10 MAY/JUNE 2022PROFILES
before his son was born. Living in the
United States while having family back
in China was not uncommon for the
time. Some scholars estimate that as
many 40 percent of Chinese American
men were married to women who still
lived in Asia. Parents often negotiated
these marriages, and Wong’s parents
may have used their son’s age and hisearning potential as qualities to attract
prospective brides in China.No Reentry
In November 1894 Wong returned to
Asia to visit his wife, young son, and
parents. Because of the Chinese Exclu-
sion Act, he had to obtain the proper
documentation to secure his return to theUnited States—a photograph of himself
and the affidavit of three white men that
he was “known to us” and had been born
in the United States.
Wong sailed back to San Francisco
aboard the Coptic in summer 1895 but
was denied entry by John Wise, the cus-
toms collector and self-described “zeal-
ous opponent of Chinese immigration.”
Despite having the proper legal
documentation, Wong was de-
tained offshore aboard steam-
ships in San Francisco Bay for
five months.
Chinese Americans had
been fighting for decades to
protect their civil rights. In San
Francisco they had established
an aid organization named the
Chinese Consolidated Benevo-
lent Association but known as
the Six Companies. Their law-
yers took up Wong’s case and
filed a writ of habeas corpus,PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT required that if Amer-
ican citizens of Chinese descent wanted to travel
outside the country, they first had to obtain certifica-
tions to reenter the United States. For all of his visits
to China, Wong Kim Ark had first to obtain a signed
affidavit stating that he was an American citizen.
1913 REENTRY DOCUMENTATION CERTIFICATE FEATURING A PHOTOGRAPH
OF A MIDDLE-AGED WONG KIM ARKCHINESE IMMIGRANTS to the
United States established
successful businesses, like
this butcher and grocery store,
photographed in the 1880s in San
Francisco, California.THE NATIONAL ARCHIVESUNDERWOOD ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES