Sheridan 1

Shannon Sheridan

Professor Kamahra Ewing

Honors 1000 Section 506

12 October 2017

May 13, 1915

It has been almost twenty one years since I first arrived in Detroit. I used to be a bright and

hopeful young man. I arrived at the ripe age of twenty seven with my wife of six years after all. I

was perfectly healthy, except bending over texts late resulted in my fitting with large spectacles.

Even though I was optimistic, it was not my choice to leave China. My father would have left

with me back when China first fought against Japan in Taiwan, but to him six was far too young

to rip a boy from his roots and he was drafted right at the beginning of the war in 1874.1 I had

grown used to hearing my father drone on about our culture to the point I became enthralled with

his words. My favorite times were when we feasted together during the New Year and he retold

me the history of the New Year time and time again.2 He was a Chinese historian and his

extensive knowledge is probably what inspired me to become a scholar. He never came home. I

lived out my childhood balancing schoolwork and odd jobs with my mother. It was around 1886

I met my wife. She was embroidering a silken cloth by a river near my home. Two years and

many poems later we were wed, but our happy times did not last very long. China was still

1
Li, Yannan. "Red Cross Society in Imperial China, 1904-1912: A Historical Analysis." Voluntas 27.5 (2016): 2274-
91. ProQuest. Web.
2
"NO CHINATOWN IN DETROIT SO THE ORIENTALS MISS NEW YEAR'S JOYS." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Dec 30,
1908, pp. 5, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/564257872?accountid=14925.
 Sheridan 2

recovering from the damages done in 1874 and the Sino-Japanese War that started in 1894 only

re-aggravated the damages.3

It was then I decided to leave. I could not bear to leave my wife widowed like my father did to

my mother. I wanted children one day and the only way to ensure I could was to leave the

country I loved so dearly. So we left for Detroit, Michigan. An uncle of mine moved there with

his wife in 1879 and visited briefly for my wedding to tell me tales of his experiences. He talked

about the city with a glow in his eyes that left me wondering what it was like. I was biased in the

citys favor when I first arrived. Skyscrapers overpowered the landscape and people bustled

around in suits and ties, ticking their walks to watches towards their various tasks. The city

moved like machinery and a glimmer formed in my heart as my wife held onto my palm. It was

short lived as I quickly learned about the discrimination towards Chinese immigrants. I tried to

use the savings I brought from China to buy a small shop with a house in the upper floor. I

wanted to sell crafts my wife made as she is still a genius seamstress and artist of the thread, but

everywhere I searched I was denied. It was only when I visited the crowded apartment complex

of my uncle did he show me an article published twelve years before.

It cited Chinese immigrants as the first to feel discriminatory actions as the government valued

the safety and comfort of its own people as opposed to refugees from another land.4 I started to

feel more like a foreigner in a land that purported itself as a fresh start for everyone. All I wanted

to do was assimilate like I thought my uncle had, but I learned it was impossible even for him. I

was unable to purchase land and the only reason my wife and I were allowed to come over was

because the exclusion act that would have entirely denied us entry was repealed a year earlier

3
Yannan, 2277
4
"THE CHINESE BILL AND DISCRIMINATION IN IMMIGRATION." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), May 04, 1882, pp. 4,
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/561006378?accountid=14925.
 Sheridan 3

and we fell into an exclusion that allowed us to immigrate over the many others denied and left

to their fates in China.5 My wife worked as an occasional seamstress, her talent passing by word

of mouth in our fragmented Chinese community.6 Our culture slowly died off. Most people

didnt even celebrate the New Year anymore due to Detroit not having a central Chinatown.6 I

worked odd jobs around my home, from shop help to private tutors for children. When I took

notice of my surroundings, I found myself less and less at home. Buildings that awed me as I

first came to Detroit seemed like gray, lifeless towers devoured the individuality of people. It

was rare to know anyone on the streets and I did not know if that was due to society or how they

felt about me. Eventually I adopted the looks of an American with their grey suits and red ties. It

had no effect on the scornful glances I received, as they believed Id never be one of them. It

always reminded me of one article in the Detroit Free Press I read in 1898 that regarded Chinese

people as an angel-eyed yellow race that could not assimilate with America.7 As the years

passed I found my marriage cooled in the sense my wife and I were reluctant to have children.

We both wanted to preserve the Sheng bloodline of my small family. My uncle was the only

surviving child of my grandparents and stayed childless, leaving the burden to create the next

generations on my father and I. Ultimately, we did have two children in 1912. I admit we waited

a long time, but it was in hopes that they would be born into a more forgiving America and

during a period where my wife and I were in a more stable living environment. Not much has

changed, but this year I found a glimmer of hope. I read a version of Ford Motor Companys

handbook and it purports to want to make the lives of their workers better with a five dollar work

5
Lew-Williams, Beth. "Before Restriction Became Exclusion: America's Experiment in Diplomatic Immigration
Control." Pacific Historical Review 83.1 (2014): 24.ProQuest. Web. 50-52
6
Detroit Free Press, "NO CHINATOWN IN DETROIT SO THE ORIENTALS MISS NEW YEAR'S JOYS."
7
"THE DOMINANT TONGUE." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Feb 13, 1898, pp. 4, ProQuest Historical Newspapers:
Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/562929798?accountid=14925.
 Sheridan 4

day and rules that workers must aspire improve aspects of their lives. I applied, was accepted,

and I begin next Monday. I may not be used to factory work, but at this point I would do

anything to give my daughters a better life. For as long as I can remember I have been living

with my uncle in his apartment complex as it has been difficult to locate any other place to live.

One day I hope that America will let us purchase our own house and that the Chinese roots that

called to me so long ago will return and enrich my daughters. I have hopes that one day there

will be a true Chinatown in Detroit and that I will feel at home again. Thinking these thoughts

fill me with an optimism I have not felt in years.

Lee Sheng
 Sheridan 5

Works Cited

Lew-Williams, Beth. "Before Restriction Became Exclusion: America's Experiment in

Diplomatic Immigration Control." Pacific Historical Review 83.1 (2014):

24.ProQuest. Web. 50-52

Li, Yannan. "Red Cross Society in Imperial China, 1904-1912: A Historical

Analysis." Voluntas 27.5 (2016): 2274-91. ProQuest. Web.

"NO CHINATOWN IN DETROIT SO THE ORIENTALS MISS NEW YEAR'S JOYS." Detroit

Free Press (1858-1922), Dec 30, 1908, pp. 5, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit

Free Press (1831-1922),

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/564257872?accountid=14925.

"THE CHINESE BILL AND DISCRIMINATION IN IMMIGRATION." Detroit Free Press

(1858-1922), May 04, 1882, pp. 4, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press

(1831-1922),

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/561006378?accountid=14925.

"THE DOMINANT TONGUE." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Feb 13, 1898, pp. 4, ProQuest

Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/562929798?accountid=14925