Detail of Yung Wing from a wood-engraved illustration from Harper’s Weekly, May 18, 1878 – Connecticut Historical Society
Yung Wing (1828-1912)
Educational pioneer Yung Wing worked to bridge cultural gaps between the US and China. He came to America under the sponsorship of a missionary and received his degree from Yale in 1854, making him the first Chinese student to graduate from a US university. He became a naturalized US citizen but maintained ties to China, hoping to modernize its technological infrastructure by educating its future leaders in New England. The Chinese Education Mission, which he established in Hartford in 1872, pursued this goal until deteriorating diplomatic relations led to its demise—and Yung Wing’s removal to China. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 dealt his dream a final blow. US citizenship revoked, Yung Wing returned to Hartford without legal status and died in poverty.
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“Guide to the Phyllis Kihn Research Collection, Chinese Educational Mission.” 2012. Connecticut Historical Society.
“Portrait of Yung Wing.” 2015. Connecticut Historical Society. https://ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/object/40002%3ATMS_34800#page/1/mode/2up (September 19, 2012).
“Yung Wing Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive. https://ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/search/mods_titleInfo_title_mt%3A%28Yung%5C%20Wing%29%20OR%20mods_subject_name_personal_namePart_mt%3A%28Yung%5C%20Wing%29.
“Yung Wing (1828 – 1912).” 2013. Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/yung-wing/ (October 11, 2013).
Railton, Ben. 2013. The Chinese Exclusion Act: What It Can Teach Us About America. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Chinese Exclusion Act (1882).” 2013. National Archives - Our Documents. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=47 (August 15, 2013).
Yung Wing. 1909. My Life in China and America. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. http://archive.org/stream/mylifeinchinaame00yunguoft#page/n7/mode/2up.
“Guide to the Yung Wing Papers.” 2012. Yale University Library. http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0602.
