This is the story about Esther Lee Yao Bearden’s involvement in the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) and Organization of Chinese American Women (OCAW).
Many right-wing Chinese Americans including my husband, in Houston went to street to protest President Jimmy Carter’s recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a communist reign. Esther did not go because she believed that President Carter’s failure to consult Chinese American leaders was due to their non existing political muscle in the White House. It’s the fault of the Chinese Americans who were not involved in the political arena. On the contrary they stayed away from politics as a result of their past experiences; politics was a risky business in China and could easily lead to the annihilation of an entire clan. She learned of the successful political involvement of the Jewish Americans and firmly believed that any US president would not take any major diplomatic move without consulting the Jewish leaders or input from the Jewish community. Thus, Esther started searching for a nationwide Chinese civil and non-partisan organization. After finding the OCA with the HQ in Washington, DC Esther discontinued her involvement in the Women Voters’ League in 1979.
She received the reply from Hayden Lee, Executive Director of OCA in Washington, DC on February 26, 1979 and started forming the Houston Chapter. The first meeting of the local chapter was held on July 4th, 1979. This was the first time that Esther had to conduct meetings in English with Chinese American attendees since some of them were American born and only spoke English. Normally, it’s comfortable to speak one’s native tongue with fellow countrymen. All the events/activities, correspondence, meetings minutes and financial information were recorded and stored with newspaper clippings in a CD. Esther asked Mr. William Derbing to serve as the first chapter president (1979-80) due to his prior knowledge of OCA. Esther was the president for 1980-81 and Laura Chiu became president for 1981-82.
Because of Esther’s leadership shown as an OCA’s national board member she was recruited by the national OCAW and elected to serve as the national VP for Communication and Public Relations in October, 1980. She wrote articles about OCAW and responsible for mass media and publication. OCAW used to be part of the OCA for its female members. As a result of federal grants from WEEA (Women’s Educational Equity Act Program, U.S. Department of Education), OCAW was able to become independently in terms of organization and financial matters from OCA in late 1979. OCAW had several projects including Chinese American Women Educational Equity Program with several conferences and workshops at different major cities, such as “Emerging Chinese and Asian American Women: Self-Realization and Career Fulfillment” presented at two or three locations. OCAW had its own officers and board members. The leadership was very strong and committed to supporting women to effectively play the dual role as both homemakers and wage earners. It published a newsletter entitled, “SPEAKS.” Esther was greatly inspired and empowered by their conviction. She first learned the word “networking” from its executive director, Pauline W. Tsui. Her experiences with OCAW benefited her career development tremendously. She learned to be assertive and had become more confident than before. Later, Esther encouraged her younger sister, Dorothy Huang to found a San Jose Chapter of OCAW. It was a very successful experience for Dorothy as well as her members of the Chapter.
Esther attended one OCAW national conference entitled: Emerging Chinese and Asian American Women: Self Realization and Career Fulfillment at the American University, Washington, DC on June 6-7 in 1981 and organized several events for Chinese and Asian women in Houston including one seminar held on March 6, 1982 at Houston Chinese Church, 10305 Main St. “Self-Realization and Career Management.” Over hundred people attended. They kept the same title under a federal grant.
The letter to Esther dated September 14, 1982 from the National OCAW summarized the background and progress of the organization. (file: xfrOCAWHQ140982). Esther was co-organizer of the Houston conference on March 6, 1982 and speaker at the Los Angeles in July 10-11, 1982. She was re-elected as the VP for Communications and Public Relations of the National OCAW in February, 1983 (file:xfrOCAWHQ280283). Esther also attended the National Conference in Washington, DC, June 19-20, 1983. The programs and activities of the OCAW could be identified in the correspondences, i.e., file: xfrOCAWHQ160283.
Since Esther was the founder of both Houston OCA and OCAW chapters she tried to involve both groups for commons goals and interests including a joint workshop “Career Advancement Conference) on April 16, 1983 (file: MunitesjointmeetingOCA&OCAW290183). The first Asian councilwoman and Deputy Mayor of Monterey Park, CA – later became mayor – was invited to be the keynote speaker. She was elected to be the president at the National conference in June, 1983. Later, Laura Chiu and Grace Hsu succeeded Esther as the local chapter president.
