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Chinatowns Avenging Angel

By Susan K. Marlow

Donaldina Cameron scurried up a steep, narrow staircase, through a skylight, and across

the flat rooftops of San Franciscos Chinatown. Hurry, hurry! she called to Tien Wu, herinterpreter. Speed was essential. The tong slave owners could whisk Chinese girls out of

sight faster than the young missionary could trace them.

Suddenly, the man standing watch for them on the sidewalk below gaspedthe two womenhad disappeared down an opening in the roof of a distant building. They would surely be

caught! The evil slave owners would be thrilled if the fahn quai(foreign devil) met with an

accident. A moment later, much to the watchers relief, Lo Mo(Donaldinas Chinese name)opened a front door down the street and admitted police to rescue several desperate, youngslave girls.

Donaldinas childhood prepared her well for a life of adventure and serv ice to the people ofChinatown. She was born in 1869 on a New Zealand sheep ranch, the youngest of seven

children and the adored baby sister. Two years later, after hearing of better opportunities

for sheep ranching in the United States, her father relocated the family to the San JoaquinValley of California.

Allan Cameron taught his children to love all people. One night, Donaldina pressed her

nose against the windowpane of a hotel room overlooking Chinatown. Her brother andsisters had tired of watching the long, swinging pigtails and black costumes in the streets

below. However,Dolly,even at a young age, was already fascinated by the almond-eyed,golden-skinned Chinese.

An adventurous tomboy with a joyful and buoyant spirit, Donaldina rode horseback on herfamilys ranch, delighted in picnics and escapades, and always found a way to make herself

useful. What a shock it must have been one day when a girlfriend went looking for Dolly and

found the teen atop a windmill, making repairs! Later in life, rooftop rescues would hold no

fears for such a brave heart.

Donaldina felt no call to missions, but in 1895 she answered this request from a family

friend:Would you be willing to help at the Chinese Home? You could teach sewing andassist Miss Culbertson. Her health is delicate, and she is overburdened. Will you come for

just one year?

Dollys imagination soared. To be needed in a vital work! Of course she would go and helpbear someones burden. She knew she could . . . do all things through Christ which

strengtheneth . . . [her](Philippians 4:13). She would need that strength; 26-year-old

Donaldina had no idea what she was in for.

On the day Donaldina arrived at the Presbyterian Mission Home, she was greeted with anapology:Youve come at a particularly stressful time.Miss Culbertson handed her a letterthat contained these words:Your religion is vain . . . . By what authority do you rescuegirls? If there is any more of this work . . . blood may flow. We send you this warning. To all

Christian teachers.

Miss Culbertson smiled calmly as she told Donaldina:Today, sticks of dynamite were foundon the front porch. It was enough to blow up a city block. Perhaps you would like to

reconsider your decision?

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No, indeed! Donaldina could not resist a challenge. She threw herself wholeheartedly into

the work of rescuing Chinese girls from theyellow slave trade.

There was money to be made for slave traffickers during the late 1800s and early 1900s.The Chinese were no longer allowed to emigrate from China to the United States, leaving

the Chinese men who were already in the U.S. without female companionship.Consequently, Chinese girls and women were smuggled into the country, often with the aid

of white immigration officials. Even girls as young as 5 years old were bought and sold ashousehold slaves for wealthy Chinese who now lived in the U.S.

One evening early on, Miss Culbertson said to Donaldina, I need your help tonight.Donaldina was eager to participate in her first rescue. The young missionary followed her

leader into dark dens that would terrify most tourists. Stealing slaves from the powerful

tong lords was notfor the faint of heart.

When the Mission Homes courageous founder died two years later, Donaldina took over.

Within ten years, the slave trade had been cut in half. Screams of May all your ancestors

curse you and turn you into a turtle! did not deter this single-minded missionary. For forty

years, Donaldina waged war against this evil trade. She knew every rooftop in Chinatownand was never afraid to accompany police on a raid. She had a special talent for detecting

trap doors, loose floorboards, and secret panelswhere the abused girls were hidden awayduring raids.

The slave masters tried to poison the minds of their slaves with lies, telling their captives

stories of the terrible fate that awaited the girls if the foreign devil woman got hold of them.Many rescued girls screamed and kicked in terror on their way to the Home, but they soondiscovered that Lo Mo(Old Mother) was the most tender of mothers.

Oftentimes, the slave masters presented false court papers to prove that a girl was arelative. One girl, Kum Quai, was forced to go with the men. But Donaldinaalways

attentive to the Spiritheard a voice in her heart saying: Go with her. She is yours.Sheran after the men, never letting Kum Quai out of her sight. Through a series of exhaustinglegal battles, Dolly finally prevailed. The girl was returned to Donaldinas custody and a lifeof freedom.

The Mission Home became the most beloved (and hated) place in all of Chinatown. With thehelp of Godly lawyers and financial support from Christians in San Francisco, Donaldina

rescued more than three thousand girls from a life of shame and abuse and gave them new

hope. Many girls received Christ and returned to Canton, China, to help fight the slave tradeat its source.

God kept Donaldina under His protection throughout her forty-year ministry. She remainsthe only foreign missionary who never left U.S. soil. Today, the Mission Home at 920

Sacramento Street in San Franciscos Chinatown still stands. It has been renamed theCameron House in Donaldinas honor. For more history and pictures, visit

www.cameronhouse.org.

Susan K. Marlow has a B.A. in elementary education and is a twenty-year homeschooling

veteran of four. Homeschool mom by day, writer by night, she is the author of the Circle CAdventures and Circle C Beginnings series, and a new series, Goldtown Adventures. Susanand her husband, Roger, are now retired and live on a 14-acre homestead in Washington

State. Learn more atwww.susankmarlow.com.

http://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.cameronhouse.orghttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.cameronhouse.orghttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.susankmarlow.comhttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.susankmarlow.comhttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.susankmarlow.comhttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.susankmarlow.comhttp://c/Users/Lindsay/Desktop/TOS%20articles%20to%20do/www.cameronhouse.org

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Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in

the November 2012 issue ofThe Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the family education

magazine. Read the magazine free atwww.TOSMagazine.comor read it on the go anddownload the free apps atwww.TOSApps.comto read the magazine on your mobile devices.

Actual Journal Entries of Rescued Girls

March 25, 1892: I received word . . . that a little girl about 9 yrs. old at the N.W. [corner]of Clay & Dupont Sts. was being badly beaten . . . I brought her to the Home. She was in

pitiful condition, two cuts from a hatchet were vizible [sic] on her headher mouth, face,

and hands badly swollen from punishments she had received from her cruel mistress.

Aug. 15, 1892: . . . we rescued [Ah Cheng]. She is very small . . . Looks like a midget

has an old and peculiar face.

Jan. 17, 1894: Tien . . . was rescued . . . from her inhumane mistress . . . The child had

been very cruelly treatedher flesh pinched and twisted till her face was scarred . . .

Another method . . . was to dip lighted candlewicking in oil and burn her arms with it. Tien

is a pretty child of about 10 years old, rosy cheeked and fair complexion.1

Endnote:1. Martin, Mildred Crowl, Chinatowns Angry Angel(Pacific Books, 1977).

http://www.tosmagazine.com/http://www.tosmagazine.com/http://www.tosmagazine.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.tosmagazine.com/