Wong Chin Foo (1847-1898) was a Chinese American lecturer, journalist, activist, and an early Chinese immigrant to the Midwest and Eastern United States. Passing through Grand Rapids and much of lower Michigan in the late 1800s, Wong was one of the first Chinese Americans to be granted citizenship; papers that were processed right here in Kent County. After landing in the US as a teen, Wong spent most of his life fighting for the rights of his fellow Chinese American immigrants in the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Nearly a hundred and fifty years after he passed through our city of Grand Rapids, Wong Chin Foo now stands as a reminder of the importance of the fight for birthright citizenship, valuing our immigrant neighbors, and all they’ve done to make this city and country great.
