Radiant Light: The Story of Eastfield/Ming Quong

Detail of the mural by Andrea Borsuk.

In the 1930s, the Ming Quong orphanage in Los Gatos, housed rescued and abandoned Chinese girls from the Bay Area.  Over the course of several decades, Ming Quong would become part of a larger thread of merging organizations dedicated to giving at risk children a better life. Today the historic property is the home of Uplift Family Services. This exhibit will explore 150 years of organization's origins. 

Today, Uplift Family Services is one of the largest and most comprehensive family-centered treatment programs in California. Its history began in 1867 with a single building in San Jose that provided shelter for homeless youth under the name Eastfield Home of the Benevolence.  Over the course of 150 years, the organization merged with other agencies, including Ming Quong, which provided safety and education for Chinese girls trapped in slavery and prostitution. Ming Quong,  founded in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1874,  would eventually open another children’s home in Los Gatos in 1936.  With the help of local philanthropic organizations, it continued to ensure that children without advocates could have a second chance at life. This exhibit celebrates Donaldina Cameron and the Los Gatos Ming Quong Home that would eventually become Uplift Family Services.