Chop Suey and Deportation

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator 

A long-time resident and owner of a local Chinese restaurant is detained by immigration officials. He is a well-known and respected member of the community, but he originally entered the United States illegally. After all legal avenues have been exhausted, he is deported. While this story could be one lifted from today’s headlines, it is actually from 1931. This is the story of Lee Hee, who opened the Peking Restaurant at 106 East Water Street in Elmira in 1926.

East Water Street, Elmira, c. 1932

When I first noticed the Peking Chop Suey sign in a historic photo of East Water Street, I had no idea where my research would lead me. I started by looking into when Chinese restaurants first appeared in the area and ended up with stories of immigration and prohibition raids.

An article in the Star-Gazette in 1899 declared that “Chinese restaurants are querious [sic] places” but by the early 1900s there were several of them in Elmira. That coincides with the “Chop Suey Fad” that appears to have swept the nation around 1902. The origins of chop suey are uncertain. The dish of meat and eggs cooked with vegetables in a thick sauce served with rice is thought to have been developed by Chinese Americans in the late 1800s, but some believe it actually did come from China. Either way, by the early 20^th century, it was a well-known dish in Elmira. 

There were already half a dozen Chinese restaurants specializing in chop suey when Lee Hee filed his paperwork with the county clerk in 1926 to operate the Peking Restaurant. Lee had been working as chef at Spaghetti Land, an Italian/Chinese restaurant on the second floor of the Lyceum Theater on Lake Street. His new restaurant was located on East Water Street across from the Regent Theater on the second floor above T.J. Connelley’s grocery store. It offered Chinese, American, and Italian food, including chop suey, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. The special businessmen’s lunch was just 40 cents. Over the years, the restaurant and Lee built a reputation for high class, quality food.

Elmira Star-Gazette, February 25, 1926

In 1928, the Peking Restaurant was the target of a raid by federal prohibition agents. They found eighteen bottles of high-powered beer on the premises and arrested Lee. He was released on $1,000 bail and seemingly continued on with his business. The next time he appeared in the local newspaper was in June 1930 when there was a catastrophic collapse of a temporary sidewalk at the Gorton Coy construction site. Two people, including a small girl, were killed in the incident. Lee was on the sidewalk when it collapsed but only sustained a slight injury to his right leg. 

On January 29, 1931, the Peking Restaurant was raided again, this time by the U.S. Immigration Department. It was one of dozens of Chinese businesses – mostly restaurants and laundries – targeted by immigration officials. Lee Hee was among several men who were not able to provide papers showing they were in the U.S. legally. Lee had been a seaman on a Chinese merchantman who had jumped ship in Seattle and entered the country without official documentation. From there he made his way to Elmira in the early 1920s. Lee seemed fairly nonchalant about the arrest telling the reporter that he was planning to return to China anyway and he didn’t mind letting the government deport him and pay the transportation costs. He had been in Elmira for about ten years at that time and had saved thousands of dollars working as an “unusually skillful chef and cook.” 

Lee was released on $3,000 bond and continued working as a chef and restaurateur while his deportation case made its way through the courts. In December 1931, Federal Judge John R. Knight of Buffalo, affirmed the earlier decision of U.S. Commissioner William W. Gregg ordering Lee’s deportation. His last appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was rejected and on August 25, 1932 he was taken into custody again. Finally, on September 6, 1932, nearly two years after his initial arrest, Lee was sent back to China. A year later, several residents of Elmira received Christmas greeting from Lee from his new home in Hong Kong.

Lee Hee (left) pictured with fellow deportee Chu Sun, Elmira Star-Gazette, September 9, 1932

Days before Lee Hee was deported, an advertisement in the Star-Gazette announced that the Peking Chop Suey Chinese Restaurant at 106 East Water Street was under new management. The new proprietor, Lee Tui How, had previously operated laundries on West Water Street and Baldwin Street. Whether from lack of experience running a restaurant or because of a prohibition raid in February 1933, the restaurant had closed for good by 1934.