MOCA Talks: Charlotte Brooks — The Moys of New York and Shanghai
Historian Charlotte Brooks recounts one family's transpacific journey navigating racism, Japanese occupation, and the Cold War between New York and Shanghai.
Why we picked this
One family, two cities, a century of upheaval — Brooks uses the Moy siblings' story to map the impossible choices Chinese Americans faced during the first half of the 20th century.
Charlotte Brooks traces the Moy family’s journey across the Pacific during the first half of the 20th century, examining how Chinese Americans moved between New York and Shanghai while navigating racism in the United States, political upheaval in China, and evolving concepts of citizenship and belonging.
The ambitious Moy siblings pursued opportunities amid Japanese occupation, revolution, global war, and the Cold War. Brooks connects their individual family narrative with broader themes of migration, modernity, and transnational identity — the kind of history that is simultaneously deeply personal and globally resonant.