Betty Lee Sung

Betty Lee Sung (October 3, 1924 – January 19, 2023) was an American activist, author, and professor at City College of New York. As a scholar of Asian American studies, her several publications on Asian American race issues have been recognized as an influential force in advancing the rights of Asian Americans and immigrants in the United States. Sung was awarded an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Old Westbury in 1996.

Biography Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 3, 1924, Sung's interest in the history of Chinese Americans was shaped by her own experience as a child of Chinese immigrant parents. When Sung was nine, her father briefly took the family back to his hometown, Taishan, but the family returned to Washington D.C. before Guangdong was captured by the Japanese during World War II. While growing up in Washington D.C., Sung and her family faced discrimination as Chinese immigrants. The treatment towards Chinese people in the United States was so severe that Sung recalled how her family largely avoided public areas like the movies or swimming pools.

Defying her father's wish that she marry instead of furthering her education, she attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on a full scholarship and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in economics and sociology in 1948. Much later, she received a Master of Library Science degree from Queens College, City University of New York (1968) and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (1982).

On February 22, 1948, she married Hsi-Yuan Sung; they divorced in 1966. She had four children from her first marriage. The records document the arrival of Chinese immigrants to New York City as early as 1860, filling in a missing piece of Chinese American history following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

In 2001, Sung and Thomas Tam co-founded the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) at the City University of New York, a university-wide scholarly research and resource center on policies and issues that affect Asians and Asian Americans. In 2017, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS).

Sung possessed a large collection of material related to Asian Americans. She donated a large portion to the Library of Congress Asia Division in 2007 and the remainder to the Museum of Chinese in America in 2019 and upon her death. Dr. Hwa-Wei Lee, former Chief of the Asian Division, wrote "Betty was very kind to donate her lifetime collection for the benefit of future generations."

Sung was also a member of the Committee of 100, an organization committed to addressing Chinese American issues. In her lifetime, Sung also has been honored by the Organization of Chinese Americans, the American Library Association, the Asian American Higher Education Council, and New York Historical Society. Additional information about Sung's life may be found at the Museum of Chinese in America, AARI, and the Committee of 100.

Sung died in Silver Spring, Maryland, on January 19, 2023, at the age of 98. She was predeceased by her husband (October 7, 2015) and survived by the four children from her first marriage.

Education Sung graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1948.