Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee

Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee was the first Chinese American woman to register to vote in the United States. She registered to vote on November 8, 1911, in California following the passage of Proposition 4 in California, nine years before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Political activities

Lee registered to vote at the Alameda County courthouse on November 8, 1911.
Lee was a founder of the Chinese Women's Jeleab Association, created in 1913. The association promoted women's rights in both the U.S. and China. She was a member of the YWCA and the Fidelis Coterie club.

Personal life

Clara Elizabeth Chan was born October 21, 1886, in Portland, Oregon. She was the daughter of the Methodist Reverend Chan Hon Fun and Ow Muck Gay. The Rev. Chan Hon Fun was the pastor of the Chinese Community Methodist Church of Oakland in Oakland Chinatown from 1900 to 1909. Lee was married to Charles Goodall Lee, the first licensed Chinese American dentist in the United States. She died October 5, 1993, in Alameda, California, and is interred in Oakland.