Anaïs Nin once wrote that “life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Last week in Arizona, my courage was tested (and expanded) well beyond its previous limits. A few years ago, my friends Allison and Jeffery started their…
J.L. Chow Was Here
J.In 1874, J.L. Chow opened Chow Chow Laundry at 904 Elm Street. He was the first person of Asian descent to be listed in the city directories. By 1891, 41/49 laundries in Dallas were Chinese-owned. Fueled by decades of bigotry,…
Carroll ISD, Do The Right Thing.
I was racing against the clock at Wednesday night’s Carroll ISD school board meeting. Here is the full text of what I originally prepared: My name is Stephanie Drenka, and I graduated from Southlake Carroll Senior High School in 2004….
Where is Jue Lee Hong?
Earlier this month, I went on an expedition to find the burial site of Jue Lee Hong, a Chinese laundry proprietor, whose tombstone was the last remaining Chinese grave marker in Greenwood cemetery. The story of Chinese laundrymen in Dallas…