Biography

Kelly N. Fong is a fifth-generation Chinese American, historical archaeologist, and Asian American Studies scholar.  Her work bridges her passion for Asian American social histories, family histories, and historical archaeology to examine everyday life through materials and memories left behind.  Her past research examined the 20th-century Chinese American community in Isleton Chinatown, a rural, agricultural and multiracial community in the Sacramento Delta. Her next project explores the creation of a Chinese America through foodways, particularly focusing on home-style cooking through the lens of community cookbooks.  She is currently a contingent faculty member in Asian American Studies who has taught at UCLA, California State University, Northridge and Claremont Graduate University.