Oral history interview with Leah Hing, 1982 April 18

Audio recording of an oral history interview with Leah Hing that was conducted by Judy Yung on April 18, 1982, in Portland, Oregon, as part of the Chinese Women of America Research Project. The project culminated in a traveling exhibit that opened at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, California, in 1983, and in 1986, Yung published much of her research as the book "Chinese Women of America: A Pictorial History." The interview recording held by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library is a copy that belonged to Leah Hing; Yung retained the original, which is now held at Stanford University. Lillian "Tiny" Lang was also present for the interview.

In the interview, Hing discusses her family background and early life in Portland and Tualatin, Oregon. She looks at photographs of the Chinese community in Portland from the 1920s and 1930s, which Yung had copied from images in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's collection. She speaks about playing in a band whose members were all Chinese American women in 1929, and shares her experiences traveling on the Radio-Keith-Orpheum circuit with Honorable Wu. She talks about learning to fly from pilot Tex Rankin in Portland during the 1930s. She closes the interview by discussing her experiences with anti-Chinese discrimination.