THE MATRIARCH OF CHINATOWN Ou Shee Eng

For 61 years, Ou Shee Eng's tiny apartment in Seattle's Chinatown was the heart of a community of women. Possessing the rare ability to read and write Chinese, Ou Shee was the reader and scribe of everyone's letters. What was happening in China while this circle of women lived quietly in America, and why did they never speak of it? Join Katie on location at the Wing-Luke Museum in Seattle, with guest Elana Eng Lim to contemplate belonging, kindness, and taking family secrets to the grave. ____________________ Join us on our next women's history adventure! TOURS OPEN NOW Read Elana Lim's poignant essay My Grandmother's Hand HERE. Music in this episode: "Lau Tzu Erhu" by Doug Maxwell; The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto; "Under the Moon" by Annette Hanshaw; "Spirit of Fire" and "The Sleeping Prophet" by Jesse Gallagher; "Popularity March" by Victor Band 1923 at the Library of Congress; "Long Road Ahead" by Kevin MacLeod; "Please" by Wayne Jones." FDR's Pearl Harbor speech in the public domain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can listen to THE MATRIARCH OF CHINATOWN Ou Shee Eng online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

THE MATRIARCH OF CHINATOWN Ou Shee Eng is an episode from What'sHerName by Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle.

This episode is 59:32 long.

This episode was published on Apr 27, 2026.

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