PERSONAL HISTORIES > Betty Wong
Betty Wong (2004)
BETTY WONG
Betty Wong was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1924, and moved to California
just before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Her late husband was Alfred
Wong, who was born in Oakland’s Chinatown and who went on to be a
star semi-professional baseball player. Allie, as he was known, was invited
to a Major League baseball training camp after graduating from high school,
but his father declined on his behalf. Instead, Allie worked as a machinist
for more than forty years while playing semi-pro baseball. Betty is part
of a prominent Chinese American family, the Tams. Her brother, Richard,
married into the well-known Chinese American family, the Shoongs, who
owned the National Dollar Store chain. Betty worked as an accountant and
building manager for that company. She lives in Alameda. (An edited
transcript of an oral interview with Betty Wong is being developed.)
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