Collected Writings of Flora Belle Jan

Book excerpt: Web Text This is the first time the writings of Flora Belle Jan, the Chinese American flapper and writer, are assembled into a single volume. The book consists of some one hundred pieces of prose and poetry, available from microfilm of newspapers and magazines that ceased publication prior to 1950. A native of Fresno, California, Flora Belle Jan was born in 1906. She lived above Yet Far Low, a restaurant owned by her parents, at 1007 China Alley. Her world at home was Chinese. Her world at school, with teachers and classmates, was American. Many of her classmates were also children of immigrant parents. Her own parents, Jan Chong and Jan Yom, had separately emigrated from Southern China in the late 1800s. Her classmates parents included immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Russia, England, Mexico, and Armenia. In her early years, the country of origin of the parents did not hinder the formation of close friendships among girls with shared interests and activities. Flora Jan and her friends enjoyed writing poems and stories, and aspired to careers in literature and journalism. She received encouragement from Grace May North, editor of the Sunnyside Club column in The Fresno Herald. Jans earliest works appeared in this column. Her topics were typically American, involving for example, a selfish prince, a faithful dog, a poor newsgirl, and poems about patriotism. In only two stories, The Chinese Girls Valentine, and The Contest, did she introduce a Chinese connection. Another important person in Flora Jans life was Amy Purcell, Superintendent of the Baptist Chinese Mission in Fresno. She recognized Floras talents. With Miss Purcells help, the Chinese Students Club of Fresno published The Trailmaker. Flora Jan, the only female member of the Club, played a major role in the publication. Flora Jans parents did not support her desire to further her education. She worked at various jobs and at age 18, earned money for college by writing feature stories for The San Francisco Examiner. For several of these stories, Jan invented the female character Ming Toy. Among eight children in her family, Flora Jan was the only one to earn a college degree and to pursue a career in journalism. Although Flora Jan attended the University of California, Berkeley for only one semester in the autumn of 1925, she left a strong impression on those who knew her. Her reputation as a prolific young writer, as well as her beauty and flamboyant flapper life style was remembered forty years later. Your mother was the Belle of Berkeley, was the remark said to my sister, Fiore Wang, who attended the University of California, Berkeley and there from graduated. Flora Jan transferred to the University of Chicago, where she studied English literature and graduated with honors in 1927. The impetus for her transfer to Chicago was due to Professor Robert E. Park. He directed the Survey of Race Relations project, and believed that Jan would succeed in assimilation into main stream white society. An analysis of Parks project and Jans participation may be found in the treatise, Thinking Orientals, by Henry Yu Most of Jans writings during her years in Chicago appeared in The Chinese Students Monthly, a magazine founded in 1904 and published by the Chinese Students Alliance in the United States of America. In her fictional works, Romance on the Roof and Transplanted Flower Blossoms, Flora Jan created humorous and delicate inter-racial romances. She served in the capacity of a Contributing Editor at first, and later became an Associate Editor of the Monthly. She also sold stories to the Chicago Daily News and to the magazine Real Detective Tales. In 1932, Flora Jan and her husband, Charles Wang, left Chicago to go to China. Probably the most compelling reason for their move was financial. Although Charles had earned a Ph.D. degree in psychology at the University of Chicago, he could not obtain