Emma Wong Mar (September 7, 1926 – September 16, 2015) was a California-based political activist and socialist, best known for her organizing efforts and campaigns for political office with the

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

Early life

Born on September 7, 1926 in New York City's Chinatown, Emma Wong was the fifth of seven daughters born to Chinese immigrant parents. Her father owned a hat-cleaning shop, and her mother was an at-home seamstress. Together, they struggled to support their large family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Emma attended Julia Richman High School, followed by

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. After graduating, "she spent several years working as a medical technologist at Sutter Hospital in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

and at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. She married Henry Y. Mar, in 1952 and had two children, JoAnn and Craig."

Activism

Emma Wong Mar was highly interested in politics and current affairs. An early opponent of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, she could be seen carrying picket signs at countless protest demonstrations in Sacramento in the early 60s. She later joined the Peace and Freedom Party and was highly active as an organizer, opening her Oakland home for meetings and overnight guests. She was elected State Chair of the party in 1982, and ran as its vice-presidential candidate in 1984 with feminist activist Sonia Johnson as the presidential candidate. Wong Mar was the Peace & Freedom Party's vice-presidential nominee in that year, and was the first Asian-American to run in a national general election for President or Vice-President. She ran for State Assembly three times between 1982 and 1992 and for U.S. Congress once, in 1994. She served as co-chair of the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party for many years. Wong Mar continued her anti-war and pro-labor activism well into the late 90s and mid-2000s. In 2001, she was honored with a "Union Heroine" award by the

Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) was a United States labor union representing workers of the hospitality industry, formed in 1890. In 2004, HERE merged with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UN ...

fighting on behalf of low-wage workers in Berkeley. She struggled with asthma and then with emphysema in her late 80s, and died on September 16, 2015 after a sudden illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mar, Emma Wong 1926 births 2015 deaths Activists from New York City American political activists American socialists American women of Chinese descent in politics California politicians of Chinese descent Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Female candidates for Vice President of the United States Hunter College alumni Peace and Freedom Party vice presidential nominees 20th-century American women 21st-century American women