Rose Hum Lee (August 20, 1904 – March 25, 1964) was a first generation

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

who became the first woman and the first Chinese-American to head a United States university sociology department.

Biography

Daughter of Hum Wong Long and Lin Fong, Hum was born the second of seven children and raised in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

. She attended Butte High School and trained to become a secretary.Ogilvie, M. B., & Harvey, J. D. (2000). The biographical dictionary of women in science: Pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century. New York: Routledge. p. 764. While working in Philadelphia Hum met and married to Ku Young Lee, a Chinese national who was in the US pursuing an engineering degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. After their marriage they moved to

Canton, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kong ...

with the intention of working for the new republican government there. She remained there until their divorce in 1939. During the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Rose organized emergency social services for displaced widows and children. In the process, she adopted one of the children, Elaine, as her own, and brought her to the U.S. just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began. She earned her B.S. in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

from the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, financing her degree with "lectures and freelance writing about the situation in China." She completed her doctorate at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1947 with her thesis titled, ''The Growth and Decline of Chinese Communities in the Rocky Mountain Region''. It was during these years that she authored two plays for children, one of which was produced by Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Rose gained a teaching position in sociology at the newly formed

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

in Chicago. In 1956, she was named head of the sociology department, and she was promoted to full professor three years later. In 1951, she married Glenn Ginn, a Chinese-American lawyer from

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and in 1961 they moved to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. On March 25, 1964, she died of a stroke in Phoenix.

Publications

*''The Growth and Decline of Chinese Communities in the Rocky Mountain Region'' (Dissertation 1947; published 1978) *''The Chinese in the United States of America'' (1960)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Rose Hum People from Butte, Montana American people of Chinese descent 1904 births 1964 deaths University of Chicago alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni