Sisters of Heaven by Patti Gully

Author:Patti Gully
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781592651498
Publisher: Long River Press

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Imperial air force bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and this cataclysm finally drew the United States into the war, both in the Pacific and in Europe. China and America were now solidly linked in their resolve to defeat Japan, and it was a heady time for Chinese nationals working in the United States on behalf of their fellow countrymen. Opportunities for publicizing China’s plight simply fell into Xiaqing’s lap. In January 1942, flash bulbs popped while she presented legendary radio newsman, Walter Winchell, with a special certificate declaring he was an honorary ‘Esteemed Grandparent’ for his impressive donation to Chinese orphans. That same month, she was invited to New Orleans to appear with her friend, Anna May Wong, at a Red Cross fundraiser.

In mid-March, she flew down to Palm Beach, Florida, and was conducted from the airfield by motorcycle escort to attend a Chinese relief play. She then rushed back to New York to begin a dizzying tour of the New England States and New Jersey. This latter expedition had been slated to take place the year before but had been out of the question due to her many commitments. Again, the UCR asked her to focus on the acquisition of ‘Special Gifts,’ but she was careful not to neglect mainstream donors. She addressed labor groups, faculty clubs, war services committees and war bond rallies in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. She maximized her listening audience by giving interviews on radio stations WTTM of Trenton, WOR of New Rochelle, WHN of Jersey City, and WABC and WMCA of New York City. She also moved into the realm of television broadcasting, a medium that was a scant three years old, by appearing on NBC-TV at the corporation’s Rockefeller Center studios. The Chinese Consulate-General had its offices in the same building.

As ever, her coordinator, Marian Cadwallader, was invaluable when it came to planning her invitation-packed days and nights. Miss Cadwallader’s memos to Xiaqing routinely ran to several pages and included a mountain of detailed information regarding proposed junkets to other cities and states. A number of these memos for the year 1942 still exist, the briefest schedule of which is dated April 27, 1942:

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