"Fortunate Sons" Chinese Students in American Colleges in the 19th Century

In a previous family history blog post , I explored the history of Jue Shee , my great great uncle , who attended college at Pomona College and then UC Berkeley in the late 19th Century. I also explored a bit the history of the Chinese Educational Mission a program in which the Chinese government sent young boys to New England as teenagers to host families and then on to elite colleges in the US. The program was disbanded before many of the boys could finish college and the boys were sent back to China. My great great uncle was one of a small group of Chinese students who were able to get around exclusionary immigration laws and study at American colleges after this initial group of Chinese college students were sent home. The story of the Chinese Educational Mission and the ultimate fate of these American educated Chinese is the subject of a new book ." Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization" by By Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller. I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Here is the recent NY Times book review.