Lee, Mabel Ping-Hua, 1897-1966

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee (1896-1966) was born in Guangzhou, China and came to the United States in 1904 to join her parents in Chinatown, New York City. She attended Barnard College and in 1922 received a PhD, political science and economic History from Columbia University, making her the first Chinese woman to receive a PhD from Columbia. Lee was active in suffrage movement and led contingent of Chinese American women in large parade with Anna Howard Shaw. She was also a member of Women's Political Equality League. Lee took over her father's role as a Baptist minister in Chinatown and raised funds from American Baptist Home Mission Society to open a Chinese Christian community center.