Leung Schulze, born to a Chinese American family in San Francisco, grew up in a racially segregated society. She and other native-born Americans of Asian descent were forced into ethnically segregated neighborhoods, separate schools, and denied access to many jobs. As a teenager Leung Schulze escaped an arranged marriage by taking asylum in a Presbyterian Mission. In time she became an ​advocate for her community – working with the Mission to end the sexual slavery of other Chinese women in the U.S.

 

In 1910, Leung Schulze took the civil service exam and became the first Chinese American woman to work for the federal government. She worked as a translator for detained Chinese immigrants at the Angel Island Immigration Station. After women won the right to vote in California, Leung Schulze voted in the 1912 presidential primary. She is believed to be the first Chinese woman to vote in the U.S., and perhaps the first ethnic Chinese woman to vote in the world. She continued working as an advocate for women and Chinese Americans in the San Francisco area for the rest of her life.