Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

A Few Details About K. L. Eng, Artist and Member of the Chinese Art Club

Kailuen Eng, also known as K. L. Eng, was born around 1905 in Canton, China according to the Canadian Immigration Service. The date of his immigration to the United States is not known. Eng crossed the border at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in September 1927. He was on line fourteen of the report which had his birth information and mother’s name and location. The last column said Eng was rejected for entry into Canada.


According to the Canadian report Eng had traveled from Ohio. He was not listed in the 1926 Cleveland, Ohio city directory. In 1927 Eng’s address was 1450 East 12th Street. He was an artist at the Landon School which offered art classes and correspondence lessons. The 1929 Cleveland directory listed Eng at 1446 East 82nd Street. He was clerk at the Landon School.

The Chinese Students’ Monthly, January 1929, published the article “China at the All Nations Exposition in Cleveland”. Eng was in charge of the booths and decorations. Following the article was a brief profile of Eng which said

Kailuen Eng is a rabid reel fan. He feeds on cartoons. He can cook delicious Chinese soup. He is afraid of press photographers. He is responsible for the Chinese sets at the All Nations Exposition in Cleveland. He uses no pens—only brushes. He sings tenor at Sunday school. He hates reporters.

Eng was not listed in the 1930 Cleveland directory. He has not been found in the 1930 United States census. At some point Eng moved to the New York metropolitan area.

The New York American, April 7, 1935, reported the 19th annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists and said
... The John Reed Club, Julius Manya, Sarah Berman, Raphael Doktor, K. L. Eng, Benjamin Ovryn and others represent the political Left. Hitler, Mussolini, President Roosevelt, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Japan, Fascism, etc., are portrayed with disfavor in their paintings. ...
Eng was mentioned in the New York Sun, October 12, 1936.
Will Open Gallery
Chinese Art Club to Show Paintings and Sculpture.

The Chinese Art Club will open a new gallery at 175 Canal street, in Chinatown, Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock, with an exhibition of paintings and sculpture by twenty Chinese and American artists, Chu H. Jor, president of the club, announced today.

The club was founded last year and held exhibitions last winter at 10 Pell street, but this is the first time, Mr. Jor said, that the club has had an adequate gallery to display the work of members.

Among the exhibitors are Oronzio Madarelli, Stuyvesant Van Veen, Tschia Lenzene, Harry Wong, Howard Low and K. L. Eng.

Mr. Jor said that there would be exhibitions from time to time during the winter, together with Oriental music and dance concerts, and reading of Oriental literature.

“Our purpose is to introduce Chinese art to the American public and Occidental art to the Chinese public,” Mr. Jor said. “That is why we have American artists among our members and sponsors. Many of our Chinese painters, too, have lived in America all of their lives, and their work is modern and individual, and not Oriental.”

Eng was mentioned in  the New York Post, October 24, 1936.

Chinese Art Club Holds Canal Street Exhibit

Those who cherish the racial interpretation of art will find some matter to ponder in the exhibit by members of the Chinese Art Club in their new quarters at 175 Canal Street. For nine-tenths of the work shown is indistinguishable from contemporary occidental art.

Howard Low is most alert to advanced modern trends, creating abstract designs, lively drawings of city life, and intimate paintings like “Goldfish Bowl,” all very well done. Chu W. Young is an able exponent of impressionist landscape art, and Chu H. Jor paints still life with a soft patine of color. Others showing are Mowee Tiam, Harry Wong, Stanley Chin, Tschai Lanzene, K. L. Eng, Bennie Sonn and S. V. Pang.
The China Weekly Review, December 11, 1937, reprinted Eng’s cartoon from the Christian Student.


Chinese Digest, March 1938, said
Art Club to Hold Painting and Photography Exhibits
New York—The Chinese Art club here will hold its third annual exhibit of paintings and sculpture at the club’s gallery, 175 Canal street, beginning March 1 and extending through March 25.

The exhibit will include works by Miss Yee Ching-chih, Jack Chen, Chu H. Jor, Kailuen Eng, Moowee Tiam, Tschai Lenzene, Howard Low, and others. Guest exhibitors will include Neysa McNein [sic], Oronzio Maladrelli, Guy Maccoy, Dimitri Romanovesky, and others.

