The New England Chinese Women’s Association was founded in 1942 by Chew Shee Chin (1899-1985) and other Boston Chinese women in response to Madame Chiang Kai- Shek’s appeal for China relief during World War II. Chew Shee Chin was born in a small village in Southern China. In 1918, at age 18, Chin was married by proxy to a Chinese man in Boston and, although she had never met him, she left home to join him. She landed in San Francisco and took a train to Boston. She and her husband lived in the Chinatown section of Boston; they had seven children. Chin joined other women to help found the New England Chinese Women’s Association. The Association provided a way for Chinese women to make friends and work together to solve common problems. They also collected money, clothes, and food to send to China. During World War II, Chin and her friends began working as stitchers in the garment district. Chinese women were all welcomed as conscientious and hard-working employees, and they were excited to be working outside their homes and earning their own money. Eventually Chin moved her family to Brookline, one of the very first Chinese families to live in Brookline. When she died, Chew Shee Chin knew that her dreams had been fulfilled: all 23 of her grandchildren graduated from college and had the education she did not have.
