Francis E. Chin
Waban, Massachusetts
Retired corporate immigration lawyer, philanthropist
Francis E. Chin (front row/2nd from right) with mother & 8 siblings (Mary Gee Chin)
Francis E. Chin was raised by a single mother, Mary Gee Chin, who had nine children. He remembers very little about his father, Edwin Keyseu Chin, who came to America in 1918 and began working at a Chinese hand laundry until he died in 1949.
Fran was just 15 months old when his mother became a widow at age 34. Fran recalls the backbreaking work of his mother, who had to raise nine children while running a Chinese hand laundry six days a week, knowing very little English in a predominantly white neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Fran describes his mother as a “Super Woman” who’d refused public assistance and brought up her nine children with extraordinary grit and wisdom.
In this podcast episode, “Becoming Whole,” Fran talks about the importance of tracing one’s roots as a way to become whole. He speaks on his humble beginnings, his initial trepidation as a young lawyer in Boston, and his mother’s teachings that have shaped him into a philanthropist after retiring as a corporate immigration lawyer in 2013.
Fran & Trevor Morrision Dean of NYU Law School Fran & Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
Fran speaking at the Harry Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund Annual Dinner
(Fran E. Chin with son Alexander F. Chin and wife Wai Jit Chow-Chin.)
Click here for our conversation!
(Fran and Mable at Podcast Garage)
Find Your Roots is a history and culture project centering on Asian American voices, perspectives, and experiences. It is a one-on-one, in-depth podcast interview show with Asian “Roots-Finders” seeking to remember the diverse and profound influences of their parents and grandparents. This educational podcast project is designed to promote and preserve the legacy of the countless contributions—as well as forgotten struggles and sacrifices—of our ancestors who paved the way for us today.
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