Beginning April 1 and extending through April 15 the Chinese Art club will hold its second photographic salon. Prints for showing may be submitted by any Chinese in any part of the country, and may be of any size, but must be mounted. Submission of prints must be made on or before March 25, announced W. Yukon, in charge of this exhibit. All pictures submitted will be returned in their original wrappings to the senders after the close of the exhibition.
The New York Times, March 3, 1938, said
Chinese Art Club Displays Paintings
Exhibit Dedicated to ‘Struggle Against Aggression’—Few War Pictures
The Chinese Art Club’s third annual exhibition was opened to the public yesterday at its galleries, 175 Canal Street. A sign at the entrance announced that the show was dedicated to “the Chinese struggle against Japanese aggression.”

There was little sign of that struggle, however, in the exhibition itself. War scenes were outnumbered by still-lifes by more than two to one. Only five of the fifty-two pictures dealt with the war, and one of these was contributed by Neysa McMein, one of the eight non-Chinese artists exhibiting.

The most ambitious of the war scenes was K.L. Eng’s painting of a refugee family. It showed a husband and wife fleeing with four children. The other war scenes were all small. They included a drawing of a woman volunteer, by Jack Chen; a wood engraving of a Chinese soldier encouraging men behind him, by Li Chun, and a water-color of a refugee, by Moowee Tiam, the club’s president.

The rest of the show was made up of pictures of fruits and flowers, pastoral landscapes and peaceful studies of people. And there was little evidence that all but ten of the works were by Chinese artists. Miss Yee Ching-chih’s three pictures and Harry Wong’s landscape were the only ones in the tradition of Chinese painting.

The exhibition will be open until March 25.
The New York Post, March 19, 1938, said
Chinese Club Show
The third annual exhibition by members and friends of the Chinese Art Club is now current at 175 Canal Street.

Some participants, such as K. L. Eng, Jack Chen and Mowee Tiam, have turned in work bearing on the dedication of the show to the defense of the Chinese people. Others have followed their older tendencies, Chu H. Jor showing richly painted still lifes of livid lobsters and fruit. Chu W. Young an impressionist landscape, Tschai Lenzene genre landscapes and Yee Ching-Chih landscapes in the Chinese brush technique.

Work by American artists includes Oronzio Maldarelli’s handsome dancer, Guy Maccoy’s “The Old Tree,” two compositions by Genoi Pettit, a still life by Arthur Schwieder and a drawing by Neysa McMein.
Chinese Digest, May 1938, printed Eng’s “Refugee” painting.


The New York Times, December 8, 1938, said
The Chinese Art Club Elects
The Chinese Art Club, 175 Canal Street, announced yesterday that it has elected its founder, Chu Jor, as the new president for the coming year. K. L. Eng was elected vice president and Wesley S. Chan treasurer. It also announced that its annual Chinese children’s show, which will be held in February, will not be confined to New York City, but will be national in scope.
Chinese Digest, January 1939, said
New Officers for N.Y. Chinese Art Club
New York—The Chinese Art Club here at its fourth annual meeting elected Chu Jor for its next president, succeeding Moowee Tiam. Others elected included K.L. Eng, Wesley S. Chan, Marquis Chunn, Arthur Lee, and Stanley H. Chin.

The club is now preparing for its next annual Children’s Art exhibition. This year it intends to have a nation-wide representation and Chinese children’s art work from the Chinese communities of San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and other Chinatowns.
The Intercollegian, January 1942, printed one of Eng’s paintings.


What became of Eng is not known.

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Artist Chu H. Jor and the Chinese Art Club
 
 
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Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Etta Lee, Public School Teacher and Actress

March is Women’s History Month.

Etta Elizabeth Lee was born on September 11, 1886 in San Jose, California. The September date was on a 1918 passenger list and her Social Security application which had her full name. According to Lee’s application, her parents were Harry Lee and Lillie M. Liddle.


Lee’s birth information was also recorded in her Chinese Exclusion Act case file interview, dated July 19, 1911. Lee had recently returned from Hawaii.
Q State your name and present residence?
A Etta Elizabeth Lee, 1375 East Washington Street, Los Angeles.

Q Where and when were you born?
A In San Jose, California, September 11, 1886.

Q Have you any documentary proof of your American nativity?
A No, I haven’t anything.

Q Are your parents living?
A My mother is; my father died when I was about nine years old.

Q What was your father’s name?
A Mr. Lee is all I know.

Q What was your father’s nationality?
A Chinese.

Q Do you know what his business was in the United States?
A He was a doctor.

Q What is your mother’s name, and present address?
A 1375 East Washington Street; Mrs. L. M. Martin.

