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Birth of Niamh Lee
I was born in China, my family wasn't the wealthiest. But we weren't the poorest. I am an only child. My parents were talking about moving to California in the U.S. I was about 13 when they died. They got in a car accident. I was left on my own, i took on what they wanted to do and left China for the U.S. It was 1880 on March 13th when i left. The journey began for me. -
Angel island
Getting there felt like forever, when i entered the island it was so crowded. It felt like it was mainly populated with chinese immagrants. As i walked around i could see poems and names carved into the barracks. There were lines everywhere, it took days for some people just to get confirmed as a citizen. I had to take test; they would check me to see my health if i was sick or not. it was all over within hours. It all was worth it in the end. -
Settling in / Job
Everything was new, new house, new job, new faces. It was all hard to get use too. I got a job babysitting. I babysat 3 familes about 4 hourse each house, 12 hours a day. I got paid around minimum, but i made enough to support myself. I was on the verge of getting fired, i showed up late on the second day. I felt like i was apart of each family, it was only hard to understand everything considering i waas still on the process of learning the language. I was surrounded by good influences. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
It was all done, the Chinese Exclusion Act happened. This was a document that stated that they would not let the chinese immagrant to here and gain citizenship. It was like discrimmination to me. How could they not let only the Chinese come here to the U.S. It was all unfair, they were restricting the chinese people like we were nothing. Angel island would not pass them through. It was the big talk of the west. -
Not so over populated west
Even though there were many chinese here in the west, it didn't feel right. Some were minors, some even worked on railroads. After the Exclusion Act began it felt like the west wasn't so populated. I would walk down the streets and hear people rambling about how the chinese shouldn't be here, there were too many of my people. I hated this talk, it made me want to do something about it. I just had the urge to say something to the ones who were talking bad on us. -
New life begins
I was now living a new life with my own family. I have a son and a husn=band now. Things have defintely changed around here. The Chinese exclusion act expired in 1892, but they still had some rules against it afterwards. Life was still tough, i was a stay at home mom while my husband would work on railroads. I rarely got to see him, he was always busy. I strived for a good household and we had a good start to a new life.
