Women’s History Month: After Hollywood thwarted Anna May Wong, the actress took matters into her own hands

Anna May Wong appears alongside Akim Tamiroff in a promotional poster for the 1939 film ‘King of Chinatown.’ LMPC/Getty Images by Shirley J. Lim, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York) The U.S. Mint is issuing four years of quarters featuring the likenesses of American women who contributed to “the development and history of our country.” The first batch of the American Women Quarters Program, announced in January 2022, included astronaut Sally Ride and poet Maya Angelou. One name on the list might be less familiar to some Americans: Chinese American actress Anna May Wong. Anna May Wong appears on the back of a quarter. U.S. Mint via Getty Images As someone who has written a biography on Wong, I was delighted to provide the U.S. Mint with Wong’s backstory. The subject of renewed attention in recent years, Wong is often referred to as a Hollywood star – in fact, the U.S. Treasury describes her as “the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.” And she certainly did dazzle in her roles. But to me, this characterization diminishes her chief accomplishment: her capacity for reinvention. Hollywood continually stymied her ambitions. And yet out of the ashes of rejection,...