By Riya Singh, 2025-2026 Research Collaborator at Power in Place
At a time when Chinese Americans faced exclusion and discrimination, Tye Leung Schulze made history not only as the first Chinese American woman to work for the U.S. federal government, but also as a powerful voice in the women’s suffrage movement. In 1912, prior to the establishment of the 19th Amendment, she became the first Chinese American woman to vote in a U.S. election. Schulze’s participation in the suffrage movement highlighted the fact that the fight for voting rights was not only about gender, but also about race, citizenship, and belonging.
Schulze’s story reminds us that civic participation is a powerful form of advocacy. By exercising her right to vote, she helped expand the meaning of democracy, allowing Chinese women and other women of color to go beyond voting. Schulze’s contribution to the suffragist movement paved the way for Asian-American women to become lawyers, politicians, and so much more. Because of her, Asian-American women and other marginalized women today have access to resources and opportunities that were once denied to Tye Leung Schulze herself.
Riya Singh is a 2nd year at UCLA where she is majoring in Political
Science and Sociology with a minor in Community Engagement and Social Change. She is passionate about social justice with a focus on immigration policy and women's liberation