Susie Ling was born in Taiwan, raised in rural Philippines, and immigrated as a young adult in 1976 to Los Angeles. “I’m often categorized as ‘other’,” said Susie, “I have no roots, and I’m multicultural. I’m always seen as an immigrant woman.” Being perpetually "other" means Susie empathizes with the marginalized. Susie taught Asian American studies and history at Pasadena City College for 42 years. Her first oral history project was on Los Angeles’ Asian feminist movement. In the 1990s, she did oral histories of pre-WWII Asian Americans from the San Gabriel Valley. She has volunteered with the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California since the 1980s. Susie also works with Kansha Pasadena and Pasadena Museum of History.

 

When Susie moved to Monrovia in 2008, she naturally became interested in Monrovia’s unique history of ethnic diversity. Some questioned why this Chinese woman was interested in African American and Latino history. But others were happy to cooperate, “I remember Betty Fisher Thomas immediately started listing the names of neighbors she knew from the days of racial covenants. She had been collecting old photos and allowed me to scan everything. I remember [Mayor] Bob Bartlett barely letting me sit down before he started sharing his stories… He even called me from his hospital bed to encourage me to get the project done. Of course, I had to.” Susie laughed, “One of my proudest titles was when some in the Monrovia Latino Heritage Society called me pocha" (slang for Americanized person of Mexican descent).

 

After amassing about forty such interviews, Susie wrote and presented:

“History of African Americans in Monrovia”

“Recuerdos de Monrovia: History of Mexican Americans”

“History of Asian Americans in Monrovia”

(These are available at susieling.wordpress.com, Monrovia Public Library, Monrovia Historical Museum, and the Monrovia Legacy Project.)

 

One good thing can lead to another. “John Parker found his father’s World War II scrapbook. Julius Parker had volunteered for military service from Monrovia High, and the scrapbook was a fascinating window to the African American soldiers’ experience in the European Theater.”  She shared the scrapbook and its place in history in a program at the Library and prepared it for the Monrovia Legacy Project’s online archive. And then L.A.'s Natural History Museum found a 150-year-old tintype of Dr. Sophia B. Jones…” Sophia Jones founded the nursing school at Spellman College, and retired in Monrovia with her sister, Anna H. Jones, a suffragist and educator. 

(See "The Adventures of Julius Parker in World War II" (2024) on KGEM at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BacerTm1D7w and "The Incomparable Jones Family" (2025) on KGEM at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04hdereNC-8)

 

Susie has supported the Monrovia’s Neighborhood Treasures Project. She remembers, “I teamed up with Ralph Walker to bring attention to Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth. We encouraged Monrovia to re-adopt this superhero.” A special program was done at the Monrovia Museum on the 100th anniversary of Allensworth passing – on September 14, 2014. In May of 2026, the City did an art piece celebrating Kiyoshi Kuromiya, a Monrovian who became a nationally recognized gay rights activist. “We’ve got some serious teamwork in this community to get these legacy projects done,” boasted Susie.