Hong Yen Chang (張康仁; 1859 or 1860Chinese Educational Mission Connections, http://www.cemconnections.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54. - August 4, 1926) was reportedly the first

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

immigrant licensed to practice law in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

."A Chinese Lawyer," New York Times (May 18, 1888), available at https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/05/18/103181991.pdf. Though admitted to the

New York State Bar The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice; ...

, he was denied admission to the

California State Bar The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

in 1890.''In re Hong Yen Chang'', 84 Cal. 163 (1890). He remained a prominent member of the Chinese community and went on to lead a distinguished career in banking and diplomacy.

Early life

Chang was born in 1860, in what is now

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China (though records from Yale list his birth date as December 20, 1859). Chang's father died when he was 10 years old.Lani Ah Tye Farkas, ''Bury My Bones in America'' (1998), p.87.

Chinese Educational Mission

In 1872, Chang was selected to travel to the United States as part of the

Chinese Educational Mission The Chinese Educational Mission (1872–1881) was the pioneering but frustrated attempt by reform-minded officials of the Qing dynasty to educate a group of 120 Chinese students in the United States. In 1871, Yung Wing, himself the first Chine ...

. He arrived in the United States at thirteen years old and lived with American families. Chang attended

Hartford Public High School Hartford Public High School, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1638. It is the second-oldest public secondary school in the United States, after the Boston Latin School. It is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. Notable alumn ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

from 1876 to 1878. Beginning in 1878, Chang studied in a college preparatory program at the Phillips Academy in Andover,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Chang graduated from the Phillips Academy in 1879, giving an English oration at his commencement ceremony titled "The Influence of Greece beyond Greece." In 1879, Chang began studies at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

(now Yale University). In 1881, however, the Chinese government recalled the Chinese Educational Mission students back to China.

Legal studies and career

Hong Yen Chang did not remain in China for long, though. He returned to the United States on his own accord and began studies at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1883.Lani Ah Tye Farkas, ''Bury My Bones in America'' (1998), p. 90. He graduated with honors from Columbia Law School in 1886. He received "high markings from the examiners" and had unanimous recommendation for bar admission.''Naturalizing a Chinaman: Hong Yen Chang's Struggles to be Admitted to the Bar'', New York Times (Nov. 19, 1887), ''available at'' https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/11/19/106187659.pdf. At the time of Hong Yen Chang's graduation, the New York State Bar required applicants to be United States citizens. But the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...

barred Hong Yen Chang from citizenship. The

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

, General Term, initially opposed Hong Yen Chang's admission to the New York State Bar. (Prior to their decision, Hong Yen Chang was already naturalized by Judge Van Hossen on November 11, 1887, in New York.''A Full Citizen: Hong Yen Chang Applies for Admission to the Bar'', San Francisco Call (May 17, 1890), p. 3, ''available at'' http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18900517.2.50#.) However, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

passed an act that allowed Hong Yen Chang to apply again to the bar. The act, "An Act for the relief of Hong Yen Chang," reads: :Section 1. The General Term of the first department of the supreme court of this State is hereby authorized to waive the alienage of Hong Yen Chang, a native of China, but now a resident of the city, county and State of New York, and to regularly admit and license him to the practice as an attorney and counselor at law in all the courts of this State, on his passing in a satisfactory manner the usual examination for the admission of attorneys and counselors. The New York Supreme Court, General Term admitted Chang to the New York State Bar on May 17, 1888. The ''New York Times'' hailed him as the first admitted Chinese lawyer in the United States. In 1889, Chang also became the first Chinese lawyer admitted to the

Hawaii State Bar Association The Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S ...

''In re Hong Yen Chang''

Soon after Chang's admission to the New York State Bar, Chang moved West to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and sought admission to the California State Bar. His motion to practice law in California reached the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

in 1890. Under the

California Code of Civil Procedure The California Code of Civil Procedure (abbreviated to Code Civ. Proc. in the California Style Manual or just CCP in treatises and other less formal contexts) is a California code enacted by the California State Legislature in March 1872 as the ge ...

at the time, "Every citizen of the United States . . . who has been admitted to practice law in the highest court of a sister state . . . may be admitted to practice in the courts of ''this State'' upon the production of his license and satisfactory evidence of good character; but the court may examine the applicant as to his character." In support of his eligibility to practice law in California, Chang submitted his license to practice law in New York and "a certificate of naturalization, issued by the court of common pleas of the city of New York, November 11, 1887." The state Supreme Court denied his motion to practice law in California, finding the naturalization certificate issued by New York invalid under the Chinese Exclusion Act. The court held: :We are, therefore, of opinion that the certificate of naturalization presented in this case was issued without authority of law, and is void, it being conceded that the holder of it is a person of Mongolian icnativity. In 2011, members of the

U.C. Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, with the assistance and supervision of professor Gabriel Chin, petitioned the Supreme Court of California to grant Chang posthumous admission to the State Bar of California. On March 16, 2015 the Court granted that petition. : is past time to acknowledge that the discriminatory exclusion of Chang from the State Bar of California was a grievous wrong. It denied Chang equal protection of the laws; apart from his citizenship, he was by all accounts qualified for admission to the bar. It was also a blow to countless others who, like Chang, aspired to become a lawyer only to have their dream deferred on account of their race, alienage, or nationality. And it was a loss to our communities and to society as a whole, which denied itself the full talents of its people and the important benefits of a diverse legal profession. More than a century later, Chang's descendants and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at the University of California, Davis School of Law have sought to right this wrong. Even if we cannot undo history, we can acknowledge it and, in so doing, accord a full measure of recognition to Chang's pathbreaking efforts to become the first lawyer of Chinese descent in the United States. The people and the courts of California were denied Chang's services as a lawyer. But we need not be denied his example as a pioneer for a more inclusive legal profession. In granting Chang posthumous admission to the California Bar, we affirm his rightful place among the ranks of persons deemed qualified to serve as an attorney and counselor at law in the courts of California.

Later life

Chang married Charlotte Ah Tye on March 14, 1897, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Between 1888 and 1895, Chang worked for the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco as an advisor.Lani Ah Tye Farkas, ''Bury My Bones in America'' (1998), p. 91. He then worked for the Yokohama Specie Bank of Japan in San Francisco. In 1907, Chang left San Francisco and returned to China. Chang became the Accountant-General to the Treasury's Shanghai branch. Around the same time, he was appointed to a chair at Nanjing Government University (alternate spelling: Nanking Government University) to teach international law and banking. (Another source, however, notes that Hong Yen Chang taught at Tien-tsin University.) In 1908, Chang became a diplomat, participating first in a Special Mission to the United States, and then serving the Chinese Legation in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Between 1910 and 1913, he served as the Chinese Consul in

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British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

.Lani Ah Tye Farkas, ''Bury My Bones in America'' (1998), p. 92. The Chinese government awarded him a doctorate of law for his services. Hong Yen Chang held other prestigious positions, including Director of Chinese naval students at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, California, until his retirement in 1920. Chang died on August 4, 1926, in Berkeley, California.

Legacy

Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies at

in New York City began operation January 1, 2021. His great-grandniece, Rachelle B. Chong, was the first

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

to serve as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Hong Yen New York (state) lawyers American lawyers of Chinese descent 19th-century births 1926 deaths Chinese emigrants to the United States Phillips Academy alumni People from San Francisco People from Zhuhai History of racism in California 20th-century Chinese lawyers 19th-century Chinese lawyers Yale College alumni Year of birth uncertain Columbia Law School alumni