Comic of Mabel Ping-Hua Lee fighting for rights of women and immigrants

All illustrations by Berat Pekmezci; Shutterstock.com (ribbon)

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Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

She fought for the rights of women and immigrants.

As You Read, Think About: What made Mabel Ping-Hua Lee’s life “extraordinary”?

On May 4, 1912, more than 10,000 people took to the streets of New York City. They were marching in one of the biggest women’s suffrage parades the nation had ever seen. A group of women on horseback led the sea of marchers. One of the leaders was a 16-year-old named Mabel Ping-Hua Lee.

At the time, most women in the United States didn’t have the right to vote. Like her fellow protesters, Lee thought it was unfair that women didn’t have the same rights that men had. But as an immigrant from China, Lee had even fewer rights than most of the other marchers.

“In the early 20th century, women weren’t respected, and immigrant women got even less respect,” says Cathleen Cahill. She’s a historian and an author of a book about the role of women of color in the suffrage movement.

Unfair Laws

The Granger Collection

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

Lee was born around 1896 in Guangzhou (gwahng-joh), China. When she was a kid, her family moved to the U.S. At the time, it was rare for Chinese immigrants to be allowed into the country. 

The U.S. government had passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. In the decades before, thousands of Chinese immigrants had come to the U.S. to work in mines and help build railroads. Many Americans feared that these immigrant laborers were taking away jobs. In response, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned nearly everyone from China from entering the country. 

The law had exceptions for small numbers of people with certain jobs. Lee’s parents were allowed to come to the U.S. because her father was a missionary and her mother was a teacher. They both worked at a church in New York City’s Chinatown neighborhood. 

But the Lees and other Chinese immigrants couldn’t become American citizens. That meant they weren’t allowed to vote. 

Speaking Up

Despite the discrimination they faced, Lee’s parents made sure their daughter understood the value of education. As a teenager, Lee began writing and speaking publicly about women’s suffrage. She also believed that Chinese immigrants deserved to become citizens and have the right to vote. She hoped voting would give them a say in the important issues that affected their lives. 

Lee was the only Chinese student in her high school graduating class. She went on to earn degrees from Barnard College and Columbia University.

Community Leader

In New York, women finally won the right to vote in 1917. Three years later, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, or officially approved. It granted suffrage to women across the country. 

Lee wasn’t among them, however. Most Chinese immigrants wouldn’t be allowed to vote in the U.S. for several more decades. 

Still, Lee continued to work to improve the lives of Chinese immigrants. She founded a community center in Chinatown. It provided residents with health care, job training, and English classes. And she carried on her fight for women’s rights until she died in 1966.

“Her story tells us a lot about the struggles women and immigrants faced,” says Cahill. “She’s somebody who deserves to be remembered. She lived an extraordinary life.”

Let Us Vote!

It took decades of struggle for women in the U.S. to gain the right to vote.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, women weren’t allowed to vote in most states. Some were even arrested for attempting to cast a ballot.

Many women were frustrated and spoke out, including teenager Mabel Ping-Hua Lee.

In May 1912, they organized a suffrage parade in New York City.

Lee led the way. Protests like this one helped women across the U.S. finally gain the right to vote.

1. What was the Chinese Exclusion Act, and why were Mabel Ping-Hua Lee’s parents exceptions?

2. Why did Lee believe it was important for women and immigrants to have the right to vote?

3. What are two facts you can learn from the illustrations in the sidebar, “Let Us Vote!”?

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