This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.

       Before Hong Yen Chang graduated from Columbia Law School in New York, he was breaking barriers just by being there.

       Before he became the first Chinese person allowed to practice law in the United States, he had to wrangle with New York’s judiciary for permission.

       Before he could protect Chinese immigrants in court, he studied tirelessly to master a legal system that was not inclined to welcome him.

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       Essentially, Chang realized that before he could help anyone else, he had to help himself.

       Chang was born on Dec. 20, 1859 (some records say 1860), in what was then called Heungshan, a prosperous district in Southern China connected to the Portuguese port of Macau. His father, Shing Tung Chang, was a merchant who died when Hong Yen was a child; his mother was Yee Shee.

       Image

       Chang in 1910 with his family — his wife, Charlotte Ah Tye Chang, and their children, Ora and Oliver.Credit...Thel King Studio, via the Huntington Digital Library

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.