Wong Check Kwong

We gratefully acknowledge Emma Wong Medina-Griffin for contributing the information and images about Check Kwong Wong

From the late 1920s until 1935, Wong Check Kwong served as the consulate representative of the Chinese government in Nogales, Sonora. While in Nogales, Sonora, he married a Mexican woman and their first child, Carmen was born in 1932.

"In the late twenties and early thirties, however, their [Chinese residents] prospects for continuous prosperity ended when thousands of them were expelled from the northwestern state of Sonora, which had the largest and most influential Chinese colony. Since then their presence in Mexico has been insignificant, their early history all but forgotten. (See: "Immigrants to a Developing Society: The Chinese in Northern Mexico, 1875-1932" by Evelyn Hu-DeHart)

During his time in northernwestern Mexico, Mr. Wong was well liked by the Chinese and Mexican community. There was also a Korean family, the Kossios, who had a photography studio in Nogales and Hermosillo, Sonora. The images from family photos (above right) include Consul Wong picniking with Chinese and Korean friends. Mr. Wong was also well-known in Tucson. Family members have passed down memories of many parties and social gatherings.

Following the explusion, the Chinese government sent Mr. Wong to Tapachula, Chiapas, where Emma and Luis (1940) were born. Through Mr. Wong's presence as consul, the Chinese government and Chinese residents maintained a degree of formal representation in Mexico. Ms. Wong recalls that her family resided in Chiapas for eight years and related that a prominent member of the community and owner of a coffee plantation, José Chong, became her godfather.

Consul Wong was transferred to Jamaica and the family relocated to Kingston where they lived for three years.