Meet the Contributors 參與人員
Caitlin Bryant
is the great-granddaughter of Peter SooHoo Sr., the visionary organizer behind the effort to build New Chinatown. She is on the board of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and is working to bring new small business ventures that embrace the neighborhood’s unique history to her family’s building in the Central Plaza and across Chinatown.
Wesley Jiang
grew up in Chinatown, attended Downtown Magnets High School, and is an active volunteer in the Chinatown community. He currently attends UC Berkeley and is studying electrical engineering and computer science.
Eugene Moy
is a retired urban planner born in LA Chinatown and raised in South LA. He is a community leader, serving on the board of directors of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the Chinese American Museum, and is a past president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance. He has been involved in Chinatown history for more than 40 years, and leads historical walking tours of the neighborhood.
Cindy Yan
grew up in Chinatown, attended Castelar Elementary School, and is an intern and tutor with the Asian American Tutorial Project. She currently attends UCLA and is majoring in education and social transformation and minoring in Asian American studies.
Kathryn Chan Ceppi and Kelly Chan
–along with their brother Ken Chan, are second-generation owners of the Phoenix Bakery, which their parents opened in 1938 on Broadway and moved to the Central Plaza in 1940. Kathryn worked for UCLA as a pediatric occupational therapist and Kelly as an accountant before coming back to help with the family bakery. The current location opened in 1977 and continues to serve strawberry cream cakes, almond cookies, sugar butterflies and moon cakes to generations of loyal customers.
Pat SooHoo Lem
is the daughter of Peter SooHoo Sr., who co-founded Los Angeles New Chinatown. She graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, and taught as an elementary school teacher, working with minority students throughout her career. In retirement, Pat volunteers at the Gamble House, the Autry Museum of the American West, and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Fanny Situ
grew up in Chinatown and attended Castelar Elementary School. She continued to be an active member in her community through high school as a volunteer coordinator on the Los Angeles Chinatown Youth Center’s leadership team. She currently attends the University of San Diego and is studying accounting and finance.
Doré Hall Wong
grew up in Chinatown after her family was forced to move during freeway construction. Her father opened the United Meat Market on Yale Street in 1940 and constructed the Golden Pagoda Restaurant (later Hop Louie) in the Central Plaza. She and her 9 siblings attended Castelar Elementary School, where she graduated in 1945 and returned in 1992 as its first alumna principal. She retired after 44 years in education, and currently serves on the board of directors for the Chinese American Museum.
Richard Liu
is an architect and interior designer based in Chinatown. His family immigrated to Los Angeles from Burma when he was 12 and relied on the markets in Chinatown for a connection to their home culture through food. In the early 2000s, he purchased and began restoring the three buildings constructed in the Central Plaza in 1938-1940 by immigration attorney Y. C. Hong, including Hong’s original law office.
Nowland C. Hong
is the son of prominent immigration lawyer Y. C. Hong, a founding member of New Chinatown and the first Chinese American to pass the State Bar of California examination. Nowland began the practice of law in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, where he became the Chief Counsel for the Port before entering private practice as a partner in local, regional and national law firms.