History Forum Presents: Chinese Adoption and U.S. Immigration Law in the Exclusion Era

In 1921, a U.S. citizen named Kwock Toy returned to San Francisco after visiting China, his ancestral homeland.  Traveling with him were two sons: one “natural born,” the other adopted, years previously, in China.  U.S. immigration officials waved through Kwock Toy and his biological son but refused to admit the adoptee, Kwock Sue Lum.  In the ensuing legal appeal, federal judges debated whether or not to respect the legitimacy of Chinese adoptions, while also considering the meaning of family and fatherhood.  The students of HIS 455 will use this case, White v. Kwock Sue Lum, as a point of departure for a broader exploration of U.S. law, international migration, and legal pluralism in the era of Chinese exclusion. Presented by the students of HIS 455: Michael Callahan, Josh Fuhrman, Alex Heffner, Grace Hwang, Henry McGannon, Abby Morris, Emma Peddrick, Maddux Reece, Christopher Sosnik, and Jackson Warmack.