diplomacy
Part I: The Early Years in the 1970s
Hong Kong Connections
Eleanor So and Her Seniors
Charitable Organizations and Connections
The Dentists Office
A Tale of Two Chinatowns
Part II: The Busy 1980s
In the Spirit of the Settlement Movement
Linda Yu to the Rescue
A Solution to a Very American Problem
Have You Eaten?
The Next Generation of Social Workers
The Zhou Brothers Plant Roots in Chinatown
Part III: The Expansive 1990s
The Youth Center on Canal Street
Expanding Senior Services
Senior Housing Becomes a Reality
CASL Needs a New Home
Part IV: A New Home in the 2000s
Program Consolidation and Expansion
Multigenerational Services in One Space
CASLs Impact and Recognition
Part V: New Challenges in the 2020s
Pandemic Response
The End of an Era
Epilogue Looking Forward
Acknowledgments
Appendix I Chinese American Service League Board of Directors, 19782022
Appendix II List of Interviews and Written Statements
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Susan Blumberg-Kason is the author of Bernardines Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China and Good Chinese Wife: A Love Affair with China Gone Wrong.
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