Gilbert Leong Explained

Gilbert Lester Leong
Death Place:	Pasadena, California
Spouse:	Florence "Sissee" (née See)
Children:	Leslee See Leong

Gilbert Lester Leong (1911-1996) was a Chinese-American architect who designed churches and public buildings in the Los Angeles area.^[1] He was the first Chinese-American to graduate from USC with a degree in architecture. His designs helped shape the architecture of postwar Los Angeles and Chinatown. Leong was also a co-founder of the East West Bank in 1973. The bank was set up to serve the Chinese American community in Southern California.^{[1] [2]}

Education

• Leong studied painting and sculpture at Chouinard Art Institute^[3] under Millard Sheets
• USC degree in architecture (1936) ^{[1] [4]}

Career

After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in architecture, Leong worked with architects Paul Williams and Harwell Hamilton Harris. Leong eventually began to work on his own.^[5] Leong designed both residential and public buildings in his career. He had an influence on the postwar California architecture of Los Angeles.^{[6] [7]}

Exhibitions

• In 1936 the work of Leong was featured at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition was entitled "Oriental Artists".^[8]
• In 2012 Steven Wong and Floridia Cheung highlighted Leong's work at the Chinese American Museum in an exhibit called "Breaking Ground", alongside three contemporaneous Chinese American architects active in Los Angeles: Eugene Kinn Choy, Helen Liu Fong, and Gin D. Wong.^[9]

Designs

Selected Chinatown buildings by Gilbert Leong

Name	Image	Year	Address	Notes/Refs.
Chinese United Methodist Church		1947	825 N Hill	^[10]
First Chinese Baptist Church		1951	942 Yale	^[11]
Kong Chow Family Association and Temple		1960	931 N Broadway
King Hing Theater		1962	647 N Spring	^[12]
Bank of America		1972	850 N Broadway	With Richard Layne Tom
Phoenix Bakery		1977	969 N Broadway

Other designs by Leong include:

• Tract homes for builder George Ponty in the Ponty-Vanowen (San Fernando Valley) and Ponty-Anaheim developments.^{[13] [14]}
• Homes for Judge Delbert Wong (1954)^[15] and Dr. Miguel Tirado (1959)^[16] in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
• Interior court and authentic Chinese garden in the Pacific Asian Museum in Pasadena. Co-designed^[4]
• Logo for the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California^[17]

Personal

Leong was born in 1911: he was the son of Chinese immigrant parents. He was the first Chinese American to graduate from USC with a degree in architecture.^[12] Leong served in the U.S. Army during World War II,^{[5] [18]} and worked for Paul R. Williams after the war.^[11] Leong and his family owned the Soochow Restaurant in Los Angeles.^[19] Leong co-founded the East West Bank in 1973.^[20] Leong died in Pasadena California on August 23, 1996.^[21]

Leong married Florence "Sissee" See in 1942;^{[22] [23]} she was the daughter of Chinatown businessman Fong See and the great-aunt of novelist Lisa See, who documented the family's history in her memoir On Gold Mountain at Sissee's request.^[24] Leslee Leong, the daughter of Gilbert and Florence, inherited the F. Suie One Co., which had been founded by Fong See.^[25]

External links

• Southern California Chinese American Oral History Project, Interview #19 . March 27, 1979 . Gilbert Leong . Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

• Web site: Gilbert Leong 1911-1996 . Locke, Michael . flickr. Includes images of private homes and public buildings designed by Leong.

Notes and References

1. News: Gilbert Lester Leong; Architect, Founder of East West Bank . 16 August 2019 . Los Angeles Times . 28 August 1996.
2. Web site: Things To Know About The East West Bank . routingnumberusa . RoutingNumberUSA . 16 August 2019.
3. News: Chinatownia: Los Angeles News . February 21, 1936 . Chinese Digest . 2 . 8 . 4 . A first prize of $200 goes to Gilbert Leong for his piece of sculpturing displayed at the last Los Angeles County Fair held at Pomona, California. For his outstanding artistic ability he has earned scholarships to the Chouinard School of Art, one of the leading art schools on the Pacific Coast. Presently, he will be transferred to U. S. C. . 17 June 2021.
4. Web site: O'Connor . Pauline . Midcentury modern by Gilbert Leong in Silver Lake seeks second-ever owner . La.curbed . Vox Media, Inc. . 16 August 2019.
5. Web site: Midcentury modern by Gilbert Leong in Silver Lake seeks $1.699M . bestlaneighborhoods . Best LA Neighborhoods, Inc. . 16 August 2019.
6. Web site: RAGO . DANIELLE . Hidden in Plain Sight . archpaper . The Architect's Newspaper, LLC . 16 August 2019.
7. Web site: Chinese American Architects in Los Angeles, 1945-1980 . archpaper . The Architect's Newspaper, LLC . 16 August 2019.
8. Web site: Benji Okubo . encyclopedia.densho . Densho . 16 August 2019.
9. News: GILMARTIN . WENDY . 'BREAKING GROUND' AT CHINESE AMERICAN MUSEUM SHOWS THAT NOT ALL L.A. ARCHITECTS ARE OLD, WHITE DUDES . 16 August 2019 . LA WEEKLY . 13 February 2012.
10. Historic-Cultural Monument Application for TIRADO HOUSE . February 6, 2013 . Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Cultural Heritage Commission . 16 June 2021.
11. Web site: Pan-Asian Metropolis — Pioneering Asian-American Architects in Los Angeles . Brightwell, Eric . October 5, 2016 . 17 June 2021.
12. Exploring Chinatown: Past and Present . Los Angeles Conservancy . April 17, 2016 . 17 June 2021 . 24 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202121/https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/files/documents/LAC_Chinatown_Final_0.pdf . dead .
13. News: Tract Opening Set for Today . June 5, 1955 . Los Angeles Times . 17 June 2021.
14. News: Heavy Selling for Ponty-Anaheim Homes . March 25, 1956 . Long Beach Independent . 17 June 2021.
15. News: Judge Delbert Wong Residence, Gilbert Leong 1954 . July 28, 2015 . Silver Lake News . 17 June 2021.
16. News: Tiorado-Lion-Peligri Residence, Gilbert Leong 1959 . July 27, 2015 . Silver Lake News . 17 June 2021.
17. Book: Chinese in Hollywood . Cho, Jenny . Chinese Historical Society of Southern California . 29 . 2013 . 978-0-7385-9973-1 . Arcadia Publishing . 17 June 2021.
18. Book: Duty & Honor: A tribute to Chinese American World War II veterans of Southern California . 147 . Lee, Marjorie . Chinese Historical Society of Southern California . 1998 . Los Angeles . 0-930377-99-0 . registration . 17 June 2021.
19. Book: Cho . Jenny . Chinatown in Los Angeles . 2009 . Arcadia Publishing . San Francisco California . 978-0-7385-6956-7 . 91 . 1st.
20. Web site: Treasure Hunt: The Huntington Library Acquires Papers of Chinese American Family . Lin, Daisy . June 22, 2020 . East West Bank . 17 June 2021.
21. News: Gilbert Leong obit . 16 August 2019 . Los Angeles Times . 28 August 1996.
22. Web site: See Family Archival Material . lisasee.com . 17 June 2021.
23. The Huntington Acquires the Papers of the Chinese American Family Featured in the Book "On Gold Mountain" by Lisa See . May 13, 2020 . The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens . 17 June 2021.
24. News: It Began With a Family Secret . Cheng, Scarlet . subscription . June 4, 2000 . Los Angeles Times . 17 June 2021.
25. Web site: See Leong Papers: A Chinese American Family's History . The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens . 17 June 2021.