BUTTE — It’s a dramatic story over a century old that involves two young Chinese girls and their escape from domestic violence and indentured servitude. The story has brought a nationally recognized poet to Butte to conduct research for her next book.
"Ghost Wah Chong Ty Company. Ghost Quong Tuck Wing Company, the merchant who owned my great-grandmother for five years," says Shelly Wong as she reads a poem inspired by her trip to the Mining City. She sits before about a dozen people in the Mai Wah Museum. She and the group are surrounded by artifacts and articles documenting Butte's Chinatown.
One article hangs above Wong as she reads. It's an announcement of the funeral of a wealthy merchant, the man who owned Wong's great-grandmother.
"It’s a lot to hold but I’m glad to know more about the legacy here and seeing how well it’s been preserved and honored is really powerful," says Wong during the question and answer portion of her presentation.
Wong, a San Francisco-based poet was featured on the long list for the National Book of Poetry Awards in 2022 for her first book. Her second book will focus on her ancestors' immigration to America.
"I think about how scared and angry she must have been. I mean, maybe I’m, you know, projecting because I’m a thoroughly American, a fourth generation," says Wong before the event.
She moves through the museum pointing out the newspaper articles documenting violent clashes between rival gangs in Butte. A large poster announces the Chinese Exclusion Act. Life was not easy for Chinese immigrants and Wong says it was particularly difficult for the women and young girls.
"Ghost my great grandmother, among other Chinese slave girls, cleaning cooking, and shopping in Chinatown. Ghost Chinese merchant wives trapped in their homes," Wong reads.
Wong came to Butte with the assistance of the Mai Wah Society. Armed with a trove of newspaper clippings mostly gathered by one of her aunts almost 20 years ago for an academic paper. One article shows a journalist catching up with the merchant’s young wife and Lon Ying, Wong’s ancestor, as they stood on a train platform with a Presbyterian woman and a Butte police officer just before their departure to freedom.
"Just seeing the very fair and balanced and sort of surprisingly honest coverage that they did about the abuse in the household and the situation of the indentured servants because I think to me that shows that even in the early 1900’s, like, they were doubting their story or trying to cover up the abuse or protect the merchant," says Wong.
After her escape to San Francisco, Lon Ying married a Chinese American citrus farmer. A photograph shows her great-grandmother in a white gown that Wong believes was used by multiple girls who were married while staying at the mission.
Wong says another picture of her great-grandmother wearing a huge smile as she holds a big basket of produce with her husband gives her hope that Lon Ying did find happiness in the end. A release date for Shelly Wong’s next book has not yet been announced.