Q Have you any brothers or sisters?
A I have a sister.

Q Give your sister’s name, age and birthplace?
A Barbara Ella Lee, born in Portland, Oregon, 1885. She is older than I am.

Q You have no brothers?
A No.

Q Where is your sister?
A In Hawaii. Makaweli, Kauai.

Q Have you ever visited China?
A No, sir.

Q Have you visited any foreign country?
A Never been out of the United States until I went to Hawaii.

Q When did you go to Hawaii?
A 1910, from San Francisco, in March, on the “Korea.”

Q Where did you reside from the time of your birth until March, 1910?
A Most of the time in Los Angeles, Cal.

Q What is your present occupation?
A Teacher. Principal of Makaweli school, Kauai.

Q Was your birth registered in any state or county office?
A My mother had Dr. Harris, and I suppose he did. If he didn’t it was not done.

Q Where were you educated?
A Spring Street school, Sisters’ school in the rear of the Catholic cathedra—South Los Angeles Street, and eight years in Occidental College, and the State Normal School, Los Angeles.
Lee’s mother was interviewed next.
Q State your name and address?
A Mrs. L. M. Martin, 1375 East Washington Street, Los Angeles.

Q Are you engaged in any business?
A Real estate operator.

Q Have you been married more than once?
A Yes, I have been married twice.

Q What was your first husband’s name?
A Lee. I believe Hing or Hong, I can’t remember it now.

Q Where is he now?
A He died in 1894 or 1895 in Los Angeles. His death was registered, I believe, in the Los Angeles health office.

Q What was your first husband’s nationality?
A Chinese.

Q What was his occupation during his lifetime?
A He was a doctor—in the drug business on North Los Angeles Street.

Q Did you have any children by your first marriage?
A Two girls; no boys.

Q Tell the names of the girls, and the dates of their birth?
A Barbara Ella, March 1885, born in Portland, Oregon. Etta Elizabeth, September 1887, born in San Jose, California.

Q Where were you living at the time Etta was born—what street?
A South Second Street, San Jose, Cal. He was a doctor then.

Q What physician attended you at the time Etta was born?
A Dr. Harris. Don’t remember his first name. I heard he died. And the midwife was Mrs. Rose; she lived next door to me.

Q Is this young lady (indicating) your daughter Etta Elizabeth who was born in South Second Street, San Jose, California in September, 1887, and the daughter of Dr. Lee your first husband?
A Yes, sir.

Q Where were you married to your first husband, and when?
A In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in January 1884.

Lee’s Certificate of Identity application dated August 31, 1911.


I believe the following person was Lee’s father. The Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1893, reported the extortion attempt on “Dr. Chin Lee Dai”. The two extortionists, on three occasions, spoke to the doctor’s white wife, “Mrs. Dai”. After the extortion attempt failed, she testified against them. A death notice for “Dr. Chin Lee” appeared in the Los Angeles Herald, September 16, 1895. The Daily Colusa Sun, September 18, 1895, reported the death of “Dr. Chin Lee Die”. The article mentioned his white wife and their two children. The doctor also had a son. The Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1895, did not mention the wife and children. On September 19, 1895, the Los Angeles Herald responded to the Colusa Sun and Los Angeles Times reports. Another article appeared in the Los Angeles Times on September 21, 1895. Find a Grave and the California Death Index, at Ancestry.com, said the date of the doctor’s death was September 15, 1895.

Illustration for Dr. Chin Lee’s article, 
“Health and How to Preserve It” appeared in 
the San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1894.

There was a Dr. Chin Lee who was the subject in the Virginia Evening Chronicle (Virginia City, Nevada), January 12, 1878; see page three, column one, “A Chinese Lothario”. He might be the same doctor above.

The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1923, profiled Lee and said she was half Chinese and French. Lee said her “father was a Chinese doctor, educated in an American university, died when I was 9 years old. My mother, my very young mother—then was a French girl.” The movie magazine, Classic, June 1923, said her father was a Chinese physician and “mother a very charming and well educated French lady.” In the 1900 census, Lee and her sister said their mother was French Canadian; the 1910 census and Find a Grave said Irish; the 1920 and 1930 censuses recorded English.

Lee’s mother’s second marriage was to someone surnamed Martin. There is a possible match in the California marriage records at Ancestry.com. On October 25, 1895, Lillie Lee married Francis Marion Martin in Colton, California. The marriage was about six weeks after her husband’s death. What became of her second husband is not known.

