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, a propaganda campaign was initiated against Chinese laundries by White competitors. The…
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. Some of your children may have been lucky enough to have my…
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 was a huge part of my @DallasTRHT research, and I wanted to pay respect…
Bob Jones & His Family Deserved Better
John Dolford “Bob” Jones was the son of a White man named Leazer Alvis Jones and Elizabeth, a Black woman enslaved by Leazer. When he was a child, he helped freedom seekers escape slavery by hiding them in a cave. Following the Civil War, Bob was granted freedom by his father and…