How I discovered Anna May Wong...

My road to discovering classic entertainment and classic entertainers started with Dorothy Dandridge, and the start of the side road that led me to Anna May Wong was no different.

From The Red List

It was only several years ago when I found out that there was a statue of Dorothy Dandridge somewhere in Los Angeles, or Hollywood. I came across that grand statue and found out three other women accompanied Ms. Dandridge--Mae West, Dolores del Rio, and Anna May Wong. I knew Mae West, but of course, I had to figure out who Dolores del Rio and Anna May Wong was. A quick Wikipedia search put the names and faces of Dolores del Rio and Anna May Wong in my mind, but it wasn't until much later that I really began reading deeper into their lives and careers, especially Ms. Wong's. 

In 2012, I created a blog on Tumblr called Classic Ladies of Color and finding content for this Tumblr was and is always an educational journey. I'd remembered the name Anna May Wong and began posting photos of her, of course (because how can you not???). It was around this time that I began to really read into Anna May Wong--the person and the Asian-American actress in early 20th-century Hollywood. I found out about The Good Earth. I learned about the kind of role she played in the majority of her films and how Chinese and Chinese-American audiences felt about them. Soon, the same way I'd felt about the careers of people like Dorothy Dandridge and Nina Mae McKinney, I began to feel the same feeling of frustration and pity for Anna May Wong--yet another multi-talented woman robbed because of her race. 

From Listal

But as I always say, there's little I or anyone else can do about it now. All we can do is celebrate her legacy and work together to keep it alive! 

From Listal

You can watch some of Anna May Wong's movies on YouTube and on the Internet Archive, and of course, you can order some DVDs from Amazon or your favorite place to shop for movies. There are also some books written about her and there's plenty of memorabilia available on Ebay. 

When do you first hear the name and/or see the face of Anna May Wong?