Photo: Albert and Lily's Shanghai wedding photo, 1929
A USC Couple
Courtship
Lily and Albert met at the University of Southern California, both graduating in 1928. Lily was a graduate student in Music since she had already graduated from Ginling College, while Albert was completing an undergraduate degree in Business.
Shanghai Wedding
Lily's parents hosted their wedding on August 23, 1929, at the Majestic Hotel (大華飯店 Dahua Fandian). This was the same fashionable hotel where Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei Ling had been married two years earlier, albeit in a smaller hall. (At this time, her parents were apparently living in Shanghai, not Nanjing.)
Ceremony in Seattle
Passenger and other records indicate that Lily and Albert traveled by return steamer as unmarrieds. In Seattle, they had a US ceremony with friends and distant relatives.
Presumably with Exclusion legislation in force, it was helpful to have a US marriage license, although regardless, because of the Cable Act, Lily lost her US citizenship in marrying Albert, who as a Chinese was ineligible to naturalize. The law was struck down in 1931, and she was able to regain her citizenship.
Presumably with Exclusion legislation in force, it was helpful to have a US marriage license, although regardless, because of the Cable Act, Lily lost her US citizenship in marrying Albert, who as a Chinese was ineligible to naturalize. The law was struck down in 1931, and she was able to regain her citizenship.
Albert always dated the start of his own business to 1929, and it's noted that while in Seattle, he apparently made a sizeable sale of handicraft items he had bought in China to a department store.
However, while the couple was in China on their year-long trip, Albert's uncle, Quon Mane had died. Management of the store now fell to Albert and his older brother Frank, and it would be another eight years before Albert fully freed himself of involvement in the Quon Mane operations to focus on his own business.
However, while the couple was in China on their year-long trip, Albert's uncle, Quon Mane had died. Management of the store now fell to Albert and his older brother Frank, and it would be another eight years before Albert fully freed himself of involvement in the Quon Mane operations to focus on his own business.
Here is their wedding photo as reproduced on a matchbook cover for their 25th anniversary celebration in August 1954. Read The Summer of 1954 letter series to find about the fraught run-up to that splashy event.
Also in this section: The Lovely Family | Civic-Minded | The Summer of 1954