The 1900 census said thirteen-year-old Lee, a student, lived with the Dilworth family in Los Angeles, California at 5622 Pasadena Avenue. Her fifteen-year-old sister, [Barbara] Ella, boarded with the Allen family at 493 Pasadena Avenue. The whereabouts of their mother is unclear but there is a possible match. The census recorded a Lillie Martin, born April 1865 in France, who was a seamstress in Sacramento. She was also single. The 1903 Sacramento city directory said she provided furnished rooms. Her occupation explained why she lived apart from her daughters. She reunited with them before the 1910 census enumeration.

In 1905 Lee and her sister, Barbara Ella, graduated from the Occidental Academy. They enrolled at Occidental College. The Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1906, reported the Capitola Fete at Occidental where Lee dressed in Japanese costume. During her junior year, Lee was a gypsy fortune teller.

The Lee sisters graduated in 1909 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Etta Lee, 1909 La Encina yearbook

 
 Etta Lee, 1910 La Encina yearbook
 

Ella Lee, 1910 La Encina yearbook

Lee and her sister completed the General Professional Course at the Los Angeles State Normal School in March 1910. The Exponent yearbook said
Barbara Ella Lee—Her voice was ever sweet, gentle and low.
Etta Lee—As brown in hue as hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels.
Evidently Lee skipped the graduation ceremony which was held on March 25. Two days earlier she was aboard the Pacific Mail ship Korea whose first stop was Honolulu.
 
The 1910 census (enumerated in April) counted “Etta E. Martin”, her mother (a widow) and sister in Los Angeles at 1375 East Washington Street. At the time Lee was a public school teacher in Hawaii.

Lee returned to the mainland on July 11, 1911. On the next trip, Lee testified she went to Hawaii in September 1911. At San Francisco she returned on July 9, 1913. Lee sailed to Hawaii in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. Below are Lee’s letters to an immigration officer.
 


On July 10, 1918 Lee was aboard the ship Logan when it departed Honolulu. She arrived in San Francisco on July 17. Her final destination was Los Angeles.

The Hawaii Educational Review, June 1918, said Lee was scheduled to teach at Waimea. On October 4, 1918, Lee departed San Francisco. The ship Sachem was scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on October 12. Lee’s destination was Waimea, Kauai.

On June 28, 1918, Lee’s mother’s third marriage was to Andrew Jackson Frost.

At some point Lee returned Los Angeles. The 1920 census recorded Lee and her sister (both public school teachers) and their mother with the Frost surname. Lee’s stepfather was 70 years old. He passed away on July 16, 1923.

From 1921 to 1935, Lee appeared in at least twenty-two films, numerous newspapers and magazines, and two stage plays. She and Anna May Wong appeared in “The Toll of the Sea”, “The Thief of Bagdad”, and “The Chinese Parrot”.

Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1923

 
Classic, June 1923, mentioned small 
roles in “The Infidel” and “East Is West”
 
Niagara Falls Gazette, July 11, 1924
“One Night in Rome” role mentioned

October 16, 1924

Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1924

Photoplay, December 1924

Theatre Magazine, April 1925

Photoplay, April 1925
 
Daily News (Batavia, New York), August 1, 1925. 
Lee listed second.

Brownsville Herald (Texas), October 17, 1927

The New Movie, May 1930

Lee’s stage appearances were in “The Little Clay Cart” (1926) and “The Scarlet Virgin” (1927). The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, August 19, 1927, said
Etta Lee Is Chinese Girl in Grove Drama
In spite of her Chinese nativity, Etta Lee, who is cast as Anna in Ramon Cerva’s sex comedy-drama, “The Scarlet Virgin” at the Orange Grove, is offering Occidental prayers for an aviator who if willing to risk his life in a non-stop flight to Shanghai.

Miss Lee, hailed by American film and stage producers as one of the most beautiful, Chinese girls in this country, was born in Honolulu. Her father is said to be one of the foremost Chinese business men of wealth and power on the islands and gave Etta his blessing plus financial backing when she asked his permission to attempt to fly from Los Angeles to Shanghai.

Miss Lee has never been in her mother country and desires to visit China. She also hankers to be the first girl to make such a trip as a passenger in an airplane. Several local aviators have been interviewed by Miss Lee, but none has voiced their desire to make the trip in planes at their command. During the past few days Miss Lee has flown many miles as a passenger in Henry Ford’s, big monoplane stationed at Rogers airport and has learned many things about aviation from various instructors.
According to the 1930 census, Etta E. Lee resided in the St. Francis Hotel at 5533 Hollywood Boulevard. She was a public school teacher.

