Museum of Chinese in America

There were two interviews recorded on this tape. In the first interview, Elsie Chang provides a personal view of Hazel Ying Lee, a female aviator who flew during the 1930s and 1940s. She discusses their close friendship, which began in China when they were young, and delineates the many fearless traits of her friend. Elsie also talks about her life in Portland and the discrimination she faced as an adult. She remembers the last time she saw Hazel and describes where she was when she first learned of her death. In a separate interview, Professor Jeffrey Barlow of Pacific University contextualizes racial and gendered landscape of early twentieth century Portland, Oregon and discusses the stereotypes and expectations with which Chinese American women such as Hazel would have had to contend. Prof. Barlow discusses how Hazel may have made the decision to become an aviator and how she was able to do so despite various constraints. These interviews are part of the Hazel Ying Lee & Frances M. Tong Collection and were conducted as part of the research and making of the documentary film, A Brief Flight: Hazel Ying Lee and the Women Who Flew Pursuit (2002), directed by Alan Rosenberg.