Lee, Mabel Ping-Hua, 1897-1966

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee; Suffragist who mobilized the Chinese community in America to support women’s right to vote; Place of Birth: China; Date of Birth: 1896; Place of Death: New York City? Date of Death: 1966; born in Guangzhou (Canton), in 1896; learned English at a missionary school in Hong Kong and won a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship, academic scholarship granted her a US visa and the Lee family settled in New York City in 1905; at 16, Mabel Lee was a known figure in New York’s suffrage movement; Lee helped lead the New York City suffragists parade 1912; studied at Barnard College in New York City in 1912, joined the Chinese Students’ Association; In 1915, the Women’s Political Union started a Suffrage Shop and invited Lee to give a speech; In 1920, the 19th Amendment gave women throughout the country the right to vote, Chinese women, like Mabel Lee, could not vote until 1943; PhD in economics at Columbia University, the first Chinese woman to do so, In 1921, Lee published her research as a book called The Economic History of China; took over father's role as director of the First Chinese Baptist Church of New York City after his death in 1924; died in 1966. We don’t know if Mabel Lee ever became a US citizen or if she ever voted in the US.

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