All the details could be found in the CD in OCAW files.
Many right-wing Chinese Americans including my husband, in Houston went to street to protest President Jimmy Carter’s recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a communist reign. Esther did not go because she believed that President Carter’s failure to consult Chinese American leaders was due to their non existing political muscle in the White House. It’s the fault of the Chinese Americans who were not involved in the political arena. On the contrary they stayed away from politics as a result of their past experiences; politics was a risky business in China and could easily lead to the annihilation of an entire clan. She learned of the successful political involvement of the Jewish Americans and firmly believed that any US president would not take any major diplomatic move without consulting the Jewish leaders or input from the Jewish community. Thus, Esther started searching for a nationwide Chinese civil and non-partisan organization. After finding the OCA with the HQ in Washington, DC Esther discontinued her involvement in the Women Voters’ League in 1979.
She received the reply from Hayden Lee, Executive Director of OCA in Washington, DC on February 26, 1979 and started forming the Houston Chapter. The first meeting of the local chapter was held on July 4th, 1979. This was the first time that Esther had to conduct meetings in English with Chinese American attendees since some of them were American born and only spoke English. Normally, it’s comfortable to speak one’s native tongue with fellow countrymen. All the events/activities, correspondence, meetings minutes and financial information were recorded and stored with newspaper clippings in a CD. Esther asked Mr. William Derbing to serve as the first chapter president (1979-80) due to his prior knowledge of OCA. Esther was the president for 1980-81 and Laura Chiu became president for 1981-82.
Because of Esther’s leadership shown as an OCA’s national board member she was recruited by the national OCAW and elected to serve as the national VP for Communication and Public Relations in October, 1980. She wrote articles about OCAW and responsible for mass media and publication. OCAW used to be part of the OCA for its female members. As a result of federal grants from WEEA (Women’s Educational Equity Act Program, U.S. Department of Education), OCAW was able to become independently in terms of organization and financial matters from OCA in late 1979. OCAW had several projects including Chinese American Women Educational Equity Program with several conferences and workshops at different major cities, such as “Emerging Chinese and Asian American Women: Self-Realization and Career Fulfillment” presented at two or three locations. OCAW had its own officers and board members. The leadership was very strong and committed to supporting women to effectively play the dual role as both homemakers and wage earners. It published a newsletter entitled, “SPEAKS.” Esther was greatly inspired and empowered by their conviction. She first learned the word “networking” from its executive director, Pauline W. Tsui. Her experiences with OCAW benefited her career development tremendously. She learned to be assertive and had become more confident than before. Later, Esther encouraged her younger sister, Dorothy Huang to found a San Jose Chapter of OCAW. It was a very successful experience for Dorothy as well as her members of the Chapter.
Esther attended one OCAW national conference entitled: Emerging Chinese and Asian American Women: Self Realization and Career Fulfillment at the American University, Washington, DC on June 6-7 in 1981 and organized several events for Chinese and Asian women in Houston including one seminar held on March 6, 1982 at Houston Chinese Church, 10305 Main St. “Self-Realization and Career Management.” Over hundred people attended. They kept the same title under a federal grant.
The letter to Esther dated September 14, 1982 from the National OCAW summarized the background and progress of the organization. (file: xfrOCAWHQ140982). Esther was co-organizer of the Houston conference on March 6, 1982 and speaker at the Los Angeles in July 10-11, 1982. She was re-elected as the VP for Communications and Public Relations of the National OCAW in February, 1983 (file:xfrOCAWHQ280283). Esther also attended the National Conference in Washington, DC, June 19-20, 1983. The programs and activities of the OCAW could be identified in the correspondences, i.e., file: xfrOCAWHQ160283.
Since Esther was the founder of both Houston OCA and OCAW chapters she tried to involve both groups for commons goals and interests including a joint workshop “Career Advancement Conference) on April 16, 1983 (file: MunitesjointmeetingOCA&OCAW290183). The first Asian councilwoman and Deputy Mayor of Monterey Park, CA – later became mayor – was invited to be the keynote speaker. She was elected to be the president at the National conference in June, 1983. Later, Laura Chiu and Grace Hsu succeeded Esther as the local chapter president.
All the details could be found in the CD in OCAW files.
Organization of Chinese American Woman (OCAW)
|
|
