Wong Family Legacy

Wong Family Legacy. . , Chinese immigrant Wong Fee Lee was no stranger to the trials and tribulations of the American West. Family oral history recounts that as a young man, Wong emigrated from the Guangdong Province of Southern China to the West Coast of the United States in the 1860's. Wong moved to Deadwood Gulch in 1876 during the Black Hills Gold Rush and purchased lots, founding his Wing Tsue mercantile store. After a fire, two sturdy buildings were built: 566 Main Street (1885) for his store and 568 Main Street (1896) that housed lodgers and businesses. The Wong family residence and gardens were built on the hillside behind these buildings. Over the course of four decades, Wong became a prominent community member. Inbaddition to sharing customs and celebrations of the Chinese culture, he donated to Independence Day festivities, including entering a Chinese team for the hose cart competition. In 1903, upon returning from a visit to China, Wong was denied entry to the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act. South Dakotans, including Lawrence County Clerk of Courts Sol Star and Congressman Eben Martin intervened on Wong's behalf and he was allowed to return to Deadwood. Wong suffered a stroke during a meeting of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers in 1919, of which he was a member. Wong recovered enough to travel and returned to China where he died two years later., Unique for the Chinese population at the time, Wong and his wife Hal Shek bore and raised eight children in Deadwood. Two of Wong's infants who did not survive are buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Wong's son Som Quong, as seen in the photograph and statue before you, graduated from Deadwood High School in 1912. After the patriarch Wong left Deadwood, Som Quong, as well as his siblings, settled elsewhere, raising their own families. In his later years, Captain Wong Som Quong of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, received the Bronze Star Medal (1945) and posthumously, the Congressional Gold Medal (2020) for his service in World War II. Wong descendants from around the globe gathered for the first family reunion in Deadwood in 2004. Undeterred by the loss of the Wing Tsue buildings in 2005, descendants, now six generations later, continue to gather with honor in the American hometown of their ancestors., South Dakota artist James Michael Maher is known for his sensitive renderings of the human form. His sculptures reflect not mere physical likeness, but strive to reveal the personality of his subject. Since 1994, Maher created over 40 life-size or larger sculptures, and a multitude of smaller works. Examples of his work in South Dakota can be viewed at the Trail of Governors project and the State Capitol in Pierre, the City of Presidents in Rapid City, and the D.C. Booth National Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish., The photograph to the left captures the bond between Wong Fee Lee and Wong Som Quong, father and son., (Captions) , (Bottom left) Courtesy of James Michael Maher , 1894 studio portrait of Wong Fee Lee and son Wong Son Quong Courtesy Anna Woo , 1894 studio portrait of the Wong family: King Que, King Shiu, Hal Shek holding infant Fay Juk, Fay King is standing before amah Shu Lin Lau, Wong Fee Lee and toddler son Som Quong, and Hong Quong. Later to be born, Tong Quong and Fay Lan. Courtesy of City of Deadwood Archives. Funding for this statue was in part through the generous contributions from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Wong Fee Lee Descendants (including support from the Society of Black Hills Pioneers), Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort, Mr. Wa's Gaming Establishment, Buck Lovell in Memoriam, and the Main Street Initiative/Deadwood Chamber.