William Jang, also known as Jang Foo, was born November 15, 1890 in Guangdong Province, China. He came to the United States abroad the SS Coptic on May 3, 1900, to join his older brother and to study English in San Francisco. He was able to stay in the United States as a Chinese merchant, with a share in Sun Chong Company on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. In 1918, Jang Foo brought his wife Young Shee to the United States. They would have eight children. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States – whereby changing his name to William Jang – in October 1959. William Jang died in 1986 in San Francisco. Credit National Archives
The National Archives on Tuesday will for the first time be making available records for millions of immigrants that date back to the early 20th century.
The documents, known as the Alien Files or “A-Files,” include thousands of immigration records for Asian Americans that were previously headed for destruction. Some of the files are 100 years old.
According to the National Archives office in San Bruno,
“these alien case files document the famous, the infamous, the anonymous and the well-known. They are an historical and genealogical goldmine with information about immigrants from more than 100 countries.”
A news release from the office also said:
“They will be of particular interest to the Chinese American community because a large number of A-Files supplement information collected in earlier Chinese Exclusion Act-era files (1882-1943) already housed in the National Archives.”
Starting Tuesday, the immigration records can be viewed at the National Archives office in San Bruno. Later in the month, the documents will be available for research online.
Taken from The San Bruno Patch
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Read more about the Alien Files (“A-Files”) at the National Archives at San Francisco and here