In 1932 Lee married Frank Robinson Brown.

Lee filed her Social Security application in December 1936. 
 
Lee was listed in The Motion Picture Almanac 1931. She had listings in the 1936 and 1937 editions of the Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures. The 1938 Los Angeles city directory listed Lee and her husband at 5555 Hollywood Boulevard. The same address was recorded in the 1940 census.

On October 16, 1940, Frank Brown signed his World War II draft card. He listed Lee as next of kin. His address was 831 South Serrano Avenue which was crossed out replaced with 3101 Ellington Drive, Hollywood. Later it was updated to 5849 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.


The 1948 California Voter Registration listed Lee and her husband at 433 Third Street in Eureka, California. They were Democrats.

Lee and her husband have not been found in the 1950 census.

The 1953–1954 Porterville, California city directory said their address was 699 Grand Avenue.

Lee’s mother passed away on April 30, 1954.

The 1956 Eureka, California city directory listed the couple at 2765 Hall Avenue.

Lee was 70 years old when she passed away on October 27, 1956. An obituary appeared in the Times Standard (Eureka, California), October 27, 1956.
Etta Lee Brown, Former Film Star, Dies in Eureka;

Etta Lee Brown, wife of Radio Commentator Frank Robinson Brown, died at 4 o’clock this morning at her home, 2765 Hall Avenue in Eureka. Mrs. Brown had suffered a long illness.

A former Hollywood in many film star and leading lady in many pictures, she retired from acting following her marriage to Brown in 1932. [See filmography below.] She was a charter member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

During her motion picture career, Mrs. Brown, whose film name was Etta Lee, played exotic roles opposite Rudolph Valentino and the late Douglas Fairbanks Sr. She co-starred with Greta Garbo in the first film production of Camille.

In Eureka, Mrs. Brown was widely known for her interest in community work. She was active in the Eureka Woman’s Club and in 1954 was chairman of the civic affairs committee of that organization. She was also a member of the Episcopal church.

Mrs. Brown was born in Kauai, Territory of Hawaii, in 1906. [Birth information incorrect.] She attended Occidental College in southern California, graduating with high honors.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a sister, Mrs. Ella Deverill of Beverly Hills and two nephews, Spencer Deverill of Saudi Arabia and Edward Deverill of San Diego.

Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1:30 o’clock at Christ Episcopal church with Rev. J. Thomas Lewis officiating. Private interment will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Cooper Mortuary.
Variety, October 31, 1956, said
Mrs. Etta Lee Brown, 50, former film actress, died Oct. 27 in Eureka, Calif. She played roles opposite Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., before retiring from films in 1932. Her film credits included “The Shiek,” “Thief of Bagdad” and “Camille,” with Greta Garbo.

Husband, Frank Brown, a news commentator, for radio station KAQM, survives.
Brown passed away on September 11, 1981. Lee’s sister, Ella, passed away on March 23, 1987 in Los Angeles.

 
Filmography
  1. Without Benefit of Clergy (1921), no IMDB credit; first appearance, as 
      an extra, mentioned in Niagara Falls Gazette, July 11, 1924 
  3. Lotus Blossom (1921)
  4. The Infidel (1922), no IMDB credit; Classic, June 1923, noted small role  
  5. East Is West (1922), no IMDB credit; Classic, June 1923, noted small role
  6. The Toll of the Sea (1922)
  7. The Remittance Woman (1923)
  8. The Untameable (1923)
  9. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
10. One Night in Rome (1924), no IMDB credit; role mentioned in the
      Evening Express, September 13 and 15 (Hindu maid), and The Independent 
      (St. Petersburg, Florida), July 12, 1924
11. A Thief in Paradise (1925)
12. The Dressmaker from Paris (1925)
13. Recompense (1925)
14. The Trouble with Wives (1925)
15. Camille (1926)
16. The Chinese Parrot (1927)
17. Out with the Tide (1928)
18. Manchu Love (1929), see Billboard
19. International House (1933)
Further Reading and Viewing
Chinese in Hollywood (2013)
Instagram, Strong Asian Lead
Messy Nessy, Ode to the Asian-American Faces in the Shadows
    of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Substack, Half-Caste Woman, Young Hollywood Was Asian
The Shot, Forgotten Asian Actors
Eric Brightwell, A History of Asian-American Cinema
The Silent Film Still Archive, Manchu Love
EduRank, 100 Notable alumni of Occidental College, number 93

 
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Friday, April 15, 2022

Jim Lee, Artist, Teacher and Chef

Jim Lee was born on November 24, 1914, in Chikhan, Kaiping, China. Lee’s birth date is from the Social Security Death Index and birthplace in his book, Jim Lee’s Chinese Cookbook. 

