[Dress] Virginia Lee wore this dress when she was a young woman living in New York City's Chinatown during the mid-1930s. Beginning in 1891, her father owned and ran a store that functioned as a community center within an almost self-contained Chinese American world.

The dress is a traditional style that younger second-generation Chinese women wore to formal celebrations. By retaining the style, they commemorated their ethnic heritage.

Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, gift of James Edgar Mead and Virginia Lee Mead.

Young Woman's Dress, Chinese American, New York City, mid-1930s, satin

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