Keywords: Chinese Laundry
Item 110
William Wong, Portland, ca. 1926
Contributed by: Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media Date: 1926 Location: Portland Media: Glass Negative
Item 11761
Charlie Goon Laundry, Sanford, ca. 1915
Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1915 Location: Sanford Media: Photographic print
Exhibit
In 1857, when Daniel Cough left Amoy Island, China, as a stowaway on a sailing ship from Mt. Desert Island he was on his way into history as the first Chinese person to make his home in Maine. He was soon followed by a cigar maker and a tea merchant who settled in Portland and then by many more Chinese men who spread all over Maine working mostly as laundrymen.
Exhibit
Toy Len Goon: Mother of the Year
Toy Len Goon of Portland, an immigrant from China, was a widow with six children when she was selected in 1952 as America's Mother of the Year.
Story
From Chinese Laundress to Mother of the Year
by Dr. Andrea Louie
Toy Len Goon's granddaughter recounts her immigration to the US and becoming Mother of the Year.
Story
A Maine Family's story of being Prisoners of War in Manila
by Nicki Griffin
As a child, born after the war, I would hear these stories - glad they were finally written down