The 1930 U.S. Federal Census said Lee was the oldest of seven children (five boys and two girls) born to Gow S. Lee and “Quony Lee”. Lee’s father, a laundryman, was born in Idaho. According to the census, Lee, his mother and two brothers emigrated to the U.S. in 1924. The Lee family resided in Detroit, Michigan at 3711 Second Blvd. 

Lee studied art at Cass Technical High School and graduated in 1933. 

The Triangle 1933 Yearbook

In 1933 Lee won a Scholastic magazine award, third prize for jewelry.

Who Was Who in American Art (1985) said Lee studied at the Arts and Crafts School in Detroit and was a member of the Scarab Club. 

American Art Annual, Volume 32 (1935) reported the annual exhibition of work by Michigan artists at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Walter Piper figure prize of fifty dollars was awarded to Lee. 

The Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, February 1936, said the Walter Piper Prize went to Jim Lee for his painting Sleeping Girl. 

The American Year Book (1937) had this entry: 
Detroit.—Detroit’s Twenty-Fifth Annual sculpture awards included a first cash prize to Harry Bethke; a second cash prize to Jim Lee; and the Scarab Club’s gold medal was presented to Jay Boorsma. 
Art Digest, December 1, 1938, said Lee won the Walter Piper Prize again for his painting Two Sisters. 

According to Who Was Who, Lee exhibited at Detroit Institute of Arts, 1935 and 1938; Kansas City Art Institute; Toledo Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago, 1938; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1938 and 1939. 

The 1940 census recorded the Lee family of eight in Detroit at 1836 Sycamore Street. Lee was an artist working on a WPA art project. He had completed four years of high school and never attended college. 

Sometime after the census Lee moved to New York City where he worked as an artist and freelance and commercial artist. For the book, Christian Voices in China (1948), Lee designed the cover and interior illustrations. 






On November 10, 1942, artist Lee and commercial artist Isabella Brownlie obtained a marriage license in Brooklyn. They were rooming at the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn. Two days later they were married at the Municipal Building in Manhattan. 



At some point the couple moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The New York Times, May 11, 1965, told the story of the Lees building a new home in a former matzo factory on Pitt Street in the Lower East Side. (The 1957 Manhattan city directory listed Lee’s address as 65 Pitt Street.) The Lees, Edward Lawrence, a school teacher, and his wife bought the three-story building for nine-thousand dollars in 1953. They did all the renovations and finished in early 1960. The Lees lived on the top floor and the Lawrences below them. The first floor and basement were shared spaces. (In 1945 Lawrence and Elizabeth Burger, both Detroit natives, married in New York City. He passed away in 2005.)

In 1960 Lee became a New York City public school teacher. Craig Claiborne, in The New York Times, July 22, 1965, said Lee taught at Junior High School 65. Lee’s wife would teach at New York University. Both of them were ceramicists. Also, Lee was a portrait painter and muralist. Claiborne’s article described Lee’s house and kitchen. He explained how Lee started cooking and featured three of Lee’s recipes: puffed shrimp, foh opp (Chinese roast duck) and bok sui ngui (poached sea bass, Chinese style). 

Lee in photograph number nine. The Bulletin, June 1967, yearbook
of Charles Sumner Junior High School aka Junior High School 65

In Chinese-American Times, April 7, 1966, page one, column one, Lee compared Chinese and American schools. 

Harper & Row published Jim Lee’s Chinese Cookbook in 1968. The illustrations were by Lee’s wife and the dust jacket design by Jeanyee Wong. 

Atlantic Monthly, December 1968







Lee and his book were mentioned in the Chinese-American Times, January 1, 1969, on page four, column one. Lee was invited to speak about and teach Chinese cooking.

Herald Statesman (Yonkers,
New York),September 30, 1974

The New York Times, September 6, 1975, said Lee was one of five cooking instructors at the China Institute in America. 

The New York University Education Quarterly, Winter 1976, published Lee’s article “When the Sojourner Remains”. 

Lee passed away on May 30, 1994, in New York, New York. 


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